Brexit already impacting on medicine supply in Northamptonshire

Brexit already impacting on medicine supply in Northamptonshire Brexit is already having an impact on medicine availability in Northamptonshire and is causing problems for the unwell and medical practitioners, according to a leading Corby GP.

Dr Joanne Watt, who is a senior partner at Great Oakley Medical Centre in Corby, says that certain drugs are already becoming in short supply and prescriptions are regularly being returned to doctors to prescribe alternative medicines as pharmacists’ stocks are running out.

She said on a daily basis she is having to re-write prescriptions, which is causing huge inconvenience and is ultimately leading to suffering for unwell patients. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Opening the door to change: NHS safety culture and the need for transformation

Opening the door to change: NHS safety culture and the need for transformation This report looks at NHS safety culture and the need for transformation.

Never Events continue to happen despite the hard work and efforts of frontline staff.

Staff are struggling to cope with large volumes of safety guidance, they have little time and space to implement guidance effectively, and the systems and processes around them are not always supportive.

Where staff are trying to implement guidance, they are often doing this on top of a demanding and busy role that makes it difficult to give the work the time it requires.

In terms of the wider system, we have found that the different parts at national, regional and local level do not always work together in the most supportive way. There is a lot of confusion about the roles of different bodies and where trusts can go to get the most appropriate support. Care Quality Commission

See also:

• NHS pressures causing avoidable harm to 500 patients a year - report The Guardian

DHSC accounts mask reality of funding pressures, warns MPs

DHSC accounts mask reality of funding pressures, warns MPs The financial sustainability of health and social care is a serious and ongoing concern of the Committee.

The Department of Health and Social Care’s 2017-18 annual report and accounts suggests an improvement in fortunes when taken as a whole. But this masks the underlying deficits at a local level and the continued use of short term measures to reduce individual deficits, such as use of the sustainability and transformation fund and money to help with winter pressures.

This overall figure also fails to show the regional variations and balancing act between the different health bodies. Public Accounts Committee

See also:

• Ministers refuse to rule out repeat of blanket operation cancellations this winter The Independent
• True scale of post-Brexit NHS staff misery laid bare Metro

A review of the role and costs of clinical commissioning groups

A review of the role and costs of clinical commissioning groups This review sets out: changes to the commissioning landscape before CCGs were established; the role, running costs and performance of CCGs; and the changing commissioning landscape and the future role of CCGs. National Audit Office

See also:

• One in 10 NHS commissioning groups 'failing or at risk' five years after Lansley reforms, NAO finds The Independent 

Failure of Care Quality Commission to make sure NHS employs ‘fit and proper’ directors

Failure of Care Quality Commission to make sure NHS employs ‘fit and proper’ directors A Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report reveals significant weaknesses in the way the Care Quality Commission (CQC) used the NHS ‘fit and proper’ person test.

The Ombudsman carried out an independent investigation into a whistle-blower’s complaint about the CQC’s oversight of the appointment of a Chief Executive to an NHS trust. Despite being criticised by an Employment Tribunal, the Chief Executive was employed by another NHS trust, while the whistle-blower, Clare Sardari, was unable to return to her job as a result of raising the alarm.

See also:

• Health watchdog says lessons must be learned after NHS fraudster landed multiple top jobs The Independent

Health matters: reducing health inequalities in mental illness

Health matters: reducing health inequalities in mental illness This guidance brings together data and evidence of what works in removing health inequalities experienced by people living with mental illness. It focuses on some of the actions that local areas can take to reduce these health inequalities, so that people with mental illness can achieve the same health outcomes and life expectancy as the rest of the population. Public Health England

Brexit: Is NHS already finding it hard to get medicines?

Brexit: Is NHS already finding it hard to get medicines? Supply shortages and rising prices for some medicines are being reported by pharmacists and GPs. The possibility of a no-deal Brexit is being blamed.

So what is going on in the pharmaceutical world and what might it mean for patients?

There is nothing new about occasional shortages of certain types of medicine.

