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. Of those, 12 were escalation beds – temporary beds set up in periods of intense pressure. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Northampton GP suspended over relationship with patient he made pregnant

Northampton GP suspended over relationship with patient he made pregnant A doctor has been suspended for three months over a relationship with a vulnerable patient at the Northampton surgery where he was working. Dr Atif Hussain was undertaking regular locum shifts at St Luke's Primary Care Centre in Duston in 2015 and 2016. During that time, he examined Patient A on three occasions between November 2015 and November 2016. In November 2016 they began a relationship and two months later she became pregnant. The same month, the couple married in an Islamic ceremony but the marriage was ended in a traditional Islamic manner in front of witnesses two months later. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Donations needed for new buggy to transport patients around Northampton General Hospital

Donations needed for new buggy to transport patients around Northampton General Hospital An ever-increasing demand has meant one of the existing NGH buggies has become tired and in need of replacement. NGH is spread across 40 acres with the walk from the Billing Road entrance to Tree Wards stretching over 800 metres long. Over the years, the buggy service has become vital to transport elderly patients to and from their appointments around the vast space - making 260 journeys a week. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Daventry care home in special measures as watchdog inspection highlights abuse allegations - Daventry Express

Daventry care home in special measures as watchdog inspection highlights abuse allegations - Daventry Express A Daventry nursing home failed to improve on a previous watchdog inspection and is now in special measures. Wheatsheaf Court Care Home in Sheaf Street was visited by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in an unannounced inspection in November 2018. A previous examination resulted in the service being rated as 'requires improvement' and the latest inspection has concluded the care home is now 'inadequate'. Among the watchdog's findings were allegations of abuse by staff towards residents. Daventry Express

More 'social prescribers' to ease pressure on GPs

More 'social prescribers' to ease pressure on GPs The number of workers trained to prescribe social activities, like exercise groups and art classes, to GP patients who don't need pills, is set to rise, under NHS England plans. The aim is that "link workers" will support GPs and reduce their workload.

A link worker's role is to help patients find suitable community activities to improve their health and wellbeing. The NHS says more than 1,000 will be recruited by 2020-21. In the long term, it wants link workers to handle around 900,000 patient appointments a year. BBC News - Health

See Also:

• Improving UK cycling rates could save NHS £319m, says report The Guardian
• NHS to recruit army of workers to help loneliness and mental illness The Telegraph
• NHS hires hundreds of ‘social prescribers’ to refer patients to art classes and dancing lessons Mail Online

Don't call us heroes or victims, cancer patients say

Don't call us heroes or victims, cancer patients say Cancer patients don't want to be called heroes or victims, research has shown. Many also object to being told they are 'battling' or 'fighting' the illness as they feel under pressure. A survey by Macmillan has found that most patients would prefer to talk in clear, factual language and avoid cliches. Of the 2,040 cancer patients who responded, 42 per cent said terms such as 'hero' were disempowering. Another 30 per cent said they felt the words put them under pressure to be positive and 24 per cent found them isolating. Mail Online

See Also:

• Cancer cliches to avoid: I'm not 'brave' BBC News

Royal college assesses progress of child health strategy

Royal college assesses progress of child health strategy A report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health applauds the government’s commitment to child health, but says that England continues to lag behind other western European countries on a range of outcomes. NHS Networks

Mental health: Social media firms 'should purge' distressing content

Mental health: Social media firms 'should purge' distressing content Social media firms could be banned if they fail to remove harmful content, the health secretary has warned.

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr show, Matt Hancock said: "If we think they need to do things they are refusing to do, then we can and we must legislate." But he said it would be better to work jointly with social media companies. The minister earlier called on social media giants to "purge" material promoting self-harm and suicide in the wake of links to a teenager's suicide.

Asked if social media could be banned, Mr Hancock said: "Ultimately parliament does have that sanction, yes" but added: "it's not where I'd like to end up." Molly Russell, 14, took her own life in 2017 after viewing disturbing content about suicide on social media. BBC News - Health

See Also:

• Social media firms warned they could be blocked over suicide content The Telegraph

Fitness trackers 'overestimate' calorie burning

Fitness trackers 'overestimate' calorie burning Popular brands of fitness trackers can overestimate the number of calories burned while walking by more than 50%, tests have found.

Researchers at Aberystwyth University found all products - ranging from £20 to £80 in price - were inaccurate during walking and running tests. Dr Rhys Thatcher said devices had an "inherent tendency" to over-measure. Fitbit said its product was based on "extensive research", but others said theirs were "not medical devices". BBC News

Gene modified chickens 'lay medicines'

Gene modified chickens 'lay medicines' They hope the project will one day lead to lifesaving drugs that are much cheaper to make.The team modified the genomes of the chickens so their eggs contain large amounts of high quality proteins. Just three eggs contain a clinically significant dose, according to the scientists. Initially the proteins will be used in research but laboratory tests have already found they work at least as well as equivalent drugs.

Protein-based therapies such as the cancer treatments Herceptin and Avastin can be effective where traditional drugs fail but they are highly expensive. The new research - a collaboration between the institute and the university's spinout company Roslin Technologies - holds out the promise of a far cheaper production process. BBC News - Health