Monday 3 April 2017

On-going strain on Northampton A&E forces hospital to station nurses in its corridors 24/7 after 'busiest winter on record'

On-going strain on Northampton A&E forces hospital to station nurses in its corridors 24/7 after 'busiest winter on record' A Northampton hospital is preparing to permanently station nurses in its corridors just to deal with spillover patients from A&E. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Prescription abuse in the UK a growing concern

Prescription abuse in the UK a growing concern The problem of prescription opioid abuse is usually highlighted as a problem exclusive to the United States, given that the country consumes the largest percentage of these medications in the world. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Independent report: NHS property and estates: Naylor review

Independent report: NHS property and estates: Naylor review The report examines how the NHS can make the best use of its estate to support NHS England’s Five Year Forward View.

It highlights the opportunities available to support sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) and optimise the use of NHS land and buildings.

The government is already acting on some of the recommendations by:

  • creating a new NHS property board
  • making a £325 million capital investment over the next 3 years to develop local STPs - as announced in this year’s Budget
  • developing an incentive scheme to guarantee that proceeds of sales are available for reinvestment
A further multi-year capital programme will be considered in the autumn.

The government welcomes the review and will consider the recommendations carefully and respond in due course. Department of Health

Consultation launched on prescribing of gluten-free foods

Consultation launched on prescribing of gluten-free foods The consultation follows NHS England’s announcement this week of new guidance on the prescription of low value items such as travel vaccines, painkillers, and gluten-free (GF) foods.

It will consider ending the prescription of all gluten-free foods in primary care, with estimates suggesting this could save £25.7 million a year for the health service. An additional £10 million could be saved through patients no longer needing to attend GP appointments in order to get their gluten-free prescriptions. Department of Health

More than 20 million Britons 'physically inactive'

More than 20 million Britons 'physically inactive' More than 20 million people in the UK are physically inactive, according to a report by the British Heart Foundation.

The charity warns that inactivity increases the risk of heart disease and costs the NHS around £1.2bn each year. BBC News

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Investigation launched into claims NHS 111 helpline 'put suicidal callers on hold until they hung up'

Investigation launched into claims NHS 111 helpline 'put suicidal callers on hold until they hung up' The NHS has launched an “urgent” investigation into allegations that suicidal patients calling 111 are being left on hold until they hang up.

Staff at the health service’s non-emergency hotline were allegedly found asleep on duty, claimed a reporter for The Sun who went undercover at the NHS 111 call centre at St Charles Hospital in Ladbroke Grove, west London.

The newspaper reported an alleged conversation with one of the call handlers about how they dealt with suicidal patients.

According to The Sun, a handler told the undercover reporter: “After a while you can’t talk to them no more, it just gets awkward.”

“She was crying and I was asking her stuff like, 'do you not really want to talk', she was like, 'no'... I put her on mute,” the reporter was allegedly told. The Independent

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NHS to fast-track UK nurses to combat record departures of EU staff

NHS to fast-track UK nurses to combat record departures of EU staff Chief executive of NHS England announces new training programme to ‘grow the workforce from within this country’

NHS England is to launch a new nursing training programme to help plug the gap created by the record number of Europeans leaving the health service since the Brexit vote.

Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, acknowledged that the service relies on international staff, including the more than 12,000 nurses who are EU nationals out of the 315,000 nurses on the NHS’s payroll. Continue reading... The Guardian

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Simon Stevens' NHS gamble is probably the right choice - but price could be high

Simon Stevens' NHS gamble is probably the right choice - but price could be high Will politicians and the public stomach longer waits for routine surgery if performance is improved in other areas?

The NHS plan for the next two years represents a perceptible contraction of the health service’s offer to the public.

The proposals in Next steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View, published on Friday, are shaped by shortages of money and staff. Continue reading... The Guardian

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Were NHS chiefs right to deny pancreatic cancer drug?

Were NHS chiefs right to deny pancreatic cancer drug? The news in late 2015 that abraxane was being rejected by NICE on cost grounds was met with anger by patient groups as some people had survived years when they had been given months to live. The Daily Mail

Law firms to be banned from touting for business in hospitals

Law firms to be banned from touting for business in hospitals Law firms will no longer be able to tout for business inside hospitals under plans unveiled by the NHS.

Personal injury lawyers will be banned from health service premises from 2017/18 following changes to the NHS Standard Contract.

Firms will be stopped from "operating from or touting for business", according to the Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View.

Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said: "We want lawyers out of hospital and doctors out of court.

"That's why personal injury lawyers are going to be banned from NHS premises following consultation on changes to the NHS Standard Contract." The Daily Telegraph

The doctor won't see you now: patients lose 'automatic right' to same-day appointment

The doctor won't see you now: patients lose 'automatic right' to same-day appointment Patients will lose their “automatic right” to a same-day doctor’s appointment under new plans to cope with the shortage of GPs.

Oxfordshire will become what is thought to be the first area to scrap guaranteed access for urgent patients, as part of an overhaul labelled “cuts in disguise”.

Callers to the county’s 72 NHS surgeries will instead be “triaged” so as to determine whether they are ill enough to fill one of just 13 slots a day at each practice. The Daily Telegraph