Northampton General Hospital improves A&E waiting times - but NHS braced for tough winter

Northampton General Hospital improves A&E waiting times - but NHS braced for tough winter  Patients are being warned to expect longer hospital waiting times during the coming winter, a new report has warned. NHS Providers, the body that represents trusts, says several factors, including A&E waiting times and staff shortages, suggest problems for hospitals in the months ahead.
Despite the grim picture, Northampton General Hospital has slightly improved its A&E waiting times since last year.Between April and September, 51,759 people attended an emergency department, with 88% being admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. The government target is 95%.That figure is higher than the same period in 2017, when 87% of patients were seen within four hours.
Across England, the percentage of people dealt with within the time limit dropped by 1% since last year, to 84% in 2018. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Mental health services to get £2bn funding boost in budget

Mental health services to get £2bn funding boost in budget  Philip Hammond will announce a £2bn real-terms increase in mental health funding on Monday as he unveils his first budget since Theresa May told the Conservative party conference that voters needed to know austerity was over.
The commitment should lead to comprehensive mental health support being available in every large A&E department. It suggests that mental health, long seen as a neglected area within the NHS, will benefit disproportionately from the annual health funding increase of up to £6bn a year announced by the prime minister in June. Guardian

Poor healthcare in jails is killing inmates, says NHS watchdog

Poor healthcare in jails is killing inmates, says NHS watchdog Almost half England’s jails fail to provide adequate medical care to prisoners, says leaked briefing by Care Quality Commission. Almost half of England’s jails are providing inadequate medical care to inmates, whose health is being damaged by widespread failings, the NHS watchdog has told MPs in a scathing briefing leaked to the Observer.
Healthcare behind bars is so poor in some prisons that offenders die because staff do not respond properly to medical emergencies, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) says. Guardian

Record number of children's operations cancelled last year

Record number of children's operations cancelled last year Paediatric professional bodies express ‘deep concern’ over new figures obtained by Labour. A record number of 18,647 emergency and non-emergency children’s operations were cancelled last year, according to new figures which Labour described as a “shameful” indictment of the government’s handling of healthcare.
Over the last eight years 117,936 children’s operations were cancelled, according to data obtained by the party from NHS trusts under the Freedom of Information Act. Guardian

Men seeking IVF on the NHS told to lose weight amid 'rationing' claims

Men seeking IVF on the NHS told to lose weight amid 'rationing' claims Men seeking IVF with their partners are being told to lose weight as part of the increasing backdoor rationing of fertility treatments by NHS bosses, campaigners have said.A report by Fertility Fairness reveals that local commissioners are imposing “arbitrary” criteria such as male body mass index (BMI), as well as age, as a means of restricting access to IVF. This is despite the criteria forming no part of the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) rules, which determine who is entitled to IVF. Telegraph
See also:

Couples being denied IVF on NHS over man's age or weight Guardian

500 diabetics dying each week, many from 'avoidable' complications

500 diabetics dying each week, many from 'avoidable' complications Hundreds of diabetes sufferers are dying prematurely every week, NHS figures reveal as experts warn the health service is not doing enough to support patients with the condition.
Avoidable complications such as amputations, sight loss, kidney disease, stroke and heart disease are contributing to around 500 deaths a week, according to the charity Diabetes UK. The figure comes from analysis of the NHS National Diabetes Audit, which shows deaths have increased roughly 10 per cent over the past three years. Telegraph