Thursday 15 December 2016

Trapped in Northampton General Hospital for up to a year: three wards of recovered patients are marooned in NGH

Trapped in Northampton General Hospital for up to a year: three wards of recovered patients are marooned in NGH Elderly patients are living at Northampton General Hospital for up to a year because the NHS cannot set up adequate home care, the Chronicle & Echo has learned.

The crisis is being caused by chronic delays in finding home care, with waits for a standard package - two carers four times a day - of “at least six weeks to eight weeks”. One man arrived with a minor physical condition and stayed on a geriatric ward for 12 months even though, aside from his dementia, he was well. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

The general management 'mistake'

The general management 'mistake' Reflecting on the small proportion (less than a third) of NHS chief executives from a clinical background, Jeremy Hunt questioned ‘whether the NHS made a historic mistake in the 1980s by deliberately creating a manager class who were not clinicians, rather than making more effort to nurture and develop the management skills of those who are’.

The development of general managers in the 1980s followed the Griffiths Report, which argued that business-like principles were required in the NHS to oversee ‘planning, implementation and the control of performance’. Griffiths’ vision was that significant and lasting change in the NHS was possible only with management techniques found in industry. Although Jeremy Hunt suggested that this policy distanced clinicians from management responsibility, the report was actually quite clear that doctors would need to take on these roles if they were to keep the freedom to choose how to investigate and treat patients. The King's Fund

Universal healthcare without the NHS: towards a patient-centred health system

Universal healthcare without the NHS: towards a patient-centred health system This report recommends that the NHS emulates the best elements of various European health care systems, whilst retaining universal health care access, in order to improve the quality of care and performance. Proposals include opening the market to both non-profit and for-profit insurers, and the introduction of tax rebates for patients wishing to opt out of NHS care. Institute of Economic Affairs

Household survey shows decline in numbers of children and young people smoking and drinking

Household survey shows decline in numbers of children and young people smoking and drinking Household survey shows decline in numbers of children and young people smoking and drinking.

The 2015 Health Survey for England (HSE) found that 16 per cent of children aged 8 to 15 reported ever having an alcoholic drink. This is the lowest level ever reported since the HSE began, down from the highest point of 45 per cent in 2003.

The figures, published today by NHS Digital, also show that the proportion of 8 to 15 year olds who reported that they had ever smoked a cigarette has decreased from 19 per cent in 2003 to 4 per cent in 2015.

The Health Survey for England (HSE) gathers information from adults and children to monitor trends in the nation's health. The 2015 survey includes information on adult health and social care and, for this survey, the number of 2 to 15 year olds included in the survey was increased to enable a specific focus on child health issues.

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Fall in hospital beds contributing to patient deaths

Fall in hospital beds contributing to patient deaths A decline in the number of hospital beds is putting the NHS in England under increasing pressure and has become an important contributory factor in the number of patient deaths, according to one of the country's leading health statisticians.

An investigation by Professor Sir Brian Jarman shows that average occupancy levels for hospitals in England have climbed to more than 89 per cent and have not gone below the government's recommended average of 85 per cent since 2002.

Meanwhile, the number of beds has more than halved over the last three decades. BBC News

Top GP and Sandwell CCG boss admit £153k fraud

Top GP and Sandwell CCG boss admit £153k fraud A leading GP and senior NHS manager funnelled £153,600 meant for patients over winter into the bank account of a company they controlled.

Dr Ian Walton and Lisa Hill admitted defrauding the NHS by raising a false invoice from a charity, on whose board they both sat.

The judge at Birmingham Crown Court heard that although they dishonestly sourced the cash, they spent £57,000 of it training 69 GPs.

They will be sentenced next week. BBC News

Bridging the divide: how can the NHS get collaboration right?

Bridging the divide: how can the NHS get collaboration right? The funding crisis facing the NHS and social care is unprecedented. Now, more than ever, services need to join forces

In a time of austerity and strained budgets, it has never been more essential for the NHS to get partnerships and collaboration right. Every day, clinical teams save lives – and if the NHS is to survive and thrive, it must draw on this collective strength. Yet collaboration can be patchy among the higher echelons of the NHS, with many potential partners complaining of the health service’s seeming inability to work effectively and courteously with others.

Would the NHS be in a different place if health leaders had, over the past 20 years, facilitated collaboration in the same way they had done for competition? That was one of the questions from the floor at a seminar hosted by the Guardian and supported by business solutions and technology company Brother. Continue reading... The Guardian

NHS winter crisis: hospitals across England report they are full

NHS winter crisis: hospitals across England report they are full Fifteen hospitals across England were left without any spare beds on at least one day this month as the National Health Service braces itself for a winter crisis. The strain facing hospitals – which could escalate if temperatures fall in coming weeks – were highlighted in figures from NHS England on daily winter pressures. The lack of beds could lead to ambulances being diverted to other hospitals, patients forced to wait longer on trolleys and mothballed wards being brought back into service. iNews

Jeremy Hunt launches nationwide sepsis campaign to help parents spot the signs in children

Jeremy Hunt launches nationwide sepsis campaign to help parents spot the signs in children Jeremy Hunt has launched a nationwide campaign to help parents spot the signs of sepsis.

The Health Secretary is hoping to raise awareness of the “devastating” condition which causes around 37,000 deaths each year in England.

Mr Hunt said “we need to get far better at spotting it across the NHS”, adding: “By raising awareness and improving clinical practice we will save lives in the fight against this horrible illness.”

The campaign, delivered by Public Health England and the UK Sepsis Trust, is part of a series of measures by the NHS to tackle the condition which arises as a complication of an infection. The Independent

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Maternity ward chaos left mothers at risk of going home with wrong baby, report finds

Maternity ward chaos left mothers at risk of going home with wrong baby, report finds New mothers risk going home with the wrong baby due to chaotic maternity practices at the UK's biggest hospital, inspectors have warned, after a report found some newborns were not given name tags.

Some babies born at The Royal London Hospital had no name tags - which could lead to them going home with the wrong families or even being given medication meant for another baby, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said.

Inspectors said there was "lax" practice of checking babies' name bands, saying that this could create a "risk that a baby might receive medication intended for another baby, and mother might leave the unit with the wrong baby". The Daily Telegraph

NHS chief: bus passes and pensions must be up for discussion to tackle social care crisis 

NHS chief: bus passes and pensions must be up for discussion to tackle social care crisis Free bus passes and pension protections for older people should be reconsidered if Britain has any hope of solving the crisis facing social care, the head of the NHS has suggested.

Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, told MPs that there is “no point” giving people free bus transport if there is no one to provide the basic care they need to enable them to leave their home in the first place.

He signalled that far more radical action may be needed to help older people than plans, expected to be unveiled by Theresa May, to channel extra council tax money into funding care. The Daily Telegraph

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