Tuesday 1 August 2017

'How I kept my hair during chemotherapy': breast cancer patient speaks out after pioneering treatment at Northampton General Hospital

'How I kept my hair during chemotherapy': breast cancer patient speaks out after pioneering treatment at Northampton General Hospital A woman who was being treated for breast cancer at Northampton General Hospital used a pioneering scalp cooling treatment to keep her hair during chemotherapy.

In July 2016, Debbie Charles, of Greens Norton, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Initially one tumour was discovered, but a MRI scan later confirmed that she had two, both over five centimetres long.

Debbie had to undergo chemotherapy to shrink the tumours before surgery but when she was told she had to have chemotherapy she was mortified at the thought of losing her hair. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Help shape how healthcare is scrutinised in Northamptonshire as county prepares to recommission Healthwatch service

Help shape how healthcare is scrutinised in Northamptonshire as county prepares to recommission Healthwatch service Northamptonshire residents are being asked how they want their healthcare services to be held to account in the future.

The county council is re-commissioning their Healthwatch services and are looking for views to shape how the public want it to work for them.

It comes as the contract for the current provider, Connected Together, ends in March 2018.

Healthwatch is an independent "consumer champion" for people who use health and social care services to share experiences and is required by local authorities. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

‘Ball is in CCG’s court’, say operators of Corby Urgent Care Centre

‘Ball is in CCG’s court’, say operators of Corby Urgent Care Centre The operators of Corby’s Urgent Care Centre say the ball is in the clinical commissioning group’s court to decide on what happens next.

Lakeside+ said it would walk away from the centre when its contract ends on September 30 in a row over funding.

That left the future of the site from October unclear, with Corby CCG admitting its contingency plan was a no-go because the only other potential operator had also pulled out.

A public meeting, attended by politicians and representatives from both Lakeside+ and Corby CCG, was held last week with outbursts of frustration from residents who turned up.

Now Lakeside says it would be willing to extend its contract – but the ball is in the CCG’s court. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Policy paper: Suicide prevention: response to Health Select Committee

Policy paper: Suicide prevention: response to Health Select Committee The government’s response to the Health Select Committee’s inquiry into suicide prevention responds to the committee’s recommendations for improving delivery of the cross-government suicide prevention strategy.

This response was prepared by the Department of Health in consultation with other government departments and agencies, including NHS England, Public Health England and Health Education England.

Stepping forward to 2020/21: the mental health workforce plan for England

Stepping forward to 2020/21: the mental health workforce plan for England This plan sets out measures to expand the mental health workforce in England and fulfil ambitions to improve mental health services. By 2020 to 2021 local areas will need to create 21,000 new posts in priority growth areas to deliver the improvements in services and support set out in the Five year forward view for mental health. Department of Health

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Autistic people will receive better care if GPs develop a national register

Autistic people will receive better care if GPs develop a national register NICE is calling on GPs to develop a national autism register to ensure autistic people receive the tailored care they need.

The register will mean patients on the autistic spectrum will be easily identifiable to healthcare professionals working within the GP surgery.

This will help the staff to adapt their approach to suit their patient’s needs – for example, nurses can ensure children on the autistic spectrum are called for vaccinations at the beginning of surgeries when the waiting rooms are quieter and could turn down lights for those with sensory problems.

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NHS staff: How many foreign staff work in the NHS?

NHS staff: How many foreign staff work in the NHS? From Tuesday 1 August, most new students of areas such as nursing, midwifery and physiotherapy will no longer be able to apply for grants, and will have access instead to the student loans system.

UCAS announced earlier this year that there had been a notable decrease in students from England applying to do at least one nursing course, saying it had fallen 23% to 33,810 in 2017.

Chancellor Philip Hammond spoke last week about the "very high numbers of foreign workers keeping our NHS going".

Looking at the figures from NHS Digital, overall, 82% of NHS staff are UK nationals, with 5% from the European Economic Area (EEA, that's the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and 6% from the rest of the world. The remaining 7% are of unknown nationalities. BBC News

Nearly all men over 60 and women over 75 eligible for statins, analysis suggests

Nearly all men over 60 and women over 75 eligible for statins, analysis suggests 11.8 million adults in England are eligible to be offered cholesterol-lowering drugs, say researchers who examined 2014 guidance on statins set out by Nice

Almost all men over 60 and women over 75 should be eligible for statins, according to a new analysis.

After examining guidance on which patients should be offered stain therapy, researchers calculated 11.8 million English adults are eligible for the cholesterol-lowering drugs.  Continue reading... The Guardian

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Relationship between councils and NHS is cracking under financial strain

Relationship between councils and NHS is cracking under financial strain Collaboration between the health service and local government is essential to modernise care, but tensions between the two are growing

The financial crisis engulfing health and social care risks driving the NHS and local government apart.

Local Government Chronicle has revealed that ministers have instructed 47 of the 152 councils running social care to reduce delayed transfers of care from hospitals attributable to social services by 60% or more, based on their performance in February. Continue reading... The Guardian

We can't fix the NHS throwing cash at it, says Jeremy Hunt

We can't fix the NHS throwing cash at it, says Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Hunt admitted yesterday that throwing money at the NHS could fail and that his own plans to rescue the health service had resulted in ballooning costs for the taxpayer.

The Health Secretary said different parties had 'made the mistake too often' of trying to solve problems with a big injection of cash, but without a proper strategy for how it should be spent.

He acknowledged that he too had made the same error, and that his efforts to deal with the fallout of the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal had resulted in costly agency nurses being used to plug gaps. The Daily Mail

NHS victims face spending all their damages on lawyers - new report

NHS victims face spending all their damages on lawyers - new report Victims of NHS blunders face spending all their compensation on lawyers fees, following a proposed Government shake-down of legal costs, experts have warned.

The fears of patient safety groups were realised on Monday as a report by the Right Honourable Justice Jackson recommended capping the costs recoverable by people successfully suing negligent NHS trusts.

The long-awaited document recommends imposing the cap on medical negligence cases where the value of the claim is worth less than £25,000. The Daily Telegraph

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