NGH cancels planned operations after admitting 770 poorly patients to beds over festive period

NGH cancels planned operations after admitting 770 poorly patients to beds over festive period Bosses at Northampton General Hospital have said they are currently under considerable emergency pressure and have apologised to those who had their operations cancelled today.

A large number of patients requiring emergency care have built up pressure on wards and A&E departments over the Christmas and New Year period - which means both hospitals are concentrating their efforts on emergency care.

As a result, NGH has had to cancel many planned operations and routine outpatient clinics to ensure there are enough beds for emergency patients.

The hospital is contacting all of the affected patients and sincerely apologised for the inconvenience. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

KGH under extreme pressure as operations cancelled

KGH under extreme pressure as operations cancelled A number of planned operations and outpatient clinics at Kettering General Hospital have been cancelled as the hospital struggles to cope with emergency pressures.

An average of 253 people have attended A&E each day since Christmas Eve, building pressure on wards and departments. As a result the hospital has had to cancel operations to ensure there are enough beds for emergency patients.

KGH’s chief operating officer Rebecca Brown said: “We are under extreme pressure at the moment and are caring for a large number of older people who need urgent treatment.

“The average age of inpatients at the moment is 74, many with multiple medical conditions, and these poorly patients have to be our priority at present." Northamptonshire Telegraph

Admissions of inequality: emergency hospital use for children and young people

Admissions of inequality: emergency hospital use for children and young people This briefing looks at the relationship between deprivation and the use of emergency hospital care by children and young people in England. It aims to describe and highlight areas of inequality and to explore how they have changed over time. As well as looking at the overall patterns of emergency hospital use, it focuses in particular on three common conditions – asthma, diabetes and epilepsy – where more timely and effective primary, community or outpatient care could prevent admissions. Nuffield Trust

Hospitals to delay non-urgent operations

Hospitals to delay non-urgent operations Tens of thousands of non-urgent NHS operations and procedures in England may be deferred until 31 January, due to winter pressures.

Officials also told hospitals to delay routine outpatient appointments to concentrate on emergency care.

Separately, a doctor apologised on Twitter for "third world conditions" in the hospital where he works in Stoke.

NHS England's acute care director said hospitals were being given the "time and space" to manage January pressures.

Officials reiterated that cancer operations and time-critical procedures should go ahead as planned. BBC News

See also:

• Operational update from the NHS National Emergency Pressures Panel NHS England
• Struggling hospitals facing 'huge tragedy' BBC News
• NHS operations could be cancelled over winter The Daily Mail
• NHS patients warned to keep away from 'Third World' A&E The Daily Mail
• A&E consultant apologises for the 'third world conditions' The Daily Mail
• 'Aussie flu' continues rampage as NHS struggles to cope The Daily Mail
• NHS hospitals ordered to cancel all routine operations in January as flu spike and bed shortages lead to A&E crisis The Daily Telegraph
• Winter pressure forces NHS to halt elective care until end of January GPonline
• NHS hospitals told to take drastic measures amid winter crisis The Guardian
• A&E doctor sorry for 'third world conditions' as NHS winter crisis bites The Guardian
• NHS extends suspension of all non-urgent care as doctors warn of winter crisis The Independent

AI early diagnosis could save heart and cancer patients

AI early diagnosis could save heart and cancer patients Researchers at an Oxford hospital have developed artificial intelligence (AI) that can diagnose scans for heart disease and lung cancer.

The systems will save billions of pounds by enabling the diseases to be picked up much earlier.

The heart disease technology will start to be available to NHS hospitals for free this summer.

The government's healthcare tsar, Sir John Bell, has told BBC News that AI could "save the NHS".

"There is about £2.2bn spent on pathology services in the NHS. You may be able to reduce that by 50%. AI may be the thing that saves the NHS," he said.

‘I just want to cut it off’: the weight-loss patients who no longer fit their skin

‘I just want to cut it off’: the weight-loss patients who no longer fit their skin Bariatric surgery is a highly cost-effective way to lose life-changing amounts of weight – but the NHS rarely removes the excess skin that is left behind. Desperate patients are now crowdfunding their operations while struggling with anxiety, depression and identity issues

When Haze Atkin passed the 32kg (5st) mark on her weight-loss programme, something strange began happening to her skin. First it grew softer. Then it grew emptier. By the time she had shed her 64th kilo, her body had shrunk so much that her loose skin needed to be folded into her clothes. Now, when Haze sits, a “hovercraft” of skin skirts her seat. When she takes a bath, her spare skin floats. In bed, her husband Chris accidentally rests an elbow on it; he can’t always be sure where Haze ends. The edges of her have become mistakable.

To her children’s delight, Haze can wobble her skin and make it talk like a puppet. Sometimes her daughter holds out her hands like a set of scales and Haze places her stomach skin on them. She thinks it weighs a stone. It has become oddly plastic, so that Haze can gather it in her hands and stretch and shake it, fold and mould it. But the one thing she can never do with her skin is forget it. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Life after extreme weight loss The Guardian

Britain's dental crisis is forcing charities to step in

Britain's dental crisis is forcing charities to step in Britain's dental crisis is forcing charities that assist third world countries to step in.

Dentists in the UK are so inundated with targets and admin, they lack the time and resources to properly focus on dental health, resulting in a 'national disaster' that is making patient treatment a low priority, according to a letter signed by more than 400 dentists.

Described as 'an international disgrace', Dentaid, a charity which works across parts of Africa, Asia and Central America, set up its first UK scheme in West Yorkshire two years ago and provides free care to low-income patients.

The charity has since expanded its reach, with mobile services being set up in Hampshire, Cornwall and Buckinghamshire. The Daily Mail

Previous research reveals one in six areas in the UK have no dentists left taking NHS patients.

Nearly 100,000 NHS staff take a month off with stress

Nearly 100,000 NHS staff take a month off with stress More than 91,000 NHS employees have taken at least a month off work to deal with stress in the last three years.

The number of staff taking long-term stress leave increased by 19 per cent between 2014 and 2016.

Figures released by 170 trusts across Britain showed a total of 204,573 employees took time off to deal with stress, anxiety, or another mental health-related issue, while 91,364 were off for a month or more.

Nurses were the most stressed group, with at least 46,341 taking time off in the three years.

It comes at a time when the NHS is facing a staffing crisis, as an estimated 40,000 nursing posts are currently vacant.

Out of the 96 trusts that provided staff breakdowns, nurses made up 37 per cent of those who took time off. The Daily Mail