Thursday 28 September 2017

Corby GPs urging at-risk patients to have flu jab

Corby GPs urging at-risk patients to have flu jab Corby’s GPs are urging at-risk patients to have the flu vaccine in September and October to get protected in time for the winter.

Most surgeries in Corby are offering Saturday morning flu clinics free of charge throughout September and October to at-risk groups including people who are aged 65 years or over, live in a residential or nursing home, have a learning disability, live with someone who is immunocompromised, are the main carer of an older or disabled person, or who are pregnant.

Surgeries including Great Oakley, Woodsend, The Studfall Partnership and Lakeside Healthcare will be all offering Saturday flu clinics in September and October. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Compassion and innovation in the NHS

Compassion and innovation in the NHS One of the most extraordinary characteristics of humans as a species is our capacity to innovate in response to challenges. But the right conditions have to be in place for innovation to bubble up.

Earlier this year, in Caring to change, we set out the cultural conditions needed for innovation to take place in NHS organisations. These included the need for a lived, inspiring vision that emphasises the importance of innovation and improvement; autonomy or freedom for staff to develop and implement new and improved ways of doing things – and a commitment to giving staff the skills they need to do this; collective, rather than command-and-control, leadership; and strong and unequivocal support from leaders as innovators address the challenges they face. The King's Fund

Five ways linking ambulance and A&E data could help to improve care

Five ways linking ambulance and A&E data could help to improve care My paramedic colleagues and I regularly provide life-saving care, but as soon as we hand over to the emergency department (ED), our knowledge about that patient stops. It’s like watching the first half of a play for the curtains to never open on the second act.

Ambulance services in England have a very limited understanding of what happens to the patients they treat. In most circumstances, even basic information such as admission and mortality rates are not known. It can be frustrating as an individual, not knowing whether the care you provided resulted in a good outcome, but there are also bigger opportunities being missed at a service, research and commissioning level. This is because there is currently no routine link between ambulance data and data from all other NHS organisations. The Health Foundation

Highest smoking quit success rates on record

Highest smoking quit success rates on record New data published in a University College of London (UCL) report shows quitting success rates at their highest for at least a decade, up to 19.8% for the first 6 months of this year, significantly higher than the average for the last 10 years (15.7%).

Success rates among the less well-off have for years remained consistently low, but in a major turnaround the sharp increase in success rates is being seen entirely among this group. For the first time, smokers in manual occupational groups have virtually the same chances of quitting as those in white collar jobs.

The report coincides with the launch of Stoptober quit smoking challenge, which has inspired over one and a half million quit attempts since 2012. The campaign is based on research that if you stop smoking for 28 days you are 5 times more likely to stop for good. Public Health England

Steering towards strategic commissioning: transforming the system

Steering towards strategic commissioning: transforming the system This report sets out CCGs’ vision for the future and what they need to get there at pace so they can deliver more for patients. It shows there is a strong belief that healthcare commissioning must continue to be clinically led, operate at a scale larger than a CCG footprint, retain its purchasing function and remain accountable to the local population. NHS Clinical Commissioners 

'Chemical embryo surgery' removes disease

'Chemical embryo surgery' removes disease Precise "chemical surgery" has been performed on human embryos to remove disease in a world first, Chinese researchers have told the BBC.

The team at Sun Yat-sen University used a technique called base editing to correct a single error out of the three billion "letters" of our genetic code.

They altered lab-made embryos to remove the disease beta-thalassemia, which were not implanted.

The team says the approach may one day treat a range of inherited diseases. BBC News

How To Reform The NHS? Leave It Alone - HuffPost UK

How To Reform The NHS? Leave It Alone - HuffPost UK The latest great reform for the NHS is now unveiled - the creation of Accountable Care Organisations. This sounds great doesn’t it?

  • bring commissioners and providers together
  • end contracting and the internal market
  • focus on community and service integration
  • improve efficiency with better data and innovation
I am not quite sure how this sounds to anyone outside the NHS. It may sound like a set of good ideas or just empty jargon. To those inside the NHS it promises yet another round of meaningless organisational change, personal confusion, management consultants, promotions for some and redundancies for others. Huffington Post UK

I had psychosis and was sectioned. Nurses saved me from the brink

I had psychosis and was sectioned. Nurses saved me from the brink Nurses provide the human side of healthcare and can explain problems in a way doctors often fail to do

A few years ago, I was suffering with psychosis and was admitted to hospital under the Mental Health Act. I remained there for nearly two months. At the time I didn’t realise I was ill, despite hearing voices and experiencing major delusions. I have encountered many healthcare professionals since that time, but it has been the regular support from mental health nurses, especially out in the community, that has really kept me well, more than medication or appointments with psychiatrists or therapists.

A psychiatric ward can be a scary place for a patient; the nurses I came to know while living on the ward became beacons of stability. They encouraged us to get involved in activities; they chatted to us about mundane things; they didn’t press us on our delusions or misconceptions. They gently reinforced a day-to-day normality. One nurse brought in her manicure kit with over 30 polishes and painted our nails for us. Another organised meetings where patients could air their grievances and suggestions for improving the ward. At the time, my delusional mental state convinced me they were all actors and that I was in a fake secure unit. In contrast, I thought the psychiatrists were really military interrogators, based on my meetings with them. Continue reading... The Guardian

GP phone consultations do not save time or money: Cambridge study 

GP phone consultations do not save time or money: Cambridge study NHS plans to force patients to have phone consultations with GPs will simply fuel more hospital admissions, instead of reducing pressures, a major study suggests.

Research by the University of Cambridge shows that practices which insist on a phone conversation with a family doctor to decide who can gets an appointment have a greater workload - and higher hospital costs.

Health officials have said such schemes are key to reducing strain on health services, at a time of unprecedented demand.

But the study of 147 practices which introduced “telephone first” schemes found that in fact they saw a two per cent increase in hospital admissions along with a sharp increase in the amount of time GPs spent on consultations. The Daily Telegraph

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