Thursday 8 September 2016

Organ donors save 40 lives in Northamptonshire last year...but eight people die after failing to get vital organs

Organ donors save 40 lives in Northamptonshire last year...but eight people die after failing to get vital organs Forty people in Northamptonshire received a potentially lifesaving or transforming transplant last year, according to new figures released today. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Tributes paid to Northampton infertility expert who transformed the lives of thousands of people’

Tributes paid to Northampton infertility expert who transformed the lives of thousands of people’ The brother of “remarkable” doctor Roy Davies has, following his inquest, paid tribute to the Northampton General Hospital infertility expert without whom thousands of Northamptonshire families would not exist. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Demand for NHS services soars to record levels

Demand for NHS services soars to record levels Relentless demand for services is driving up waiting times and exacerbating financial pressures in the NHS according to the latest Quarterly Monitoring Report from The King's Fund.

The report found that more than one million patients were admitted to hospital from A&E in the first quarter of 2016/17, with the number of patients attending A&E departments also soaring to nearly six million. This means that for each month in the first quarter of the year, there were an additional 54,000 attendances at A&E departments and 14,200 emergency hospital admissions compared to the same time last year.

The report found that increased demand for services is placing the health system under huge strain with more than 90 per cent of beds occupied by patients, well above the threshold that is considered safe. This is fuelling deteriorating performance against a number of key measures. The King's Fund

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NHS finances: a game of two halves

NHS finances: a game of two halves Launching the long-awaited NHS 'reset' on finances in July, Simon Stevens said, 'because the pressures across the NHS are real and growing, we need to use this year both to stabilise finances and kick-start the wider changes everyone can see are needed'. With financial performance data for the first quarter now available, combined with the results of our latest quarterly monitoring report, we can take a temperature check on the first of these priorities: the need to stabilise NHS finances. How is the NHS doing?

It’s a game of two halves. First, the good news. The arrival of the £1.8 billion Sustainability and Transformation Fund – allocated to providers to reduce their deficits – alongside a suite of other financial control measures has led to the provider deficit being reduced from £930 million in the first quarter of last year to £461 million for the same period this year. As the NHS attempts to restore greater discipline over its finances it's perhaps even more impressive that this result is £5 million ahead of plan. £5 million may not sound like much in the context of NHS finances, but the tradition for quarter one has been for the NHS to be well behind plan, so this is a sharp turnaround.

So where is the bad news? There are some uncomfortable signals within both the provider and commissioner numbers that may suggest that the NHS will struggle to keep up this relatively good start. The King's Fund

New coalition of health and social care experts on mission to guarantee status of EU staff

New coalition of health and social care experts on mission to guarantee status of EU staff A coalition of 29 health and social care organisations has been created to ensure sustainable workforce supply and thereby standards of care are maintained as Britain withdraws from the EU.

The Cavendish Coalition is here to provide those leading Brexit negotiations with the expertise, evidence and knowledge required on issues affecting the health and social care sectors.

The newly formed group will be a shared voice which influences and lobbies on post-EU referendum issues that affect the social care and health workforce. It will in particular ensure that there is a robust evidence base to support workforce policy across social care and health. NHS Employers

NHS e-Referral Service saves £10million in first year

NHS e-Referral Service saves £10million in first year The NHS e-Referral Service has saved the NHS £10million in its first year of operation, following redevelopment by NHS Digital.

The achievement was paralleled by 10 million referrals also being made by the electronic booking system in the same time period.

The millions of pounds in savings have mostly been achieved as a result of the service being built in-house by NHS Digital, in collaboration with software specialists BJSS. This has led to a 60% reduction in running costs compared to the Choose and Book system, which the NHS e-Referral Service replaced in June 2015.

Record hospital delays discharging patients

Record hospital delays discharging patients Hospitals are facing record levels of delays discharging patients, latest figures from NHS England show.

There were nearly 185,000 days of delays in July, up a quarter on the same month last year.

The delays are caused by a lack of available care in the community, and mean vulnerable patients are left stuck on wards while arrangements are made for them to be safely discharged.

It comes as the NHS continues to miss its key waiting time goals.

Targets for A&E, cancer care, ambulance response times and routine operations are all being missed - continuing a trend that has been seen in recent months. BBC News

Record numbers call Childline over suicidal thoughts

Record numbers call Childline over suicidal thoughts Childline received an average of one call every 30 minutes from UK children with suicidal thoughts last year, the NSPCC has said.

Youngsters plagued by suicidal thoughts contacted Childline 19,481 times - more than double the number five years ago.

The charity said it referred many callers to the emergency services, adding a lack of support was leading children to reach crisis point.

The government insists it is investing in children's mental health services. BBC News

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NHS can’t afford not to transform end-of-life care

NHS can’t afford not to transform end-of-life care We can’t afford not to transform end-of-life care in the NHS as doing so would make economic sense as well as being the ethically right thing to do, according to a palliative care expert. She has called today for more focus on supporting patients to have a good death at all levels of the NHS – considering people’s last months and years rather than just their last few days. OnMedica

Tackling mental health is the policy challenge of our lifetime

Tackling mental health is the policy challenge of our lifetime Tackling poor mental health in our communities is perhaps the single most important issue for my generation of Members of Parliament.

I’m an MP because I believe that Plymouth, and by extension the wider UK society, must be judged on how we look after our most vulnerable. I care deeply about, and work hard every day, in order to improve the opportunities of those in my City for whom life’s lottery has not been kind. And the truth is, the single biggest factor in doing so in these hardest to reach communities, is getting mental healthcare right. New Statesman

'Postcode lottery' revealed in NHS care

'Postcode lottery' revealed in NHS care Differences in quality of treatment for patients with dementia, diabetes and learning disabilities revealed in NHS England figures

Patients with dementia, diabetes and learning disabilities are being let down by their local health services in many parts of England, new figures show.

A postcode lottery of care across the country has been highlighted as new performance data shows that while some health bodies are performing well, neighbouring organisations are falling short. Continue reading... The Guardian

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BMA in a 'total mess' over junior doctors dispute, says insider

BMA in a 'total mess' over junior doctors dispute, says insider Senior figure says leaders going ahead with week-long strikes to avoid members going it alone and forming new union

The British Medical Association is in a “total mess” over the junior doctors dispute and is pushing ahead with plans for a series of week-long strikes despite having “lost the battle” with Jeremy Hunt, a senior figure in the union has said.

BMA leaders are backing the walkouts partly because they want to avoid junior doctors breaking away and forming their own union, the well-placed source told the Guardian. Continue reading... The Guardian

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Teen pregnancy rates plummet as more young people use 'effective' contraception like the coil and the Pill, study reveals

Teen pregnancy rates plummet as more young people use 'effective' contraception like the coil and the Pill, study reveals The number of 15- to 19-year-olds giving birth dropped 5.6 per cent between 2007 and 2012. In that same period, sexual activity among teens rose. And so did teen use of 'effective' contraception. The Daily Mail