Monday 20 August 2018

Struggling Northampton A&E's new unit nears completion

Struggling Northampton A&E's new unit nears completion Hospital beds and equipment have begun to arrive at a struggling emergency department's new assessment centre.

It is hoped the 60-bed unit at Northampton General will help staff to work out the appropriate treatment for each patient and reduce waiting times.

A hospital manager blamed "dangerous overcrowding" in A&E for the death of an 85-year-old man in March.

The Nye Bevan building, named after the health minister who set up the NHS in 1948, is on track to open in October. BBC Northampton

Unitary bid for Northamptonshire revealed

Unitary bid for Northamptonshire revealed Northamptonshire councils will submit a bid to central government for two unitary authorities - however, the authorities say the new councils will not deliver a cost saving.

Details have been released on Friday about the plan to reorganise local governance in Northamptonshire and scrap its current two tier system and replace it with a unitary system.

All eight Northants councils had been told by the secretary of state for local government James Brokenshire in May to work together on a bid following the financial failing of Northamptonshire County Council. Northamptonshire Telegraph

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Northampton GP placed in special measures as CEO says inadequate inspection result 'was anticipated'

Northampton GP placed in special measures as CEO says inadequate inspection result 'was anticipated' The chief executive of a Northampton GP practice has admitted a recent inadequate rating of a surgery "was anticipated".

The Care Quality Commission inspected Kings Heath Practice in May and published their report this week.

It was rated 'good' in the caring category, requires improvement in the responsive category, and inadequate in the safe, effective, well-led categories as well as overall. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Sustainability and transformation partnerships

Sustainability and transformation partnerships This briefing, aimed at STPs, focuses on the improvements in quality of care that pharmacists and their teams bring to care home residents, care home providers and the NHS. It highlights how pharmacists in care homes can improve medicines safety, reduce admissions to hospital and support end of life care. Royal Pharmaceutical Society

'I broke every bone in my face - and survived'

'I broke every bone in my face - and survived' NHS reorganisations are not very popular - but Tom Locke probably owes his life to one.

The 41-year-old was inspecting pigeon nests on his roof at home in Hythe on the Kent coast last October when disaster struck.

He fell from his ladder on his balcony plummeting three storeys on to his patio below, breaking his leg, arm, wrist, shoulder and every bone in his face.

But rather than being taken to a local hospital he was ferried by air ambulance to London's King's College Hospital more than 60 miles away.

According to doctors who treated him, the decision saved his life. BBC News

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Rise in type 2 diabetes in young people in England and Wales

Rise in type 2 diabetes in young people in England and Wales The number of children and young people being treated for type 2 diabetes in England and Wales has gone up from 507 to 715 in four years, new figures show.

More than three-quarters were also obese, according to the NHS data.

Child health experts said the rise was "alarming" and the childhood obesity epidemic was "starting to bite".

Councils said more needed to be done to tackle the obesity crisis in children, particularly among minority ethnic groups, who were most affected. BBC News

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GPs to consult patients using new Government NHS app from 2019

GPs to consult patients using new Government NHS app from 2019 The new NHS app could support GP video consultations from next year, according to NHS Digital.

A freedom of information request from technology magazine Gizmodo to NHS Digital, revealed that an update to the app in 2019 could enable GPs to hold video consultations with their patients.

However, the information also revealed that only patients at certain practices will be able to use all the features of the app when it first launches to the public in December. Pulse

NHS kept using 'danger syringes' in bid to save money, investigation claims

NHS kept using 'danger syringes' in bid to save money, investigation claims At least nine people died because the NHS used syringe pumps that did not meet internationally approved safety standards in a bid to save cash, it has been claimed.

Thousands of lives were put at risk as Britain’s health service continued to use equipment other countries had banned, an investigation by The Sunday Times reports.

Experts say the number of fatalities linked to the pumps may actually be many times higher – but no record was ever made because of “institutional indifference” to elderly patients in their final days. The Independent

Government's ‘care Isa’ plans will only work for minority of wealthy people, Tory MP warns

Government's ‘care Isa’ plans will only work for minority of wealthy people, Tory MP warns A senior Tory MP has condemned plans for a new “care Isa” to fund end of life treatment, arguing that it would only work for a “small minority of wealthy people” who can afford to invest.

The Isa - which would be exempt from inheritance tax - is reportedly being considered by the government in an effort to solve the country’s social care crisis.

But Sarah Wollaston, the chair of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, has said the plans were a “colossal mistake” and she claims that they would not solve the crisis “at all”. The Independent

US multinational buys into UK rehab centres as demand grows

US multinational buys into UK rehab centres as demand grows Eli Global invests in private clinics amid fears of shortage of publicly funded facilities

The UK private rehab market is set to grow exponentially, one of the largest addiction firms in the country has said after receiving US investment.

Addiction treatment centres have reported increases in the number of people seeking help, and concerns have been raised that cuts to drug and alcohol services mean some addicts are being cut adrift. Continue reading... The Guardian

Hospital patients to be told to get up and dressed to avoid 'pyjama paralysis'

Hospital patients to be told to get up and dressed to avoid 'pyjama paralysis' Hospital patients across the country will be told to get up and dressed in the daytime in a bid to end “pyjama paralysis” which can cause premature frailty.

Britain’s chief nursing officer will today launch a national campaign to get patients moving after pilot schemes found that getting patients out of bed boosted their health and got them home earlier.

Earlier this year, Prof Jane Cummings asked wards to try a 70 day “challenge” to get patients up, dressed, and moving wherever possible. The Daily Telegraph

End of rip-off hospital phone charges under Ofcom crackdown

End of rip-off hospital phone charges under Ofcom crackdown "Rip off" phone bills for worried friends and family calling relatives recovering in hospital are set to become a thing of the past under an Ofcom crackdown.

The telecoms regulator will for the first time start to regulate the cost of 070 numbers, which currently hit consumers making 2.6 million calls a year with charges of around 50p a minute.

Draft Ofcom plans show it is planning to cap the amount providers of 070 numbers can charge your phone company - for example BT, Vodafone or EE - when you call them, to bring them in line with standard mobile tariffs. The Daily Telegraph

Hospitals make £260k from vending machines with high-calorie snacks

Hospitals make £260k from vending machines with high-calorie snacks Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust generated £260,000 between 2013 and 2018. If the UK's other 134 trusts did the same, it would've created £34 million from the sale of crisps, drinks and sweets. The Daily Mail