Wednesday 30 May 2018

Using data in the NHS: the implications of the opt-out and GDPR

Using data in the NHS: the implications of the opt-out and GDPR Patient data is not only vital for managing an individual’s care, it also plays an important role in other ways: planning health services, improving diagnosis and treatment and evaluating the effectiveness of policy. These ‘secondary uses’ of data offer significant opportunities to improve care, especially if advances in technology and data analysis can be harnessed. The King's Fund

Hypothecated funding for health and social care: how might it work?

Hypothecated funding for health and social care: how might it work? Hypothecated funding for health and social care is back on the political agenda. This paper sets out the problems hypothecation is meant to solve - and the conditions under which it might do so - and provides a brief history of hypothecation in the UK. The King's Fund

NHS England announces new £10 million fund to help retain GPs

NHS England announces new £10 million fund to help retain GPs NHS England is today announcing a new £10million fund to support and retain GPs. Some £7million will be made available through regional-based schemes to help GPs to stay in the workforce, by promoting new ways of working and by offering additional support through a new Local GP Retention Fund.

Transforming care: the challenges and solutions

Transforming care: the challenges and solutions This report outlines the challenges and solutions to moving people with learning disabilities, autism and/or mental health conditions out of long-stay inpatient care. It offers insight from a pilot project and provides recommendations for future steps. Voluntary Organisations Disability Group

Childhood obesity is everyone’s business

Childhood obesity is everyone’s business The Government must change the narrative around childhood obesity to make it clear that this is everyone's business, say the Health and Social Care Committee in their report into childhood obesity.

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'Working in the NHS, my life-long dream'

'Working in the NHS, my life-long dream' In 1948 the British government carried out an ambitious shake-up of post-war society, establishing the foundations of a welfare state.

A cornerstone of this new vision was the creation of the National Health Service, the NHS, providing free universal health care for everyone in the UK.

Olive Belfield, 91, tells Witness about working as a nurse and health visitor in the early days of the NHS. BBC News

NHS must combat 'white privilege' and increase diversity, says trust executive

NHS must combat 'white privilege' and increase diversity, says trust executive The NHS needs to do more to tackle “white privilege” and increase black, Asian and minority ethnic (Bame) representation in leadership positions, a Trust chief executive has said.

Sarah-Jane Marsh, of the Birmingham Women’s & Children’s NHS Trust, told Sky News a lack of representation among senior managers and directors means the NHS is not as diverse as the communities it serves.

She said it means the NHS may not be getting the best possible staff. The Independent

Mental health care: have services really been transformed?

Mental health care: have services really been transformed? A sure sign that mental health had emerged from the shadows came when Prince Harry talked about his near-breakdown years after his mother’s death. Literally shut away from sight a few decades ago, mental illness has moved to the centre of public debate.

NHS services have also come a long way since their inheritance of lunatic asylums and a dubious arsenal of treatments such as insulin shock therapy, which was used to induce comas. The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, produced by an independent task force for NHS England two years ago, spoke of a “transformation” in which the emphasis had already shifted to human rights. Continue reading... The Guardian

‘What good is advanced surgery if we can’t even offer proper homecare?’

‘What good is advanced surgery if we can’t even offer proper homecare?’ | Anna Bawden and Nicola Slawson A crisis in council funding is forcing domiciliary care firms to cancel contracts, leaving older people without vital support

Almost 1.2 million people aged over 65 do not receive the support they need with essential daily tasks such as getting washed and dressed or preparing meals, according to Age UK. The perilous state of the domiciliary care sector, which provides support in people’s own homes, is one of the main reasons for this, the charity says.

Related: NHS needs £2,000 in tax from every household to stay afloat – report

We can secure the NHS and social care for the future by asking everyone to contribute a little more Continue reading... The Guardian

Maternity services set for more change as the NHS hits 70

Maternity services set for more change as the NHS hits 70 Hospital births were once seen as the ideal in maternity services – now, women’s choice is driving policy

July is set to be a month of celebrations. Not only will it be the NHS’s birthday that month, but it will be the 40th birthday of Louise Brown, probably better known as the world’s first “test-tube baby”.

Louise’s arrival, by caesarian section shortly before midnight on 25 July 1978 at the Royal Oldham hospital, made headlines around the world, marking as it did the birth of the first human to be conceived using in-vitro fertilisation. Continue reading... The Guardian

The NHS vanguard schemes aiming to deliver quicker, better care

The NHS vanguard schemes aiming to deliver quicker, better care In England and Northern Ireland, prevention and early intervention are seen as key to transforming healthcare

The prevention of ill health, rather than just its cure, lies at the heart of moves to improve the NHS to make it fit for another 70 years. The message is the same across the UK.

In England, the way forward has been signalled by the work of a number of “vanguard” schemes, selected and funded to trial new models of care based on local partnerships between the NHS and council-run social care and public health. Continue reading... The Guardian

More than 1 million patients forced to get a new GP after seven-fold rise in practice closures 

More than 1 million patients forced to get a new GP after seven-fold rise in practice closures More than a million patients have been forced to get a new GP amid a seven-fold rise in practice closures, an investigation reveals.

Family doctors said elderly patients were being left to travel long distances, warning of a “timebomb” as shortages of GPs spread across the country.

Freedom of Information disclosures reveal the closure of 445 practices across the country in the last five years, including some which merged into “super surgeries”.

This included 134 closures last year - a seven-fold rise on the 18 practices which closed in 2013. The Daily Telegraph

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Woman killed herself after surgeon removed her ovaries during operation because ‘they were getting in the way’, inquest hears

Woman killed herself after surgeon removed her ovaries during operation because ‘they were getting in the way’, inquest hears A woman treated by one of Britain's best known surgeons killed herself after the doctor, who is under investigation by the NHS, removed her ovaries during an operation because "they were getting in the way".

Anthony Dixon, who built up an international reputation for using mesh to fix bowel problems, saw Lucinda Methuen-Campbell, 58, at a private hospital in 2016 regarding a bowel disorder.

Dr Dixon, who has been suspended from two hospitals in Bristol, allegedly told Mrs Methuen-Campbell that he removed her ovaries during the surgery "because they were in the way". The Daily Telegraph

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