More than 2,000 adults in Northamptonshire hospitalised after self-harming, report highlights

More than 2,000 adults in Northamptonshire hospitalised after self-harming, report highlights More adults are hospitalised in Northamptonshire with self-harm injuries than the national average, a new report has revealed.

Figures released by Northamptonshire Community Foundation as part of its Hidden Needs campaign show that more than 2,000 adults were treated last year.

The report, compiled by the University of Northampton, comes during Mental Health Awareness Week. Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also:

• Northamptonshire Hidden Needs Northamptonshire Community Foundation

Social care reform at a fork in the road, says new report

Social care reform at a fork in the road, says new report The Health Foundation and The King’s Fund have highlighted a worrying lack of progress on social care reform, in extensive new analysis of funding pressures and options for change.

The authors point to low public awareness and lack of agreement on what should be done as major barriers to progress, despite political consensus on the need for urgent action.

They conclude that reforming the current system will be expensive, but that if reform is chosen, England is now at a clear ‘fork in the road’ with a choice between a better means-tested system and one that is more like the NHS; free at the point of use for those who need it.

See also:

• A fork in the road: next steps for social care funding reform The Health Foundation and The King's Fund

Mental health ‘game-changer’ cuts hospital admissions

Mental health ‘game-changer’ cuts hospital admissions Improved mental health care for patients with physical ailments has reduced demand for GP appointments and cut hospital admissions by three quarters in a pilot scheme as part of a programme of new services that NHS England is rolling out across the country.

Fighting the diabetes postcode lottery

Fighting the diabetes postcode lottery Thousands of adults and children with diabetes are being denied a new life-changing technology that could help them to safely manage their condition. Diabetes UK

See also:

• Diabetes patients denied life-changing device, UK charity says The Guardian

A better offer for older people: making extra care housing work for your community

A better offer for older people: making extra care housing work for your community This report looks at how extra care housing can contribute to meeting the needs of the country's older popultation. It examines the potential and challenges of extra care housing and uses insights from residents in extra care housing. Mears

Furness hospital baby deaths: Midwifery council criticised

Furness hospital baby deaths: Midwifery council criticised The midwifery regulator took too long to act on concerns about midwives at a hospital which may have led to "avoidable deaths", a report has said.

Eleven babies and one mother died at Furness General Hospital in Barrow, Cumbria, between 2004 and 2013.

A Professional Standards Authority review said the Nursing and Midwifery Council failed to react quickly enough to concerns from police and families.

The NMC has apologised and admitted its approach was "unacceptable". BBC News

See also:

• Lessons Learned ReviewThe Nursing and Midwifery Council’s handlingof concerns about midwives’ fitness topractise at the Furness General Hospital Professional Standards Authority
• NMC welcomes lessons learned review into handling of Morecambe Bay cases Nursing and Midwifery Council
• Jackie Smith to step down as NMC Chief Executive Nursing and Midwifery Council
• Nurse watchdog 'helped to cover up hospital baby deaths scandal' The Daily Mail
• Failure to act against 'dangerous' midwives resulted in deaths – report The Guardian

Male nurse: 'I was told to become a bricky'

Male nurse: 'I was told to become a bricky' When David Ferran left school at the age of 17, he was encouraged to learn a trade and become a bricklayer or an electrician.

But that wasn't for him. He went into nursing, bucking the trend in what is still a female-dominated profession. BBC News

See also:

• Nurses shouldn't be referred to as sisters 'because it puts men off' The Daily Mail
• Stop calling nurses 'sister' and 'matron' - it's putting men off The Daily Telegraph

Housebound woman 'forced to crowdfund' for wheelchair

Housebound woman 'forced to crowdfund' for wheelchair A woman who is housebound due to a rare genetic condition has been refused an electric wheelchair on the NHS, and has resorted to crowdfunding.

Charlotte Walton, 24, from Newbury, Berkshire, has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), and can no longer use one of her arms and both her legs.

She said "life is currently passing by" because she is "stuck in her home".

Her local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group apologised and asked her to "get in touch" to discuss her situation. BBC News

NHS has lost 1000 GPs since Hunt set workforce target

NHS has lost 1000 GPs since Hunt set workforce target The GP workforce in England is continuing to decline, as official statistics reveal that 316 full-time equivalent GPs have left the profession in the last three months.

The figures released by NHS Digital also reveal that the number of FTE GPs in the workforce has decreased more than 1,000 since September 2015 - when health secretary Jeremy Hunt announced he would increase the number of FTE GPs in England by 5,000. Pulse

See also:

• General and Personal Medical Services, England : Final 31 December 2017 and Provisional 31 March 2018, experimental statistics NHS Digital
• New workforce figures 'yet another hammer blow' for hardworking GPs' says RCGP Royal College of General Practitioners

Bev Humphrey: ‘The underfunding of the NHS is almost conspiratorial’

Bev Humphrey: ‘The underfunding of the NHS is almost conspiratorial’ Greater Manchester mental health trust’s outgoing chief executive on seven years of austerity and her fears for the health service’s future

Mental health has a hell of a lot to teach the acute sector,” says Bev Humphrey, the outgoing chief executive of the Greater Manchester mental health NHS foundation trust. “It needs to sit up and listen.”

Humphrey believes that truly integrated mental health teams – involving psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health nurses, social workers, speech therapists, occupational therapists and dietitians – that provide services around the clock are the way forward across the NHS. “We have crisis intervention teams working 24/7, helping to reduce the pressure on inpatient beds. If you had that for older people, you would have fewer emergency admissions to hospital.” Continue reading... The Guardian

Trump threatens to use US trade talks to force NHS to pay more for drugs

Trump threatens to use US trade talks to force NHS to pay more for drugs Donald Trump is ready to use trade talks to force the National Health Service to pay more for its drugs as part of his scheme to "put American patients first”.

Mr Trump has claimed that the high costs faced by US patients are a direct result of other countries’ health services “freeloading” at America’s expense.

Alex Azar, the US Health and Human Services Secretary, has said Washington will use its muscle to push up drug prices abroad, to lower the cost paid by patients in the United States. The Daily Telegraph

Panic and complacency: how the world reacts to disease outbreaks

Panic and complacency: how the world reacts to disease outbreaks Panic and complacency are the hallmarks of the world’s response to infectious diseases, with complacency currently in the ascendance.

This is the verdict of Jonathan Quick, chair of the US-based Global Health Council and previously a director at the World Health Organization.

Dr Quick's recently published book, the End of Epidemics, details how the world can prevent another outbreak sweeping the globe, harming millions and crippling health services and economies. But he is not confident that the world is ready to meet the threat. The Daily Telegraph

Three people infected with 'extensively drug-resistant' gonorrhoea threaten the control of the STI

Three people infected with 'extensively drug-resistant' gonorrhoea threaten the control of the STI Three more travellers have become infected with 'super gonorrhoea', which is resistant to antibiotics, scientists have revealed.

They picked up the sexually transmitted infection (STI) while having unprotected sex as they toured through south-east Asia.

Between February and March this year one person in the UK and two in Australia failed to respond to the go-to antibiotic treatment for gonorrhoea, according to a report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The Daily Mail