Response to Corby Urgent Care Centre crisis ‘woefully inadequate’, says MP

Response to Corby Urgent Care Centre crisis ‘woefully inadequate’, says MP The MP for Corby says people have been let down by a poor quality of dialogue over the town’s urgent care centre crisis.

Residents fear the site could close in October after the only bidder for a new contract withdrew from the process.

The current operators, Lakeside+, say they will walk away because Corby CCG aren’t offering enough money to cover their costs.

MP Tom Pursglove says the community needs reassurance that it will stay open - but they simply aren’t getting it. Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also:

• Corby Urgent Care Centre given ‘good’ rating by CQC Northamptonshire Telegraph

Patient at Northampton psychiatric hospital died after nurse muddled medication, panel hears

Patient at Northampton psychiatric hospital died after nurse muddled medication, panel hears A nurse who botched a medication round at a Northampton hospital that led to the death of a patient has been let off with a caution.

While on duty at an unfamiliar ward at Berrywood Hospital, in Duston, Misodzi Gwenamo gave a large dose of medication to the wrong patient. The ward then failed to provide sufficient emergency care as the patient's condition worsened until she died.

Gwenamo admitted all charges of misconduct at a Nursing and Midwifery Council disciplinary hearing on July 24. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Patient experience of GP surgeries: it’s getting in that’s the problem

Patient experience of GP surgeries: it’s getting in that’s the problem It is rare that any service hears from 800,000 of its users at the same time, but that is what happened recently with the publication of the GP Patient Survey. It is easy to dismiss this kind of survey, particularly when the results make difficult reading – the questions are wrong, it doesn’t reflect the right patients – but when this number of people have taken the time to give their views on the services they receive then we should take the time to listen to what they are telling us. The King's Fund

How safety huddles can drive improvement and reduce harm

How safety huddles can drive improvement and reduce harm Last month’s CQC report showcased improvements across eight trusts, including Leeds Teaching Hospitals where I work. The report prompted me to ask: in a world where morale is low and resources depleted, how do you reach and engage the whole workforce to believe they can make a difference?

Four years ago we held a ‘big conversation’ with our ward team about the improvement area we wanted to work on. A colleague from Yorkshire and Humber Improvement Academy suggested we try a team huddle, or focused gathering. We wanted to reduce falls and discussed how we could focus our huddle on who we were worried about falling that day and what we could do as a team.

We tested our huddle during a shift. Our aim was to go 30 days without a fall, although the team didn’t believe this was possible. A week between falls was rare, so the idea of celebrating 10 days between falls as a bronze certificate began. The dream of a gold certificate of 30 days seemed impossible, with a fear that we would fail. The Health Foundation

Sexual and reproductive health must not become the "Cinderella" service of the NHS

Sexual and reproductive health must not become the "Cinderella" service of the NHS The College is launching its report Time To Act, highlighting the findings of a College consultation with its 50,000-strong membership.

It found that GPs fear rates of teenage pregnancy and transmission of sexually transmitted diseases will rise – reversing current trends – as vulnerable patients are being excluded from accessing the most appropriate forms of contraception, and that health inequalities are being widened as a result.

Members particularly cited the difficulties patients living in rural areas have in accessing sexual and reproductive health services, as well as younger patients who rely on their parents for transport. Royal College of General Practitioners

Inpatient provision for children and young people with mental health problems

Inpatient provision for children and young people with mental health problems This report examines the state of child and adolescent mental health inpatient services in England. It explores the latest evidence and NHS data on admissions, quality of care, staffing and capacity. It highlights five challenges to raising standards in young people’s mental health provision. Education Policy Institute

Mental health crisis services in England 'under pressure'

Mental health crisis services in England 'under pressure' Services for people who are suicidal or self-harming are facing unprecedented demand in England, a BBC Radio 5 live investigation has found.

Out of 39 mental health trusts that provided figures for their crisis teams, 27 had seen their workload increase - 70%.

And some had seen referrals rise by as much as 60% - but without a comparable rise in funding.

NHS England said an extra £400m would be spent on crisis resolution teams.

BBC Radio 5 live contacted all 54 mental health trusts who run crisis teams in England.

One of them, East London NHS Foundation Trust, revealed its crisis team had seen referrals increase from 7,057 to 11,368 last year, a 60% rise in demand. BBC News

Should you finish a course of antibiotics?

