Plea by health bosses to use Northamptonshire hospitals carefully after surge in demand

Plea by health bosses to use Northamptonshire hospitals carefully after surge in demand Health bosses in Northamptonshire are strongly urging people to help their local accident and emergency departments cope with very high levels of demand. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Understanding patient flow in hospitals

Understanding patient flow in hospitals With performance falling below targets and winter approaching, a Nuffield Trust briefing today warns the NHS can no longer find enough bed space to move patients through hospitals quickly and meet key A&E targets – and that its practice of counting patients at midnight means we are missing the true scale of the squeeze.

Understanding patient flow in hospitals, a briefing for NHS managers, estimates that 5.5% of beds need to be free for cleaning and preparation if patients are to be moved through quickly enough to meet the high-profile commitment to admit or transfer emergency patients within four hours. Yet many hospitals are unable to provide this much of the time, making target breaches inevitable. With a growing number of patients coming and going during the day, counting bed occupancy at midnight means that crunch times are often invisible. The Nuffield Trust

Is mental health crisis care in crisis?

Is mental health crisis care in crisis? This briefing, by the Mental Health Network, explores the gap between the policy rhetoric around mental health crisis care and reporting on the ground. NHS Confederation

Hidden in plain sight: the unmet mental health needs of older people

Hidden in plain sight: the unmet mental health needs of older people According to this report, the current availability of mental health services does not meet the increasingly high demand from our ageing population. It also found that over a third of Mental Health Trusts in England have no policies for providing integrated care for people over 65 with both mental and physical health needs. Age UK

Council care cuts 'affecting A&E'

Council care cuts 'affecting A&E' The Care Quality Commission annual report says emergency care is one of the poorest performing parts of the health system. BBC News

See also:

• Adult social care ‘approaching tipping point’, warns quality regulator Care Quality Commission
• The state of health care and adult social care in England 2015/16 Care Quality Commission
• Safety fears in two-thirds of England's A&Es, inspectors say BBC News
• Eight in 10 NHS hospitals not safe enough, amid warnings that care crisis is reaching a 'tipping point' The Daily Telegraph
• Social care cuts take English service to tipping point, regulator warns The Guardian

Let struggling GP surgeries fail, says NHS England letter

Let struggling GP surgeries fail, says NHS England letter Some struggling GP surgeries in England will be allowed to fail and close, according to a leaked document.

A letter from an NHS England official to managers and GPs in one region suggests vulnerable practices could be left to "wither by the system".

The note, seen by the BBC and Pulse magazine, claims NHS England is no longer able to "continue supporting practices irrespective of their ability… to transform appropriately".

NHS England denied this was the case.

A spokesman for the British Medical Association said it was "unacceptable" that some NHS managers believed that some GP practices would be left to close. BBC News

See also:

• Vulnerable practices 'to be allowed to fail and wither', says NHS England director Pulse

Hospitals and GP practices fail to check for HIV

Hospitals and GP practices fail to check for HIV Some hospitals and GP practices in England and Scotland are failing to carry out recommended HIV checks, a BBC investigation finds. BBC News

Half of patients think GPs should always give them the treatment or referral they demand

Half of patients think GPs should always give them the treatment or referral they demand Half of patients now Google their symptoms before visiting a GP and believe that family doctors should always provide the prescription, treatment or referral they request, according to a poll commissioned by a medico-legal organisation. GP Online

GP's charging mentally ill patients up to £150 for sick notes

GP's charging mentally ill patients up to £150 for sick notes Sick notes that banks and lenders need to help customers with mental illnesses manage their debt are costing patients up to £150.

GPs normally charge between £20 and £30 for a note but it can range up to £150, according to research conducted by the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute.

The forms can allow patients to get their debts cancelled and also stops lenders from involving bailiffs. They are drawn up by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the credit sector and are seen as proof of mental illness. The Independent

See also:

• The case for stopping charges for the debt and mental health evidence form Money and Health Policy Institute

More babies face health risks due to obese parents, experts warn

More babies face health risks due to obese parents, experts warn Doctors say increasing number of babies worldwide face serious problems, such as brain damage, strokes and heart disease

A growing number of babies worldwide are at risk of brain damage or having a stroke, heart attack or asthma in adulthood because their mother was obese, health experts have warned.

Leading doctors said dangerously overweight mothers were passing on obesity to their children as the result of “a vicious cycle” in which excess weight can seriously affect the health of parents and their offspring. Continue reading... The Guardian

Patients forced to make appointments to boost profits, says Labour MP

Patients forced to make appointments to boost profits, says Labour MP Paula Sherriff says her former employer Virgin Care insisted on extra consultations at expense of taxpayer and patient safety

Healthcare provider Virgin Care has been forcing patients to attend extra appointments to boost profits, says former employee and the Labour MP for Dewsbury, Paula Sherriff.

Speaking in the House of Commons, where she was protected from possible legal action by parliamentary privilege, Sherriff accused Virgin Care of insisting on “extra consultations before surgery, boosting their profits at the expense of the taxpayer and patient safety”. Continue reading... The Guardian

'Musketeer' nurse at heart of Morecambe Bay baby death scandal 'significantly overpaid' in goodbye deal

'Musketeer' nurse at heart of Morecambe Bay baby death scandal 'significantly overpaid' in goodbye deal The midwife at the heart of a scandal where 11 babies avoidably died was “significantly overpaid” in a farewell deal which also prevented investigation of her conduct.

Jeanette Parkinson, the former maternity risk manager at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust, received up to 14 months’ salary as part of a 2012 redundancy agreement after the deaths came to light.

A review by the trust last year, seen by the Health Service Journal, found Ms Parkinson, one of a group of midwives calling themselves the “Musketeers”, also received more than 470 hours in overtime pay. The Daily Telegraph

‘Just a nurse?’ Woman’s heartfelt letter to those who devalue her profession

‘Just a nurse?’ Woman’s heartfelt letter to those who devalue her profession A nurse from Queensland, Australia, has been praised for a heartfelt open letter she wrote following a meeting with an acquaintance who described her as ‘just a nurse’.

Caitlin Brassington was returning home last week from a busy shift at the hospital, where she works as a paediatric nurse, when she bumped into the woman during a stop-off to pick up milk.

The acquaintance had never seen Carrie in uniform, she later wrote for ABC, and told her “she didn't realise I was just a nurse.”

“Over my 18-year career, I have heard this phrase many, many times,” she later wrote. “ But today it got to me. The Daily Telegraph