Monday 25 June 2018

Internal transfer scheme to improve nurse retention: case study

Internal transfer scheme to improve nurse retention: case study In this case study, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust shares how it tackled its high rate of nurse leavers. It explores how the trust introduced two unique nurse-led initiatives, resulting in a reduction of the nursing vacancy rate by 50 per cent. It features key learning points, looks at how the trust overcame certain challenges, and highlights guidance which may be useful for organisations seeking to address retention of the workforce. NHS Employers

Double or quits: calculating how many more medical students we need

Double or quits: calculating how many more medical students we need This policy brief by RCP registrar and president-elect Dr Andrew Goddard outlines new calculations for the number of doctors needed, and sets out key issues facing workforce planning in the UK that affect the current supply, future service demand and predicted losses in the workforce. Royal College of Physicians

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The state of care in urgent primary care services: findings from CQC’s programme of comprehensive inspections in England

The state of care in urgent primary care services: findings from CQC’s programme of comprehensive inspections in England This report finds that urgent care centres, NHS 111 services and GP out-of-hours services play a vital role in England’s healthcare system. It highlights that effective urgent primary care benefits not only patients but the wider healthcare system, by easing pressure on other services. It finds that while the majority of care is rated good or outstanding, voluntary sector groups have raised concerns that there is a lack of public information about which services to contact and when, and that people require guidance to overcome an historic reliance on accident and emergency. Care Quality Commission

NHS use of 'unsafe' syringes to be examined

NHS use of 'unsafe' syringes to be examined The government will examine claims the NHS was slow to take a "dangerous" automatic syringe out of service.

It follows a whistleblower's warning, reported in the Sunday Times, that the devices could have caused widespread deaths among elderly patients.

The syringes, used to give powerful painkillers, were in use until 2015. BBC News

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Child obesity plan targets sweets at checkouts

Child obesity plan targets sweets at checkouts Sweets and fatty snacks sold at checkouts and as part of supermarket deals will be banned under new government proposals to halve childhood obesity in England by 2030.

Tighter restrictions on junk food ads on TV and online are also planned, as well as mandatory calorie labelling on restaurant menus.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the measures gave "power to parents to make healthier choices".

The plans have been broadly welcomed. BBC News

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How It Feels To Be An Inpatient At A Psychiatric Hospital

How It Feels To Be An Inpatient At A Psychiatric Hospital I was expecting an overcrowded, sterile and cheerless environment. Instead it was more like a Travelodge with nursing staff. Huffington Post UK

Mental health services for the young is NHS's 'silent catastrophe'

Mental health services for the young is NHS's 'silent catastrophe' Survey of frontline staff finds chronic underfunding and redesign of services to blame

Failings in treatment of children and young people with mental health problems is a “silent catastrophe” within the NHS and is due to chronic underfunding and serious structural issues, a report by the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP) claims.

The report, which exposes a “serious and worsening crisis” for the health service through a survey of those working in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), says trusts are being hollowed out and specialist services are disappearing owing to underfunding and the transformation and redesign of services in recent years. Continue reading... The Guardian

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There’s a huge hole in Theresa May’s spending pledge for the health service

There’s a huge hole in Theresa May’s spending pledge for the health service | Andrew Rawnsley Every other government department is already cut to the bone, so just where will that £20bn a year for the NHS come from?

One of the more sensible things that the Tories did during their otherwise terrible general election campaign last summer was not to make too many promises about tax. Though they never explicitly acknowledged that taxes might have to go up during this parliament, Theresa May and Philip Hammond signalled this could be so when they dropped many of the pledges inherited from David Thingy and George Whatnot. Anyone with a basic diploma in political semaphore could intuit that this meant that there was a strong possibility that taxes would rise.

Possibility has turned into racing certainty. That is one conclusion we can draw from Mrs May’s announcement that there will be £20bn extra per year for the NHS by 2023. Even the magic money tree can’t produce that kind of cash without some watering by the taxman. This is more than the chancellor wanted to sign off on before Jeremy Hunt, the wily survivor as health secretary, managed to persuade the prime minister that money would be the most popular 70th birthday present for the NHS. Continue reading... The Guardian

New NHS investigative body to examine suspicious deaths

New NHS investigative body to examine suspicious deaths Campaigners say body could block public from knowing truth behind patient’s deaths

A new body being set up to investigate suspicious deaths in the NHS will be so secretive it will block families from finding out the truth of what happened to their relatives, campaigners have said.

The government says the Health Service Safety Investigations Body is designed to provide a “safe space” for doctors, nurses and other NHS staff to be open about what went wrong when a patient died or was harmed unnecessarily. The proposal for setting up the body is currently with a joint committee in the Houses of Parliament. Continue reading... The Guardian

NHS trusts win legal fight over Virgin Care child health contract

NHS trusts win legal fight over Virgin Care child health contract Court throws out Lancashire council’s awarding of £104m services deal to private firm

A decision by Lancashire county council to award a £104m contract for children’s healthcare services to Virgin Care has been thrown out after a legal challenge by NHS trusts.

A high court judge found the local authority’s process was flawed and the contract for services for children aged 0-19 should not have been awarded to the private provider late last year. Continue reading... The Guardian

Doctors living in fear of fatal mistakes due to NHS pressures, says BMA

Doctors living in fear of fatal mistakes due to NHS pressures, says BMA NHS doctors are living in fear of making life-threatening mistakes due to financial pressures and staff shortages, according to a new survey.

The British Medical Association (BMA) says “perpetual” rota gaps have put the health service into a state of all-year crisis, with three quarters of doctors believing that the drive to meet financial targets is overriding patient safety. The Daily Telegraph

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Patients should be charged for GP and hospital visits to fund NHS, leading doctors say

Patients should be charged for GP and hospital visits to fund NHS, leading doctors say Patients should be charged for GP and hospital visits, leading doctors say.

The British Medical Association (BMA) will vote next week on whether to lobby the Government to introduce alternative ways to fund the NHS.

The radical move, which would end the principle of an NHS free at the point of delivery, will be discussed at the BMA's annual conference on Monday. The Daily Telegraph

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Millions of NHS patients are being denied migraine super drug

Millions of NHS patients are being denied migraine super drug Millions of Britons who suffer crippling migraines are being denied a cheap drug that could dramatically slash the number of debilitating attacks.

Migraine sufferers participating in studies using the drug have seen their headaches reduced, on average, from four a week to just one.

The drug, called flunarizine, is already the standard treatment in many other countries around the world for migraine, which affects one in seven Britons. But it is not licensed in the UK – though research shows the drug can work for patients who have failed to respond to up to six other drugs. The Daily Mail

NHS addiction clinic launches for people addicted to online computer games

NHS addiction clinic launches for people addicted to online computer games Doctors are set to launch the first NHS internet addiction clinic amid fears over dangerous online video games.

The clinic will help adults and children with gaming disorders, with children as young as nine needing help for addictions to violent video games such as Fortnite.

If approved by managers, it will be run by an NHS foundation trust in London, and could also help people obsessed with pornography and social media.

Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, the consultant psychiatrist behind the centre, is seeking NHS funding to tackle the growing number of compulsive internet users. The Daily Mail

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