Waiting times steady as admission rates recover

Waiting times steady as admission rates recover The English waiting list shrank slightly in September as elective admissions picked up after the summer holidays. Waiting times were broadly steady, and the number of one year waiters edged down.

All of that is encouraging. But it is also worth noting that the waiting list is still much longer than it was a year ago, and this is putting continued pressure on waiting times.

As winter approaches and bed pressures remain high, it is doubtful whether the ambition to hold the waiting list steady across the financial year can now be achieved.

Near the bottom of the table, Northampton General Hospital Trust are a new entrant, having risen five places, with waiting times up from 26.3 weeks to 26.8 weeks during September. Health Service Journal

GP surgery will have to be sold before new medical centre can be built, Northampton patients told

GP surgery will have to be sold before new medical centre can be built, Northampton patients told The reason for the delay in starting construction of a medical centre near Northampton has come to light.

Marsh Spinney Medical Centre in Moulton was given the go ahead in July 2017, to be built on land near Sandy Hill Lane along with 84 new houses.

Yet with work started on the first homes at Marsh Spinney estate, there is no sign of construction beginning on the medical centre.

And it has now come to light that the existing Moulton Surgery needs to be sold before the new medical centre can be built. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Fresh batch of flu jabs on offer in Northamptonshire

Fresh batch of flu jabs on offer in Northamptonshire A new batch of flu jabs are on offer across the county after those at risk faced a delay of up to six weeks.

Last month it was revealed pharmacists and GPs in parts of Kettering and Corby were facing a gap in supply. It left one 76-year-old woman fearing the worst with many elderly patients unable to have their jab.

Now health Leaders in Corby and across Northamptonshire have announced that a new batch of free flu jabs are on offer to those at risk. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Budget 2018: What it means for health and social care

Budget 2018: What it means for health and social care Following the NHS financial settlement this summer, all eyes moved to the Budget to find out what the new money means in the context of other health spending and the overall government finances. As the dust settles, we've joined forces with the Health Foundation and The King's Fund to break it all down into an easy-to-understand explainer. The Nuffield Trust

Outpatients: the future – adding value through sustainability

Outpatients: the future – adding value through sustainability The traditional model of outpatient care is no longer fit for purpose, ie speciality opinion, diagnosis and disease monitoring. It places unnecessary financial and time costs on patients, clinicians, the NHS and the public purse. Growing demand and expectations cannot be, and are not being, met by the status quo. It is no longer acceptable to solely consider the cost of clinical interventions in relation to individual health outcomes.

In order to continue to deliver high-quality healthcare, we must start to think in terms of value and sustainability; identifying a balance between cost and outcomes (value) and long-term impacts (sustainability). Royal College of Physicians

See also:

• ‘One size fits all’ outpatient care no longer fit for purpose says RCP Royal College of Physicians
• NHS outpatients service 'stuck in the 18th Century' BBC News
• NHS 'should use Skype to help cut 'unnecessary hospital appointments', says top doctor The Daily Mail
• NHS responsible for 5 per cent of all traffic on roads The Daily Telegraph

Guidance: Antibiotic awareness: toolkit for healthcare professionals in England

Guidance: Antibiotic awareness: toolkit for healthcare professionals in England How to use antibiotic awareness resources to support the Antibiotic Guardian campaign and local initiatives. Public Health England

'Remarkable' decline in fertility rates

'Remarkable' decline in fertility rates There has been a remarkable global decline in the number of children women are having, say researchers.

Their report found fertility rate falls meant nearly half of countries were now facing a "baby bust" - meaning there are insufficient children to maintain their population size.

The researchers said the findings were a "huge surprise".

And there would be profound consequences for societies with "more grandparents than grandchildren". BBC News

See also:

• Population and fertility by age and sex for 195 countries and territories, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 (open access) The Lancet
• Revealed, the countries with the highest fertility rates The Daily Mail
• ‘Baby bust’: Watershed as birth rates in UK and nearly half of world’s countries plunge, forcing more reliance on immigration, report warns The Independent
• Global progress in health is not inevitable OnMedica

Diabetes prescriptions costing NHS £1bn a year, figures reveal

Diabetes prescriptions costing NHS £1bn a year, figures reveal Prescriptions for diabetics are now costing the NHS in England more than £1bn a year, new figures show.

NHS Digital said the “total net ingredient” cost of prescriptions for diabetes was £1,012.4m in 2017-18, up from £983.7m a year earlier.

Almost one in 20 (4.9 per cent) of prescriptions written by GPs are for diabetes treatments, with 53.4 million items prescribed for diabetes last year.

They make up more than one-tenth (11.4 per cent) of total primary care net ingredient costs. The Independent

See also:

• Diabetes prescriptions now cost NHS £1bn, figures show BBC News
• Diabetes medicines now cost the NHS more than £1BILLION a year Diabetes medicines now cost the NHS more than £1BILLION a year The Daily Mail

NHS cancer treatment wait statistics 'set to be worst on record'

NHS cancer treatment wait statistics 'set to be worst on record' Lowest percentage of patients treated since new standards introduced, figures show

The NHS is on course for its worst annual cancer waiting statistics on record, official figures suggest.

In eight out of nine published cancer targets, between April and September, the health service treated the lowest or joint lowest percentage of patients since operation standards were introduced, according to official figures published on Thursday. The Guardian

Fire crews drafted in to help NHS cope with 'extreme pressure' ahead

Fire crews drafted in to help NHS cope with 'extreme pressure' ahead Fire crews will be drafted in to take patients home from an NHS trust which has been beset by winter crises.

Worcestershire Acute Hospital Trust has agreed the plans with fire services in a bid to prevent overcrowding and bedblocking.

Under the arrangement, the fire service will be used to bring vulnerable patients home, settle them and check surroundings are safe, officials said. The Daily Telegraph

Tougher rules demanded for robotic surgery after 'catalogue of errors' leads to music teacher's death

Tougher rules demanded for robotic surgery after 'catalogue of errors' leads to music teacher's death A
coroner has demanded tougher rules governing the use of robotic surgery after a heart patient died because an under-trained surgeon botched his operation while using a state-of-the-art system.

The family of Stephen Pettitt, 69, last night blamed a “catalogue of errors” following a verdict which found the music teacher would almost certainly have survived had the robot not been used. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Newcastle robot surgery inquest: 'Risk of further deaths' BBC News

Over-65s struggling to get flu vaccine after improved batch was ordered months later than usual

Over-65s struggling to get flu vaccine after improved batch was ordered months later than usual A flu vaccine shortage has left thousands of over-65s unable to get jabs.

Patients have been repeatedly sent away by GPs and chemists until fresh stocks arrive.

Problems have been blamed on the rollout of a new, more effective jab which led to supplies being ordered several months later than usual. NHS officials insist there will be enough to go around, and another batch is expected to arrive at some GP surgeries from next week. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Guidance for GP practices in England: advice for patients aged 65 years and over regarding 2018/19 flu vaccination: Letter from Pauline Philip NHS England