Tuesday 4 December 2018

Kettering General Hospital bereavement facilities get refurbishment

Kettering General Hospital bereavement facilities get refurbishment A charity which supports local families who have lost a baby has paid for a £17,000 refurbishment and expansion of Kettering General Hospital’s bereavement facilities. Northamptonshire SANDS (the Stillborn and Neonatal Death Charity) has been supporting the improvement work since December last year – and it is now complete. Northamptonshire Telegraph

New scanner will help Kettering General Hospital detect womb cancer earlier

New scanner will help Kettering General Hospital detect womb cancer earlier A new high-tech ultrasound scanner which helps in the early detection of womb cancer has been bought for Kettering General Hospital by a cancer charity. Representatives from Leicestershire-based charity Brown Dog have presented the £38,385 Voluson S10 Scanner to the hospital’s gynaecology department. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Free drug and alcohol support and treatment service launched in Northamptonshire

Free drug and alcohol support and treatment service launched in Northamptonshire A new drug and alcohol support and treatment service that is free and confidential has been launched in Northamptonshire after being commissioned by the county council.

STAR, which stands for Support, Treatment, Advice and Recovery was set up with the aim of providing a more accessible prevention and treatment services for those who need it most.

The services can be used by clients themselves, family members of those with drug and alcohol problems and professionals who work with clients with substance misuse issues. Northampton Chronicle & Echo

Collapsed OOH contracts transferred to new providers - Health Service Journal

Collapsed OOH contracts transferred to new providers - Health Service Journal Primecare has also withdrawn from out of hours contracts with Walsall, Herefordshire, and Sandwell and West Birmingham CCGs, as well as an end of life care contract with Nene CCG. HSJ

Investigation into the provision of mental health care to patients presenting at the emergency department

Investigation into the provision of mental health care to patients presenting at the emergency department This investigation comprised a series of observational studies, interviews and discussions with subject matter experts to establish how risk to mental health is assessed and then managed nationally in the emergency department report. The report highlights variation in mental health care across emergency departments and sets out four recommendations aimed at improving patient care. CASH

Approaches to better value in the NHS

Approaches to better value in the NHS "This report shares learning and insight from three NHS hospital trusts that have developed organisation-wide strategies for value improvement. It draws on interviews, roundtables and site visits with senior leaders in the NHS who are committed to developing better value services." QIPP @lert 

A vision for population health

A vision for population health "The report outlines a framework for population health centred on four pillars: the wider determinants of health; our health behaviours and lifestyles; the places and communities we live in; an integrated health and care system." King's Fund

Exclusive: Supplier faces 'big penalties' after huge NHS email shutdown - Health Service Journal

Exclusive: Supplier faces 'big penalties' after huge NHS email shutdown - Health Service Journal Consultancy firm Accenture is very likely to face “big penalties” after a software upgrade led to the complete shutdown of the NHS email service, HSJ has been told.

A well placed senior source confirmed the company, which runs NHSmail on behalf of NHS Digital, will be penalised for the shutdown that was linked to a software upgrade which took place several weeks ago.

Accenture had “totally failed” to meet the requirements of its contract with NHS Digital and would face big penalties, HSJ was told by sources familiar with discussions.

HSJ was also told the error should have been detected in testing or in the weeks after the software upgrade. When the failure did occur, backup systems should have kicked in, but did not. HSJ

Baby boomers increasingly being admitted to hospital for drug-related mental health problems - Telegraph.co.uk

Baby boomers increasingly being admitted to hospital for drug-related mental health problems - Telegraph.co.uk
Baby boomers with a relaxed attitude to drugs are increasingly being admitted to hospital with mental health problems, new NHS figures have revealed.

Admissions for drug related mental and behavioural disorders for those aged 45 and over have increased by 85 per cent over the last decade, compared with just a one per cent rise amongst those under 45.

There has also been a 32 per cent increase in admissions for poisoning as a result of drug use in those aged 55 and over in the last six years, according to NHS Digital. Telegraph

Children given antibiotics which should only be used sparingly

Children given antibiotics which should only be used sparingly Children are too often being prescribed antibiotics that have been put on a list of treatments that should only be used sparingly because of fears of the development of superbugs.

An analysis of sales in the community of oral antibiotics specially formulated for children in 70 high and middle-income countries has found that consumption of the drugs varies widely from country to country.

In a quarter of all countries antibiotics which should only be used under certain strict circumstances accounted for 20 per cent of total antibiotic consumption. Telegraph

Transgender services GP fined £12,000 over registration failure

Transgender services GP fined £12,000 over registration failure The GP prosecuted for failing to register her online advice services for transgender patients with a health regulator in Wales says she has moved her service to England.

But Helen Webberley admits she has still not registered with inspectors there either.

She was fined £12,000 by a district judge who called the offence "serious". BBC News

See also:

Red tape preventing cancer patients from accessing new drugs

Red tape preventing cancer patients from accessing new drugs Cancer patients are missing out on innovative new drugs, with red tape covering clinical trials and licensing among the factors to blame, according to a report by the UK’s Institute of Cancer Research.

Children’s cancers have received little in the way of new treatments, a finding the authors put down to drug companies failing to invest in these rare conditions and using regulatory loopholes to avoid conducting the necessary clinical trials.

The report finds that recent years have seen a boom in new drugs for blood cancers and lung cancer, but some other cancers have had no new drugs licensed since 2000. The Guardian

Hospitals report warns against volunteers doing work of NHS staff

Hospitals report warns against volunteers doing work of NHS staff Volunteers play a vital role in hospitals such as by doing tea rounds and fetching medications but should never be required to do the work of trained staff, according to a report.
An estimated 78,000 volunteers perform a variety of roles in NHS hospitals across England. Richard Murray, the director of policy at the King’s Fund thinktank, which conducted the study, said that while it found frontline staff appreciated volunteers, that was “provided they were not being used as substitutes for paid staff”. The Guardian

See also:

NHS to introduce mental health checks for new fathers

NHS to introduce mental health checks for new fathers New fathers and fathers-to-be will be offered mental health checks if their partner is suffering anxiety, psychosis or postnatal depression, NHS England has announced.

While it is well recognised that pregnant women and and new mothers can experience mental health problems, little attention has been paid to their partners. The Guardian

See also: