Wednesday 28 June 2017

Senior KGH midwife struck off for series of serious failings

Senior KGH midwife struck off for series of serious failings A senior midwife who put the health of mothers and babies at KGH at risk through a series of failings has been banned from the profession. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Northamptonshire's patient transport service handed to company lambasted in every area by latest inspection

Northamptonshire's patient transport service handed to company lambasted in every area by latest inspection A service that transports Northamptonshire's sick and elderly patients to appointments has been given to an organisation that inspectors recently found operated with dirty ambulances with "poor infection control". Northamptonshire Telegraph

Championing quality and seizing improvement opportunities – are we getting it right?

Championing quality and seizing improvement opportunities – are we getting it right? Our new report on the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme describes the efforts that leading orthopaedic surgeons made to improve care in their specialty – with impressive results. It reminds me of an early clinical encounter that shaped my own interest in health and care improvement. The King's Fund

Winter warning: managing risk in health and care this winter

Winter warning: managing risk in health and care this winter This report highlights concerns from NHS leaders around the ability of the health system to respond to mounting pressures next winter. It argues that the extra £1bn social care funding committed to easing delayed transfers of care will not be sufficient with 91 per cent of trusts reporting a lack of capacity in social care. The report calls for a funding injection of £350m to ensure that there is enough capacity across the system and to ensure adequate resourcing. NHS Providers

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News story: Secondary school staff get mental health 'first aid' training

News story: Secondary school staff get mental health 'first aid' training From June 2017, teachers in secondary schools around the country will take part in a new training programme to help them identify and respond to early signs of mental health issues in children.

The programme, backed by £200,000 government funding, and delivered by the charity Mental Health First Aid, will eventually cover every secondary school in England, as part of a government commitment to improve support for children and young people.

Teachers and other school staff will receive practical advice on how to recognise issues including depression and anxiety, self-harm, and eating disorders.

They will also be invited to become ‘first aid champions’, sharing their knowledge and experiences across schools and communities to raise awareness and break down stigma and discrimination. Department of Health

A&E cuts will hit 23m people, British Medical Association says

A&E cuts will hit 23m people, British Medical Association says Nearly 23 million people in England - more than 40% of the population - could be affected by proposed cuts to A&E departments, doctors are warning.

The analysis of NHS plans by the British Medical Association also warned the changes were being rushed through without the evidence they will work.

The proposals have been put forward by local managers seeking to make savings under the direction of NHS England.

Bosses have argued services in the community will be boosted in return. BBC News

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Vulnerable told to expect cuts to council care

Vulnerable told to expect cuts to council care The elderly and disabled in England are being told to expect cuts to care services and rises in charges after council chiefs unveiled spending plans.

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services said £20.8bn was expected to be spent on care this year, a cash rise of 5% since last year.

It follows a £1bn cash injection announced in the Budget which ministers said would relieve the pressures.

But ADASS said £824m of savings were still having to be made.

The group, which represents social care directors, said rising demand meant cuts were inevitable given the current funding levels. BBC News

Charlie Gard parents lose court appeal

Charlie Gard parents lose court appeal Judges at the European Court of Human Rights have rejected a plea from the parents of terminally-ill baby Charlie Gard to intervene in his case.

Chris Gard and Connie Yates lost their final legal bid to take their son to the US for treatment.

Specialists at Great Ormond Street Hospital believe Charlie has no chance of survival.

The court agreed, concluding that further treatment would "continue to cause Charlie significant harm".

Charlie is thought to be one of 16 children in the world to have mitochondrial depletion syndrome, a condition which causes progressive muscle weakness and brain damage. BBC News

Abortion should not be crime, says doctors' union

Abortion should not be crime, says doctors' union Doctors have backed decriminalising abortion, as momentum gathers to overhaul the 1967 Abortion Act.

Currently women in England and Wales have to prove to a doctor that carrying on with the pregnancy is detrimental to health or wellbeing to get permission for a termination.

Without permission, abortion is a criminal offence.

