Monday 21 August 2017

Plans to improve NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment processes

Plans to improve NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment processes NHS England has published plans to improve of NHS continuing healthcare (CHC) pathways and processes, as part of the NHS contribution to the reduction of delayed transfers of care.

NHS call for equality over private hospitals' tax break

NHS call for equality over private hospitals' tax break NHS trusts are calling for equal treatment on business rates after research revealed private hospitals get discounts worth £52m over five years.

A study suggests more than one in four private hospitals are charities, giving them an 80% rebate in business rates.

But NHS trusts all have to pay in full, and will face a £300m increase in rates over the next five years. BBC News

Most GPs support ban on prescribing OTC drugs

Most GPs support ban on prescribing OTC drugs Close to two thirds of GPs support a ban on prescribing drugs that are available over the counter, a GPonline survey has revealed.

The NHS saved me. As a scientist, I must help to save it | Stephen Hawking

The NHS saved me. As a scientist, I must help to save it | Stephen Hawking The crisis in the health service has been created by politicians who want to privatise it – when public opinion, and the evidence, point in the opposite direction

Like many people, I have personal experience of the NHS. In my case, medical care, personal life and scientific life are all intertwined. I have received a large amount of high-quality NHS treatment and would not be here today if it were not for the service.

The care I have received since being diagnosed with motor neurone disease as a student in 1962 has enabled me to live my life as I want, and to contribute to major advances in our understanding of the universe. In July I celebrated my 75th birthday with an international science conference in Cambridge. I still have a full-time job as director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology and, with two colleagues, am soon to publish another scientific paper on quantum black holes.

When public figures abuse scientific argument to justify policies, it debases scientific culture Continue reading... The Guardian

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Operating on the wrong person and patients falling out of windows - NHS 'never events' at near record levels

Operating on the wrong person and patients falling out of windows - NHS 'never events' at near record levels Patients falling out of windows and equipment being left inside wounds after surgery were some of a near record number of 'never events' recorded by the NHS last year.

Campaigners have warned the same life-threatening mistakes, for which there can never be an excuse, are "disturbingly high" and often repeated, as official data reveals wrong site surgery took place 178 times in the 12 months before April.

Surgical swabs were mislaid inside patients after operations 22 times, the data shows, and in two cases broken-off drill bits were mislaid. The Daily Telegraph

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Men offered a £3,000 sweetener to induce them to train as nurses

Men offered a £3,000 sweetener to induce them to train as nurses Men are being offered a £3,000 sweetener to entice them to train as nurses.

Coventry University said the plans aim to “address a growing gender imbalance” on such courses

Men account for just 10 per cent of the total nursing students placed at UK universities, and the gender gap is growing.

Nurses said some male patients preferred to be treated by another man. The Daily Telegraph