Should you finish a course of antibiotics? It is time to reconsider the widespread advice that people should always complete an entire course of antibiotics, experts in the BMJ say.

They argue there is not enough evidence to back the idea that stopping pills early encourages antibiotic resistance.

Instead, they suggest, more studies need to be done to see if other strategies - such as stopping once feeling better - can help cut antibiotic use.

But GPs urge people not to change their behaviour in the face of one study. BBC News

See also:

• The antibiotic course has had its day The BMJ

NHS patient data serious incidents doubled since Capita contract

NHS patient data serious incidents doubled since Capita contract There was a 'significant increase' in patient information being dropped, accidentally left behind or sent to the wrong location after the NHS outsourced functions to Capita.

In 2016/17, one year after NHS England entered into the new primary care support services contract, around 700 patients were affected by inadvertent disclosure of their information - although in most cases items were discovered by, or handed into, GP practices unopened.

In all, 12 of the 18 Serious Incidents Requiring Investigation reported by NHS England in the last financial year were related to the Primary Care Support England (PCSE) contract with Capita, NHS England’s annual report reveals. Pulse

Mental health spending cut despite more people seeking help, new figures reveal

Mental health spending cut despite more people seeking help, new figures reveal The number of people referred to mental health trusts in England surged last year even as spending on crisis teams was cut, figures have revealed.

Seven in 10 mental health trusts saw referrals to their mental health community crisis teams increase between 2015 and 2016, with several soaring by more than 30 per cent, including one that took in 61 per cent more referrals than it did the previous year.

The figures, obtained by Radio 5 Live, show that of the 39 trusts that responded, 27 saw a rise in referrals. Eleven of these also saw a drop in funding for their funding on crisis teams. The Independent

'You have no choice but to cope': a day on the ward with a student nurse

'You have no choice but to cope': a day on the ward with a student nurse It’s exhausting and sometimes distressing, but Chantelle Brooks, on her final placement at a mental health hospital in Blackpool, wouldn’t work anywhere else

Inside the Harbour, Blackpool’s mental health hospital, a patient is anxiously eyeing up the student nurse who is taking another patient’s blood pressure. When it comes to her turn, the woman begins shouting insults. On the acute woman’s ward, it’s easy for things to escalate if one patient becomes upset. For nurses on placement, it can be a stressful introduction to life on the wards.

Chantelle Brooks has learned to cope by now. This is her final placement on a three-year degree course in mental health nursing at the University of Cumbria. Despite the occasionally distressing nature of her job, she can’t imagine doing anything else. Continue reading... The Guardian

Ex-bishop drafted in to help save contaminated blood inquiry

Ex-bishop drafted in to help save contaminated blood inquiry Former Hillsborough panel chair Right Rev James Jones asked to break stalemate by talking to victims boycotting proceedings

The former bishop of Liverpool who chaired the Hillsborough panel has been drafted in to help save the contaminated blood inquiry, which is being boycotted by hundreds of victims infected with HIV and hepatitis C.

The Right Rev James Jones has been asked to break the stalemate by hosting talks with victims, who lack trust in the Department of Health (DH) to set up an independent investigation after being given contaminated blood by the NHS. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• What is the contaminated blood scandal? The Guardian

Hospitals that puts the sick at risk face court

Hospitals that puts the sick at risk face court Hospitals will face criminal prosecutions for putting patients at risk, the official watchdog has warned.

The Care Quality Commission is considering taking legal action against an unspecified number of trusts where patients have been harmed.

The watchdog was given new powers to prosecute NHS trusts in 2015 following a landmark inquiry into the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal.

In March, it used these powers for the first time by bringing a criminal prosecution against Southern Healthcare Trust. The Daily Mail

PHE did not raise alarm about E.coli outbreak for four months, report reveals

PHE did not raise alarm about E.coli outbreak for four months, report reveals Health bosses did not raise an alert about an outbreak of deadly E.coli for more than four months while 21 people became infected, a report reveals.

The outbreak of E.coli VTEC 044 left 11 children and two adults fighting for their lives after they developed rare complications.

It was the first infection of its kind in England and ended up affecting 31 people in Dorset between July 2014 and November 2015.

The victims included a 21-month-old boy, who had to be placed in a medically induced coma while suffering kidney failure and seizures due to swelling on the brain. The Daily Telegraph