Milestone as hundreds of patients helped by Hospice At Home scheme in Corby

Milestone as hundreds of patients helped by Hospice At Home scheme in Corby A service which helps patients in the final weeks of their life has reached a major milestone.

The Hospice At Home service run by Lakelands Hospice has just supported its 500th end-of-life patient and their families.

The service started in 2010 and the milestone is something that everyone at the hospice in Butland Road, Corby, is very proud of. And while it means that 500 patients have passed away, the hospice is thankful that it was able to support and care for the patients, their carers and families. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Thousands join campaign to save Corby’s Urgent Care Centre

Thousands join campaign to save Corby’s Urgent Care Centre Thousands of postcards signed by residents asking to keep Corby’s Urgent Care Centre open have been presented to health bosses.

The centre has been involved in a long-running saga between operators Lakeside+ and NHS Corby CCG, and faced closure before it was kept open last October. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Preventing a recurrence of this winter’s crisis

Preventing a recurrence of this winter’s crisis The pressures engulfing the NHS this winter were not only predictable, they were predicted. Quarterly surveys of NHS performance carried out by The King’s Fund since April 2011 have reported growing financial challenges, increasing difficulties in achieving key standards such as a maximum wait of four hours in A&E departments for 95 per cent of patients, and rising pessimism among NHS leaders about the prospects for their own organisations and the systems of which they are a part. Declining performance is a consequence of rising demand for care from a growing and ageing population at a time of constrained resources. The King's Fund

Fragmented approach to child health damaging long term health of nation warns Royal College

Fragmented approach to child health damaging long term health of nation warns Royal College Child health is suffering at the hands of a disjointed approach from central Government is the warning from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) as it publishes its “State of Child Health: One year on” scorecard.

The scorecards for England, Scotland and Wales describe progress against the series of recommendations made a year ago in the RCPCH’s landmark State of Child Health report.

The England scorecard reveals progress in some areas including the launch of a Digital Child Health Strategy, the publication of a new Tobacco Control Plan, the initiation of some specialist service reviews in paediatrics and the implementation of the sugar tax. However, there has been no improvement in several fundamental areas, including:

• No plans for an overarching child health strategy
• No junk food advertising ban
• No way of measuring UK breastfeeding prevalence
• No increased investment in child health research

See also:

• Children in England 'deserve better' from healthcare BBC News

Annual asthma survey

Annual asthma survey Every day, the lives of three families are devastated by the death of a loved one from an asthma attack, and tragically two of these could have been prevented with better basic care.

Asthma affects the lives of 5.4 million people across the UK. Every year, we run an Annual Survey to find out about your experiences of living with asthma and the quality of care you receive.

In the 2017 edition of the Annual Survey, we found that two thirds of people are still not receiving basic care for their asthma, and that there differing levels of care across the UK. Asthma UK

See also:

• What basic asthma care is and why it’s important Asthma UK
• Asthma patients 'not receiving basic care' BBC News

Boris Johnson to push for more cash for NHS

Boris Johnson to push for more cash for NHS Boris Johnson is to push for an extra £100m a week for the NHS in England after Brexit, the BBC understands.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt will give the cabinet a routine update on how the NHS is coping with winter pressures.

The foreign secretary is expected to call for extra money and warn against "abandoning the territory".

Chancellor Philip Hammond, speaking as he arrived in Brussels, said the NHS got an extra £6bn in the Budget adding: "Mr Johnson is the foreign secretary". BBC News

See also:

• Why is Boris Johnson calling for more NHS cash? BBC News
• Experts all agree NHS needs more money, Boris Johnson tells May The Guardian
• NHS crisis is main worry for Conservative voters, poll suggests The Guardian

Disabilities caused in babies by epilepsy drug a 'scandal'

Disabilities caused in babies by epilepsy drug a 'scandal' An MP has said the harm caused to children after their mothers were given the epilepsy drug sodium valproate is an "extraordinary scandal".

It is thought about 20,000 children in the UK have been left with disabilities caused by valproate since the 1970s.

Norman Lamb MP said it was also "extraordinarily distressing" new research suggested medical problems could be passed through generations.

Affected families have called for a public inquiry and compensation.

Sodium valproate, also known as Epilim, can be prescribed by doctors as a treatment for epilepsy and bipolar disorder. BBC News

A&E stats may have to be recalculated

A&E stats may have to be recalculated NHS hospital trusts in England may have to recalculate A&E performance figures from last October onwards.

The UK Statistics Authority has told NHS England to explain changes to the recording of A&E data.

It says the changes - highlighted by BBC News - could have left people reaching "misleading conclusions".

They raise questions over some trusts' performance on the highest profile NHS performance target - that patients in A&E are seen within four hours.

