Out of the spotlight: what we don’t know about district nursing services

Out of the spotlight: what we don’t know about district nursing services ‘The future will see far more care delivered locally’; this statement from the NHS five year forward view reaffirmed ambitions to move more care into community settings. So if community-based care is the future, what are the foundations we are building the future on?

Over the past year we have been looking in depth at district nursing services. Part of this work involved us exploring what is already known about these services. How many people receive district nursing care? How many patient contacts are taking place? What happens during those contacts? Has activity changed over time? Has the work become more complex?

We discovered there is a remarkable dearth of national information, meaning the answer to many of these questions was ‘We don’t know’. The King's Fund

See also:

• Understanding quality in district nursing services: Learning from patients, carers and staff The King's Fund
• District nurse cuts 'put frail at risk', report suggests BBC News

Cuts to public health risks widening health inequalities

Cuts to public health risks widening health inequalities After taking on responsibility for public health, local authorities were dealt an in-year cut of £200 million last year and now face further real terms cuts to public health budgets. Cuts to public health and the front line services they deliver are a false economy as they not only add to the future costs of health and social care but risk widening health inequalities, says the Health Select Committee in its report on Public health post-2013.

See also:

• MPs say cuts are 'false economy' in drive to improve poor people's health The Guardian

Junior doctors row: Hospitals prepare for week of strikes

Junior doctors row: Hospitals prepare for week of strikes Hospitals in England will begin to make contingency plans for five consecutive days of strikes this month by junior doctors over a controversial new contract. BBC News

See also:

• BMA announces industrial action after Government refuses to address junior doctors concerns British Medical Association
• Drop contract imposition or face further industrial action, warn junior doctors British Medical Association
• Employers shocked and saddened by BMA support for more industrial action NHS Employers
• Junior doctor strikes 'to cause misery' - Jeremy Hunt BBC News
• Junior doctors to strike AGAIN in row over controversial new contract The Daily Mail
• Junior doctors who back strikes now are deluded children living in a bubble of self-righteousness The Daily Telegraph
• Junior doctors to continue industrial action in bitter contract dispute The Daily Telegraph
• Junior doctors plan strikes on five consecutive days every month GP Online
• NHS junior doctors to stage five consecutive days of strikes in September The Guardian
• Junior doctors' strike: Jeremy Hunt refuses to negotiate over NHS contract imposition The Independent
• Junior doctors' strike: How will patients be affected? ITV News
• Junior doctor strike a 'great concern', says GMC head ITV News

More rough sleepers 'in need of psychiatric support'

More rough sleepers 'in need of psychiatric support' Rough sleepers in England are more likely to be suffering from mental health issues and in need of psychiatric support, analysis shows.

The number of those identified as needing psychiatric help has increased by nearly a half in six years. BBC News

Southern Health NHS Trust boss Katrina Percy's new role causes anger

Southern Health NHS Trust boss Katrina Percy's new role causes anger An NHS trust's decision to move its boss to a new role with the same salary is a "scandal", according to the mother of a teenager who died under its watch. BBC News

Asthma costs UK health service at least £1bn every year

Asthma costs UK health service at least £1bn every year Asthma treatment is costing the UK health service at least £1.1 billion every year, almost three quarters of which goes on the provision of primary care services, reveals a study from the Asthma UK Centre in Applied Research, and published in BMC Medicine. OnMedica

Alzheimer's disease breakthrough as new drug clears toxic proteins from brains of patients

Alzheimer's disease breakthrough as new drug clears toxic proteins from brains of patients An antibody that can almost completely clear the visible signs of Alzheimer’s disease from the brain has been discovered in a breakthrough that left one scientist “trying not to get too excited”.

Researchers scanned the brains of people with the degenerative condition as they were given doses of the drug, which is based on an immune cell taken from the blood of elderly people aged up to 100 who showed no signs of the disease.

After a year, virtually all the toxic “amyloid plaques” that build up in Alzheimer’s patients appeared to have gone from the brains of those given the highest doses of the antibody. The Independent

See also:

• The antibody aducanumab reduces Aβ plaques in Alzheimer’s disease (abstract) Nature
• Alzheimer's drug study gives 'tantalising' results BBC News
• Revolutionary drug 'may stop Alzheimer from ever developing' The Daily Mail

Organ donation rates for transplants still too low in UK, says NHS

Organ donation rates for transplants still too low in UK, says NHS Consent rate one of lowest in Europe, with black, Asian and ethnic minority communities of particular concern

A record number of organs were donated and transplanted in the UK in 2015-16 but the consent rate is still one of the lowest in Europe, with a worrying shortfall of donors from black or Asian communities.

In the 12 months to the end of March, 1,364 people became organ donors when they died and their donations resulted in 3,519 transplants taking place, figures published on Thursday show. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Organ transplants: Ethnic minorities urged to discuss donations BBC News

How Manchester plans to be the best place for people with dementia

How Manchester plans to be the best place for people with dementia Dementia United aims to improve care of area’s 30,000 residents with the condition

Imagine a pub designed for people with dementia, complete with old beer adverts, games of dominoes and darts, a DJ playing a selection of music from the 50s and regular live entertainment, where people with the diagnosis can feel welcome and those who look after them can receive support.

A pop-up pub like this was set up in Salford recently by the university’s Institute for Dementia as part of Dementia United – the Greater Manchester partnership whose five-year improvement plan aims by 2020 to make Greater Manchester the “best place in the world” for its 30,000 residents with Alzheimer’s and similar conditions. It also wants to reduce dependence on health and care services. Continue reading... The Guardian

Child obesity sees rise in XL schoolwear as 20% now overweight

Child obesity sees rise in XL schoolwear as 20% now overweight New figures from Cancer Research UK show that every year 57,100 children who started primary school in England at a healthy weight end up obese or overweight by the time they leave. The Daily Mail