New app ensures KGH patients get antibiotics quickly

New app ensures KGH patients get antibiotics quickly Doctors and nurses will be able to speed up the process of giving Kettering General Hospital patients antibiotics – by using an app on their phone.

The hospital has launched antibiotic app MicroGuide, enabling staff to swiftly check exactly which antibiotics to prescribe, in what dose and in what way form.

It will also give staff the most up to date national and local guidance to help tackle bacteria that are becoming resistant to antibiotics. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Financial sustainability of local authorities 2018

Financial sustainability of local authorities 2018 The financial health of local authorities across England is getting worse, says a report from the National Audit Office (NAO).

The report, published today, highlights that despite greater freedoms to increase council tax bills and one-off short-term funds from government, local authorities are struggling to juggle higher demands and cost pressures against significant central government funding cuts of nearly 50% since 2010-11.

Many local authorities are relying on using their savings to fund local services and are overspending on services, which is not financially sustainable. The report goes on to show that if local authorities with social care responsibilities keep using their reserves at current rates, one in ten could have exhausted them within three years. Last month, Northamptonshire County Council imposed strict in-year spending controls as it is at risk of spending more than the resources it has available in 2017-18, which would be unlawful.

See also:

• Local councils at financial breaking point due to austerity, warns National Audit Office The Independent

Waiting times targets failing the sickest patients

Waiting times targets failing the sickest patients The King’s Fund is calling on the NHS to ensure that the way waiting time targets are implemented prevents increasing numbers of patients from facing long waits for hospital treatment.

Launched ahead of new figures on A&E performance in February due out later today (Thursday 8 March), the Fund’s latest Quarterly Monitoring Report (QMR) shows that in January, the number of patients waiting for more than four hours after a decision to admit them to hospital from A&E (trolley waits) rose to 81,003, with 1,043 waiting more 12 hours – both the highest on record. These patients are usually waiting for a bed in hospital and are most in need of treatment.

Are we listening? A review of children and young people’s mental health services

Are we listening? A review of children and young people’s mental health services This report describes the findings of our independent review of the system of services that support children and young people’s mental health.

We found that many children and young people experiencing mental health problems don’t get the kind of care they deserve. The system is complicated, with no easy or clear way to get help or support.

We saw examples of services with caring and dedicated individuals who put children and young people at the centre of what they do. But these people are often working long hours, with limited money and an increasing demand for their services to overcome barriers to providing high-quality care. This cannot be maintained in the long run.

Things need to change at the top, so those working with children and young people have the support they need to be able to provide the best care. Care Quality Commission

See also:

• Anorexic teenagers in England being refused NHS treatment The Daily Mail
• GPs telling children to exaggerate mental health symptoms if they want NHS treatment The Daily Telegraph

Employee engagement, sickness absence and agency spend in NHS trusts

Employee engagement, sickness absence and agency spend in NHS trusts This report, commissioned by NHS England and produced by The King’s Fund, describes an analysis of the links between employee engagement, sickness absence and spend on agency staff in NHS trusts in England in 2016/17.

See also:

• It’s not about the money: staff engagement comes first The King's Fund

England’s top nurse announces major new recruitment and retention campaign to coincide with 70th anniversary of NHS

England’s top nurse announces major new recruitment and retention campaign to coincide with 70th anniversary of NHS England’s top nurse to announce a major new recruitment and retention campaign for the profession today as part of plans to mark the NHS’s landmark 70th year.

The new campaign will spotlight the enormous contribution of nurses and midwives in the NHS now and over the last seven decades, and look at the wide ranging career opportunities in the 21st century NHS in a drive to recruit and retain more nurses and midwives into the profession. NHS England

Five patients made 8,303 emergency calls in a year

Five patients made 8,303 emergency calls in a year Ambulances and emergency response vehicles were deployed more than 1,500 times to five patients in 12 months, the BBC has learned.

A total of 8,303 emergency calls were made by the five most frequent UK callers.

An NHS spokesman said the calls were often related to mental health, chronic pain and alcohol or drug dependence.

Vicki Nash from mental health charity Mind said the figures show that individuals' needs were not being met.

The figures were released after a Freedom of Information request to the UK's 14 ambulance trusts. BBC News

RCGP demands NHS Digital U-turn over data sharing deal with Home Office

RCGP demands NHS Digital U-turn over data sharing deal with Home Office NHS Digital's decision to continue sharing data from GP patient records with the Home Office undermines confidentiality and could put vulnerable patients at risk, the RCGP has warned. GPonline

See also:

• RCGP condemns NHS Digital decision to ignore recommendations to suspend MOU with Home Office Royal College of General Practitioners

Energy drinks: MPs investigate popularity among young people

Energy drinks: MPs investigate popularity among young people Concerns have been raised about potential health impact of consuming high-caffeine drinks

MPs have launched an investigation into energy drinks and their popularity with young people in the UK, amid growing concerns about negative health outcomes due to their high caffeine and sugar content.

The Commons science and technology committee will question why, when most UK supermarkets have introduced a voluntary ban on their sale to under-16s, there are no similar restrictions in many convenience stores, newsagents and smaller retailers.Continue reading... The Guardian

NHS intensive care units sending patients elsewhere due to lack of beds

NHS intensive care units sending patients elsewhere due to lack of beds Exclusive: Doctors say 80% of units sending patients to other hospitals amid chronic shortages

Patients whose lives are at risk are being turned away from their local hospitals because of a lack of intensive care beds, doctors who work in those units have revealed.

Four in five intensive care units (ICUs) are having to send patients to other hospitals as a result of chronic bed and staff shortages. Continue reading... The Guardian

Flu jab only worked in quarter of cases, new figures show

Flu jab only worked in quarter of cases, new figures show The flu jab worked in just a quarter of cases this winter, new figures reveal.

Health officials said they were “hostage to fortune” because decisions on the make-up of vaccinations are taken long before winter starts, making it impossible to adjust jabs to best match the threat

Next winter a new boosted jab will be offered to all elderly people, following concern about low effectiveness of the vaccines offered to the elderly in recent years.

Health officials told a meeting of the Commons Science and Technology Select Committee that the jab could not have been offered earlier, because it was only licensed last summer, months after the World Health Organisation (WHO) makes its recommendations. The Daily Telegraph

NHS spends £25million on acupuncture each year

NHS spends £25million on acupuncture each year Taxpayers are funding an estimated £25million of NHS acupuncture every year despite a lack of evidence it works, experts have warned.

Doctors should stop recommending acupuncture for pain because there is ‘insufficient evidence it is clinically worthwhile’, two scientists wrote in the British Medical Journal.

Even in China – the country that invented the practice, which usually involves putting needles in the skin – it was ‘considered irrational and superstitious’ as far back as 1700, they said. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Head To Head: Should doctors recommend acupuncture for pain? (open access) The BMJ