Restraint incidents on Northampton adolescent mental health wards revealed in new inspection

Restraint incidents on Northampton adolescent mental health wards revealed in new inspection St Andrew's Hospital, in Billing Road, Northampton, was criticised for its use of secluding and restraining patients in an episode of Channel Four's Dispatches in March.

Particularly, they were widely condemned for use of the high-risk 'prone' - or face-down - restraint, of which 600 incidents were recorded between 2015 and 2016 across the facility's child and adolescent wards.

Now, an inspection carried out at St Andrew's new child & adolescent mental health facility, Fitzroy House, by the Care Quality Commission in February has given a breakdown of the ward's use of restraints in the past year. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Clinic opens in Northampton town centre offering abortions to pregnant women

Clinic opens in Northampton town centre offering abortions to pregnant women The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) has opened a new clinic in central Northampton.

It will open five days a week, offering pregnancy options, counselling and abortion care for women experiencing unwanted pregnancies or pregnancies they feel unable to continue, as well as STI testing and a range of contraception options including long-acting reversible methods such as the contraceptive implant. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

KGH apologises for traffic problems at hospital

KGH apologises for traffic problems at hospital Kettering General Hospital has apologised for the traffic issues on its site as work continues to create more parking spaces. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Allocating social care funds: difficult decisions ahead

Allocating social care funds: difficult decisions ahead Talented but troubled footballer George Best once reminisced, ‘I spent a lot of money on booze, birds, and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.’ The choices facing local councils in how to use the extra £2 billion for adult social care announced in the Spring Budget are somewhat starker.

The £1 billion available next year would, said the Chancellor, ‘enable councils to take immediate action to fund care packages for more people, support social care providers and relieve pressure on the NHS locally’. NHS leaders, having altruistically championed the case for any new money to go to social care and not into their own coffers, were quick to stake their claim. A key component of the Next steps on the NHS five year forward view delivery plan is that part of the money will be used to free up 2,000–3,000 hospital beds. So it was inevitable that there would be strings attached to the new grant, fuelled by suspicions that with councils facing monumental pressures from other services – from potholes to parks – it might not end up in adult social care. The King's Fund

National standards, local risks: the geography of local authority funded social care, 2009-10 to 2015-16

National standards, local risks: the geography of local authority funded social care, 2009-10 to 2015-16 This report finds that council spending on social care across England fell by eleven per cent in real-terms between 2009-10 and 2015-16. The analysis of local authority spending identified the greatest cuts falling in the north of England and in urban areas. It also found that cuts were larger, on average, in areas that spend more on adult social care, had high assessed spending needs, and were more dependent on government grants. Institute for Fiscal Studies

Ketamine depression treatment 'should be rolled out'

Ketamine depression treatment 'should be rolled out' Doctors trialling the use of ketamine to treat depression are calling for the treatment to be rolled out.

Ketamine is licensed to be used as an anaesthetic but has a reputation as an illegal party drug.

Writing in The Lancet Psychiatry, Dr Rupert McShane, who has led a trial in Oxford, since 2011 says ketamine can work on patients with depression "where nothing has helped before".

However, he is calling for a national registry to monitor its use. BBC News

See also:

• 'I've been taking ketamine for my depression' BBC News
• Ketamine to treat depression The Daily Mail

Web pharmacy gave 17-second prescription

Web pharmacy gave 17-second prescription Websites selling prescription medicines have been reprimanded by inspectors for compromising patient safety.

The Care Quality Commission highlighted lax standards at four online services in its latest batch of inspections.

It included one case where a patient's application was assessed in only 17 seconds by a GP.

Another service was criticised for prescribing a "high volume" of opioid-based medicines without properly checking patient histories.

Other issues identified by inspectors included insufficient checks on patients' identity, poor recording of medical histories, inappropriate medicines being prescribed and lack of communication with the patient's GP. BBC News

See also:

• Protecting people who use online healthcare services Care Quality Commission
• We cannot tolerate laissez faire attitude towards dispensing of prescription medication, says RCGP Royal College of General Practitioners

Smoking causes one in ten deaths globally, major new study reveals

Smoking causes one in ten deaths globally, major new study reveals Efforts to control tobacco have paid off, says study, but warns tobacco epidemic is far from over, with 6.4m deaths attributed to smoking in 2015 alone

One in 10 deaths around the world is caused by smoking, according to a major new study that shows the tobacco epidemic is far from over and that the threat to lives is spreading across the globe.

There were nearly one billion smokers in 2015, in spite of tobacco control policies having been adopted by many countries. That number is expected to rise as the world’s population expands. One in every four men is a smoker and one in 20 women. Their lives are likely to be cut short – smoking is the second biggest risk factor for early death and disability after high blood pressure. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Smoking causes one in 10 deaths worldwide, study shows BBC News

NHS risking people's health by rationing test strips, Diabetes UK says

NHS risking people's health by rationing test strips, Diabetes UK says Diabetes charity finds patients face restrictions on test strips prescribed, which they need to monitor blood glucose

The NHS is putting diabetic patients at risk of serious illness by rationing test strips that monitor blood glucose levels in an attempt to save money, a charity claims. A survey carried out by Diabetes UK found that one in four complained of restrictions placed on the number of test strips they were prescribed by GP practices.

People with diabetes need to test their blood glucose regularly to monitor the condition. If not managed properly, diabetes can lead to health complications such as heart disease, strokes, blindness and amputations.

It makes no sense to undermine good preventive care in this way Continue reading... The Guardian

Dating apps such as Tinder and Grindr should advertise condoms to prevent STIs, NHS advise

Dating apps such as Tinder and Grindr should advertise condoms to prevent STIs, NHS advise Dating apps such as Tinder and Grindr should advertise handouts of free condoms to prevent a surge in sexually transmitted infections, under new NHS advice.

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) says schemes which hand out free or cost-price condoms should target websites used “to find local sexual partners” in a bid to cut thespread of diseases.

The schemes, funded by local authorities, should also advertise on social media, pointing those most at risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) to contraception being handed out by GPs, pharmacies, universities and youth groups. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Sexually transmitted infections: condom distribution schemes (guideline) National Institute of Health and Care Excellence

Locum doctors accused of 'organised campaign' to hold NHS to ransom

Locum doctors accused of 'organised campaign' to hold NHS to ransom Locum doctors have been accused of running an “organised campaign” to hold the NHS to ransom after dozens demanded pay boosts of up to 50 per cent.

NHS watchdogs said medics employed via agencies are refusing to work at the last minute, leaving dangerous gaps in medical cover, as pressures on hospitals mount.

Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS Improvement, accused doctors of colluding to try to get pay boosts in ways which could see some struck off.

He spoke out as it emerged that a string of hospitals have been pushed to the brink of crisis, by agency doctors withdrawing from shifts, after their pay demands were resisted. The Daily Telegraph