This blog covers the latest UK health care news, publications, policy announcements, events and information focused on the NHS, as well as the latest media stories and local news coverage of the NHS Trusts in Northamptonshire.
A new relationship with people and communities: actions for delivering chapter 2 of the NHS five year forward view As part of the NHS five year forward view, the PCB was invited to recommended a set of high-impact actions for adopting person- and community-centred approaches to health and social care. Chapter two of the forward view sets out a vision of health and care where people are fully engaged with their health. This report outlines actions and related recommendations for making this vision a reality. The actions address key areas in the NHS where substantial progress can be made over the next year. The annex highlights approaches or interventions developed within the voluntary sector which have the potential for wider adoption. People and Communities Board
Fatherhood: the impact of fathers on children’s mental health This briefing explores the research available on this topic and highlights the distinct role fathers can play in nurturing good mental health in their children. Centre for Mental Health
Care in a post-Brexit climate: How to raise standards and meet workforce challenges This report explores the drivers of inadequate standards of care in the UK, including chronic underinvestment, the reliance on a low paid, poorly trained workforce and high levels of staff turnover. It also sets out a vision for a more relational, personalised care system, delivered by a more highly skilled and well-resourced workforce. Institute for Public Policy Research
Integrating health and social care across the UK: toolkit for nurses New UK-wide toolkit for those working in strategic decision-making roles or involved in forums around integrated care. The toolkit has a series of themed prompt questions for reflection and action. It will support members to provide confident nursing leadership to shape, deliver and monitor safe, quality and local integrated services. Royal College of Nursing
He said there was "no excuse" for some of the difficulties highlighted during the BBC's NHS week, and the government had a plan to help hospitals cope.
A series of reports have revealed lengthening waits in A&E and patients being left for hours on trolleys.
Sir Robert Francis QC, who investigated failings in Mid Staffordshire, said the NHS was facing an "existential crisis".
However, in an exclusive interview with the BBC, Mr Hunt said the key was to treat more people "at home and in the community" to ease the burden on hard-pressed hospitals. BBC News
This is despite figures showing almost 200 assaults on doctors, nurses and other NHS staff in England every day.
One A&E doctor said "most NHS staff" could say they had been attacked or felt unsafe at work.
NHS Protect said it could not comment before a staff consultation ended but the government said it believed a new approach was needed to protect staff.
The body was tasked with overseeing the measures that trusts were taking to stop physical attacks on doctors and nurses. BBC News
High five: Five examples of innovation in the NHS Around the UK, trusts are coming up with innovative ways of relieving the pressure on the NHS and improving people's health - in hospitals, in GP surgeries, in care homes and in accident and emergency units. BBC News
Patrick Sullivan, a researcher with experience of mental health care, said doctors should allow some people to continue to self-harm while providing safety information and therapy to help patients understand their actions and develop alternative coping strategies. The Independent
Medical knowledge changes swiftly, and technological changes make new and expensive investigations and treatments possible that were only theoretical a few years ago. Life has been extended in length, but not in quality, and the debates about end‑of‑life decisions show us how much the notion of a “good life” is bound up with the absence of disease, illness and suffering.
The practice of medicine is not purely technical. It involves a relationship between a person who is seeking help, and who may be vulnerable, and a person who has the skills and knowledge to help. Relationships that involve disparities of power, knowledge and vulnerability require some degree of external oversight and regulation. Traditionally, in medicine, this oversight has taken the form of codes of ethics, starting with the Hippocratic Corpus. Today, bodies such as the General Medical Council and the Royal Colleges define the standards of good medical practice. Continue reading...The Guardian
Public institutions such as the National Health Service increasingly want—and are expected—to base their actions on nationally agreed standards, rather than anecdote. The collection and analysis of data, when done responsibly and in a trusted manner, has the potential to improve treatment and improve the social and economic value of healthcare.
However, the goal of using data to improve the NHS and social care is hampered by a talent gap – a lack of personnel with data analytical skills – that stands in the way of uncovering the rich insights that reside in the NHS’ own data. The NHS is not unique among institutions that are struggling to identify, hire and retain people with data science skills and the ability to apply these. Continue reading...The Guardian
Cost of current cancer treatments are 'unsustainable' Professor Workman, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said pharmaceutical companies have got used to big profit margins. The Daily Mail See also:
But today the board of NHS England agreed that medics will simply have to say when and where they take on such duties - and not on how much they earn from them.
The new rules on conflicts of interest also mean all gifts over £50 have to be declared. The Daily Telegraph See also:
