Monday 25 February 2019

Reach for Health: 'Unique' rehab centre gets funding

Reach for Health: 'Unique' rehab centre gets funding A £1.5m building for a rehabilitation health charity has been given the go ahead despite a warning it could lead to the council ending up in "a borrowing position".

Daventry District Council voted to pay for Reach for Health's new building in the grounds of the Daventry & District Sports Trust site in the town. BBC Northampton

Richard Coles: Mental health hospital 'saved my life'

Richard Coles: Mental health hospital 'saved my life' Pop star-turned-vicar the Reverend Richard Coles has credited a mental health hospital for saving his life when he was 17.

The former Communards keyboard player said he was an inpatient at St Andrew's Healthcare in Northampton when he had an episode of clinical depression.

Mr Coles said he was coming to terms with his sexuality and "as a gay man in Kettering in 1978" at the time.

The care he received "literally saved my life", he said. BBC Northampton

Hard facts about a soft Brexit and the NHS

Hard facts about a soft Brexit and the NHS With Brexit still dominating the news agenda and the UK yet to come to a final agreement with the European Union, Mark Dayan looks at what the so-called "Norway model" might mean for the NHS. Nuffield Trust

Expansion of budgets for personalised health and care support

Expansion of budgets for personalised health and care support Wheelchair users and people who access aftercare services under the Mental Health Act will soon have a right to a personal health budget, the government has announced.

  • Personal health budgets allow people to choose their own health and care support, which could include:
  • specially adapted wheelchairs designed to maximise independence
  • a choice of personal assistants who can be specially trained to meet the individual’s needs
  • technology, equipment or even an assistance dog to reduce the need for support from a carer
Over 40,000 people currently benefit from personal health budgets, and the government plans to increase this to up to 200,000 people by 2024. Department of Health and Social Care

NHS told to ditch 'outdated' pagers

NHS told to ditch 'outdated' pagers The NHS has been told to stop using pagers for communications by 2021, in order to save money.

The health service still uses about 130,000 pagers, which is about 10% of the total left in use globally.

They cost the NHS about £6.6m a year, because only one service provider supports them.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock called them "outdated" and said he wanted to rid the NHS of "archaic technology like pagers and fax machines". BBC News

Armed forces veterans with mental health problems 'completely failed by system', MPs warn

Armed forces veterans with mental health problems 'completely failed by system', MPs warn Armed forces personnel and veterans in need of mental health care are being “completely failed by the system” in some cases, MPs have warned.

The House of Commons Defence Committee said it is a “scandal” that in an NHSbudget of over £150bn, less than £10m annually (0.007 per cent) has been allocated to veteran-specific mental health services.

The report said the NHS should urgently consult with the Ministry of Defence (MoD)and the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre in order to establish a world-class centre for the treatment of mental injuries within the next year or 18 months. The Independent

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Bullying and sexual harassment 'endemic' in NHS hospitals

Bullying and sexual harassment 'endemic' in NHS hospitals Findings show sheer scale of issue, with only a fraction of cases leading to disciplinary action

Hundreds of doctors have been accused of bullying and sexually harassing colleagues in the past five years, prompting concern that a culture of intimidation is thriving in the NHS.

Data shows that reports of bullying and harassment rose from 420 in 2013-14 to 585 in 2017-18. The figures, obtained by the Guardian using a freedom of information request, showed that only a fraction of these cases led to dismissal or disciplinary action.

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Breakthrough for NHS as hundreds more men study nursing

Breakthrough for NHS as hundreds more men study nursing Numbers of males – especially school-leavers – wanting to get on college courses are the highest in a decade

The NHS has seen a significant rise in the number of men applying to be nurses, following a recruitment drive aimed at changing attitudes towards a career long stereotyped as female-dominated.

Hundreds more men have applied to study nursing and midwifery since the start of last summer’s NHS England campaign, a 9% increase according to Ucas, the organisation that arranges university courses. The Guardian

Governor of child gender service quits over damning report

Governor of child gender service quits over damning report Decision expected to intensify scrutiny of service accused of ‘fast-tracking’ young people

The trust running the country’s only NHS gender identity service for children is under fire for dismissing a damning internal report that branded it “not fit for purpose”.

Marcus Evans, one of the governors of The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust has resigned, after accusing its management of having an “overvalued belief in” the expertise of its Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) “which is used to dismiss challenge and examination”. The Guardian

Police called in after medics attacked by anti abortion campaigners

Police called in after medics attacked by anti abortion campaigners Police have been called in by medics attacked by pro-life abortion campaigners, as experts warn that social media has made these activists more militant.

It comes ahead of a US-backed campaign that will see vigils held outside 10 UK clinics over the period of lent, for 12 hours a day.

Officers from the Greater Manchester Police met with Marie Stopes abortion clinic staff this month to offer them increased support around a centre in South Manchester and agree a plan with nurses ahead of the 40-day anti-abortion effort in March. The Daily Telegraph

Shropshire doctor covers home visits for 500,000 patients in a crisis for out-of-hours NHS care

Shropshire doctor covers home visits for 500,000 patients in a crisis for out-of-hours NHS care A single GP is having to cover night-time home visits for a population of half a million.

In a stark illustration of the crisis in out-of-hours care, the doctor is solely responsible for an area of 1,346 square miles.

Ten years ago, eight GPs shared the workload in Shropshire. The situation is blamed on lack of cash and a shortage of GPs prepared to carry out unsocial hours. The Daily Mail