Northampton and Kettering hospitals work together to help crime victims

Northampton and Kettering hospitals work together to help crime victims Northampton General Hospital and Kettering General Hospital have agreed to join up with Voice, the free, confidential support service for anyone affected by crime in Northamptonshire.

The three organisations came together recently to sign an agreement that will see them working together to ensure patients and staff are able to access the specialist support provided by Voice. Northamptonshire Telegraph

New out-of-hours GP provider appointed in Northamptonshire

New out-of-hours GP provider appointed in Northamptonshire A new provider for the GP out of hours service has been appointed by the Northamptonshire CCGs (Corby CCG and Nene CCG).

From Monday (April 1) DHU Health Care will be operating the service for patients registered with a Northamptonshire GP. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

NICE at 20

NICE at 20 This Monday – 1 April 2019, or All Fools’ Day – is the sixth anniversary of the implementation of Andrew Lansley’s Health and Social Care Act, 2012. An Act that everyone from the Prime Minister down appears to agree now needs amending.

But it is also the twentieth anniversary of the arrival of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). And that has to be an occasion for a birthday cake and a few celebratory fireworks. The King's Fund

'She was so desperate, she swallowed a toothbrush'

'She was so desperate, she swallowed a toothbrush' "She is so desperate to end it all, she currently has a toothbrush inside her."

Jane Haines is talking about her daughter, Ayla, who has been in secure units for people with learning difficulties for seven years.

A government programme to move people out of these units after an abuse scandal is a failure, campaigners say.

The government said in 2015 it was committed to reducing inpatient numbers in England by at least 35%, although it has only relocated 20% so far.

That means 2,000 patients remain in them and the government has extended the original March 2019 deadline to 2020. BBC News

Ask children about social media use, psychiatrists urged

Ask children about social media use, psychiatrists urged Psychiatrists are being urged to ask children with mental health issues how long they spend online and what they use social media for.

Questions about technology should be a routine part of assessments, the Royal College of Psychiatrists says.

It is concerned about how time spent online impacts on mood, sleep, diet and behaviour.

The government is expected to announce plans to regulate social media companies soon. BBC News

Schools and NHS could be held accountable over youth crime

Schools and NHS could be held accountable over youth crime Teachers, NHS workers and police officers could be held accountable for failing to spot violent crime among young people under government plans announced on Monday.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid has launched a consultation to assess whether there is a "public health duty" to report concerns over children at risk.

He said he will use "all the tools" at his disposal to end violent crime.

A summit on serious youth violence is being held at Downing Street this week. BBC News

New diabetes diagnosis every three minutes, new figures suggest

New diabetes diagnosis every three minutes, new figures suggest One person is being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in England and Wales every three minutes, according to new figures.

Data from 2017 revealed 202,665 people were diagnosed with the disease across the two countries in that year, equivalent to 23 people every hour.

Diabetes UK, which conducted the analysis, said the figures revealed the UK’s obesity crisis was fuelling a rapid rise in the number of people living with the condition. The Independent

Fury as government delays promised social care reform for sixth time amid Brexit gridlock

Fury as government delays promised social care reform for sixth time amid Brexit gridlock The government has failed for the sixth time to hit its own deadline to publish details of care system reforms for adults with disabilities and the elderly, because of the Brexit gridlock wracking the Commons.

Charities claimed lives were being put at risk by minsters’ “dithering and delays” and warned vulnerable people denied care, such as those with learning disabilities, were at increased “risk of abuse and neglect”. The Independent

Transgender fertility rules updated by NHS

Transgender fertility rules updated by NHS Refusal to offer services will require ‘strong justification’ under revised guidance

A long-running battle between the NHS and the equality watchdog over transgender people’s right to access fertility services has ended with both sides claiming victory.

Guidance will be issued to all of the country’s 200-plus clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) – the NHS bodies that plan and commission services – saying that refusal to offer fertility services to people who are transitioning will need a strong justification. A failure to provide this could be challenged in court. However, in a move that will dismay some trans rights groups, NHS England need not instruct CCGs that they must offer the services, after the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) dropped its legal challenge. The Guardian

See also:

• Transgender: How people from three generations transitioned BBC News

University student died after hospital ‘assumed he was drunk’

University student died after hospital ‘assumed he was drunk’ A university student died after doctors failed to spot a head injury he sustained during a night out to celebrate his birthday because they assumed his condition was due to excessive drink, a coroner has found.

Maria Voisin, the senior coroner for Avon, said the death of 22-year-old Alex Green was “contributed to by neglect” by hospital staff. The Guardian

Matt Haig: teach children about mental health as readily as road safety

Matt Haig: teach children about mental health as readily as road safety Teaching children about wellbeing is as important as road safety, best-selling author Matt Haig has said as he calls for mental health to be added to the school curriculum.

However, Haig, who is known for his children's books which unpick mental health issues for young readers, warned against so-called 'helicopter parents' "editing" their sons and daughters' lives. The Daily Telegraph

Half of NHS trusts are providing poor care and hundreds of thousands are not being diagnosed

Half of NHS trusts are providing poor care and hundreds of thousands are not being diagnosed The NHS is failing dementia patients across huge swathes of Britain, official figures reveal.

Nearly half of England’s health boards offer poor standards of care, according to Ofsted-style scores.

The figures suggest hundreds of thousands of people are not even diagnosed. And many who do get a diagnosis have to wait for more than a year between their care assessments.

An estimated 850,000 people in the UK have dementia but the number is predicted to soar to two million by 2050. The Daily Mail

All pregnant women will be tested to see if they or their partners smoke, as part of NHS drive

All pregnant women will be tested to see if they or their partners smoke, as part of NHS drive Under radical new NHS plans, all women and their partners will be screened to see if they smoke during pregnancy.

The NHS will offer all women a carbon monoxide screening test at the 12 and 36 weeks stage of pregnancy in a bid to persuade thousands to give up the habit.

The routine screening will come into effect in July. One in 10 women, around 65,000, smoke throughout their pregnancy. The Daily Mail