No safety issues at KGH despite high bed occupancy figures, say bosses

No safety issues at KGH despite high bed occupancy figures, say bosses Bosses at Kettering General Hospital say safety is not an issue despite nearly all its beds being occupied in recent days.

According to figures from NHS England for the week January 7 to 13, bed occupancy on general and acute wards at KGH were 97.6 per cent full on average, exceeding the safe limit of 85 per cent recommended by health experts.

On average, Kettering General Hospital had 537 available beds each day, of which 524 were in use. Northamptonshire Telegraph

On the same page? Taking a closer look at the Long Term Plan and the Planning Guidance

On the same page? Taking a closer look at the Long Term Plan and the Planning Guidance With the Long Term Plan recently in the news, Helen Buckingham looks at how it reads alongside the Operational Planning Guidance, which arguably could be called the NHS’s ‘short-term plan’. Nuffield Trust

Cross-government suicide prevention workplan

Cross-government suicide prevention workplan This first cross-government suicide prevention workplan will be led by the new Suicide Prevention Minister Jackie Doyle-Price. It sets out the actions being taken up to 2020 to carry out the suicide prevention strategy for England. These actions will be taken by national and local government, the NHS, and other stakeholders, including the voluntary sector. A progress report of the suicide prevention strategy has been published alongside this. Department of Health and Social Care

Moving the Needle: Promoting vaccination uptake across the life course

Moving the Needle: Promoting vaccination uptake across the life course The discovery of our ability to immunise people against disease has had an almost unprecedented impact on human health.

Though the UK has a world-leading vaccination programme and this should be celebrated, history and current events have shown that fear and misinformation about vaccines can cause significant damage to seemingly stable vaccination programmes.

While improving access to vaccines remains crucial in addressing low uptake rates – and especially in reducing inequalities in uptake – understanding the public’s attitudes to vaccination is also a valuable tool for increasing and maintaining uptake. Royal Society for Public Health

See also:

• Dangerous anti-vaccination myths 'breeding' on social media, report warns The Independent

Approaches to improving staff engagement in the NHS - a quick guide

Approaches to improving staff engagement in the NHS - a quick guide We have published a new quick guide to staff engagement in the NHS.

Approaches to improving staff engagement in the NHS looks at a range of approaches that organisations can take to sustain staff engagement.

There isn’t one simple solution or initiative that has been shown to be effective in resolving all engagement issues, but there are a core set of approaches that have had positive impacts, briefly outlined in this guide, in organisations where they have been implemented effectively. The guide links to resources and case studies looking at how NHS organisations have put ideas into practice. NHS Employers

Antibiotic resistance plan to fight 'urgent' global threat

Antibiotic resistance plan to fight 'urgent' global threat Drug-resistant superbugs are as big a threat as climate change, the health secretary will say as he unveils a new five-year plan to tackle the problem.

Overuse of antibiotics is making infections harder to treat and leading to thousands of deaths a year through drug-resistant superbugs.

The government plans to change the way it funds drug companies to encourage them to develop new medicines.

It is also increasing efforts to cut unnecessary use of the drugs. BBC News

See also:

• Antimicrobial resistance: UK launches 5-year action plan and 20-year vision Department of Health and Social Care
• College welcomes national action plan in the fight against antibiotic resistance Royal College of General Practitioners
• NHS will roll out electronic prescribing to curb 'global health emergency' of antibiotic resistance The Daily Telegraph
• Antibiotic-resistant infections a 'global health emergency', Matt Hancock to say The Independent

An empire at home: the pitfalls of being brown in the NHS

An empire at home: the pitfalls of being brown in the NHS Our health service is the biggest employer of people of colour in Europe, but, as Neil Singh recounts in his tale of three generations working alongside, and for, the British, that doesn’t mean the age of empire is over. The Independent

NHS to prescribe 'app therapy' for children with mild depression

NHS to prescribe 'app therapy' for children with mild depression NICE recommends use of programs on smartphones for young people aged five to eight

Children as young as five will be able to get help for mild depression through apps on their smartphones after the NHS’s treatment advisers recommended the use of such devices in their care.

Under-18s in England and Wales will in future be able to use digital cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) through mobile phones and computers to help them manage their feelings of low mood. It will help them avoid potentially long delays to see a therapist and reduce the pressure on NHS child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), according to new guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The Guardian

See also:

• NHS App begins public rollout NHS England
• Public roll-out of NHS App OnMedica

Health chiefs announce review into deaths of up to 250 heart patients

Health chiefs announce review into deaths of up to 250 heart patients The deaths of 200 to 250 patients who died following heart surgery at a scandal-hit NHS trust are to be reviewed, it has been announced.

All the patients were treated in the cardiac unit at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Tooting, south-west London.

The hospital suspended complex heart operations last year after a leaked report suggested poor relationships between surgeons were risking patient safety.

There had been a years-long 'toxic' feud between staff which escalated to the point one surgeon was sent a dead animal in the post. The Daily Mail

See also:

• St George's Hospital: 250 cardiac unit deaths to be reviewed BBC News
• Deaths of up to 250 patients reviewed at 'toxic' heart unit The Daily Telegraph
• Watchdog to review heart surgery deaths at London hospital The Guardian
• Hundreds of deaths under review at London NHS hospital where whistleblower was mailed dead animal The Independent