A recent report has rated a Northampton surgery as ‘outstanding’

A recent report has rated a Northampton surgery as ‘outstanding’ A report published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found the calibre of care provided at a Northampton surgery to be “outstanding” following an inspection carried out in January 2016. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Co-production: an inconvenient truth?

Co-production: an inconvenient truth? As chief executive officer of West London Collaborative (WLC), a community-led and owned community interest company, I was lucky enough to have a place in the first cohort of The King’s Fund programme Leading collaboratively with patients and communities, together with the chief pharmacist at West London Mental Health NHS trust, Michele Sie.

This gave us the opportunity to reflect on our working relationships and our personal styles of handling conflict and disagreement. We learnt about ‘appreciative enquiry’ – a model seeking to encourage self-determined change – and some useful theories around organisational politics. This has been really helpful, as WLC works in partnership with the NHS to co-produce with patients around complex and difficult issues. As such I regularly have to challenge very senior people and we often get stuck at some point during the process. This usually revolves around denial of one consistent and very inconvenient truth: patient involvement is not co-production. The King's Fund

Recovering the cost of NHS treatment for overseas patients

Recovering the cost of NHS treatment for overseas patients This report has found that the Department of Health and the NHS, working with other parts of government, have made progress to recover more of the cost of treating overseas visitors who are not entitled to free hospital treatment but, if current trends continue and the charging rules remain the same, will not achieve the government’s ambition of recovering up to £500 million a year by 2017-18. National Audit Office

NHS funds need urgent boost, say MPs

NHS funds need urgent boost, say MPs MPs on Parliament's Health Committee question the government's claim the NHS in England will receive £10bn extra by the end of the decade. BBC News

See also:

• The King’s Fund comments on Health Committee Chair’s letter to the Chancellor The King's Fund
• Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt misled the public on NHS money, says Tory MP Sarah Wollaston The Daily Mail
• Almost half of NHS authorities to cut hospital beds and third to close A&E The Daily Telegraph
• Health select committee chair asks chancellor to consider extra funding for NHS GP Online
• Theresa May’s claim on health funding not true, say MPs The Guardian
• GP politician makes direct plea to Chancellor on NHS funding OnMedica

Number of young seeking help for anxiety rises

Number of young seeking help for anxiety rises The number of young people in the UK seeking help for anxiety has increased by 35% in just a year, the NSPCC says. BBC News

GMC warns of 'state of unease' amongst doctors

GMC warns of 'state of unease' amongst doctors Its annual report highlights 'dangerous levels of alienation' felt by trainees. OnMedica

Health visitors aren't valued but we do more than just weigh babies

Health visitors aren't valued but we do more than just weigh babies Amid drastic cuts to health visiting services, I’m struggling to help the vulnerable families I see every day

Health visitors don’t always get good press at the school gates or toddler groups. Among my fellow nursing friends, the standing joke is that I spend my day simply weighing babies. I guess as a result it’s not hard to see why in some areas the value placed on health visiting has fallen so far that the service will be cut completely.

At the moment most councils are reviewing the funding for health visiting amid drastic cuts to public health budgets. Cumbria and Staffordshire are planning on cutting health visiting posts and a number of other NHS trusts have job freezes and have discussed redundancies. NHS Digitalreported this year that the number of health visitors dropped in UK by 433 posts.

Within an hour of taking a seat I’m asking personal questions. I won’t pretend that it doesn’t sometimes feel intrusive Continue reading... The Guardian

Sick pay and work assessments to be reviewed, Jeremy Hunt reveals

Sick pay and work assessments to be reviewed, Jeremy Hunt reveals Consultation to be carried out as cost of treating long-term health conditions that prevent people from working reaches £7bn

The system of sick pay and GP “fit notes” is to be reviewed by the government, as Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, highlighted the growing cost of long-term sickness to the NHS and suggested getting people back to work had major benefits for health.

The review will be announced in a draft consultation document published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on Monday, which will also examine changes to the controversial work capability assessments (WCA) undergone by disabled people in order to obtain welfare. Continue reading... The Guardian

How 6,000 patients waited more than 12 hours at hospital for crucial treatment in one year

How 6,000 patients waited more than 12 hours at hospital for crucial treatment in one year One in 12 stroke victims admitted to English hospitals last year had at least a 12 hour wait before they had even been given their first scan and in some hospitals the figure soared to more than a third. The Daily Mail

Mental health services must improve at 127 NHS groups, figures show

Mental health services must improve at 127 NHS groups, figures show Of 209 Clinical Commissioning Groups in England, 106 'need improvement', while 21 have the 'greatest need for improvement', NHS England figures reveal. The Daily Mail

Drug addicts to be given heroin in UK's first state shooting gallery

Drug addicts to be given heroin in UK's first state shooting gallery Drug addicts are to be given medical-grade heroin under plans to open the UK’s first state-approved 'shooting gallery' in Glasgow, which are expected to be given the green light today.

The local health board, city council and police are expected to approve the idea in principle in the hope it will help address the problems caused by an estimated 500 users who currently inject themselves on Glasgow’s streets.

Under the plan for so-called “fix rooms”, addicts will be given medical-grade heroin to inject under supervision of a medical professional with clean needles. The Daily Telegraph