Bed blocking drops in Northamptonshire but still worst performer in region

Bed blocking drops in Northamptonshire but still worst performer in region The number of patients stranded in NHS hospital beds in Northamptonshire is at its lowest level for two years – but the county is still the worst performing in the region. NHS figures released this week show that social care bed-blocking in the county has reduced to the lowest levels since July 2016.

In November, the collective number of days that patients were held in Kettering General Hospital and Northampton General Hospital due to a delayed transfer of care (DTOC) was 808, 49 per cent lower than October (1,585) and 48 per cent lower than November 2017 (1,544). Northamptonshire Telegraph

Mind and body: inseparable twins

Mind and body: inseparable twins The past five years have seen much discussion about the effect of societal changes on the health of the population in the UK. This has been prompted by a stalling growth in healthy life expectancy since 2010 and a growing gap in levels of health and disability between the most and least deprived populations. For example, one recent study showed that age-standardised rates of years of life lost were twice as high in Blackpool as in Wokingham. The Health Foundation

Rural and remote health services lose out on NHS funding

Rural and remote health services lose out on NHS funding The way the NHS distributes funding between local health services is unclear, unfair and fails to fully compensate remote and rural areas for the extra costs they face, an evidence review conducted by the Nuffield Trust for the National Centre for Rural Health and Care, concludes today.

The financial position of remote hospitals is so precarious that six of England’s smallest and most remote hospital trusts account for nearly a quarter of the £1 billion deficit carried by NHS organisations in England.

The factors used to decide how funding is allocated transfer at least £1.3 billion away from rural areas.

See also:

• Rural health care: A rapid review of the impact of rurality on the costs of delivering health care Nuffield Trust
• Patients living in the country get a raw deal from the NHS, study finds The Daily Telegraph

Two dead after pigeon dropping infection at hospital

Two dead after pigeon dropping infection at hospital Two patients have died after contracting a fungal infection caused by pigeon droppings at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said an elderly patient died but from an unrelated cause.

Another infected patient has also died but the factors contributing to the death are still being investigated.

A non-public room, thought to contain machinery, was identified as a likely source. An investigation is under way. BBC News

Differences in GP access across England 'shocking'

Differences in GP access across England 'shocking' The variation in the availability of GPs in different parts of England is shocking, doctors' leaders say.

A BBC analysis has found close to a threefold difference between the areas with the most and fewest doctors.

In one area - Swale in Kent - there is only one GP for every 3,300 patients, while in Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire it is just under one for every 1,200.

The Royal College of GPs said the shortages put care at risk, but NHS chiefs said issues were being tackled. BBC News

Thousands Of People With Learning Disabilities Are Stuck Living In Hospital – Despite Promises From The NHS

Thousands Of People With Learning Disabilities Are Stuck Living In Hospital – Despite Promises From The NHS “The care Stephen received was inhumane. It has to stop.”

Stephen Andrade-Martinez, who has learning disabilities and autism, is 23. He has already spent almost six years living in inpatient wards – a quarter of his life. One of the placements was 80 miles away from his family.

“Stephen finally came home in December, but the long-term impact of being kept in a hospital unnecessarily is apparent everyday,” his mum, Leo, said. “He is self-harming, hitting and biting himself.

“He says he wants to sleep on the floor as that is what he did in the assessment treatment unit,” she continued, adding that he is suffering from “huge panic attacks”. Huffington Post UK

Superdrug to run mental health checks for patients seeking Botox and lip fillers

Superdrug to run mental health checks for patients seeking Botox and lip fillers Superdrug will offer mental health screening to customers who come in for cosmetic procedures such as lip fillers and Botox, in a move NHS officials hope will set a “higher bar” for the sector.

Customers seeking treatment will now be asked to complete a questionnaire developed by psychologists working in the field, and where issues are raised they will be directed to a GP or mental health groups.

The move is intended to help identify people who may have body dysmorphic disorder or other anxieties that experts say are flourishing on social media and driving more people to seek cosmetic procedures. The Independent

See also:

• NHS top doctor prompts stronger mental health safeguards on high street botox NHS England

Pharmacies will not run out of medicine after Brexit, says NHS

Pharmacies will not run out of medicine after Brexit, says NHS Alternative transport routes will be implemented and medicines prioritised in event of no deal

Plans have been drawn up for the use of alternative transport routes and prioritisation of medicines as part of contingency planning for a no deal Brexit, pharmacists have been told by the NHS.

The government has been reviewing transport routes for all medicines “to maximise the ability for supply to continue unimpeded” after 29 March, according to a letter seen by the Guardian that was was sent out in recent days (17 January). The Guardian

See also:

• Revealed: UK patients stockpile drugs in fear of no-deal Brexit The Guardian

New GPs sign up to poorest areas after £20,000 incentives

New GPs sign up to poorest areas after £20,000 incentives More than 500 trainee doctors join practices in deprived communities since ‘golden hellos’ two years ago

Record numbers of GPs are working in some of England’s most deprived communities after being given £20,000 “golden hellos” to tackle the under-doctoring of poorer areas.

More than 500 trainee family doctors have begun working in places such as Hull, Blackpool and Cumbria since 2016 in a move NHS bosses hope will tackle stark health inequalities. The Guardian

See also:

• Patients blocked from leaving GP practice across whole town amid national workforce crisis The Independent
• CCG bans patients from leaving hospital-managed GP practice amid exodus Pulse 

It's not too late to have flu jab, pleads country's top doctor

It's not too late to have flu jab, pleads country's top doctor Flu jab take-up is too low, the chief medical officer has warned, amid concerns that the failure of last year's vaccine has put people off.

Prof Dame Sally Davies urged those eligible to come forward, amid rising levels of flu across the country as winter deepens.

Last year winter deaths hit a 42-year high, after the flu jab failed to work in the vast majority of cases.

Officials stressed that this year’s vaccination is a good match - but fear some patients may have been deterred by the failings last winter. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Chief medical officer launches push for flu jab drive OnMedica