Friday 22 March 2019

What will the proposed A&E waiting time targets mean for patients?

What will the proposed A&E waiting time targets mean for patients? With urgent and emergency care one of the most contentious areas in the NHS, Sarah Scobie explores how the new A&E measures will impact patients. Nuffield Trust

NHS waiting times for elective and cancer treatment

NHS waiting times for elective and cancer treatment While the NHS has increased the number of people it treats each year, the percentage of patients treated within waiting time standards continues to get worse for both elective (non-urgent care) and cancer treatment, and the waiting list for elective care continues to grow, according to today’s report by the National Audit Office.

The NAO has found that while increased demand and funding constraints affect the entire system, other factors that are linked to declining waiting time performance include NHS staff shortages for diagnostic services, a lack of available beds and pressure on trusts from emergency care.

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No room at the inn: how easy is it for nomadic Gypsies and Travellers to access primary care?

No room at the inn: how easy is it for nomadic Gypsies and Travellers to access primary care? This reports the findings of a mystery shopping exercise in which the charity contacted 50 GP practices posing as a patient wishing to register who didn’t have a fixed address or proof of identity. It found that almost half of practices would not register them. Despite this, every GP practice was rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission for their work with ‘People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable’. Friends, Families and Travellers

Health visiting: giving children the best start in life

Health visiting: giving children the best start in life The health visiting service plays a crucial role in giving children the best start in life and this collection of case studies shows how councils have embraced the opportunity to make a difference in this key development stage. Local Government Association

Integrated homes, care and support measurable outcomes for healthy ageing

Integrated homes, care and support measurable outcomes for healthy ageing This report provides an overview of the research findings from the collaborative research project between Aston Research Centre for Healthy Ageing (ARCHA) and the ExtraCare Charitable Trust. This report extends the findings of the 2015 report, covering the period from 2012 to 2018. Throughout the report, the focus is on the benefits to residents generated through ExtraCare villages and schemes, including sustained improvements in markers of health and well-being for residents and subsequent cost implications for the NHS. The Extra Care Charitable Trust

Health apps pose 'unprecedented' privacy risks

Health apps pose 'unprecedented' privacy risks Using popular health apps could mean private information about medical conditions is not kept confidential, researchers warn.

Of 24 health apps in the BMJ study, 19 shared user data with companies, including Facebook, Google and Amazon.

It warns this could then be passed on to other organisations such as credit agencies or used to target advertising.

And data was shared despite developers often claiming they did not collect personally identifiable information. BBC News

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Government orders hospitals not to reveal Brexit impact assessments to protect 'commercial interests'

Government orders hospitals not to reveal Brexit impact assessments to protect 'commercial interests' Hospitals have been ordered not to tell the public about any damage they expect to suffer from Brexit because it would hurt “commercial interests”.

Requests for information about the impact on the supply of goods and services, and on EU staff numbers, should be refused, the department of health and social care has said.

Releasing the information could cause trusts “premature financial harm, and so possibly put public wellbeing at risk,” hospital bosses were told. The Independent

Government spending on ‘lifeline’ children’s Sure Start centres slashed by nearly £157m in four years

Government spending on ‘lifeline’ children’s Sure Start centres slashed by nearly £157m in four years Spending on Sure Start centres across England has been slashed by nearly a quarter in four years, figures show, as thousands of vulnerable children and families are left to “fend for themselves”.

A new analysis of government data shows councils spent £480m on children’s centres in 2017-18 – almost 25 per cent less than the £637m spent in 2014-15.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said the cuts to early help services were the result of an increase in spending on children in care, with the number of looked-after children in England at its highest level since the 1980s. The Independent

Home smear tests to be rolled out in England to combat low turnout

Home smear tests to be rolled out in England to combat low turnout Charities say move could reverse decline of cervical cancer screenings

Women will be able to conduct tests for the HPV virus at home as part of a pilot scheme to combat the low up-take of cervical cancer screenings in England.

Robert Music, chief executive of Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, said self-testing could help reverse the decline by allowing women to use the kits in the comfort of their own home. The Guardian

Colleagues dismiss me as a 'demi-doc' but my role eases NHS understaffing

Colleagues dismiss me as a 'demi-doc' but my role eases NHS understaffing Advanced clinical practitioners are experienced healthcare professionals, but the role isn’t widely respected

I walk the corridors of most UK hospitals nowadays as an unknown entity. I go unnoticed as I mingle with the flocks of junior and middle-grade doctors during a ward round. I am indistinguishable due to my clinical camouflage of a stethoscope, pen torch and a (probably stolen) biro. I am neither doctor nor nurse; not a physiotherapist, operating department practitioner or paramedic. Yet my role can be all these things at once. I am an advanced clinical practitioner (ACP) and the role has been promoted as a novel solution to an age-old problem: chronic understaffing in healthcare. The Guardian

Royal College of Physicians drops their opposition to assisted dying,  following controversial poll  

Royal College of Physicians drops their opposition to assisted dying,  following controversial poll The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has dropped its opposition to assisted dying, following a controversial poll.

The college will adopt a “neutral” stance after a survey of its 36,000 members about whether the law should be changed to permit doctor-assisted dying.

The poll found 43.4 per cent of respondents were opposed to a change in the law - little different to a finding of 44.4 per cent when the poll was conducted in 2014.

The number wanting the college to support assisted dying increased to 31.6 per cent from 24.6 per cent. The Daily Telegraph

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Record numbers of patients are being readmitted to hospitals in an emergency, NHS figures show 

Record numbers of patients are being readmitted to hospitals in an emergency, NHS figures show The number of people being readmitted to hospital in emergency has hit a record high, NHS figures show.

Patients are being sent home to care for themselves too soon in order to free up beds for others, experts warned.

The provisional data, published for the first time in five years, shows more burden being placed on an already-stretched health force.

Hundreds of thousands of patients were readmitted to hospital as an emergency last year within 30 days of being discharged. The Daily Mail