Inspectors lavish praise on Northampton General Hospital as it improves to 'good' rating

Inspectors lavish praise on Northampton General Hospital as it improves to 'good' rating It has been a long journey but finally the rest of the world knows what the staff have all along: Northampton General Hospital is a good hospital.

When inspectors from the care Quality Commission gave their shattering verdict in 2014, it was that NGH ‘requires improvement’. Although true (in fact, in some areas it verged on being ‘inadequate’), it was never something the nurses, doctors, porters and cleaners believed; that rating just wasn’t NGH.

And so it has proved. The comparison graphic that chief executive Dr Sonia Swart has been proud to show off to employees for weeks features a grid stained with the yellow of inadequacy. Next to that is a similar grid expect this one is almost completely green.

Green - to (almost) quote Michael Douglas - is good. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

'You gave his family no opportunity to be involved at the most crucial time': Coroner scolds Northampton hospital who discharged patient without telling family

'You gave his family no opportunity to be involved at the most crucial time': Coroner scolds Northampton hospital who discharged patient without telling family A Northampton mental-health hospital has come under fire from a coroner after a Northampton man was discharged from care a week early without his family being told. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

REVEALED: The top 10 doctor's surgeries in Northampton - according to patients

REVEALED:  The top 10 doctor's surgeries in Northampton - according to patients We can today reveal a list of the best GP surgeries in the wider Northampton area based on ratings provided by patients on how likely they are to recommend their practice.

The information is available on the NHS Choices website, and is based on responses provided in the GP Patient Survey. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• REVEALED: The top ten WORST GP surgeries in Northampton according to patients Northampton Chronicle and Echo

How will our future relationship with the EU shape the NHS?

How will our future relationship with the EU shape the NHS? This briefing explores five key areas where the deals the UK government reaches with the EU - or lack of them - will impact upon health and social care. Nuffield Trust

Thousands living with advanced cancer, says Macmillan

Thousands living with advanced cancer, says Macmillan Thousands of people in England who have the most advanced cancers are surviving for several years after diagnosis, according to new research.

Macmillan Cancer Support said it was down to new treatments but warned that living longer with advanced cancer can bring its own difficulties. BBC News

See also:

• Thousands with advanced cancer are surviving two years or more, data shows The Guardian

We want our Brexit cash boost - NHS boss

We want our Brexit cash boost - NHS boss The health service should get the cash boost it was promised during the EU referendum, the head of the NHS in England is expected to say later.

Simon Stevens will use controversial claims used by Vote Leave to put the case for more money in a speech later.

With waiting times worsening, he will say trust in politics will be damaged if the NHS does not get more.

During the referendum it was claimed £350m a week was sent to the EU and that would be better spent on the NHS.

The claim was widely contested at the time and ever since - it did not take into account the rebate the UK had nor the fact the UK benefited from investment from the EU.

Some argued it proved highly influential in the referendum result. BBC News

See also:

• Germany spends £900 per head more than UK on healthcare, say NHS chiefs as they call for funds The Daily Telegraph
• Brexit: NHS England boss demands £350m-a-week promised by Leave voters The Independent

NHS needs £24bn more by 2022 or waiting lists will grow and care be hit

NHS needs £24bn more by 2022 or waiting lists will grow and care be hit Warning comes after financial regulator warned NHS ‘could pop’ without an emergency cash injection in budget

The NHS will need up to £24bn more by 2022 than Theresa May plans to give it or patient care will worsen and treatment waiting times grow even longer, experts have said.

Rising demand for care means the NHS budget in England will have to jump to £152.6bn by the end of this parliament, which could be as much as £24.2bn more than ministers have pledged. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Patients' lives are being cut short, watchdog warns  The Daily Mail
• NHS will have to make cutbacks, without more cash - even if it kills The Daily Telegraph

It’s not enough to train GPs in child protection. What happens next?

It’s not enough to train GPs in child protection. What happens next? Doctors are getting better at spotting the signs of neglect or abuse. But with children’s services devastated by cuts, referrals do not always lead to action

Following a colleague’s retirement I have now become the safeguarding lead for children at my GP practice. This means that I review cases, update our practice policies on safeguarding children and act as a liaison between staff, families, school nurses, paediatricians and social services. Like many other GPs, I come across cases of emotional or physical neglect through poverty, or parents having mental health or substance abuse problems.

Sometimes it is the police, A&E or health visitors who alert me to concerns they have about a child’s welfare. But worryingly, for every child on the child protection register there are another eight who are not known to agencies, according to the NSPCC. And this can only get worse as cuts to local authority children’s services continue.

The reality is that the child protection system is simply unable to keep up with demand Continue reading... The Guardian

These little-known commercial bodies could run health services. Are they legal?

These little-known commercial bodies could run health services. Are they legal? Grassroots legal challenges to so-called accountable care organisations having the power to run health and social care services could bring NHS reform crashing down.

Unless you work in the NHS itself, or inhabit the health policy bubble of academics, thinktanks and staff groups, chances are the phrase “accountable care organisations” means little. If so, you would be forgiven for not knowing that ACOs, their acronym in NHS speak, and their close relation “accountable care systems”, are – in Simon Stevens’s view at least – the best way to save the health service from the otherwise unsquarable circle of rising demand and constrained funding.

Under NHS England’s plans, ACOs are supposed to bring together providers and commissioners of health and social care services who will then assume joint responsibility for the health of an entire area’s population. So far, eight areas have signed up to become ACOs although they are still only in nascent and shadow form. Stevens expects them to “deliver fast-track improvements”, such as fewer emergency hospitalisations and better care in people’s homes. Yet despite the scale of the change such a move envisages, so far ACOs have remained firmly under the radar, with minimal media coverage or public debate.

ACOs have no basis in law, yet are being lined up to be given power over budgets for an area of billions of pounds Continue reading... The Guardian

1.2million women a year miss cervical cancer screening

1.2million women a year miss cervical cancer screening Nearly a third of women ignored invitations to have a smear test for cancer last year, official statistics reveal.

Uptake of the English cervical screening programme is at its lowest level for 20 years, with more than 1.2million women aged 25 to 64 failing to turn up in 2016/17.

Health bosses last night urged GPs to provide more morning and evening screening appointments, in a bid to make it as easy as possible for busy women to attend.

Just 72 per cent of invited women were tested last year, down from 75.7 per cent in 2011.

And among the youngest group of 25 to 29-year-olds, just 62.1 per cent attended, according to the NHS Digital statistics. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Report shows decrease in cervical screening coverage in England NHS Digital
• Call for women to get life-saving smear test after uptake drops Public Health England