Nursing in the digital age

Nursing in the digital age The Queen’s Nursing Institute has launched a major new report on the use of digital and information technology at its conference for Queen’s Nurses on 23rd of April.

The new report, ‘Nursing in the Digital Age – Using Technology to Support Patients at Home’is based on a survey of over 500 nurses working in the community, the document revisits a subject first analysed by the QNI in its 2012 publication, ‘Smart New World’.

The new report seeks to determine how far new healthcare information technology has changed in the previous six years and how skills and attitudes within community services have adapted.

NHS staff deliver more than 50 million babies

NHS staff deliver more than 50 million babies England’s top midwife says NHS staff have delivered more than 50 million babies over the last seven decades and is urging young people to consider the “uniquely rewarding” career. NHS England

Six things you should expect from social care support

Six things you should expect from social care support People have told us they want to feel listened to and involved in decisions about their social care. Here are six things you should expect from care services, according to new guidelines. HealthWatch

Parents facing 'unfair child abuse claims' over bruising

Parents facing 'unfair child abuse claims' over bruising Parents are being investigated for possible child abuse because of the misinterpretation of guidelines on bruising in babies, it's claimed.

Official guidelines from health watchdog NICE for hospital workers suggest such bruising is very uncommon.

University of Central Lancashire research suggested the guidelines mean social services are investigating parents too often.

Its research said more than a quarter of babies are bruised accidentally. BBC News

US soldier gets world's first penis and scrotum transplant

US soldier gets world's first penis and scrotum transplant A team of US doctors has successfully carried out the world's first total transplant of a penis and scrotum.

Surgeons at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, performed the operation on a soldier who had been wounded by a bomb in Afghanistan.

They used a penis, scrotum and partial abdominal wall transplanted from a deceased donor.

They say the soldier should be able to regain sexual function, which is impossible with penis reconstructions.

The team of 11 surgeons performed the transplant over 14 hours on 26 March. BBC News

NHS reorganisation could "threaten patient safety"

NHS reorganisation could "threaten patient safety" NHS England says Accountable Care Organisations will target funds and services more effectively.

Proposed changes to the way NHS services are provided in England will be challenged at the High Court in Leeds.

Campaigners are bringing a judicial review of plans to create new regional Accountable Care Organisations (ACOs) to oversee healthcare.

ACOs are part of emerging plans across the country intended to help integrate NHS services, encouraging hospital and ambulance trusts, GPs, local authorities, social care providers and health commissioning groups working more closely together.

NHS England, backed by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, says they will help meet soaring demand in the health service, ease pressure on hospitals and provide care in appropriate and cost-efficient settings. Sky News

A separate NHS tax would only further its fragmentation

A separate NHS tax would only further its fragmentation This ‘cross-party’ campaign to address the health service crisis will do nothing to cure the ills of privatisation

When MPs from different parties put aside their differences to work together, it’s worth listening to what they have to say – especially when it comes to protecting our crisis-ridden NHS. So when Liz Kendall, Norman Lamb and Nick Boles took to the airwaves this morning proposing a cross-party solution to our healthcare crisis, I understand why many people will have listened with interest.

I agree with a number of the proposals, including a commitment to keeping the NHS free at the point of use, integration of social care and increasing funding above inflation. But sadly – and I don’t doubt these MPs care about the NHS – I believe that the sum total of their “ten principles of long-term funding for NHS and social care” ​risk undermining healthcare in this country. Continue reading... The Guardian

VIP lab tours for child patients is healthcare innovation of the year

VIP lab tours for child patients is healthcare innovation of the year Malcolm Robinson, scientist and founder of charity Harvey’s Gang, named overall winner at Advancing Healthcare awards

A biomedical scientist has scooped top honours in the annual awards for therapists and health scientists for his idea of giving child patients VIP tours of the laboratories where their blood samples are analysed.

Malcolm Robinson, from Western Sussex hospitals NHS foundation trust, came up with the scheme when Harvey Buster Baldwin, then aged six, kept asking questions about the process. Robinson gave him an explanatory tour and arranged for him to have a child-size lab coat, cardboard security pass and goody bag. Continue reading... The Guardian