Friday 6 January 2017

Operations cancelled as Northampton's emergency department remains on 'high alert'

Operations cancelled as Northampton's emergency department remains on 'high alert' Sick and seriously ill people are stranded in A&E as hospitals across Northamptonshire spend another day at critical capacity. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Youth service backs Northamptonshire County Council’s vision for young people’s mental health services

Youth service backs Northamptonshire County Council’s vision for young people’s mental health services A counselling service for children and young people has largely welcomed the goals set out in Northamptonshire County Council’s draft budget and plan. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Safe, sustainable and productive staffing: an improvement resource for adult inpatient wards in acute hospitals

Safe, sustainable and productive staffing: an improvement resource for adult inpatient wards in acute hospitals This guidance aims to help standardise staffing decisions in adult inpatient wards in acute hospitals. This resource is based on the National Quality Board’s expectationsopens in a new window that to ensure safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care, trusts will employ the right staff with the right skills in the right place and at the right time. The closing date for comments on the draft guidance is 3 February 2017. NHS Improvement

Blocked beds blight mental health care

Blocked beds blight mental health care Delays in discharging people from hospital are rising more rapidly in mental health trusts than other parts of the NHS in England, a study shows.

NHS England data found a 56% rise in the number of bed days lost to delayed discharge in psychiatric trusts in October 2016 compared to November 2015.

There was a comparable rise in acute trusts of 30%.

A spokeswoman said the Department of Health was investing £400m over four years to support people in their homes.

"No-one should face unnecessary delays in being discharged," she said. "The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health will transform services by 2020/21 to make sure urgent improvements are made." BBC News

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Hospitals warn over pressure of patient numbers

Hospitals warn over pressure of patient numbers A third of hospital trusts in England issued alerts warning they needed urgent action to cope with the pressure of patient numbers last month.

In the most serious cases - seven of the 50 trusts that issued alerts - the hospitals declared they were unable to give patients comprehensive care.

BBC Radio 4's Today programme has been told operations have been cancelled and patients left waiting on trolleys.

NHS England said tried-and-tested plans were managing the pressures.

Dr Taj Hassan, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said there was an "absolute and urgent need" to help emergency departments. BBC News

MPs urge Theresa May to agree cross-party NHS funding plan

MPs urge Theresa May to agree cross-party NHS funding plan The chairs of three influential House of Commons select committees have urged prime minister Theresa May to agree a cross-party deal to secure the future of health and social care funding. GP Online

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General practice could be 'outsourced' to private corporations under MCP deal, warns BMA

General practice could be 'outsourced' to private corporations under MCP deal, warns BMA General practice could be outsourced to private corporations under multispecialty community provider (MCP) contracts set to be rolled out this year, GP leaders have warned. GP Online

Improving NHS services should not feel like a quest in a labyrinth

Improving NHS services should not feel like a quest in a labyrinth Resources are being squandered with teams of people battling an unwieldy health system

The surprise in the health service is not how little collaboration there is across professional and organisational boundaries, but how so many people achieve so much in the face of overwhelming odds.

Ministers and NHS leaders encourage and cajole staff to improve services, but even the most driven transformation zealots find themselves worn down by having to fight the system rather than be supported and encouraged by it.

Improving services should not feel like a quest in a labyrinth Continue reading... The Guardian

A receptionist saved my life and other love letters to healthcare staff

A receptionist saved my life and other love letters to healthcare staff Caring nurses, skilled surgeons and quick thinking midwives. Readers recall health workers who changed their lives

I’d gone to A&E in Derby, where I was staying for Christmas, with the most dreadful headache. I’d been a radiographer at St Thomas’ hospital in London for 18 years and knew something wasn’t right. It was the day after Boxing Day and there had been heavy snow so it was busy with people who had fallen over. Continue reading... The Guardian

Would YOU trust it? NHS to diagnose patients via new smartphone app after criticisms of 'inadequate' 111 helpline

Would YOU trust it? NHS to diagnose patients via new smartphone app after criticisms of 'inadequate' 111 helpline The NHS will roadtest new smartphone technology in a bid to diagnose patients. Starting at the end of January, more than a million residents of north London will trial the triage app. The Daily Mail

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