Clinical leadership – moving from good will to good practice

Clinical leadership – moving from good will to good practice It is widely accepted that clinical leadership is a critical factor in health and care delivery. This is demonstrated clearly in a variety of documented examples where clinical leadership has contributed to improved services and quality of care. For example, clinically generated ideas underpinning Northumbria transformations, whole-system pathway design by clinical networks in New Zealand, and self-regulating nursing teams in the Netherlands. The King's Fund

What do the numbers say about emergency readmissions to hospital?

What do the numbers say about emergency readmissions to hospital? New figures show that emergency readmissions to hospital have risen by a fifth since 2012/13. Find out more about what our new analysis of emergency readmissions data tells us. Healthwatch

Agency, bank and overtime spending in UK maternity units in 2016

Agency, bank and overtime spending in UK maternity units in 2016 This report finds that NHS spending on temporary staffing in midwifery reached more than £97 million in 2016. It argues that the current shortage of midwives and pay restraint are contributory factors to the increasing reliance on temporary staffing. Royal College of Midwives

Lifting the cap: the fiscal and economic impact of lifting the NHS pay cap

Lifting the cap: the fiscal and economic impact of lifting the NHS pay cap This briefing examines the fiscal and economic impact of two alternative scenarios for NHS pay over the next two years: increasing pay in line with Consumer Price Index inflation, and a ‘catch-up’ rate of increasing NHS pay in line with private sector earnings plus one per cent. Institute for Public Policy Research

Moving more, ageing well

Moving more, ageing well This report highlights the need for innovative solutions for keeping older people active and independent that could save billions of pounds in NHS and social care costs by preventing disease. It recommends that teaching health and social care professionals such as pharmacists and Meals on Wheels staff to deliver exercise interventions, could be key to curtailing the UK’s growing ageing crisis. UKactive

Do NHS operating theatres really have 'wasted time'?

Do NHS operating theatres really have 'wasted time'? The BBC story about wasted time in operating theatres has generated a lively debate.

We reported that analysis by the regulator NHS Improvement showed there could have been 280,000 more non-emergency operations, at 100 English hospital trusts, last year.

There were said to be 140 minutes of unused time per operating list.

So, is it simply a case of improving efficiency, or are there wider problems that need to be addressed across the NHS?

Are the solutions to be found in the way operating theatres are managed or are theatre staff having to stand idle because of logjams elsewhere in the system? BBC News

'Despicable' fraud costs NHS in England £1bn a year

'Despicable' fraud costs NHS in England £1bn a year More will be done to protect the NHS in England from "despicable" acts of fraud, the head of the health service's new anti-fraud body has said.

Sue Frith promised a crackdown as she released figures suggesting the yearly bill for fraud in the NHS topped £1bn.

Cases include patients falsely claiming for exemptions on dental and prescription fees, and dentists charging for work they had not done.

Ms Frith said the fraud takes vital funds from front line care. BBC News

Male infertility treatment ‘insensitive’

Male infertility treatment ‘insensitive’ Male infertility care can be insensitive and one-sided, says charity Fertility Network UK which has surveyed men seeking help to become fathers.

Men can feel excluded, with female partners being the main focus of attention in clinics, it found.

The charity says men's needs are too often ignored, which must change.

Gareth Down, 31, set up a support group for men with fertility problems because he says he had nowhere to turn for help when he needed it. BBC News

GPs refuse to collect data on patients' immigration status

GPs refuse to collect data on patients' immigration status GPs are crossing out the supplementary questions section of new GMS1 forms because they do not want to be involved with gathering information on patients' immigration status, a medical charity has said. GPonline

NHS chief accuses Jeremy Hunt of 'own goal' over pay rises

NHS chief accuses Jeremy Hunt of 'own goal' over pay rises Simon Stevens insists increases should not depend on higher productivity and health secretary must find new money to boost salaries

The head of the NHS has rejected Jeremy Hunt’s insistence that its staff’s pay rise next year should depend on them improving their productivity as “an own goal of the first magnitude”.

Simon Stevens’s remarks set him on a collision course with the health secretary weeks before the budget, in which Philip Hammond is expected to set out what salary increase the NHS’s 1.7 million staff will get from next April. Continue reading... The Guardian

Drug giants' legal threat to the NHS for using cheap drugs

Drug giants' legal threat to the NHS for using cheap drugs Two of the world's biggest drugs firms are threatening to sue the NHS to stop it using a treatment nearly 70 times cheaper than their medication.

Novartis and Bayer made the threat against 12 health boards in Cumbria and North-East England which have advised doctors to use a different treatment for a devastating eye condition.

Doctors have accused the pharmaceutical giants of trying to 'dictate' which drugs they can use. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Health chiefs facing legal fight over cheaper eye drug BBC News
• Legal threat to NHS plans for cheap treatment to prevent blindness The Daily Telegraph

NHS plans to stop thyroid pill after price soars by 5,000%

NHS plans to stop thyroid pill after price soars by 5,000% The NHS is planning to stop prescribing a life-changing pill after its manufacturer raised the price by more than 5,000 per cent.

Liothyronine, used to treat patients with an underactive thyroid, has soared from 16p per tablet to £9.22 – an increase of 5,662 per cent.

The medicine, a synthetic version of the hormone T3, is relied on by sufferers who do not respond well to the cheaper alternative levothyroxine which is the standard treatment.

Because there is only one supplier of the drug, it means thousands of patients could be forced to travel to Europe to buy liothyronine, where a packet costs just a few euros. The Daily Mail