'We can start to move forward': Family of brain-injured baby recieves payment from Northampton General Hospital

'We can start to move forward': Family of brain-injured baby recieves payment from Northampton General Hospital NGH has agreed to pay a Northampton mum for an injury her child sustained in the 72 hours leading up to her birth.

Now eight-years-old, her daughter Chloe is severely disabled as a result and needs round-the-clock care.

Although Northampton General Hospital continues to dispute whether it was at fault for the incident, it has agreed to pay 75 per cent of the amount sought. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Northamptonshire's 999 call handlers reveal most inappropriate 'emergencies'

Northamptonshire's 999 call handlers reveal most inappropriate 'emergencies' Broken eggs, a dead fox and someone who wanted breakfast made for them are some of the inappropriate 999 calls Northamptonshire's emergency call handlers have taken in the last six months. Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also:

• Most ridiculous 999 call ever? Woman calls emergency services over broken eggs in her fridge The Daily Telegraph

Making the most of our assets: the time has come to realise the full potential of community services

Making the most of our assets: the time has come to realise the full potential of community services A growing and ageing population, and the increasing number of people living with multiple and complex health and social care needs, require services that are better integrated around people’s needs and place greater emphasis on population health. You only need to glance at the NHS five year forward view or any one of the 44 sustainability and transformation plans published in 2016 to see that strengthening community services is central to plans to achieve this. But the reality of services in the community often fails to live up to this rhetoric. The King's Fund

See also:

• Reimagining community services:making the most of our assets The King's Fund

Wellbeing in mental health

Wellbeing in mental health Evidence and guidance to enable healthcare professionals make improvements against wider factors that affect health and wellbeing in mental health. Public Health England

NHS winter pressures in England 2017/18

NHS winter pressures in England 2017/18 This briefing summarises the current data and trends on winter pressures in the NHS, including ambulance handover delays, bed occupancy, norovirus bed closures, and accident and emergency diverts. House of Commons Library

Collaborative care: an exploration into core tenets, fidelity, and policy

Collaborative care: an exploration into core tenets, fidelity, and policy This report reviews the evidence around collaborative care and whole-person models of care for integrated treatment for mental and physical health needs. It evaluates the performance of collaborative care models in relation to the triple aim of health care of improving health and care and lowering costs. Centre for Mental Health

Hidden hunger and malnutrition in the elderly

Hidden hunger and malnutrition in the elderly This report calls on the government to look more closely at malnutrition in older people which is estimated to cost the NHS and social care £15.7 billion a year by 2030. It argues that targeted investment in services which protect older people from malnutrition would deliver significant annual savings to the NHS, not least by reducing the number of hospital admissions and limiting the number of days older people spend in hospital. All Party Parliamentary Group on Hunger

Mental Health Act: the rise in the use of the MHA to detail people in England

Mental Health Act: the rise in the use of the MHA to detail people in England There is no single reason why more detentions are being made under the Mental Health Act than ever before, a review by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has concluded.

Instead, the rise in detentions is down to a range of different factors, which can vary across the country. Some of these are also indicators of a healthcare system that is under considerable strain.

Healthcare professionals can apply to detain people under the Mental Health Act to ensure they receive the treatment, care and support they need in hospitals. Although this is in in the person’s best interests, it is against their wishes. For this reason, the law is supposed to be used only when other options have been considered already, such as whether support can be provide in the community or if the patient can be cared for in hospital on a voluntary basis.

In the ten year period between 2005/06 and 2015/16, the number of detentions increased by 40% – from 45,484 to 63,622.

As part of its role in monitoring the use of the Mental Health Act in England, CQC made a commitment to explore what could be causing this trend. Care Quality Commission

'Growing problem' of addiction to prescription drugs probed

'Growing problem' of addiction to prescription drugs probed Public Health England is launching a review into the "growing problem" of prescription drug addiction.

NHS data suggest one in every 11 patients in England is being prescribed medication that could be addictive, or difficult to come off.

This includes sedatives, painkillers and antidepressants.

PHE wants to avoid a situation like the one in the US, where there's been a massive increase in addiction to opioids. BBC News

See also:

• Urgent review launched into prescription pills The Daily Mail
• Prescription drug addiction: government launches investigation The Guardian

Doctors blocked by Home Office from taking up vital NHS jobs

Doctors blocked by Home Office from taking up vital NHS jobs Recruits from overseas not being paid enough to satisfy immigration rules.

Seniors doctors from overseas who have been appointed to fill key roles in hospitals around the UK are being blocked from taking up their jobs by the Home Office because their NHS salaries are too low under immigration rules.

The Guardian has learned of at least 20 doctors prevented from taking up posts in departments including intensive care in the past two months, causing anger and bewilderment among already stretched doctors. Continue reading... The Guardian

'Patients are put in danger by poor NHS tech. I created an app to help'

'Patients are put in danger by poor NHS tech. I created an app to help' From an app to treat transgender voice to one that helps patients with pelvic floor exercises, healthcare professionals describe their innovations

“When you experience IT in the NHS, you feel like you’re walking back into a disorganised version of the 1980s,” says Lydia Yarlott. “People say things like, ‘Oh well, there’s no way of referring this person unless you send us a fax’. Then you end up spending an hour trying to work a fax machine. The amount of wasted time would really shock people.”

It’s just technology that is used ubiquitously across other sectors and applying it to the NHS

Apps make my time with patients much more effective because things can be done quicker

Had it been up to me, I would have failed. So much of it was a really challenging and expensive process Continue reading... The Guardian

May slaps down Boris Johnson over NHS funding demands

May slaps down Boris Johnson over NHS funding demands PM and ‘large number of ministers’ make point that cabinet discussions should take place in private, spokesman says

Theresa May and a string of ministers rebuked Boris Johnson during Tuesday’s cabinet after his plan to demand more funding for the NHS was widely briefed to the media before the meeting. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Could Boris Johnson’s self-interest end up helping the NHS? | Gaby Hinsliff The Guardian
• Hammond dismisses Johnson's talk of post-Brexit NHS dividend The Guardian
• Liam Fox backs call to use 'Brexit dividend' to fund NHS The Guardian
• The Guardian view on NHS funding: no platform for Boris Johnson | Editorial The Guardian
• Theresa May slaps down Boris Johnson in front of cabinet members over NHS funding demands The Independent

Just one nurse is hired for every 400 jobs advertised

Just one nurse is hired for every 400 jobs advertised The NHS recruitment crisis has become so bad that some parts of the country are only hiring one nurse for every 400 jobs advertised.

Official figures have laid bare the true extent of nursing shortages across the country with just one in seven advertised jobs getting filled.

There were 34,260 vacant nursing and midwifery roles advertised across England at the end of September - a record high.

Nursing leaders have claimed the Government 'can no longer deny the staffing crisis' on the back of the NHS Digital data.

It comes after a scathing analysis last week revealed a greater number of nurses and midwives are now leaving the health service than joining.

More than 33,000 walked away from nursing last year in England - about 10 per cent of the entire workforce. Around half were under the age of 40.  The Daily Mail

See also:

• NHS Vacancy Statistics England, February 2015 - September 2017 NHS Digital
• Parts of NHS England only able to fill one in 400 nursing vacancies The Guardian