Northampton General Hospital asks staff to park considerately after complaints from neighbours

Northampton General Hospital asks staff to park considerately after complaints from neighbours  Neighbours living near to NGH claim they are struggling to park outside their own houses some days as staff use their streets as "a free car park".  Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Family raises concern over new smoking ban for patients at Northampton mental health hospital

Family raises concern over new smoking ban for patients at Northampton mental health hospital A concerned woman, who tends to her brother in a Northampton mental health hospital, is appealing for the institution to revise their policy on a smoking ban for patients.  Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Exploring the case for seven-day services

Exploring the case for seven-day services  A new report from the NHS Confederation looks beyond the headlines to explore the evidence for and against the extension to seven-day services. NHS Employers

Maintaining and improving staff engagment in demanding times

Maintaining and improving staff engagment in demanding times Over the last four years the NHS has secured sustained improvement in staff engagement, our briefing provides different approaches and methods that will help to maintain this improvement in the current context. NHS Employers

Could weaker pound cost the NHS?

Could weaker pound cost the NHS? - BBC News Paul Briddock, policy director of the Health Care Financial Management Association, the professional association for NHS financial staff, tells me he expects there to be a cost to the NHS caused by the increasing costs of imports and imported raw materials.  BBC News

The NHS cannot afford to get another workforce initiative wrong

The NHS cannot afford to get another workforce initiative wrong Rushing through the new nursing associate role during a financial panic risks serious mistakes.
Ultimately, saving money in the NHS means cutting staff costs. The NHS in England spends roughly 40% of its £121bn budget on staff, and as local health economies try to stabilise their finances, options such as slashing agency spending and creating cheaper full-time roles are inevitably part of the mix.
Although clinical staff shortages are a global problem, the NHS exacerbates the difficulties of workforce planning by constant changes in policy. Nursing posts – currently numbering around 300,000 – have borne the brunt of this.  Continue reading...   The Guardian

‘Cyber-bullies, obesity and stress … this is a scary world’ says the new top GP

‘Cyber-bullies, obesity and stress … this is a scary world’ says the new top GP In her first interview as chair of the Royal College of GPs, Helen Stokes-Lampard tells of the challenges facing GPs

‘ This is a scary world,” says Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard, the new leader of the UK’s 49,439 GPs. She is not referring to soaring obesity, or the fact that dementia has replaced heart disease as the nation’s biggest killer, or the truth that everyone’s risk of getting cancer has recently gone from one in three to one in two. She’s talking about social media, its downsides and its contribution to ill-health – mental ill-health specifically – and how more and more of its victims are ending up in GPs’ consulting rooms.

“I wouldn’t want to be a teenager nowadays. The social media pressures are phenomenal. People have become more judgmental about appearance. If I was a chubby teenager, the only people who knew were those around me. But now strangers on the other side of the world have a view on how teenagers look. Can you imagine how awful that must be? Unless you’ve got incredible resilience then that puts you at real risk. It grinds people down. It’s the inexorable pressure to be perfect,” adds Stokes-Lampard, who became the new chair of the Royal College of GPs this weekend.

General practice is closer to the precipice than it’s ever been in living memory  Continue reading...  The Guardian

NHS transformation plans may be used as cover for cuts, says BMA

NHS transformation plans may be used as cover for cuts, says BMA Doctors’ union says 44 regional initiatives amount to £22bn in cuts by 2020-21, with potential to severely affect patient care.
Controversial plans put forward as a way of improving the health service in England and ensuring its sustainability risk being used as a cover for cuts and running down the NHS, the head of the British Medical Association (BMA) has said.
The doctors’ union says the 44 regional sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) amount to £22bn in cuts by 2020-21 to balance the books, which will have a severe impact on patient care.

Continue reading...  The Guardian

NHS trusts overshoot maximum annual deficit in just six months

NHS trusts overshoot maximum annual deficit in just six months Regulator says English trusts set for £648m first-half deficit after £580m was forecast as most that could be overspent this year


NHS trusts in England have overshot their maximum deficit permissible for the financial year after just six months despite a £900m emergency cash injection from the government.

NHS Improvement (NHSI) said financial performance information from providers show they are on track to record a year-to-date deficit of £648m in the first half of the year.

Continue reading...  The Guardian

Two thirds of doctors not consulted on NHS plans to cut A&Es and beds

Two thirds of doctors not consulted on NHS plans to cut A Two in three doctors have not been consulted over NHS plans which could see bed cuts and closures of Accident & Emergency departments, a survey by the British Medical Association has found.
It comes as research shows the proposals, being drawn up across the NHS, will mean at least £22bn in cuts.
The union's head, Dr Mark Porter, said there is a danger the plans are being "used as a cover for delivering cuts, starving services of resource and patients of vital care". The Telegraph