Deal reached to keep Corby Urgent Care Centre open until 2021

Deal reached to keep Corby Urgent Care Centre open until 2021 Corby’s Urgent Care Centre will remain open without any changes to its services until at least 2021.

This morning (Wednesday) Corby CCG announced they had reached a deal with OnePrimaryCare, part of Leeds-based OneMedicalGroup, to run the Cottingham Road centre for two years from April 1 this year.

They said the service will run as before and will be uninterrupted, continuing to operate between 8am and 8pm every day of the year with patients able to walk in and be seen without an appointment. Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also:

• Successful procurements mean Corby’s Urgent Care Centre will continue and an extra 1,000 NHS appointments a month will be available via a brand-new service NHS Corby Clinical Commissioning Group

Juggling work and unpaid care: a growing issue

Juggling work and unpaid care: a growing issue The report finds that 2.6 million people in the UK have quit their job to care for a loved one who is older, disabled or seriously ill, with nearly half a million (468,000) leaving their job in the last two years alone. The report findings also show that more people are caring than previously thought, with almost 5 million workers now juggling their paid job with caring – a dramatic rise compared with Census 2011 figures of 3 million. The report recommends that employers support staff with caring responsibilities to stay in the workforce through flexible working arrangements and increased Carers’ leave. Carers UK

Having HPV 'isn't rude or shameful'

Having HPV 'isn't rude or shameful' Having human papilloma virus (HPV) is not rude or shameful and is extremely common, experts say.

It comes as a survey of 2,000 women shows there are still stigmas around the infection, which can be passed on during sex and is linked to cancer.

Charities are concerned this could put women off getting smear tests.

Despite four out of every five getting HPV in their lifetime, many would worry about what their partner might think of them if they were diagnosed with it. BBC News

Thousands of fracture patients need NHS review after wrong metal plates fitted in hospital mix-up

Thousands of fracture patients need NHS review after wrong metal plates fitted in hospital mix-up Thousands of NHS patients who had fractures repaired with a metal plate need their X-rays reviewed after a hospital mix-up means some received implants which are liable to buckle.

About 5,500 patients who had plates fitted for limb fractures since February 2018 will now be reviewed, NHS Improvement and the British Orthopaedic Association said. The Independent

See also:

• BOA statement on NHS Improvement Patient Safety Alert on fracture fixation plates British Orthopaedic Association
• Wrong selection of orthopaedic fracture fixation plates NHS Improvement
• Fear wrong metal plates used to fix fractures BBC News

How retraining refugees could help tackle NHS staffing crisis

How retraining refugees could help tackle NHS staffing crisis Work placements aim to give medically qualified migrants access to UK jobs alongside English classes

When Horani Othman fled Syria with his Kurdish family in 2012, he arrived in the UK not knowing how he would make ends meet. Sent to live in Birmingham by the Home Office immigration authorities, he and his family were granted indefinite leave to remain last year. Now Othman, 54, is keen to get his career back on track. A pilot project in the Black Country is not only giving him valuable work experience in the UK, it could offer a solution to the growing crisis in NHS staffing levels.

Latest figures show that there are more than 100,000 vacancies for doctors and nurses. Brexit threatens to exacerbate the shortages: 9% of licensed doctors in the UK come from the European Economic Area, while in the West Midlands alone, EU nationals account for 10% of all nursing staff. The Guardian

NHS ends block on smartphone GPs

NHS ends block on smartphone GPs GP appointments by Skype will be made available across swathes of the country after health officials dropped their opposition to the plans.

The controversial "GP at Hand" model run by private company Babylon is already in operation in London, allowing NHS patients to see a doctor virtually via its app.

The Health Secretary Matt Hancock is one of its patients and has repeatedly said that such access should be offered to all patients wherever they live. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Replace letters to patients with emails, GPs told The Daily Mail
• NHS should ditch ‘downright dangerous’ letters for email, health secretary Matt Hancock to say The Independent

NHS figures reveal nearly 6million appointments were missed in the first five months of 2018

NHS figures reveal nearly 6million appointments were missed in the first five months of 2018 The NHS figures, collected every month, show around 116million GP appointments were made between January and May in England - meaning around five per cent are wasted by no-shows. The Daily Mail

1.3MILLION people were fined last year for wrongly trying to claim NHS prescriptions for free

1.3MILLION people were fined last year for wrongly trying to claim NHS prescriptions for free The number of people fined for wrongly trying to claim free NHS prescriptions topped more than 1.3 million last year.

A total of 1,379,957 penalty notices were issued across England in 2018 – which is a third more than last year and a 60 per cent increase from three years earlier.

Figures show that 1,052,430 were penalised in 2017, which was an increased from 864,366 in 2016.

The shocking statistics come amid a government crackdown on prescription fraud, which experts believe costs the NHS £256million annually. The Daily Mail