Tuesday 16 January 2018

'Suicidal' patient tied ligature on hospital ward

'Suicidal' patient tied ligature on hospital ward A mental health patient died after tying a ligature around her neck in a hospital bedroom, an inquest has heard.

Kayley MacLeod, 21, was found not breathing and unresponsive at St Mary's Hospital in Kettering in October 2016.

A jury at Northampton County Hall was told she had self-harmed there and wrote a note days before which read "I'm the most suicidal I've ever been".

The four-day inquest will look at her care plan, risk assessment and how often she was observed in hospital. BBC Northamptonshire

Medical ‘blunders’ by KGH result in payouts totalling almost £28m

Medical ‘blunders’ by KGH result in payouts totalling almost £28m Medical negligence claims against Kettering General Hospital have seen payouts worth almost £28m in the past five years.

The claims include £8,280,790.53 in damages alone during 2016-17, more than the total payouts for each of the four years before that.

KGH pays into an annual NHS scheme called the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts to cover such claims, meaning payments don’t come out of KGH’s funds.

All of the payouts were for incidents after 1995, with the total costs leaving KGH 100th out of 258 trusts when it comes to the amount settled. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Funding and staffing of NHS mental health providers: still waiting for parity

Funding and staffing of NHS mental health providers: still waiting for parity In 2013 the government made a commitment to achieving parity of esteem between physical and mental health. That commitment was followed by a pledge of £1.25 billion for child and adolescent mental health, a national strategy for adult mental health and an investment of £1 billion to support its delivery.

The spending gap between NHS acute hospitals and NHS mental health providers widened further last year, according to a new report from The King’s Fund.

Analysis done for the report shows that 84 per cent of mental health trusts, which provide the great majority of mental health services, received an increase in funding last year, significantly higher than in previous years. But funding for acute and specialist hospitals has continued to grow more quickly as national leaders have prioritised reducing financial deficits and improving performance in A&E. The King's Fund

See also:

Collection: Teenage pregnancy

Collection: Teenage pregnancy The teenage pregnancy prevention framework and the framework for supporting teenage mothers and young fathers are designed to:
  • help local areas assess their local programmes to see what’s working well
  • identify any gaps in services
  • strengthen the prevention and support pathways for all young people, young parents and their children
Both frameworks provide an evidence-based structure for a collaborative whole system approach to prevent teenage pregnancies and support teenage parents.

The teenage pregnancy narrative reports bring together key data and information for local authorities to help inform commissioning decisions to reduce unplanned teenage conceptions and improve outcomes for young parents. Public Health England

No hospital is an island: learning from the Acute Care Collaboration vanguards

No hospital is an island: learning from the Acute Care Collaboration vanguards This report covers the learning from 13 acute care collaborations that were established in September 2015 as part of the new care models programme. It highlights six common strategies that have emerged, including the way clinical practices are being standardised; how vanguards are making better use of clinical support services; and how the skills of healthcare professionals are being used more creatively and flexibly. NHS England

High impact change model: managing transfers of care

High impact change model: managing transfers of care This change model, developed with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, outlines a practical approach to managing patient flow and hospital discharge. It identifies eight system changes that will have the greatest impact on reducing delayed discharge. The resource supplements the model by bringing together examples of work being undertaken across the country, for each of the eight system changes. Local Government Association

Cost legacy of decades-old NHS blunders begins to rise

Cost legacy of decades-old NHS blunders begins to rise NHS medical blunders dating back more than two decades are still costing millions of pounds a year in compensation, it has emerged.

The negligence bill for mistakes made before 1995 - mainly maternity failings - has begun to rise for the first time in five years.

A patients' charity said the figures showed just how long some families have to wait for payouts.

The NHS said it had taken steps to speed up the process. BBC News

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Employers urged to 'normalise' menopause in the workplace

Employers urged to 'normalise' menopause in the workplace Employers need to do more to "normalise conversations" about the menopause in the workplace, say experts.

The comments came after a BBC survey found 70% of respondents did not tell their bosses they were experiencing symptoms.

Some firms have brought in menopause-specific policies but experts said for many it was still a taboo subject.

GP and menopause expert Louise Newson said it was a "silent issue for too many organisations". BBC News

GP access not to blame for rising pressure on A&E, researchers find

GP access not to blame for rising pressure on A&E, researchers find GPs are being incorrectly used as scapegoats to explain away rising rates of A&E attendances, according to researchers who found that long-term conditions and deprivation are the likely root cause. GPonline

'I knew I was in labour' – why are women being turned away from hospital during childbirth?

'I knew I was in labour' – why are women being turned away from hospital during childbirth? As a number of women recount how they were mistakenly told to go home and wait, before giving birth on the pavement or in a lift, experts warn that more investment in early-labour care is needed

Because her first baby had arrived quickly, Lizzie Hines was told at all her antenatal midwife appointments that she should go to hospital as soon as she recognised the first signs of labour. So, a couple of hours after she first felt twinges, cramps and contractions, she and her husband set off for a hospital in central London, but when she arrived, the midwife who examined her told her she wasn’t in labour. “I knew that not to be true,” she says. “I knew I was in labour.”

They were told to go home for a few hours; Hines asked if she could stay, but was told she couldn’t unless she wanted to wait in the corridor. Her husband booked them into a nearby hotel to wait it out, and they walked around the corner, with Hines, wearing pyjamas and a coat, steadying herself against the walls of the building with each contraction. It was 7am. Continue reading... The Guardian

Pity the NHS, but it’s not time to get rid of Jeremy Hunt | Polly Toynbee

Pity the NHS, but it’s not time to get rid of Jeremy Hunt | Polly Toynbee The missed targets and overflowing beds are unprecedented, but at least Hunt admits it’s all about money. Two cheers for him remaining

A minister presiding over a service in meltdown should expect to be sacked. Instead, on the NHS’s 70th birthday, Jeremy Hunt will be the longest-serving health secretary ever. And that’s a good thing. He is reviled by an NHS whose senior doctors and managers he has bullied, blamed and beheaded for the underfunding they repeatedly warned him against. Yet better the devil they know.

When 68 of the most senior heads of A&E from the largest trusts tell the prime minister that patients are dying in corridors, that’s not shroud-waving or crying wolf, that’s real “prematurely” dead bodies. The current level of safety is “intolerable”, they write, with emergency departments “in a state of emergency”. Continue reading... The Guardian

Flu cases rocket by 35%, official figures reveal

Flu cases rocket by 35%, official figures reveal The dreaded flu outbreak shows no signs of stopping as cases of the killer virus have rocketed by 35 per cent in a week, official figures reveal.

Government data shows 4,128 people were struck down across England last week - compared to the 3,044 new cases recorded the week before.

It comes as the flu death toll across the home nations is now officially 97 - with many more fatalities expected in the coming weeks.

However, the total amount of deaths is likely to be much higher as laboratory tests only capture a fraction of the true number. The Daily Mail