Wednesday 13 December 2017

'This should not happen': Son's reaction to disclosure of mother's medical information to mystery caller by Northampton General Hospital

'This should not happen': Son's reaction to disclosure of mother's medical information to mystery caller by Northampton General Hospital A son said it was “scary” to find that details about his mother’s condition while in Northampton General Hospital were disclosed to a mystery caller posing as her husband who has been dead for four years.

Raymond Hughes, 64, from Daventry, phoned the hospital in the days after his mother was admitted on October 10.

After speaking with a hospital worker over the phone it emerged they told someone other than the listed next of kin about her treatment, tests being carried out on her, as well as her general condition. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Nurses pay thanks to team who delivered end of life care to Northampton patients in the snow

Nurses pay thanks to team who delivered end of life care to Northampton patients in the snow A team of Northampton nurses have been praised by their seniors "as a credit" to the profession after they delivered care to sick people, even though some of them had a day off.

The bitter wintry weather has been causing extreme difficulties around Northampton, but nurses from St James Clinic have been out in full force working hard to treat over 200 poorly patients on Sunday and Monday.

One nurse managed to tackle snow and ice and walked from Hackleton to Hardingstone while another trudged through the snow from Ecton to Earls Barton to deliver care. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

The impact of redesigning urgent and emergency care in Northumberland

The impact of redesigning urgent and emergency care in Northumberland The Health Foundation has considered findings from analysis into the early impact of changes to urgent and emergency care services in Northumberland following the opening of the country’s first bespoke emergency hospital in 2015 – the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington.

The analysis was conducted by the Improvement Analytics Unit, a statistical evaluation unit run in partnership by NHS England and the Health Foundation that helps to inform decision-making at a local and national level and ultimately improve the delivery of health care. The work was conducted in collaboration with the Northumberland primary and acute care system vanguard, which includes Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

The report highlights that reconfiguring NHS services takes time to generate the intended results and that robust, repeat evaluation can help to inform decisions and improvement.

Duty of care to prisoners needs urgent action

Duty of care to prisoners needs urgent action The Public Accounts Committee report says record levels of self-inflicted deaths and self-harm in prisons are a damning indictment.

Record high numbers of self-inflicted deaths and incidents of self-harm in prisons are a damning indictment of the current state of the mental health of those in prison and the prison environment overall.

More excuses are not good enough. The Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service and NHS England have a duty of care to those in prison, yet do not know where they are starting from, how well they are doing or whether their current plans will be enough to succeed.

The current level of self-inflicted deaths and self-harm incidents in prisons is appalling and the system for improving the mental health of prisoners isn’t working as it should. Public Accounts Select Committee 

See also:

Open consultation: Introducing ‘opt-out’ consent for organ and tissue donation in England

Open consultation: Introducing ‘opt-out’ consent for organ and tissue donation in England We have launched a consultation about organ and tissue donation. The government wants to know what people think about proposed changes in which people are considered willing to be an organ donor after their death, unless they have ‘opted out’.

We want to find out what people think of how the changes to the system should be made, and what else they think the government needs to consider. Department of Health

See also:

National Data Guardian for Health and Care 2017 report: impact and influence for patients and service users

National Data Guardian for Health and Care 2017 report: impact and influence for patients and service users This report looks back over the past three years since the creation of the National Data Guardian role and it describes future priorities. It sets out a case for the independent advice and challenges that the role provides to ensure that confidential data collected by the NHS and social care services is safeguarded and used appropriately to improve care. National Data Guardian

Horizon scanning future health and care demand for workforce skills in England

Horizon scanning future health and care demand for workforce skills in England This briefing outlines the findings of a horizon scanning exercise, carried out by the Department of Health, which has informed workforce planning for the future health and care workforce and the skills needed to keep pace with changing health needs. World Health Organization

Baby born with heart outside body 'doing well'

Baby born with heart outside body 'doing well' A baby born with her heart outside her body has survived after surgery at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester.

Vanellope Hope Wilkins, who has no breastbone, was delivered three weeks ago by Caesarean section.

She has had three operations to place her heart back in her chest.

The condition, ectopia cordis, is extremely rare, with only a few cases per million births, of which most are stillborn.

The hospital says it knows of no other case in the UK where the baby has survived. BBC News

See also:

Cold weather and loneliness 'lethal in winter'

Cold weather and loneliness 'lethal in winter' The combination of cold weather and loneliness could be lethal in the coming months, England's most senior nurse is warning.

Prof Jane Cummings, NHS England's chief nursing officer, said cases of strokes and heart attacks tended to rise after a cold snap.

She said that, and the growing problem of loneliness, were a dangerous combination over winter.

She said "simple acts of companionship" could make all the difference.

This could include visiting elderly friends, family and neighbours more regularly, doing the shopping for them or picking up prescription medicines, Prof Cummings added. BBC News

'That's where the babies are suffering'

'That's where the babies are suffering' Should anti-abortion campaigners be banned from standing outside abortion centres and urging women to change their mind?

Leila Nathoo visits one clinic in London to hear whether the right to freedom of expression has crossed over into intimidation. BBC News

See also:

Dementia victims stranded in hospital this Christmas

Dementia victims stranded in hospital this Christmas More than 1,400 dementia patients will be stranded in hospital on Christmas Day - despite being well enough to go home, a charity investigation has revealed.

The Alzheimer's Society has blamed a 'woefully inadequate' lack of social care funding, in the region of £2 billion, for 'turning wards into waiting rooms'.

Their damning investigation found dementia patients are becoming 'part of the furniture' and face delays up to 10 times as long as those without the disease.

Victims of dementia, which robs sufferers of their memory, rely on social care as drugs are unable to slow the progression of the incurable disease. The Daily Mail