Monday 10 December 2018

Northants health trust urges people struggling with their mood over Christmas to seek help

Northants health trust urges people struggling with their mood over Christmas to seek help A campaign to help encourage individuals who are struggling with low mood, stress or anxiety to seek support over the festive period has been launched.

A spokesman for Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: “As we are fast approaching the festive period, we know this time of year isn’t filled with joy and laughter for everyone.

“In fact, it can be quite lonely or stressful and can lead to feeling low in mood, anxious about going out or stressed with the thought of having to prepare for this time of year.

“If you are starting to feel the stress of the festive period or know of friends, family members or colleagues who may feel like this please do speak to a member of the Northamptonshire NHS Changing Minds IAPT team. Northamptonshire Telegraph

In safe hands? The need to know more about safety in health care

In safe hands? The need to know more about safety in health care Ensuring care is safe and harm-free remains high on the policy agenda, and rightly so. But are we measuring and monitoring safety appropriately, and what steps could be taken to improve it in the long run? Sarah Scobie argues for a shift in our understanding. Nuffield Trust

Matt Hancock orders review into over-prescribing in the NHS

Matt Hancock orders review into over-prescribing in the NHS The review will focus on patients who take multiple medicines, to ensure patients are receiving the most appropriate treatment for their needs. Department of Health and Social Care

Advancing medical professionalism

Advancing medical professionalism This report underlines how essential professionalism is in increasing job satisfaction, improving patient care and raising productivity, and looks at what this means for doctors under growing pressures from increased workload, to their own remit and to their relationship with patients. It points to a growing gap between what doctors are trained to do and the realities of their workplace – competing ideals of what is good practice, rising demand, and increasing regulatory and legal obligations. According to the report, doctors also face ethical dilemmas and clashes in professional personal values. Royal College of Physicians 

Government bans fax machines in the NHS

Government bans fax machines in the NHS The NHS will be banned from buying fax machines from next month - and has been told by the government to phase out the machines entirely by 31 March 2020.

In July, the Royal College of Surgeons revealed nearly 9,000 fax machines were in use across the NHS in England.

The Department of Health said a change to more modern communication methods was needed to improve patient safety and cyber security.

An RCS spokesman said they supported the government's decision.

In place of fax machines, the Department of Health said secure email should be used. BBC News

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Nine out of 10 NHS trusts have asbestos in hospitals

Nine out of 10 NHS trusts have asbestos in hospitals About nine out of 10 NHS trusts say they have hospitals containing asbestos, the BBC has learned.

Of the 211 trusts to respond to a BBC inquiry, 198 said they ran hospitals containing the material, which was once widely used in construction but can cause illnesses including cancer.

An MP has called for an audit to find out the extent of the problem.

NHS Improvement said strict regulations meant asbestos in buildings was registered and safely contained. BBC News

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Baby loss charities urge NHS to improve 'inconsistent' bereavement care

Baby loss charities urge NHS to improve 'inconsistent' bereavement care Baby loss charities are urging the NHS to improve “inconsistent and under-resourced” bereavement care for parents whose babies die shortly after they are born.

A report by stillbirth and neonatal death charities Sands and Bliss, for babies born premature and sick, said most services lack sufficient specialist staffing input and appropriate facilities to support grieving families.

They said improvements to bereavement care are urgently needed as every week in the UK around 40 babies die during the neonatal period – from birth to 28 days old.

The care that bereaved families receive before, during and afterwards can have a critical impact upon their wellbeing in the months and years ahead, they added. ITV News

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No-deal Brexit could cause six months of drug shortages and traffic chaos, government warns

No-deal Brexit could cause six months of drug shortages and traffic chaos, government warns Emergency plans to fly in medical supplies have been laid to ensure hospitals remain stocked amid six months of expected chaos at Britain’s channel ports after a no-deal Brexit.

Critical supplies could also be diverted away from channel routes and some drugs may even be rationed to ensure stocks do not run out.

The plans were published as a government assessment suggested a no-deal departure from the EU could mean severe disruption until the end of September 2019 to shipping between Dover and Calais and traffic using the Channel Tunnel. The Independent

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Pollution and flu bring steep rise in lung-related illnesses

Pollution and flu bring steep rise in lung-related illnesses Shortage of specialists adds to worries that surge in respiratory diseases is putting pressure on A&Es

Accident and emergency departments have seen attendances due to lung-related illnesses almost double in under a decade as increasingly virulent flu strains and a rise in air pollution take their toll.

A shortage of lung specialists means services can be patchy, with some respiratory teams over-stretched, however. The huge increase is adding to the significant pressures on hospitals, especially during the winter months, and has prompted calls for a new national strategy to tackle the problem that the British Lung Foundation estimates costs the UK economy £11bn a year.

We’re not geared up to run the peaks, we’re geared up to run the averages The Guardian

Hospitals in race to combat ‘toughest ever’ winter crisis for NHS

Hospitals in race to combat ‘toughest ever’ winter crisis for NHS Health service sets up emergency measures as number of A&E patients surges

Hospitals are bringing in GPs, reopening mothballed wards and offering daycare for their staff’s children in a desperate attempt to avoid being overwhelmed this winter.

NHS trusts are expanding A&Es, paying for patients to be cared for in nursing homes and looking after more people at home to help them cope with the impending winter crisis, which experts have warned will be the toughest ever. Patients also face being moved between hospitals to help relieve overcrowding as the NHS braces for a surge in demand during December, January and February. The Guardian

Pregnant women and children urged to come forward for flu jabs amid concern about low uptake

Pregnant women and children urged to come forward for flu jabs amid concern about low uptake Pregnant women and children are being urged to come forward for flu jabs amid concern about low levels of uptake.

Health officials warned that the main strain in circulation this year is more likely to infect children and young people, as they issued the plea.

Latest figures show take up is significantly lower than this time last year, in most age groups.

It follows the failure of last year’s jabs, which fuelled the highest winter death toll for more than 40 years. The Daily Telegraph

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Dangerous new superbug confirmed in India as antibiotic resistance spreads

Dangerous new superbug confirmed in India as antibiotic resistance spreads India has found its first cases of a superbug that can lead to blindness, flesh-eating infections and meningitis, according to researchers.

Klebsiella pneumoniae was found in patients by doctors at the Christian Medical College (CMC), in the city of Vellore, over a two-year period, after they were admitted for sepsis.

Researchers found that 27 (31 per cent) of 86 patients treated for sepsis in the hospital had become infected by a strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae, that was found to be both resistant to antibiotics and hypervirulent. The Daily Telegraph