KGH showing signs of improvement, inspection finds

KGH showing signs of improvement, inspection finds An inspection at Kettering General Hospital has found it has made significant improvements to patient safety and care.

The hospital was issued a warning notice by the Care Quality Commission in October 2016 after being placed into special measures. A subsequent inspection in June found the hospital has met the requirements of the notice, but it will still be in special measures until a full inspection takes place this autumn when it could be regraded.

Interim chief executive Fiona Wise said: “We have worked hard and comprehensively to address the issues raised by the CQC and I think the report reflects that. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Partnerships for improvement: ingredients for success

Partnerships for improvement: ingredients for success The idea of partnerships and collaboration across organisational boundaries is at the heart of NHS reforms in England. Although we have helped to develop the evidence base for how networks of people can improve quality of care, less is known about what makes for successful partnerships between providers at an organisational level.

For this reason, we commissioned the Health Services Management Centre at the University of Birmingham to look at a range of current organisational partnerships. This report focuses on five different partnering arrangements, as well as interviews with national leaders, and draws learning to help inform and guide policymakers and providers. The Health Foundation

Tobacco, drugs and obesity: taking stock of recent policy

Tobacco, drugs and obesity: taking stock of recent policy The current government has now produced two plans and a strategy in important areas of public health and behaviour. So it’s a good time to take stock of what the tobacco control plan, the childhood obesity plan and the drug strategy together tell us about the government’s approach to these issues. The King's Fund

Managing the costs of clinical negligence in trusts

Managing the costs of clinical negligence in trusts The cost of clinical negligence in trusts is significant and rising fast, placing increasing financial pressure on an already stretched system. NHS Resolution and the Department are proposing measures to tackle this, but the expected savings are small compared with the predicted rise in overall costs. At £60 billion, up from £51 billion last year, the provision for clinical negligence in trusts is one of the biggest liabilities in the government accounts, and one of the fastest growing. Fundamentally changing the biggest drivers of increasing cost will require significant activity in policy and legislation. National Audit Office

See also:

• Compensation claims draining the NHS of £1.6bn a year The Daily Mail
• NHS negligence bill set to more than double as waiting lists lengthen The Daily Telegraph

Not by degrees: improving student mental health in the UK's universities

Not by degrees: improving student mental health in the UK's universities This report finds that levels of mental illness, mental distress and low wellbeing among students in higher education in the UK are increasing, and are high relative to other sections of the population. It calls for universities to make mental health a strategic priority and adopt a whole-university approach to prevention, promotion and support. Institute for Public Policy Research

Public 'tricked' into buying unhealthy food

Public 'tricked' into buying unhealthy food The UK's obesity crisis is being fuelled by businesses pushing unhealthy food and larger portions on shoppers, according to health experts.

The Royal Society for Public Health warned consumers were being tricked by a marketing ploy known as upselling.

The tactic involves shops, cafes and restaurants encouraging customers to upgrade to larger meals and drinks or adding high-calorie toppings and sides.

A poll suggested eight in 10 people experienced it every week. BBC News

See also:

• New report reveals ‘upselling’ is fuelling the obesity crisis Royal Society for Public Health
• Shoppers eat an extra 17,000 calories a year because of 'supersize' tactics The Daily Telegraph

Tackling health anxiety could save NHS over £400m a year, study finds

Tackling health anxiety could save NHS over £400m a year, study finds Researchers find people who have had a serious illness fear it will happen again and symptoms persist when nothing is wrong

The NHS could save more than £420m a year by offering treatment for health anxiety and “cyberchondria”, a psychological ailment caused by people obsessively looking up their symptoms online, a study has estimated.

The study, funded and published by the National Institute for Health Research, said the savings could be made just on the costs of care in hospital outpatient departments, with research showing health anxiety fades and stays away after a course of therapy. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Cognitive behaviour therapy for health anxiety in medical patients (CHAMP): a randomised controlled trial with outcomes to 5 years (open access) National Institute for health Research
• Anxiety over health 'caused by cyber-chondria' BBC News
• Britain's epidemic of cyberchondria The Daily Mail
• 'Cyberchondria' fuelling anxiety epidemic clogging up hospital clinics The Daily Telegraph

'Enough is enough': nurses protest against pay cap outside Westminster

'Enough is enough': nurses protest against pay cap outside Westminster Around 2,000 nurses gather to warn government strike action is possible over policy that has led to 14% cut in real-terms of wages

Nurses have expressed their anger over the public sector pay cap in a protest outside parliament, warning the government they are prepared to take industrial action.

Around 2,000 nurses from all over the country congregated in Westminster on Wednesday at a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) protest against the policy that has led to a 14% cut in real-terms of wages for staff in England over the past seven years. Continue reading... The Guardian

What’s stopping pharmacies doing more to reduce pressure on GPs?

What’s stopping pharmacies doing more to reduce pressure on GPs? Chemists can already provide vital services, such as the morning-after pill – but a new study shows they are being chronically underused

When a woman recently walked into Thorrun Govind’s high-street pharmacy in Bolton seeking help for a common infection, Govind quickly knew what to prescribe. But because the woman said she had not had the medication before, Govind had to check with her GP practice. They insisted the woman go in. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Guidance: Community pharmacy: public health interventions Public Health England

Another CCG scraps free IVF on the NHS

Another CCG scraps free IVF on the NHS Health chiefs in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area have stopped giving infertile women the service with immediate effect. Some exceptions will apply to the new plans. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Free IVF no longer offered in county where it all began BBC News

Unqualified NHS staff are labelled as nurses

Unqualified NHS staff are labelled as nurses Unqualified care assistants are practising in the NHS with job titles that describe them as nurses with advanced skills, experts have revealed.

A new study found that thousands of nursing jobs across the health service have titles that have little or no link to a nurse's education or level of experience.

Researchers said people are also working with these titles without being registered with the regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

In many cases, NHS trusts or staff themselves create their own job titles. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Variation in job titles within the nursing workforce (abstract) Journal of Clinical Nursing