Northampton care centre 'pin down mentally sick children'

Northampton care centre 'pin down mentally sick children' An investigation into St Andrew’s Health Centre in Northampton found the shocking results.

Children and teenagers are being pinned down and sedated in one of Britain’s largest mental health centres, a shocking investigation has exposed.

One girl of 15 with autism was prescribed powerful anti-psychotics and shut away in a cell-like room for almost two years.

And in a six-month period last year staff restrained youngsters face-down on at least 600 occasions. The Daily Mail

Report highlights alarming level of readmission for COPD patients

Report highlights alarming level of readmission for COPD patientsA new report from the Royal College of Physicians shows that 43% of patients admitted for hospital treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were readmitted at least once in the 3 months following discharge, representing a considerable increase from 33% in 2008.

COPD is responsible for 5% of annual deaths globally, is the fifth biggest killer in the UK and is the only major cause of death that is on the increase.

Patients first: improving patients' food and drink experience through a better understanding of their priorities

Patients first: improving patients' food and drink experience through a better understanding of their priorities This report covers a large-scale, independent survey of patients’ preferences and experiences of hospital meals. The aim was to conduct face to face interviews with patients in hospital wards to give useful insight into their requirements and views, providing both robust numbers and a good qualitative understanding. By establishing patients’ preferences and priorities and linking this to their satisfaction with what is currently offered, it will be possible to give guidance to providers of food and meal service to develop and improve their offer. Patients Association

Stand by for a quiet revolution in the NHS

Stand by for a quiet revolution in the NHS There is a quiet revolution happening in the NHS in England. It's under the radar and has been little commented on till now.

Details of the potentially radical changes will emerge at the end of March.

There is, apparently, no need for new legislation.

In effect, the controversial health reforms of 2012 will be bypassed in some parts of England.

Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, will unveil his thinking in late March but he has given some clues to MPs on the Public Accounts Committee.

His aim in some areas is to abolish a fundamental feature of the structure of the NHS in England - what's known as the purchaser/provider split. BBC News

Early warning signs of heart attacks 'being missed'

Early warning signs of heart attacks 'being missed' Early warning signs may have been missed in one in six heart attack deaths in England, a study suggests.

Researchers looked at all heart attack hospital admissions and deaths between 2006 and 2010.

The team, from Imperial College London, found 16% who died of a heart attack within 28 days of an admission had not been diagnosed - despite symptoms like chest pain most likely being present.

The British Heart Foundation has called the research "concerning".

The study authors from the School of Public Health at Imperial College say more research is "urgently needed". BBC News

Drug and mental health admissions highest for a decade

Drug and mental health admissions highest for a decade More patients are being admitted to hospital in England for drug-related mental health issues or poisoning than at any time in the past 10 years.

Official figures reveal 15,074 cases of people in hospital with illicit drug poisoning in 2015-16, 51% more than 2005-06.

Mental health issues had drugs as a cause in 81,904 cases.

Public health experts say falling investment in drug treatment services may explain the rise. BBC News

Doctors describe impact on patients of bed shortages in shocking dossier

Doctors describe impact on patients of bed shortages in shocking dossier Patients are dying because they cannot access specialist care in hospitals struggling to cope and overflowing with patients awaiting discharge, a damning report published by the Royal College of Physicians says.

The report ‘Against the odds; Experiences from the NHS frontline’ collates first-hand experiences from hospital doctors who have been working the NHS frontline over the last couple of months to illustrate the intense pressure the NHS is under.

“Patients are dying as a result of not accessing specialist care, as the hospitals are jam-full,” said one doctor. “We started the day 73 beds down…,” said a second. OnMedica

See also:

• NHS staff ask 'least bad' patients to sleep in corridors amid hospital demand crisis The Daily Telegraph

Brexit: NHS faces crisis unless Government guarantees right of remain for 145,000 EU workers, TUC says

Brexit: NHS faces crisis unless Government guarantees right of remain for 145,000 EU workers, TUC says NHS and adult social care services are facing a further crisis after Brexit unless the Government guarantees the rights of EU workers to remain in the UK, new analysis has shown.

More than 140,000 NHS and adult social care workers in England are EU migrants, with London, the South East and the East of England the most vulnerable to losing vital staff, the TUC found. The Independent

The Guardian view on Jeremy Hunt: he must practise what he preaches | Editorial

The Guardian view on Jeremy Hunt: he must practise what he preaches | Editorial Monumental failures with patient correspondence put lives at risk. The Department for Health needs to ask what needs to change to ensure it doesn’t happen again

“Just how easy is it to speak about things that have gone wrong?”, asked health secretary Jeremy Hunt in a speech he made last year about improving transparency and ending the blame culture in the NHS. Mr Hunt is himself failing badly on this critical benchmark for greater openness. The Guardian this week has revealed that half a million pieces of medical correspondence, including test results and diagnoses for life-threatening conditions like cancer, sat undelivered in a warehouse between 2011 and 2016. Yet it has taken almost a year for the full extent of this failure to emerge. Continue reading... The Guardian

What impact will Brexit have on nursing?

What impact will Brexit have on nursing? The NHS faces a major shortfall in nurses – and the EU referendum result threatens to derail supply further

The NHS faces a severe nursing shortage. An ageing population has pushed up demand, while an ageing nursing workforce – with one in three nurses set to retire in the next 10 years – is reducing supply. The shortage is particularly acute in mental health, with specialist nurse numbers falling more than 10% in the past five years.

And the Brexit vote may make it even worse. A July 2016 Institute for Employment Studies (IES) report reveals about 4.5% of NHS nurses in 2015 were from EU countries excluding Ireland, a steep rise from the 1% of 2009. In some trusts in London and the east of England, the proportion is as high as 20%. Continue reading... The Guardian

15% of trusts spend less than 14p a day on specialist care

15% of trusts spend less than 14p a day on specialist care Some health trusts are spending just 14p a day per patient providing specialist care for those who are dying, a report has revealed.

It exposes severe lapses in services at evenings and weekends with patients and their families left to cope alone.

A total of 15 per cent of trusts said they do not provide specialist end-of-life care and advice to patients seven days a week.

While 31 per cent do not have dedicated pain control teams – nurses who visit homes and administer medication such as morphine. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Commissioning of specialist palliative care services in England (abstract) BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care

Every hospital ordered to change its logo by NHS “identity managers” in move which prompts ridicule

Every hospital ordered to change its logo by NHS “identity managers” in move which prompts ridicule Every hospital in the country has been ordered to alter its logo by NHS “identity managers” in a measure which has prompted fury and ridicule.

A ditkat from NHS England means hundreds of organisations will have to rework all their publicity materials, moving the NHS logo so it is above the name of each trust, instead of beside it.

The measure has been introduced by the “NHS identity team” following 1,000 interviews and 28 focus groups with members of the public. It follows a two year review of the health service logo with nine workshops involving 100 communications officials. The Daily Telegraph

Surgeon accused of assaulting patients by carrying out 'unnecessary' breast cancer operations

Surgeon accused of assaulting patients by carrying out 'unnecessary' breast cancer operations An experienced NHS surgeon has been accused of trying to "earn extra money" by deliberately carrying out "completely unnecessary" operations on suspected breast cancer patients.

Ian Paterson repeatedly lied to patients about their conditions and performed dozens of botched mastectomies which caused patients "serious harm" over a 14-year period, a court has heard.

Prosecutors say Mr Paterson "invented" serious risks of cancer in patients and performed life-changing procedures on them for "no medically justified reason". The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Breast surgeon Ian Paterson 'invented cancer risks' BBC News