Dr Taj Hassan, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: "The changes that are understood to have been made to recording practice throw doubt on whether the scale of the crisis facing emergency medicine - made so clear in December's data - is actually greater than first thought."

The letter focuses on advice given to trusts by the health regulator NHS Improvement. BBC News

See also:

• Accident and Emergency Statistics in England UK Statistics Authority
• NHS accused of fiddling A&E figures to downplay extent of crisis The Daily Telegraph
• Labour seeks action on 'misleading' A&E data The Guardian

NHS doctors warn medical care is deteriorating as nearly 75% report staffing shortages on wards

NHS doctors warn medical care is deteriorating as nearly 75% report staffing shortages on wards NHS doctors are warning that care being delivered across the health service has deteriorated in the past 12 months, according to a survey by the British Medical Association.

This may be driven in part by chronic staff shortages, which the BMA warns is forcing doctors to "juggle patients".

Seven out of ten hospital doctors (71 per cent) warned there are gaps on shift rotas in their department, but only 65 per cent reported gaps when asked the same question in May 2017.

The survey also highlighted a chronic shortage of doctors outside of hospitals. The Independent

See also:

• Most hospitals and GP practices have shortage of doctors, survey suggests The Daily Telegraph

We'll live longer but suffer more ill-health by 2035, says study

We'll live longer but suffer more ill-health by 2035, says study Number of old people suffering from four medical conditions to double in less than 20 years, researchers claim

The number of older people who have at least four different medical conditions is set to double by 2035, in a trend that will put huge extra strain on the NHS, researchers warn.

Diseases such as cancer, diabetes, dementia and depression will become far more common as more and more over-65s develop them in their later years, a study at Newcastle University published on Tuesday found. Continue reading... The Guardian

Bossy diet advice won’t save the NHS | Dawn Foster

Bossy diet advice won’t save the NHS | Dawn Foster The idea that disadvantaged people place undue strain on the system won’t go away. But the problem is underfunding – not people who eat too many chips

Anyone still observing dry January may be on to something: last week the Big Issue’s founder, John Bird, launched the magazine’s “NHS pledge”: a request for readers and supporters to “volunteer for the NHS by staying healthy” and not become “a drain” on its time and resources. The depiction of individual people as a drain on resources understandably left many of us bridling – as it fits the narrative promoted by the government and its supporters that the key problem facing our healthcare system is too much demand, rather than too little funding.

Yes, we could all do more to take responsibility for our own health. But health and the decisions we make about health are complex, as any doctor will tell you, and poverty is a crucial factor. Such admonishments about personal responsibility are invariably directed at the poor, so that the deserving/undeserving poor become deserving/undeserving patients. Eating habits in particular are endlessly scrutinised, with the “let them eat gruel” trope regularly trotted out. Why on earth do poor people go hungry, wonder rich people, when porridge is so cheap?

Yes, we could all do more to take responsibility for our own health. But the decisions we make are complex  Continue reading... The Guardian

NHS's £250m bill after private surgery gone wrong

NHS's £250m bill after private surgery gone wrong Every year around 1.6 million people in this country undergo surgery at a private hospital.

While many pay for it themselves, it is estimated that around half of the inpatients are funded by the NHS.

This is done to help clear waiting lists and for these patients in particular, it can seem like they’ve hit the jackpot: going private may seem like the health equivalent of flying first class or booking into a top restaurant.

But while the experience should be the best that money can buy — and of course many patients are happy with their care — if something goes wrong, private hospital treatment can fall woefully and dangerously short.


The problem is that while NHS hospitals are equipped with expertly staffed intensive care units, most private hospitals have no such emergency care facilities.

So should a patient’s condition suddenly deteriorate or a complication occur, they can end up being rushed to A&E at the nearest NHS hospital. The Daily Mail

NHS 111 calls could be answered by ROBOTS within two years

NHS 111 calls could be answered by ROBOTS within two years Calls to the NHS 111 helpline could be answered by robots within the next two years, a leaked report suggests.

NHS England says it is likely smartphones will become 'the primary method of accessing health services'.

By 2020, nearly 16 million queries may be processed by algorithms rather than phone operators, the report adds. Yet, human staff will not done away with entirely as the system is thought to transfer callers to appropriate people once the gist of the complaint has been established.

In addition to robotic 111 recipients, 25 per cent of NHS such calls will be logged online next year, rising to one-third by 2020, according to the report, which is dated last month.

This controversial move is being introduced to ease overstretched NHS staff's workloads after one in five non-emergency callers gave up on the busiest day over the New Year period as a record numbers of calls came in, according to official figures.

Yet some are concerned this may affect people without internet access, such as the elderly. The Daily Mail

See also:

• If we’re spooked by a ‘shopbot’, we’re definitely not ready for NHS droids The Guardian