Northamptonshire County Council misappropriate £8m of public health money

Northamptonshire County Council misappropriate £8m of public health money A county council "misappropriated" £8m of funds ring-fenced for public health projects, auditors have revealed.

Northamptonshire County Council is facing a budget shortfall of £70m and this week was ordered to restrict spending to statutory services.

A report by auditors KPMG says the council used Public Health England grants to support other council services between 2015 and 2018. BBC Northampton

See also:

• Checks on whether ring-fenced money was spent correctly at Northamptonshire County Council Northamptonshire Telegraph

Northampton hospital staff face down heatwave to bring care to patients

Northampton hospital staff face down heatwave to bring care to patients Northampton General Hospital says they are "very proud" of their staff who taken on the extreme temperatures of the UK heatwave to provide care for patients.

Yesterday, the hottest day of the year so far was recorded in the UK with temperatures hitting 35C in London and reaching 32C in Northampton. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Northampton General Hospital urges patients to bring their medication to hospital in new campaign

Northampton General Hospital urges patients to bring their medication to hospital in new campaign Patients at Northampton General Hospital (NGH) are urging patients to bring all their own medicines with them for emergency or scheduled visits.

The hospital trust has launched campaign urging those likely to be seated in waiting areas to remember to bring their prescribed medication, including to outpatient clinic visits. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

The NHS app: will it work?

The NHS app: will it work? It is fitting the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, is the only MP to have his own app. The NHS is getting its own too. Hancock inherited Jeremy Hunt’s commitment that the national NHS app will be available by the end of 2018. The King's Fund

The toolkit for a sustainable health workforce in the WHO European Region

The toolkit for a sustainable health workforce in the WHO European Region This toolkit is aimed at policy-makers, human resources for health (HRH) planners and professionals, and other stakeholders, such as education institutions and those implementing policy. It is framed around four strategic domains mirroring the themes of the global strategy: education and performance, planning and investment, capacity-building, and analysis and monitoring. It is formulated to provide information and signpost to practical materials, such as HRH assessment, policy and planning tools, analytical approaches and case studies, to support efforts to strengthen HRH in a sustainable way, including through investment in capital and recurrent expenditure. World Health Organization

Fake NHS boss ordered to sell boat to repay earnings

Fake NHS boss ordered to sell boat to repay earnings A disgraced NHS executive who lied his way into a string of top jobs has been ordered to sell his boat and cash in a pension plan to repay some of his fraudulent earnings.

Ex-social worker Jon Andrewes, 64, invented fake degrees to land jobs running a hospice and two NHS trusts.

He admitted deception and fraud and was jailed for two years in 2017.

On Thursday at Exeter Crown Court he was ordered to pay back £97,737.24 under the Proceeds of Crime Act. BBC News

Medicinal cannabis products to be legalised

Medicinal cannabis products to be legalised Specialist doctors in the UK will be able to legally prescribe cannabis-derived medicinal products by autumn, the home secretary has announced.

Those that meet safety and quality standards are to be made legal for patients with an "exceptional clinical need", Sajid Javid said.

As it is a devolved matter, it will require legislative change before it is enforced in Northern Ireland.

Legalisation follows high-profile cases involving severely epileptic children. BBC News

See also:

• Cannabis-derived medicinal products to be made available on prescription Home Office
• Cannabis-derived medicines: What you need to know BBC News
• Cannabis-based medicines get green light as UK eases rules The Guardian
• 'Billy can live a normal life': families react to medicinal cannabis move The Guardian
• Medical cannabis to be available on prescription in UK after being approved for use by government The Independent

Nurses' pay: Union chief apologises over mix-up

Nurses' pay: Union chief apologises over mix-up The head of the Royal College of Nursing has apologised after nurses in England complained of being "misled" over a new pay deal.

The union had said they would receive a 3% pay rise this month as part of a new three-year pay deal.

But a number of nurses took to social media to say their pay had gone up by much less - in some cases by pennies.

RCN general secretary Janet Davies apologised, saying the deal had been presented "in good faith". BBC News

See also:

• NHS pay deal: not what you expected Royal College of Nursing
• NHS Employers response to RCN Agenda For Change letter NHS Employers
• RCN misled members over Agenda for Change pay deal HSJ

Government to trial child and adolescent mental health four-week referral deadline

Government to trial child and adolescent mental health four-week referral deadline A new four-week waiting time standard for children and young people referred for mental health treatment by GPs and other professionals is to be trialled, the Government has announced.

