Adoption and spread of innovation in the NHS

Adoption and spread of innovation in the NHS The first large-scale clinical trials of statins were held in the mid-1980s and statins became available on prescription from the NHS in the 1990s. By the early 2000s, the English NHS was prescribing around 8 billion daily doses of statins each year, contributing to dramatic reductions in rates of mortality from cardiovascular disease.

Meanwhile, despite considerable progress, the NHS, like other health systems, is still struggling to implement basic hygiene protocols such as hand washing in hospitals, 150 years after Joseph Lister published his observations in the Lancet on antiseptic methods. Some innovations are incendiary, spreading with a spark from funders, regulators, professionals or the public. Others seem stubbornly immobile, no matter how easy they appear to implement or how persuasive the evidence. The King's Fund

See also:

• How can the NHS tap into innovations from the front line? The King's Fund

Funding system failing people with continuing healthcare needs

Funding system failing people with continuing healthcare needs A new report says Government must take steps to improve complex process beset with delays and poor-quality assessments because care is compromised too often due to access to funding

NHS continuing healthcare (CHC) funding is intended to help some of the most vulnerable people in society, who have significant healthcare needs.

But too often people's care is compromised because no one makes them aware of the funding available, or helps them to navigate the hugely complicated process for accessing funding.

Those people that are assessed spend too long waiting to find out if they are eligible for funding, and to receive the essential care that they need. About one-third of assessments in 2015–16 took longer than 28 days. In some cases people have died whilst waiting for a decision. Public Accounts Select Committee

See also:

• Elderly dying amid NHS wrangles over who pays for care, PAC warns The Daily Telegraph
• Care cuts could put patients' safety at risk, warn MPs The Guardian

Health service 'haemorrhaging' nurses, figures reveal

Health service 'haemorrhaging' nurses, figures reveal The NHS is "haemorrhaging" nurses with one in 10 now leaving the NHS in England each year, figures show.

More than 33,000 walked away last year, piling pressure on understaffed hospitals and community services.

The figures - provided to the BBC by NHS Digital - represent a rise of 20% since 2012-13, and mean there are now more leavers than joiners.

Nurse leaders said it was a "dangerous and downward spiral", but NHS bosses said the problem was being tackled.

The figures have been compiled as part of an in-depth look at nursing by BBC News

See also:

• Why are so many nurses quitting the NHS? BBC News

Changing profession

Changing profession From the running of general practices to carrying out surgical operations, the role of nurses is changing. So what are some of the things modern nurses do? BBC News

Alarm in hospitals as NHS triggers emergency plans in 14 trusts after Carillion collapse - The Independent

Alarm in hospitals as NHS triggers emergency plans in 14 trusts after Carillion collapse The NHS has triggered emergency contingency plans across 14 hospital trusts to maintain essential services previously delivered by collapsed contractor Carillion.

Additional staff have been sent to six major hospitals where Carillion is contracted to provide essential maintenance, catering, cleaning and portering services with NHS hospitals at maximum capacity.

The construction and services company, which went into compulsory liquidation on Monday, is also in the middle of constructing two new NHS hospitals which could now face further delays. The Independent

Alys Cole-King: ‘Suicide in the NHS family is particularly resonant for me’ | Hélène Mulholland

Alys Cole-King: ‘Suicide in the NHS family is particularly resonant for me’ Suicide prevention expert Alys Cole-King wants distressed NHS colleagues to seek support themselves during the winter crisis

Reports by overstretched NHS staff of the pressures of the winter crisis moved Dr Alys Cole-King to fire off a series of tweets last week:“You matter as much as your patients”, she said encouraging anyone struggling at work in the NHS to tell someone, with a link to online self-help material for those feeling suicidal. Continue reading... The Guardian

I was a doctor prone to fainting. This is how I got over it

I was a doctor prone to fainting. This is how I got over it Like 12% of medical students, the graphic sights of the operating theatre caused me to faint. But slowly, after many queasy incidents, I learned how to cope

Medicine is great, but it involves pain, pus and blood. For some, seeing those things is a problem. When I started medical school, I was worried. Before applying, I had spent a night in the local casualty department as work experience. I watched a junior doctor try to prise a splinter from a young woman’s hand. It was hurting her, and she kept yelping. The doctor got irritated and said the anaesthetic “should be working by now”. He kept digging into her hand with a scalpel tip; she started to cry. I felt lightheaded, my skin went cold, I moved my legs to keep the blood flowing, but seconds later I fainted. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• 'I fainted quite a bit': what I learned from my nursing placement The Guardian

Measles strikes more than 100 people across five regions

Measles strikes more than 100 people across five regions A measles outbreak has spread to five regions in England, infecting 122 confirmed cases.

West Yorkshire has the most sufferers with 34 people being struck down with the life-threatening infection, followed by 32 in the West Midlands, 29 in Liverpool and Cheshire, 20 in Surrey and Sussex, and seven in Greater Manchester. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Measles outbreaks confirmed in 5 areas across UK Public Health England
• Measles outbreak in five English regions BBC News
• Measles outbreak spreading across England health officials warn The Independent