NHS Budget plan not enough, say bosses

NHS Budget plan not enough, say bosses The extra money announced by the chancellor in the Budget for the NHS in England is not enough, health service bosses say.

Philip Hammond announced an immediate £350m boost for this winter followed by £1.6bn more next year for the front line above the rise already planned.

The chancellor described it as an "exceptional" measure, which recognised the pressures the service was under.

But NHS leaders have already warned waiting times will continue to worsen. BBC News

See also:

• Autumn Budget 2017 HM Treasury 
• Budget 2017: what does it mean for the nation's health? BMA
• Health Foundation response to Budget 2017 The Health Foundation
• The King's Fund responds to the 2017 Autumn Budget The King's Fund
• Niall Dickson: Budget is another "missed opportunity" and falls well short NHS Confederation
• NHSCC respond to the Autumn Budget 2017 NHS Clinical Commissioners 
• Danny Mortimer: Pay cap lift welcomed NHS Employers
• More than expected, less than needed NHS Providers
• GPs miss out on funding for winter pressures in disappointing Budget for general practice, says RCGP Royal College of General Practitioners 
• Fair pay for NHS nursing staff moves a step closer Royal College of Nursing
• Our response to the budget 2017 Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Budget 2017: Chancellor on funding for NHS in England BBC News
• £2.8bn cash boost for NHS is not enough complain hospital chiefs The Daily Telegraph
• The Chancellor was right to resist massive new NHS spending. It doesn't need a reward for failure The Daily Telegraph
• GPs ignored in 2017 budget as NHS England hints at cuts to services GPonline
• Budget's £1.6bn cash boost for NHS less than half of experts’ advice The Guardian
• Abandoning Mental Health Plan Would Represent 'Catastrophic Betrayal' Huffington Post UK 
• Budget 2017: NHS trusts given extra £350m for entire winter, despite Brexit bus promising £350m a week The Independent

The robot that could revolutionise home care for elderly people

The robot that could revolutionise home care for elderly people Not all robots will take over human jobs. My colleagues and I have just unveiled a prototype care robot that we hope could take on some of the more mundane work of looking after elderly and disabled people and those with conditions such as dementia.

This would leave human carers free to focus on the more personal parts of the job. The robot could also do things humans don’t have time to do now, like keeping a constant check on whether someone is safe and well, while allowing them to keep their privacy. The Independent

Brexit could cause fatal delays for cancer patients who need urgent treatment, experts warn

Brexit could cause fatal delays for cancer patients who need urgent treatment, experts warn Brexit could prevent cancer patients from being treated in time, if supplies of radioactive materials used in treatments and scans are disrupted by leaving the European civil nuclear regulator, Euratom, experts have warned.

Senior NHS oncologists and radiologists told the Lords EU Home Affairs Subcommittee today that close to a million patients receive radiotherapies or scans that largely depend on EU manufacturers.

Many of these treatments are time sensitive and delays or disruption "significantly diminish" the likelihood that a cancer can be cured, the committee heard. The Independent

The healthcare gender bias: do men get better medical treatment?

The healthcare gender bias: do men get better medical treatment? A study this month found that women are less likely than men to be given CPR – but it is not the only way in which they are given short shrift in an industry where female pain is serially misdiagnosed.

You are walking down the street, minding your own business, when suddenly you see someone collapse to the ground. They are unresponsive, not breathing. Do you perform CPR? No doubt you like to think that you would. But what if the unlucky person was a woman? The question may seem redundant, but unfortunately it is not: a study this month found that women are less likely than men to get CPR from a bystander, and are more likely to die.

The research, funded by the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health, found that only 39% of women who have a cardiac arrest in a public place were given CPR, versus 45% of men. Men were 23% more likely to survive and one of the study leaders, Benjamin Abella, speculated that rescuers may worry about moving a woman’s clothing, or touching her breasts. One idea mooted was more realistic-looking practice mannequins to account for the female torso. Continue reading... The Guardian

Jeremy Hunt gets into Twitter row over NHS with actor Ralf Little

Jeremy Hunt gets into Twitter row over NHS with actor Ralf Little Health secretary replies in series of 26 tweets to comedy actor challenging his statistics on NHS mental health figures

The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has become embroiled in a bizarre Twitter row with the comedy actor Ralf Little over the state of NHS mental healthcare.

The standoff began two weeks ago after Hunt’s appearance on The Andrew Marr Show, when Hunt stated that the NHS had overseen “the biggest expansion of mental health provision in Europe”. Continue reading... The Guardian

E-consultations with GPs end up with four in ten going to see the doctor

E-consultations with GPs end up with four in ten going to see the doctor E-consultations with GPs end up with four in ten patients going to the doctor anyway, new research suggests.

Health officials have launched a £45m national drive to encourage online GP consultations, in a bid to improve access to doctors amid lengthening waiting times.

But the study of 36 GP practices offering consultations by email found extremely low take up.

And two thirds of those who attempted to get advice via email ended up either seeing a GP, or having to speak to them on the phone anyway, the University of Bristol study found. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Use of a primary care online consultation system, by whom, when and why: evaluation of a pilot observational study in 36 general practices in South West England (open access) BMJ Open
• Online GP consultation 'of limited use', study finds BBC News

Life-saving prostate cancer treatment denied on NHS for a year despite approval by safety watchdogs

Life-saving prostate cancer treatment denied on NHS for a year despite approval by safety watchdogs More than 20,000 men will have to wait at least a year for access to a breakthrough prostate cancer treatment which cuts deaths by almost 40 per cent.

Abiraterone, which doubles the life expectancy of those with the most advanced cancer and “effectively cures” it in less critical patients, was declared safe yesterday by the European Medicines Agency.

However, health chiefs in England will not decide whether to fund it on the NHS until Autumn next year.

The treatment is currently provided to NHS patients where standard hormone therapy has failed.

But a major British trial presented in June found that when used as a first-line treatment alongside hormone therapy its efficacy was vastly improved. The Daily Telegraph