The first pilot sites will be finalised in the autumn and it is expected that between 20% and 25% of the country will have measures in place by the end of 2022/23, according to a green paper published yesterday. Pulse

Millions of injured and unwell may be 'trapped in their homes' because they cannot get a wheelchair, says Red Cross

Millions of injured and unwell may be 'trapped in their homes' because they cannot get a wheelchair, says Red Cross Millions of injured and ill people could be “trapped in their homes” because they are unable to access a wheelchair, raising concerns of a postcode lottery of provision.

A study by the British Red Cross shows that an estimated 3.8 million people who would benefit from use of a wheelchair or mobility aid loan are not getting the help they need.

The charity warned that people diagnosed with a terminal illness, recovering from surgery or an injury such as a broken leg are at risk of isolation or ending up trapped in their homes due to a lack of mobility aid provision. The Independent

See also:

• Wheelchair shortage: 'I didn't leave my house for three years' BBC News
• Millions of patients denied use of a wheelchair The Guardian
• 'I didn't want to live': Disabled woman reveals physical and mental struggle of living without a wheelchair The Independent

NHS in England facing deepening staffing crisis, figures show

NHS in England facing deepening staffing crisis, figures show Vacancies for doctors, nurses, midwives and therapists at highest level for three years

The NHS is facing a deepening staffing crisis as hospitals report growing shortages of doctors, nurses, midwives and therapists, official figures have revealed.

Vacancies across the NHS in England for those key groups of health professionals are running at the highest level since records began three years ago, according to NHS Digital statistics released on Thursday. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• NHS Vacancy Statistics England - February 2015 - March 2018 NHS Digital
• NHS needs more than 11,000 extra healthcare workers The Daily Mail

Hospitals in England face heatwave crisis on hottest day of the year

Hospitals in England face heatwave crisis on hottest day of the year Labour says NHS is under similar pressure to a winter crisis with record numbers attending A&E

Some hospitals in England have had record numbers of people attending A&E amid a summer crisis, NHS trusts have said, as the UK experienced its hottest day of the year.

The mercury reached 35C (95F) on Thursday at Heathrow, west London, and is expected to go even higher before thunderstorms bring some relief. The Met Office says the all-time record of 38.5C could be exceeded in south-east England on Friday. Continue reading... The Guardian

Scroll free September: NHS endorses mental health campaign to get children to give up social media for one month

Scroll free September: NHS endorses mental health campaign to get children to give up social media for one month After the success of Movember the NHS has endorsed a mental health campaign to get children to give up social media for 30 days.

Claire Murdoch, NHS England’s national director for mental health, said the campaign for people to sign up for a “Scroll-Free September” highlighted growing concerns that social media was contributing to a potential “epidemic” in mental ill health among young people.

The campaign is the brainchild of Britain’s oldest public health body, The Royal Society for Public Health, whose poll to launch it showed two thirds of people would consider giving up social media for the 30 days of September. It is the first time it has been tried anywhere in the world. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Scroll Free September Royal Society for Public Health
• Scroll Free September aims to wean us off social media The Guardian

Training care workers properly could prevent 20,000 deaths from dementia

Training care workers properly could prevent 20,000 deaths from dementia Additional dementia training for care home staff could save the lives of up to 20,000 people a year across Britain, research suggests.

Experts calculated that providing proper training for care assistants would cost just £4,500 for every life saved.

Assistants in Britain's 28,000 care homes usually require no formal training - and doctors say the training that is available is not based on any evidence that it actually works.

Some 70 per cent of the people in residential care homes have dementia - a population of roughly 300,000 people - and they have distinct special needs.

Yet the vast majority of them are over-medicated and left for hours at a time without any human interaction at all, with experts warning the average patient only talks to another person for two minutes every six hours. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Impact of person-centred care training and person-centred activities on quality of life, agitation, and antipsychotic use in people with dementia living in nursing homes: A cluster-randomised controlled trial (open access) PLOS Medicine
• Improving Wellbeing and Health for People with Dementia (WHELD) Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
• Dementia patients living in care homes are given just two minutes of social interaction a day The London Economic

Summer outbreak of norovirus could mean another NHS winter crisis

Summer outbreak of norovirus could mean another NHS winter crisis Dr John Harris, of Liverpool University, said the bug added to the unprecedented pressure on the NHS during its 'worst ever winter'. But he fears this winter could be even worse. The Daily Mail