Health inequalities: reducing ethnic inequalities

Health inequalities: reducing ethnic inequalities Guidance to support local and national action on ethnic inequalities in health. Public Health England

The new approach to organ and tissue donation in England: government response to public consultation

The new approach to organ and tissue donation in England: government response to public consultation This consultation outcome document details the Department of Health and Social Care's analysis of the 17,000 consultation responses. It outlines the government’s plans to implement a new system of consent for organ and tissue donation in order to tackle a shortage of donors. This will mean everyone is considered an organ donor unless they have explicitly recorded a wish not to be or they are from one of these excluded groups: children under 18; individuals who lack the mental capacity to understand the changes; people who have not lived in England for at least 12 months before their death. The donor register will include an option for individuals to state important religious and cultural beliefs to ensure these are respected. There will also be strict safeguards in place and specialist nurses will always discuss donation with families so an individual’s wishes are respected.

Role of CCGs when integrated care providers are in place

Role of CCGs when integrated care providers are in place This document has been produced to reflect changes in terminology and to clarify the policy positions around: whether Integrated Care Providers (ICPs) are allowed to manage third party contracts; and the handling of Individual Funding Requests. NHS England

Always Events evaluation: scale-up and spread

Always Events evaluation: scale-up and spread This report outlines the key learnings from NHS trusts involved in the scale-up and spread of Always Events. Always Events are aspects of the patient experience that are so important to patients and family members that health care providers must aim to perform them consistently for every individual, every time. NHS England, in collaboration with Picker and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), have been leading an initiative to support trusts to reliably integrate Always Events into their routine care processes. The report outlines the key learnings from trusts that have piloted an Always Event and have sought to spread the approach to other areas in their organisation. Picker

Bid to end NHS-funded homeopathic treatment in Bristol

Bid to end NHS-funded homeopathic treatment in Bristol The last place in England to offer publicly-funded homeopathy could stop providing the practice on the NHS.

Bristol's clinical commissioning group (CCG) is meeting to discuss ending NHS-funded homeopathic treatment except in exceptional circumstances.

Homeopathy is based on the idea "like cures like", but many scientists say patients are only getting sugar. BBC News

Fentanyl and cocaine drug deaths rise

Fentanyl and cocaine drug deaths rise The number of deaths in England and Wales due to the synthetic opioid fentanyl rose by 29% in 2017, Office for National Statistics data shows.

Forms of the drug - used to treat cancer pain - are often imported illegally from Chinese laboratories and sold to users via the dark web.

Deaths from psychoactive substances like spice or mephedrone halved.

Drug policy campaigners called on the government to fund drug treatment and stop criminalising users. BBC News

See also:

• Research and analysis: Opiate and crack cocaine use: prevalence estimates by local area Public Health England

Safety concerns over websites selling prescription drugs

Safety concerns over websites selling prescription drugs England's healthcare regulator is calling for a change in the law to protect patients using online doctor sites selling prescription-only drugs.

It comes after a BBC Panorama investigation exposed safety concerns relating to websites using doctors from companies based outside England.

The Care Quality Commission said these websites could be "dangerous".

Currently, it can only inspect websites employing doctors contracted by companies in England. BBC News

Maxine Peake: Actress hits back over NHS ad 'hypocrisy' claim

Maxine Peake: Actress hits back over NHS ad 'hypocrisy' claim Actress Maxine Peake has rejected an accusation of hypocrisy for being paid to voice an NHS recruitment advert.

The Silk star was responding to a Mail on Sunday story that drew attention to the fact she had previously voiced fears about government health funding.

In the article, Conservative MP Simon Hart said she was "hypocritical".

Peake said her fee wouldn't have gone back to the NHS if she had returned it, and that she donated it to The Salford Foundation Trust children's charity. BBC News

GPs urge £2.5bn extra cash injection from NHS England

GPs urge £2.5bn extra cash injection from NHS England Doctors demand that government ‘invests properly’ to ensure safe care for patients

Family doctors are demanding an emergency cash injection of £2.5bn to help struggling surgeries cope with demand and offer patients appointments within a reasonable time.

Leaders of the profession want NHS bosses to plough some of the extra £20bn health funding pledged by Theresa May into improving the services offered by England’s 7,150 GP practices. Continue reading... The Guardian

Instagram and Tumblr allowing 'extremely dangerous' self harm images that could lead to teenagers copying behaviour, NSPCC warns

Instagram and Tumblr allowing 'extremely dangerous' self harm images that could lead to teenagers copying behaviour, NSPCC warns Instagram and Tumblr are allowing “extremely dangerous” pictures of self harm to appear on their sites that could lead to teenagers to copying the behaviour, the NSPCC has warned.

The Telegraph has found numerous, easily-accessible images showing self mutilation on the popular social media platforms.

The posts included images of fresh deep cuts, a picture of a girl’s thighs with scores of bloody lacerations and one user showing off a collection of almost 100 razor blades and scalpels.

Instagram and Tumblr have both clamped down on self harm posts in recent years, blocking certain search terms and adding pop-up messages offering help and advice to vulnerable users. The Daily Telegraph

Junior doctors plot a fresh strike in a new pay row weeks after being offered a 1 per cent pay rise

Junior doctors plot a fresh strike in a new pay row weeks after being offered a 1 per cent pay rise The British Medical Association has been polling members to assess their 'strength of feeling' for industrial action. More than 80 per cent of the doctors polled said they were willing to strike. The Daily Mail