New options for funding the NHS & social care in the UK: what can we learn from international experiences?

New options for funding the NHS & social care in the UK: what can we learn from international experiences? "Health and social care services in the UK are facing a major financial challenge. Demand pressures now outstrip planned funding. The task facing the government is not just to secure resources and deliver service change for the coming 5 years, but also to place health and social care services on strong financial foundations for the long term.

Public and political buy-in on long-term funding arrangements (how the money is raised to pay for care services) needs to be established. Understanding how the public will react to different funding models is as essential for policymakers as identifying the strengths and weaknesses of those models.

The Health Foundation has commissioned research led by RAND Europe to contribute to this evidence base by testing the acceptability among the public of future funding options for health and social care. The first stage of this research examined international experiences across countries that face challenges comparable to those in the UK."

New PHE figures show decline in HIV diagnosis rates

New PHE figures show decline in HIV diagnosis rates The decrease in HIV diagnoses in gay and bisexual men represents the most exciting development in the UK HIV epidemic in the last 20 years, when effective treatment became widely available. Public Health England

Prime Minister announces review to tackle detention of those with mental ill health

Prime Minister announces review to tackle detention of those with mental ill health Prime Minister Theresa May has announced plans for an independent review of mental health legislation and practice to tackle the issue of mental health detention.

There have been concerns that detention rates under the Mental Health Act – passed more than 3 decades ago – are too high. The number of detentions has been rising year on year. Last year on average there were 180 cases a day where people were sectioned under the terms of the act.

The Mental Health Act sets out rights and obligations that govern when and how the state can detain and treat someone in relation to their mental illness. It includes specific provision for individuals in contact with the criminal justice system.

People from black and minority ethnic populations are disproportionately affected, with black people in particular being almost 4 times more likely than white people to be detained.

The review will be chaired by Professor Sir Simon Wessely, a former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. It will seek to address concerns about how the legislation is currently being used, and give recommendations for improving practice in the future. Department of Health

Recruitment through Social Media

Recruitment through Social Media A new case study on how Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NUTH) developed a social media strategy to engage with a wider audience, improve the quality and quantity of candidates, and target passive job seekers. NHS Employers

Regulating clinical trials

Regulating clinical trials This briefing describes the new EU Clinical Trial Regulation and the timetable for its implementation and examines its likely impact on the regulation of clinical trials in the UK post-Brexit. Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology

Patterns of Collaboration Among Health Care and Social Services Providers in Communities with Lower Health Care Utilization and Costs

Patterns of Collaboration Among Health Care and Social Services Providers in Communities with Lower Health Care Utilization and Costs Commonwealth Fund–supported researchers explored how providers coordinate with local social services organizations and identified attributes common to “high-performing communities” where older adults’ health care use and costs are comparatively low.

England to consider optout organ donation

England to consider optout organ donation A consultation on introducing an optout system for organ donation is to be held in England, ministers say.

Currently anyone who wants to donate their organs after death has to "opt in" through the donor card scheme.

But a new system, whereby it will be presumed an adult's body can be used in transplants in the absence of express permission, will now be considered.

Wales has already introduced an optout system, while Scotland has said it will be following suit. BBC News

See also:

• Government announces consultation on organ donation opt-out system Department of Health
• What is the new opt-out organ donor system? The Daily Mail

Only half of new cancer drugs extend or improve life

Only half of new cancer drugs extend or improve life Barely half of new cancer drug indications approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had evidence that they offered a survival or quality of life gain over existing treatments or placebo, according to a new study published today in The BMJ. Its authors suggest this shows that regulatory evidence standards are failing to meet the needs of patients, clinicians, and healthcare systems. Experts have called for health technology assessment programmes to demand that the pharma industry evaluates survival directly in methodologically rigorous trials, rather than relying on modelling using surrogate markers. OnMedica

Royal Cornwall hospital put in special measures after patient deaths

Royal Cornwall hospital put in special measures after patient deaths People have been dying and going blind waiting for treatment, says CQC report, one of the most critical it has ever published

Cornwall’s main NHS hospital is being put into special measures after inspectors uncovered a catalogue of serious failings, including patients dying and others going blind after waiting too long for treatment.

A Care Quality Commission report on care and safety standards at the Royal Cornwall hospitals NHS trust is one of the most critical the watchdog has ever published. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust inspection report Care Quality Commission
• Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust patients 'died waiting for care' BBC News
• Patients died of heart failure and went blind after operation delays at failing hospital, report reveals The Daily Telegraph

NHS England to face court over patient kept alive by blood transfusions

NHS England to face court over patient kept alive by blood transfusions Mother of woman with eating disorders wants ruling on whether monthly treatment is in daughter’s best interests

NHS England is to be questioned in court about its treatment of a woman with severe eating disorders who is being kept alive by monthly blood transfusions.

The patient, who is in her 30s, is being cared for in a London hospital, the court of protection has been told, but wants to return home to die if she is not given additional psychiatric care. Continue reading... The Guardian

Nine in ten areas to have a shortage of care home places within five years

Nine in ten areas to have a shortage of care home places within five years Nine in ten areas will have a shortage of care home beds within five years, a watchdog has found.

Research by Which? shows that there will be 42,000 fewer care home beds than are needed across the country, and that 87 per cent of areas will be short.

The total shortfall is expected to rise from 9,807 next year to 18,832 in 2019 and 32,593 by 2021.

The report assumes that all local authorities are not currently experiencing a serious shortfall of beds and estimates how this is likely to change over time based on care home closures or new places being added. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Care homes places 'crisis' in five years across England BBC News

One in four NHS prostate cancer units shut

One in four NHS prostate cancer units shut One in four NHS prostate cancer units have closed in the last seven years because they could not afford expensive surgical robots - despite claims the machines are unproven.

A report in the Lancet Oncology journal warns 16 hospitals in England stopped offering prostate surgery because patients want to be treated by a robot instead of a surgeon.

The study found they were losing patients to richer, larger hospitals, usually in big cities, which could afford the latest £1.5million surgical robots.

The researchers, led by experts at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and King's College London, warn there is no evidence these robots actually improve care.

Yet patients are increasingly choosing to travel miles from their home to access the treatment. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Effect of patient choice and hospital competition on service configuration and technology adoption within cancer surgery: a national, population-based study (open access) Lancet Oncology