Changes to apprenticeships - what employers need to know

Changes to apprenticeships - what employers need to know A new guide has been developed for employers in the NHS to help them get the most from upcoming changes to apprenticeships. NHS Employers

Sustainable development in the health and care system: health check 2017

Sustainable development in the health and care system: health check 2017 This report is the first in a series of annual publications from the Sustainable Development Unit looking at progress of sustainable development across the health and care system. It finds that overall organisations are cutting their carbon footprint and saving money through reducing energy use, but having less success in addressing water use and the increased costs from waste disposal.
Report
Sustainable Development Unit - publications
Sustainable Development Unit

Producing modelled estimates of the size of the lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) population of England

Producing modelled estimates of the size of the lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) population of England This work provides a population denominator for use in estimating health outcomes by sexual orientation. Being able to compare health outcomes between different population groups is important in assessing health inequality and inequity.
Report
Public Health England - publications
Public Health England

Michael Gove urged to back Brexit Bill amendment over £350m NHS claim

Michael Gove urged to back Brexit Bill amendment over £350m NHS claim  Michael Gove is being urged to “make good on his promise” and back an amendment to the Article 50 Bill demanding the Government publish an analysis of the impact of Brexit on the NHS.
If successful the amendment would compel Downing Street to probe the effects of exiting the EU on the UK’s health service. It would also place pressure on those who claimed the NHS would benefit from £350m extra a week one Britain left the EU. The Independent

Plans afoot for single route onto medical register

Plans afoot for single route onto medical register The General Medical Council is seeking views on creating a single route to the medical register. Consultations opened this week on plans for a Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) that will provide a single route to the medical register for all doctors who wish to practise in the UK.
The proposals aim to address the current variation in arrangements for medical students across the country and those wishing to join the register from outside the UK. OnMedica News

Cancer rates set to increase six times faster in women than men

Cancer rates set to increase six times faster in women than men Obesity partly to blame as cases of ovarian, cervical and oral cancers predicted to rise the most over the next 20 years. Cancer rates will increase nearly six times faster in women than in men over the next 20 years, with obesity partly to blame, experts predict. As several of the obesity-related cancer types only affect women, the growing number of people of both sexes who are severely overweight is likely to have a greater effect on incidence of the disease among women, according to the analysis by Cancer Research UK.Continue reading...  The Guardian

NHS cash crisis in Kent halts non-urgent surgery until April

NHS cash crisis in Kent halts non-urgent surgery until April  West Kent clinical commissioning group is trying to save £3.2m by delaying non-urgent operations until new financial year.
An NHS body has run so short of money that it has banned patients in its area from having non-urgent surgery for up to 102 days in an unprecedented move that doctors have condemned as unfair and damaging.
Around 1,700 patients will be affected by West Kent clinical commissioning group’s (CCG) attempt to save £3.2m by delaying non-urgent operations from 20 December last year until the new financial year starts in April. Continue reading... The Guardian

Most important breast cancer drug in two decades will not get NHS funding

Most important breast cancer drug in two decades will not get NHS funding A new drug described as one of the "most important" advances in treating breast cancer in two decades will not be approved on the NHS, under rationing plans.
Around 6,000 women a year, many with terminal disease, could benefit from palbociclib. The treatment has been found to stall tumours by 10 months - almost twice as long as standard drugs.
But the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said the cost – at around £3,000 a month – was too high, and that clinical trials were unclear about whether the drug improved overall survival. The Telegraph

NHS out-of-hours services have been run without a single doctor in 1 in 10 areas

NHS out-of-hours services have been run without a single doctor in 1 in 10 areas  Four million patients have been left without a GP available at night or weekends at some point in the last year, an investigation has found. One in ten areas did not have a single doctor available to cover the shift, heaping pressures on Accident & Emergency departments, new figures show.
Senior doctors said the findings exposed “worrying” holes in patient safety, which meant patients had to rely on those without medical qualifications or turn to A&E. The Telegraph