But medics at the British Medical Association's annual conference voted to scrap that rule. BBC News

NHS staff and teachers could receive pay rise as MPs vote on public sector pay cap

NHS staff and teachers could receive pay rise as MPs vote on public sector pay cap A cap on public sector pay that has frozen salaries below inflation for seven years could be lifted as MPs vote on the policy during the Queen’s Speech debate.

Parliament will vote on whether to end the austerity policy, introduced in 2010 by George Osborne, on Wednesday following a debate about health, security and social care.

The amendment to the Queen’s Speech, tabled by Labour's front bench, calls for a "fair pay rise" for emergency and public sector workers including teachers, doctors and police officers. The Independent

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Jeremy Hunt accused of 'sleeping at the wheel' during NHS data loss scandal

Jeremy Hunt accused of 'sleeping at the wheel' during NHS data loss scandal Health secretary forced to respond to urgent Commons question after withering NAO report on loss of 700,000 health documents

Jeremy Hunt has been accused of being “asleep at the wheel” while a private firm co-owned by the Department of Health built up a backlog of over 700,000 pieces of medical correspondence it never delivered to GPs.

The health secretary was summoned to the House of Commons to answer questions from MPs after a damning National Audit Office report found that the scandal may have harmed the health of at least 1,788 patients and had so far cost £6.6m. Continue reading... The Guardian

Give the NHS more money – or it will face trouble this winter

Give the NHS more money – or it will face trouble this winter Without investment, there is a serious possibility of wider failures than last winter with the safety of more patients at risk

It may seem odd to issue a winter warning when we have just been through an early summer heatwave. But the forecast from the NHS frontline is clear: unless we do something now to manage the risk for winter, there is trouble ahead.

Last winter, NHS staff responded heroically to extraordinary pressures. But safety and standards of care were compromised in too many places. As demand increased, so did pressure on beds, staff and the whole health and care sector. That meant delays in A&E and more patients waiting on trolleys for a bed. This had knock-on effects for ambulance response times and there were similar pressures in mental health and community services. Continue reading... The Guardian

Video link GP service deemed UNSAFE by inspectors

Video link GP service deemed UNSAFE by inspectors The first digital GP service allowing patients to have private appointments via video link has been deemed unsafe by inspectors.

Push Doctor, which charges users £25 for a ten-minute webcam consultation with a doctor, received a scolding Care Quality Commission (CQC) report.

Its seven day a week service, reliant on NHS doctors keen to earn some extra money, was found to not be safe, effective, or well-led.

Patients were being dangerously prescribed drugs they may not have needed due to a lack of essential tests, a damning report said. The Daily Mail

Heart disease deaths drop by 20% since indoor smoking ban

Heart disease deaths drop by 20% since indoor smoking ban Public Health England statistics show the number of smokers dying from heart attacks has dropped by over 20 per cent since the 2007 ban, while deaths from stroke have dropped by 14 per cent. The Daily Mail

NHS alert as fire chiefs warn 38 hospitals are 'as dangerous as Grenfell Tower'

NHS alert as fire chiefs warn 38 hospitals are 'as dangerous as Grenfell Tower' Up to 38 hospital sites may be as dangerous as Grenfell Tower, with nine identified as at greatest risk, fire chiefs have warned.

The alert came as more than 17,000 care homes and private hospitals were ordered to undertake their own safety reviews, in the wake of the disaster.

Theresa May has ordered a major national investigation into the use of potentially flammable cladding on high-rise towers across the country.

It follows checks on cladding from residential tower blocks, with all 95 samples submitted by councils so far failing fire safety tests. The Daily Telegraph

NHS 'lost sight that GP was a human being' before she committed suicide

NHS 'lost sight that GP was a human being' before she committed suicide The NHS has been criticised for suspending a GP with bipolar disorder by a coroner who warned that services “lost sight she was a human being”.

Dr Wendy Potts was suspended by her surgery, after a patient read her blog about her mental health condition and complained about her fitness to work.

Weeks later the mother of two, 46, was found hanged at her home after telling her partner "How can I have been so stupid?"

Derbyshire's Assistant Coroner James Newman concluded that Mrs Potts committed suicide on November 24, 2015. He criticised the way the matter was handled and the manner in which the NHS deals with doctors suffering mental health issues. The Daily Telegraph