Wednesday 18 October 2017

Kettering General Hospital car park nears completion

Kettering General Hospital car park nears completion The lower deck of a new two-storey car park at Kettering General Hospital has been completed.

The bottom floor of the new facility was finished on Monday, providing 237 spaces.

Work on a 240 space upper deck is ongoing, with that floor due to open in November. BBC Northampton

Northampton's ambulance service trains 150 students to perform CPR for 'Restart a Heart Day'

Northampton's ambulance service trains 150 students to perform CPR for 'Restart a Heart Day' Students in Northampton have been trained in how to perform CPR on someone in cardiac arrest, as part of a national campaign organised by the Resuscitation Council (UK) and the British Heart Foundation. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

New £15 million grant scheme to improve mental healthcare

News story: New £15 million grant scheme to improve mental healthcare The Department of Health has launched a £15 million fund to better support people at risk of experiencing a mental health crisis.

The Beyond Places of Safety scheme will improve support services for those needing urgent and emergency mental healthcare. This includes conditions such as psychosis, bipolar disorder, and personality disorders that could cause people to be a risk to themselves or others.

The sexual orientation monitoring information standard

The sexual orientation monitoring information standard Working closely with key stakeholders including NHS Digital, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) Foundation led the work to develop a Sexual Orientation Monitoring Information Standard on behalf of NHS England. The SOM information standard provides a consistent mechanism for recording the sexual orientation of all patients/service users aged 16 years across all health services in England. It will also cover local authorities with responsibilities for adult social care in all service areas where it may be relevant to record this data using a standardised format.

Hospital targets missed en masse as performance slumps

Hospital targets missed en masse as performance slumps The performance of hospitals across the UK has slumped with targets for cancer, A&E and planned operations now being missed en masse, BBC research shows.

Nationally England, Wales and Northern Ireland have not hit one of their three key targets for 18 months.

Only Scotland has had any success in the past 12 months - hitting its A&E target three times.

Ministers accepted growing demand had left the NHS struggling to keep up as doctors warned patients were suffering.

The findings are being revealed as the BBC launches its online NHS Tracker project, which allows people to see how their local service is performing on three key waiting time targets. BBC News

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'Go to the dentist and get fined £100'

'Go to the dentist and get fined £100' Going to the dentist is something that many would want to avoid - but how about if you also faced a penalty fine?

More than 40,000 people a year in England are getting fines of £100 - from an automated system that dentists say is hitting the most vulnerable.

They warn that people such as dementia sufferers are unfairly getting caught up in a system meant to stop fraudsters from getting free treatment.

The NHS accepts there is a problem with errors and is promising changes.

The fines, about £4m per year, are being applied by a random screening process that checks on whether people going to the dentist are really eligible for free treatment.

But dentists say rising numbers of people with dementia, or those with learning difficulties, are being unfairly fined for something as simple as ticking a wrong box in confusing paperwork. BBC News

Pre-sex HIV drug 'no-brainer" for NHS

Pre-sex HIV drug 'no-brainer" for NHS A drug to dramatically cut the risk of HIV infection during sex would save the UK around £1bn over the next 80 years, say scientists.

The team at University College London says Prep, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, is a "no-brainer" for the NHS.

The study predicts that giving Prep to men who have sex with men would prevent one in four HIV cases.

NHS England is currently funding a trial of Prep in 10,000 patients, but does not offer the treatment routinely.

Prep is already available in Scotland. The health service in England fought against paying for Prep in the courts, but agreed to trialling it in selected clinics. BBC News

New head of NHS financial regulator under fire for refusing to give up private health insurance

New head of NHS financial regulator under fire for refusing to give up private health insurance The new head of the NHS financial regulator has come under fire for refusing to give up her private health insurance.

Baroness Dido Harding, a former TalkTalk chief executive, dismissed calls from MPs to relinquish her use of private healthcare when she becomes chair of NHS Improvement - the body tasked with cost-cutting in the NHS.

In a pre-appointment grilling by MPs, she faced pressure to send a "positive message" by only using the NHS but the Conservative peer said it would be wrong to "demonise" private healthcare. The Independent

Vulnerable children could be put at risk by falling numbers of specialist NHS nurses

Vulnerable children could be put at risk by falling numbers of specialist NHS nurses Vulnerable children could be put at risk as the number of health visitors working in the NHS fell by more than 900 in a single year, Labour has warned.

Ministers have been accused of making “hollow promises” to boost dwindling numbers of the specially-trained nurses and midwives, who are credited with improving life chances for some of the most deprived newborns.

A probe by Labour found the NHS has lost 75 health visitors per month since June 2016, with staffing rates plummeting to the lowest point since December 2013 and leaving patchy levels of care across the country.


If shortages continue unchecked then any progress made under the Coalition Government will be wiped out, when ministers pledged to hire an extra 4,500 staff by 2015, the party claims. The Independent

The Guardian view on social care: the cost of cowardice | Editorial

The Guardian view on social care: the cost of cowardice | Editorial For a generation, politicians have ducked the challenge of restructuring health and social care. But if they don’t act now it may be too late

The cost of social care is bankrupting local councils and threatening the NHS. The latest study points out that any reform based, like the so-called dementia tax, on property values must take account of how different they are in the south of England compared with the north or with Wales. Last week, the normally ultra-cool NHS boss Simon Stevens told MPs on the health committee that its budget was “extremely challenging” and unless it was increased, the NHS might not be able to meet patient demand. With both health and social care budgets under such extreme pressure, it is no surprise that the two arms of care, instead of being locked in a protective embrace of those who should be able to rely on them, are engaged in the most bad-tempered wrestling that informed observers can remember.  Continue reading... The Guardian

Nurse language tests overhauled after complaints they too difficult

Nurse language tests overhauled after complaints they too difficult Language tests for overseas nurses are set to be overhauled, with “less academic” versions introduced, following complaints that current exams are too difficult.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) will announce that all nurses who come to Britain from countries where English is spoken, or who trained in such countries, will be able to skip tests.

And the remainder will be able to opt to take exams which are less “academic” after many nurses said they struggled with the current tests designed to show language competence.

Jackie Smith, chief executive of the NMC, said applicants had complained that the current tests were “a challenge” for many foreign nurses because they did not provide them with “occupational context”. The Daily Telegraph

Cash-strapped NHS chiefs axe routine surgery for the obese

Cash-strapped NHS chiefs axe routine surgery for the obese East and North Hertfordshire CCG and Herts Valleys CCG warned only 'exceptional circumstances' will grant obese patients non-urgent surgery. Experts have blasted the decision. The Daily Mail

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