Hospital reconfiguration: if workforce is the problem, why is workforce not the solution?

Hospital reconfiguration: if workforce is the problem, why is workforce not the solution? With reducing numbers of hospital sites often the perceived solution to medical workforce problems, Candace Imison argues for caution when it comes to reconfiguration. Nuffield Trust

Strengthening your nursing supply case study

Strengthening your nursing supply case study Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust has committed to strengthening its nursing supply, through the introduction of new roles, such as nursing apprenticeships, and mapping out career pathways so that staff can visually identify how they can develop their careers from apprentice through to chief nurse. The case study looks at how the trust has diversified its workforce and introduced new roles and education routes to support staff development and increase skills, staff experience and retention. NHS Employers

Measuring wellbeing inequality: what are appropriate indicators of wellbeing inequality?

Measuring wellbeing inequality: what are appropriate indicators of wellbeing inequality? This working paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of different measures of wellbeing inequality and to make a recommendation of a measure which could be reported by the Office for National Statistics alongside mean wellbeing. It also encourages researchers to reflect on which wellbeing inequality measure they choose and for a broader debate between key stakeholders on appropriate wellbeing inequality measures for different purposes. New Economics Foundation

Dementia-friendly rural communities guide

Dementia-friendly rural communities guide Rural communities have an important part to play in tackling the social and economic impact of dementia, by supporting people living with dementia to be part of their local community. This guide gives best practice advice on how to create a dementia-friendly community in rural areas and shares successful case studies from across the country. Alzheimer's Society

NHS reforms that could be on the way out

NHS reforms that could be on the way out The Lansley reforms, remember them? Those changes to the NHS that reorganised everything, cost lots and lots and lots of money, and really stretched David Cameron's perpetual efforts to show he loved the NHS? Well some elements of them might, just might be on the way out.

In 2012 the government, after months of arguments, brought in huge changes to the way the NHS in England is run.

The idea was to give GPs more power to spend the cash - the argument being they understand the needs of patients better, so would allocate cash more widely.

Six years later, that is not quite how it has come to pass, with the reforms criticised far and wide for being too complicated, too disruptive, and also too expensive. BBC News

We need to address the socioeconomic causes of mental health issues if we really want to tackle the problem

We need to address the socioeconomic causes of mental health issues if we really want to tackle the problem In 2018, mental health and psychological distress are high on the agenda. And this is great progress. The increased awareness of mental health issues and the willingness to discuss them that we are currently seeing is vital. It keeps pressure on policymakers to fulfil their promise to put mental health on an equal footing with physical health. The Independent

Government’s 'inadequate' air pollution strategy fails to tackle car and lorry emissions, warn campaigners

Government’s 'inadequate' air pollution strategy fails to tackle car and lorry emissions, warn campaigners The government’s plan to cut air pollution lacks concrete proposals to tackle the problem and fails to address the main source of illegal emissions in towns and cities: cars and lorries.

That is the view of green campaigners, who have warned that ministers’ “inadequate” proposals were shifting the responsibility to local government to tackle a public health crisis claiming 50,000 lives in the UK each year, without saying where the money would come from. The Independent

See also:

• New Clean Air Strategy to be launched by Environment Secretary Michael Gove Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• UK’s new air pollution strategy ‘hugely disappointing’, says Labour The Guardian

The Guardian view on AI in the NHS: a good servant, when it’s not a bad master | Editorial

The Guardian view on AI in the NHS: a good servant, when it’s not a bad master | Editorial The NHS collects vast amounts of data. It must be used in imaginative ways that respect privacy and make life better for patients and health workers

Technology helps us live better and for longer; in fact it has been doing so since the birth of modern medicine. And as each new technology comes into use, it turns out to have medical uses, even though these are not always the ones that are sold hardest: in the 1920s the American press was full of advertisements for the health benefits of radium, which was then a mysterious and powerful substance just as artificial intelligence (AI) is today. AI won’t work miracles or make death unnecessary by letting people upload their minds into silicon, but it might catch cancers earlier. The prime minister on Monday said that 30,000 lives a year would be saved by 2030, mostly through earlier and more accurate diagnosis. This is about 10% of the annual cancer death rate in Britain. It is possible to object that the money would be better spent on less glamorous initiatives, such as hiring enough care workers, nurses and doctors and paying them all properly. But while that is certainly very urgent, there is no need to choose between the two approaches. We need both. Continue reading...