Child mental health: Camhs 'not fit for purpose'

Child mental health: Camhs 'not fit for purpose' Children with mental health problems are not receiving treatment until they are in crisis and sometimes suicidal, doctors have told the BBC.

A letter leaked to Panorama reveals at least one area's child and adolescent mental health service (Camhs) to be rationing care. Leading psychiatrist Jon Goldin described the service as "not fit for purpose". The government said it was investing an extra £1.4bn in child mental health. BBC News - Health

See Also:

• Child mental health services ‘not fit for purpose’, says top psychiatrist Pulse
• Mental health: Five hour journey for anorexia help BBC News - Health

New tool available: older people with depression

New tool available: older people with depression A mental health network and Public Health England have issued a guide for commissioners and others interested in depression in older people. NHS Networks

The NHS long-term plan: factoring in multiple risks

The NHS long-term plan: factoring in multiple risks  Crunch time is approaching for the NHS as details are pinned down for the long-term plan to set the future direction of the health service. Fresh thinking is required to ensure health services are working to improve the population’s health, not just reducing the burden of disease. King's Fund-Blog

NHS wins legal fight against pharma firms over sight-loss drug

NHS wins legal fight against pharma firms over sight-loss drug  Health service wins right to give patients cheaper and effective Avastin treatment.

The NHS has won a legal battle against the pharmaceutical industry which will lead to patients with the most common form of blindness receiving a drug that is much cheaper but still very effective.

The high court backed a bid by 12 NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCG) in the north-east of England to give Avastin to people with worsening sight loss. The Guardian

See Also:

• NHS wins legal battle against drugs giants over saving millions with cheaper medicine The Telegraph
• NHS wins landmark High Court battle with two major drug firms over a drug for the biggest cause of blindness that could lead to savings of hundreds of millions of pounds a year Mail Online

Contaminated blood scandal: Inquiry 'must uncover truth'

Contaminated blood scandal: Inquiry 'must uncover truth' Campaigners say it is time to find out the truth about the contaminated blood scandal that left nearly 3,000 people dead, as a public inquiry begins.

The inquiry is looking at how thousands of NHS patients were given blood products infected with hepatitis and HIV during the 1970s and 1980s.

Many say the risks were not explained, in what has been called the worst treatment disaster in NHS history. BBC News

See Also:

• 'I gave birth, and got Hepatitis C'. BBC News - Health
• Victims accuse ministers of breaking funding promise for contaminated blood inquiry The Telegraph

Health Secretary: The NHS needs to radically change the way it helps doctors and nurses who experience trauma in their daily work

Health Secretary: The NHS needs to radically change the way it helps doctors and nurses who experience trauma in their daily work The NHS needs to radically change the way it helps doctors and nurses who experience trauma in their daily work, the Health Secretary has said.

Matt Hancock said significant improvements in attitudes towards mental health across society, had not translated into giving enough support to those working on the NHS frontline.

The Health Secretary, who was appointed in July, said he planned to make major changes in the help and training given to those dealing with gruelling and potentially traumatic experiences in healthcare. The Telegraph

NHS sued for failure to help transgender patients with fertility

NHS sued for failure to help transgender patients with fertility Equality watchdog insists on the right to start a family later in life.

NHS England is to be taken to court by the UK’s equality watchdog for failing to offer fertility services to transgender patients.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission will launch a high-profile judicial review action, a legal manoeuvre that is likely to prove controversial at a time when the NHS is struggling to balance budgets and provide core services. The Guardian

Health visitors struggling with ‘dangerously high’ caseloads

Health visitors struggling with ‘dangerously high’ caseloads Some are responsible for up to 830 children – when the safe limit is 250, study warns. Health visitors are struggling to care for families properly because they have “dangerously high” workloads in which some are looking after as many as 829 children, a study shows.

Falling numbers of health visitors mean that in most parts of England they are now looking after more – often many more – under-fives than the recommended maximum 250. The Guardian

Obesity 'to be linked to more female cancers' than smoking

Obesity 'to be linked to more female cancers' than smoking Obesity is set to overtake smoking as the biggest preventable cause of cancer in UK women by 2043, a Cancer Research UK report predicts.
Currently, 12% of cancers in women are linked to smoking, and 7% to being overweight and obese.
But with the number of smokers falling and obesity rates projected to rise, the charity estimates that gap will disappear in 25 years time. The figures assume that current trends will continue. BBC News - Health