Clear and credible plan needed for digital health

Clear and credible plan needed for digital health Government ministers and NHS leaders should set out a definitive plan for expanding the use of digital technology in the health service, according to a new briefing.

The briefing highlights the risk of losing credibility and commitment among frontline NHS staff if the digital health agenda continues to be subject to shifting priorities, new initiatives and slipping timescales. It calls for urgent clarification of when funding already announced will be made available, warning that holding back investment until later in the parliament will inevitably slow down progress. The King's Fund

See also:

• Saving paper, saving money or transforming care? The King's Fund

Stoptober quit smoking campaign returns

Stoptober quit smoking campaign returns Smokers across the country are being urged to take part in Stoptober (the mass quitting challenge from Public Health England (PHE) starting on 1 October) and join nearly 15 million people who have already quit.

Last year, out of the 2.5 million smokers who made a quit attempt, 500,000 people (20%) were successful; the highest recorded success rate and up from just 13.6% 6 years ago. Public Health England

News story: UK secures historic UN Declaration on antimicrobial resistance

News story: UK secures historic UN Declaration on antimicrobial resistance The agreement follows a worldwide campaign led by the Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to highlight the threat posed to modern medicine by antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Every signatory has agreed that drug resistant infections must be tackled as a priority. The nations have committed to:

• develop surveillance and regulatory systems on the use and sales of antimicrobial medicines for humans and animals
• encourage innovative ways to develop new antibiotics, and improve rapid diagnostics
• raise awareness among health professionals and the public on how to prevent drug resistant infections

Drug-resistant infections pose the biggest threat to modern medicine. Currently, it is estimated that more than 700,000 people die annually due to drug-resistant infections such as TB, HIV and malaria but, because of the lack of global data, it is thought that the real number is likely to be far more. Department of Health

Fiscal sustainability analytical paper: fiscal sustainability and public spending on health

Fiscal sustainability analytical paper: fiscal sustainability and public spending on health This paper reviews the latest evidence on the demographic and non-demographic determinants of health spending in the UK and its implications for the Office for Budget Responsbility's long-term health spending projection. It finds that demographic effects have explained only a small part of the increase in health spending over past decades and that they are likely to remain a relatively small, although growing, driver of spending in the future. Office for Budget Responsibility

Many cancelled operations 'unrecorded'

Many cancelled operations 'unrecorded' Tens of thousands of operations were cancelled by English hospitals last year but not officially counted, figures obtained by the BBC suggest.

About half of trusts provided details of cancellations one to three days before admission.

Hospitals must record cancellations on the day of an operation or of admission - but not those prior to that.

NHS England said official figures showed less than 1% of operations were cancelled at the last minute. BBC News

NHS should get £5bn 'Brexit bonus' - Lansley

NHS should get £5bn 'Brexit bonus' - Lansley The NHS should get a £5bn-a-year "Brexit bonus", former Conservative Health Secretary Andrew Lansley says. BBC News

Chris Brennan inquest: Hospital neglect 'contributed to teenager's death'

Chris Brennan inquest: Hospital neglect 'contributed to teenager's death' Neglect by one of England's largest mental health trusts contributed to the death of a boy, a coroner rules. BBC News

See also:

• Staff were 'desensitised' to self-harm at psychiatric hospital where boy, 15, died The Daily Telegraph
• Neglect contributed to teenager's death in psychiatric hospital, coroner rules The Guardian

Breast cancer patients denied ‘life-saving’ 43p treatment ‘due to NHS funding dispute’

Breast cancer patients denied ‘life-saving’ 43p treatment ‘due to NHS funding dispute’ Thousands of patients are being denied “life-saving” breast cancer drugs which cost just 43 pence due to an NHS funding row, research has suggested.

Charity Breast Cancer Now estimates 27,000 women in the UK are being denied osteoporosis medication which can prevent breast cancer spread in the bone due to on-going uncertainty as to who is responsible for funding the medication. The Independent

See also:

• Breast-cancer drug confusion 'putting lives at risk' BBC News
• Breast cancer victims are missing out on a life-saving pill that costs 34p a day The Daily Mail
• 43p drug that prevents spread of breast cancer denied to thousands The Daily Telegraph
• Thousands of breast cancer patients missing out on 43p-a-day drug The Guardian

One dying patient taught me that doing nothing can be brave

One dying patient taught me that doing nothing can be brave The patient who loved chicken wings showed me that healthcare professionals fail to hear what really matters in end-of-life care

“There is something actually, doctor.” I turned around in relief. Continue reading... The Guardian

NHS will remain free to use and funded by general taxation, government says

NHS will remain free to use and funded by general taxation, government says Reaffirmation comes in response to OBR projections laying out ever larger sums service will need in coming decades

The NHS will remain funded from general taxation and free for patients to use, the government has pledged, in a statement that appears to rule out the introduction of charges to access care.

The government was responding to new projections from the Office for Budget Responsibility showing that the health service would need such large sums of money in the coming decades that it would threaten the UK’s public finances. Continue reading... The Guardian

Half of skin cancer patients are failing to be referred urgently Nice warns

Half of skin cancer patients are failing to be referred urgently Nice warns Health watchdogs have called for improvements in diagnosis and treatment of skin cancer after new figures showed just half of skin cancers are being diagnosed after an urgent referral by GPs.

The warning from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) comes as figures show cases of skin cancer have risen by almost 50 per cent in a decade.

In England there were 12,246 new cases of malignant melanoma in 2013, with around 2,000 deaths a year. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Skin cancer Quality standard [QS130] National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
• Skin cancer patients are being let down as GPs fail to refer a THIRD of deadly melanoma cases within 2 weeks The Daily Mail