But there are reports of more acute problems than usual and some are citing a market reaction to the risk of the UK leaving the European Union without a deal. BBC News

Prosecutors investigate spinal implant

Prosecutors investigate spinal implant Swiss prosecutors have launched an investigation into a failed spinal implant approved by UK regulators.

The total disc replacement implant made by Cambridge-based Ranier Technology left patients across Europe in agony and needing further surgery after breaking inside their backs.

Last month, BBC Panorama revealed how the Cadisc L implant was approved for use in humans despite evidence from studies in baboons that it could fail.

Ranier withdrew it from market in 2014. BBC News

Richard Murray: ‘Relax migration rules to solve NHS workforce crisis’

Richard Murray: ‘Relax migration rules to solve NHS workforce crisis’ The health service’s long-term plan won’t work if brave staffing decisions aren’t made, says incoming head of the King’s Fund

Richard Murray, a former academic, management consultant and civil servant, is about to take on the most high-profile role among the health thinktanks: as the King’s Fund’s new chief executive. The Guardian

Can the NHS be saved?

Can the NHS be saved? A long-term plan designed to secure the future of NHS England has been delayed once again by Brexit. But as Britain’s health service heads into its annual winter beds crisis, the Guardian’s Denis Campbell visits King’s College hospital in London to find out what staff and patients need for the future – and how much it will cost. Plus: Hadley Freeman on why Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was right to distance herself from her father and his media onslaught

Britain’s National Health Service turned 70 this year but, as toasts were raised, there were growing concerns about the institution’s long-term sustainability. There are ongoing budget pressures, lifestyle diseases are on the rise, and a growing population has increased expectations of what a health service free at the point of use can provide. The Guardian

No more excuses: health chiefs vow to step up war on salt as targets to cut content missed

No more excuses: health chiefs vow to step up war on salt as targets to cut content missed Health chiefs have demanded “no more excuses” after new figures showed just half of targets to cut salt intake in common foods have been met.

A report by Public Health England (PHE) reveals zero progress reducing average salt content in some foods – including bacon and ham – since pledges were made four years ago.

Ministers have repeatedly vowed to wage war on salt, which increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

The new analysis found that just 52 per cent of the average sodium level targets were met for products consumed in the home, PHE said. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Salt targets 2017: progress report Public Health England
• Processed meats and ready meals 'still too high in salt' BBC News
• Food industry's failure to hit salt targets has led to 4,000 deaths per year The Daily Mail

Security guard stole £200,000 from NHS car park pay machines

Security guard stole £200,000 from NHS car park pay machines A security guard and his wife masterminded a £200,000 theft racket at a hospital in which he and colleagues plundered enough NHS cash to pay the salaries of six full-time nurses for a year.

Peter O'Garro, 52, looted car parking pay stations he was assigned to guard. He and his wife Karen, a hospice nurse, then used the stolen fees to buy a quad bike, jewellery and high-value electrical goods.

Over a seven-month period, O'Garro and three workmates from a private security firm hired by bosses at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester stole up to £39,000 a month from the machines. Two of the gang also got their partners to look after the proceeds. The Daily Telegraph

Shoppers buy 75 per cent fewer unhealthy items when they're removed from checkouts

Shoppers buy 75 per cent fewer unhealthy items when they're removed from checkouts Shoppers bought three quarters fewer unhealthy products at supermarkets which didn't have them on display at checkouts, a study has revealed.

Items to eat 'on the go' such as small packets of sweets, chocolate and crisps were bought a drastic 76 per cent less at tills without the treats on show.

Shoppers also bought 17 per cent fewer treat items to be taken home after supermarkets adopted policies.

The Government is planning to ban the 'guilt aisles' which see parents pestered for sweets by their children and shoppers persuaded to buy snacks as they queue. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Removing sweets and crisps from supermarket checkouts linked to dramatic fall in unhealthy snack purchases University of Cambridge
• Banning sweets at supermarket checkouts 'works' BBC News