Video shows how NGH £12m emergency assessment unit will look upon completition

Video shows how NGH £12m emergency assessment unit will look upon completion Work is three-months away from completion on a new £12m A&E assessment unit at Northampton General Hospital.

Last year workers started building a new £12 million two-storey assessment unit at Northampton General Hospital, adjacent to A&E, with a link into the existing hospital via a bridge. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

NHS staff and volunteers mark 70 years of NHS at Northampton General Hospital

NHS staff and volunteers mark 70 years of NHS at Northampton General Hospital As the NHS turns 70 the Chronicle & Echo celebrates some of Northampton General Hospital's longest-serving employees.

With a combined length of service of 124 years, workers and volunteers at NGH, Andrew Beswick, Celia Penn, Tony O’Donovan and Caroline Paviour, tell of how much NGH has changed since they started their careers and voluntary roles, and how they envisage life at the NHS in another 10 years’ time.  Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Is our love for the NHS bad for our health?

Is our love for the NHS bad for our health? In the run-up to the 70th anniversary of the NHS, we’ve been talking with the public to better understand their relationship with and expectations of the service and their views on who is responsible for keeping people healthy.

It almost goes without saying that there is huge support for the NHS, with the vast majority of people supporting the founding principles of a service free at the point of delivery, available to all and funded largely by taxation. As one participant at our recent discussion events said, ‘I do have a love for the NHS, it’s part of our heritage.’  The King's Fund

‘Co-production isn’t a one-night stand’

‘Co-production isn’t a one-night stand’ To mark SCIE’s Co-Production Week, #coproweek, which runs 2 July to 6 July 2018, Mandy Rudczenko, member of C4CC’s own co-production group has written this blog post on the importance of co-production being a long-term relationship. Centre for Collaborative Care

See also:

• Embedding co-production at all levels of care Centre for Collaborative Care

Evidence-based interventions: consultation document

Evidence-based interventions: consultation document This consultation seeks views on the design principles of a programme to reduce the delivery of clinically ineffective interventions. The proposals aim to reduce avoidable harm to patients, save precious professional time, help clinicians maintain their professional practice in line with the changing evidence base, create headroom for innovation and maximise value and avoid waste for patients and taxpayers. The closing date for comments is 28 September 2018. NHS England

• Consultation
• Response form

'I never thought I'd be alive to pay back my huge debt'

'I never thought I'd be alive to pay back my huge debt' Chris Lynch, 41, was a hard-drinking student when his debts began to build up and his life started to spiral out of control.

At one point he was was £35,000 in debt - and that's when anxiety and depression took hold.

"I didn't think I'd be alive long enough to pay if off. I could easily have ended up homeless or ending my life," he says.

The charity Mental Health UK says Chris's experience is not unusual - up to four million people could be at risk of poor mental health brought on by money problems. BBC News

GP vacancies rise to record levels despite recruitment pledge, survey suggests

GP vacancies rise to record levels despite recruitment pledge, survey suggests Long patient waits and unsafe, rushed appointments are unlikely to end any time soon as vacancies have risen from 9.1 per cent to 15.3 per cent since the government pledged 5,000 more doctors

A record 15.3 per cent of GP posts in the UK are unfilled, suggesting government pledges to address soaring waiting times for GP appointments by recruiting more thousands more doctors have fallen flat.

In England, which has 33,574 full-time GPs as of March 2018 according to NHS statistics, the figures show a vacancy rate of 15.8 per cent suggesting more than 6,000 full-time GP posts advertised and currently unfilled. The Independent

See also:

• Revealed: GP vacancy rates rocket with one in six roles unfilled Pulse

Lucy Letby: Newborn deaths doubled at hospital where nurse arrested on suspicion of babies' murders worked

Lucy Letby: Newborn deaths doubled at hospital where nurse arrested on suspicion of babies' murders worked Audit data shows how in a single year neonatal mortality at Countess of Chester Hospital went from unremarkable to among highest in UK

Between 2014 and 2015 the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital (CoCH) in Cheshire saw the number of babies that died on its wards double, without any apparent explanation.

There were nine neonatal deaths in 2015, compared to four in 2014, according to data published by the Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries (MBRRACE-UK) research group. The Independent

See also:

• Lucy Letby: Police dig in garden of nurse arrested over deaths of babies at Cheshire hospital The Independent

The robots helping NHS surgeons perform better, faster – and for longer

The robots helping NHS surgeons perform better, faster – and for longer Surgical robots such as Versius cut training time down from 80 sessions to 30 minutes

It is the most exacting of surgical skills: tying a knot deep inside a patient’s abdomen, pivoting long graspers through keyhole incisions with no direct view of the thread.

Trainee surgeons typically require 60 to 80 hours of practice, but in a mock-up operating theatre outside Cambridge, a non-medic with just a few hours of experience is expertly wielding a hook-shaped needle – in this case stitching a square of pink sponge rather than an artery or appendix. Continue reading... The Guardian

NHS hailed as 'unifying ideal' on 70th anniversary

NHS hailed as 'unifying ideal' on 70th anniversary Politicians, staff and patients pay tribute to health service at Westminster Abbey ceremony

The boss of the NHS has lauded the service as an enduring “unifying ideal” for people across Britain, as politicians, staff and patients queued up to pay tribute to the health service on its 70th birthday.

At a service of celebration at Westminster Abbey for 2,200 NHS staff, Simon Stevens, the NHS England chief executive, quoted the archbishop of Canterbury’s view that the NHS was “the most powerful and visible expression of our Christian heritage” because it “sprang out of a concern that the poor should be able to be treated as well as the rich”. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Simon Stevens’ NHS 70 address to Westminster Abbey NHS England
• What the NHS means in one word BBC News
• NHS at 70: Who was health service founder Aneurin Bevan? BBC News

Apps which diagnose skin cancer are UNRELIABLE and are not a substitute for going to the doctor

Apps which diagnose skin cancer are UNRELIABLE and are not a substitute for going to the doctor Mobile apps which claim to detect skin cancer could be endangering the public because they are not regulated, scientists claim.

The apps do not notice all 'red flag' symptoms of skin cancer, according to researchers, and are not a replacement for going to see a doctor.

People should also take the apps' recommendations with a pinch of salt, experts say, and always go to a doctor if they suspect something is wrong.

Researchers worry the technology is not tested thoroughly to make sure they work, may not have expert advice when they are being made, and the software which identifies problems might be flawed. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Untested skin cancer apps endangering the public British Association of Dermatologists