Wednesday 14 December 2016

Older people in Northamptonshire urged to get eye test to help prevent falls

Older people in Northamptonshire urged to get eye test to help prevent falls Eye health professionals in Northamptonshire are calling for older people to have regular sight tests to help prevent falls. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Getting the midwifery workforce right

Getting the midwifery workforce right This report outlines how maternity services should be organised, funded and staffed. It discusses the role of the midwife and approaches for services to enable them to make safe and effective staffing decisions. Royal College of Midwifery

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Private lives, public health: the changing shape of contraceptive services in England post-2013

Private lives, public health: the changing shape of contraceptive services in England post-2013 This report is the result of an audit of the impact of funding cuts and commissioning reforms on contraceptive services in England by analysing the results of an FOI request sent to all 152 upper tier and unitary councils. The findings show a mixed picture with some areas managing to sustain current service provision but there are signs that full, open access contraceptive care and services are under increasing strain in many places. Advisory Group on Contraception

'Gender-biased infections' may exist

'Gender-biased infections' may exist Viruses can evolve to become more aggressive in men than in women - at least in theory, a study suggests.

The report, published in Nature Communications, argues there is a benefit to a virus "going easy" in women as it helps it spread.

Some infections are known to be less deadly in women, but this is largely put down to differences in the immune system.

Experts said the findings were intriguing. BBC News

GPs are not 'crying wolf' about pressures, says NHS chief executive

GPs are not 'crying wolf' about pressures, says NHS chief executive GPs are willing to consider 'radical' changes to their model of practise because they have been 'systematically under-invested in', NHS England's chief executive has said.

Simon Stevens said that general practice in England will change, away from the 'cottage industry', with new models including hospital takeovers and GP super-practices.

And he said these changes were made possible because GPs were 'willing to contemplate some quite radical changes', but he admitted that this was a direct response to under-investment and NHS leaders placing 'rising workload and demands' on GPs. Pulse

£300,000 NHS dialysis unit fraudsters jailed

£300,000 NHS dialysis unit fraudsters jailed An NHS manager, his partner and three contractors, who all helped defraud Epsom and St Helier Hospital NHS Trust of hundreds of thousands of pounds for work that was unnecessary or was never carried out, have been sentenced following a fraud investigation led by NHS Protect.

NHS Protect says the thefts, from Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, were "too extensive and complex to ever be precisely added up", but the total is estimated at around £300,000. The exact figure will be determined at a future confiscation hearing to get the money back. OnMedica

Working with the NHS: 'doors are opening for innovative small firms'

Working with the NHS: 'doors are opening for innovative small firms' The health service is increasingly relying on small businesses to meet its needs. But how can entrepreneurs find a way in?

As the fifth largest organisation in the world, the NHS can provide lucrative opportunities for small business. But from the outside, it’s often seen as an unwieldy, unnecessarily bureaucratic body that’s difficult to break into.

For Jason Williams, business development director at seeDATA, a partnership came about through an agreement with the local academic health science network (AHSN), which the company had worked with previously to build a bespoke customer relationship management platform. Continue reading... The Guardian

Dementia will soon be controlled just like HIV, says research institute

Dementia will soon be controlled just like HIV, says research institute Alzheimer's may in some cases be as manageable as HIV/Aids by 2025, the head of Britain's new Dementia Research Institute (DRI) predicts.

Professor Bart De Strooper said he hoped to see a time in the near future when the condition could be stabilised even if it proved impossible to cure.

There is even a chance that the brain could re-wire itself and restore lost mental ability once progress of the disease has been halted, he believes. The Independent

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'Unarguable' case that care for elderly needs more money says NHS chief 

'Unarguable' case that care for elderly needs more money says NHS chief There is an "unarguable" case for an urgent cash injection into social care to fend off an immediate crisis in care of the elderly, the head of the NHS has said.

Simon Stevens made the plea as he mooted long-term moves towards a system of compulsory insurance to cover the cost of care home fees, or care in the home.

The chief executive said social care should be “first in the queue” for any extra funding available, agreeing with peers that the situation had reached crisis point. The Daily Telegraph

Doctors warned: don't tell girls with anorexia to come back when thinner

Doctors warned: don't tell girls with anorexia to come back when thinner Doctors have been warned not to tell patients with anorexia to come back for help when they are thinner, following new advice from watchdogs.

The NHS guidance also tells GPs to look out for the condition in patients working in “high risk” professions like fashion, dance, modelling, where eating disorders are rife.

The draft advice from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) warns GPs not to delay referring patients with eating disorders for treatment, amid fears that too many doctors wait to see if symptoms worsen before treatment is given. The Daily Telegraph