Monday, 15 April 2019
Digital tool to help reduce avoidable lengthy stays in hospital
Digital tool to help reduce avoidable lengthy stays in hospital A new digital portal is being introduced by the NHS and councils which allows health and social care staff to see how many vacancies there are in local care homes, saving hours of time phoning around to check availability and helping people to get the right care or return home as quickly as possible. NHS England
Gene-silencing: 'New class' of medicine reverses disease porphyria
Gene-silencing: 'New class' of medicine reverses disease porphyria Doctors have used a new type of medicine called "gene silencing" to reverse a disease that leaves people in crippling pain.
The condition, acute intermittent porphyria, also causes paralysis and is fatal in some cases.
The novel approach fine-tunes the genetic instructions locked in our DNA.
Doctors say they are "genuinely surprised" how successful it is and that the same approach could be used in previously untreatable diseases. BBC News
The condition, acute intermittent porphyria, also causes paralysis and is fatal in some cases.
The novel approach fine-tunes the genetic instructions locked in our DNA.
Doctors say they are "genuinely surprised" how successful it is and that the same approach could be used in previously untreatable diseases. BBC News
Bounty pregnancy club fined £400,000 over data handling
Bounty pregnancy club fined £400,000 over data handling Pregnancy club Bounty UK has been given a £400,000 fine for illegally sharing the personal information of more than 14 million people.
The fine was issued by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in what it said was an "unprecedented" case.
Bounty compiled personal data but did not tell people that it was shared with 39 other organisations, said the ICO.
Bounty said it "acknowledged" the ICO's findings and had now made changes to how it handled member data. BBC News
The fine was issued by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in what it said was an "unprecedented" case.
Bounty compiled personal data but did not tell people that it was shared with 39 other organisations, said the ICO.
Bounty said it "acknowledged" the ICO's findings and had now made changes to how it handled member data. BBC News
Obese people unfairly denied IVF by cost-cutting NHS, says Oxford academic
Obese people unfairly denied IVF by cost-cutting NHS, says Oxford academic Obese people are being unfairly denied IVF by NHS bureaucrats who see them as “easy targets” for refusal of the expensive treatment, Oxford University research has concluded.
A paper by health researcher Dr Rebecca Brown said unsubstantiated assumptions that people are overweight by choice, and have become infertile as a consequence of this, result in their applications being declined.
She argues high-quality data from clinical trials – which the NHS demands for other treatments as a matter of course – are scarce or absent for IVF. The Independent
See also:
A paper by health researcher Dr Rebecca Brown said unsubstantiated assumptions that people are overweight by choice, and have become infertile as a consequence of this, result in their applications being declined.
She argues high-quality data from clinical trials – which the NHS demands for other treatments as a matter of course – are scarce or absent for IVF. The Independent
See also:
- Irresponsibly Infertile? Obesity, Efficiency, and Exclusion from Treatment (open access) Health Care Analysis
Medical cannabis isn’t reaching NHS patients. And I’m in too much pain to wait
Medical cannabis isn’t reaching NHS patients. And I’m in too much pain to wait | James Coke The government has broken its promise to make products that help with my MS available on prescription
I was delighted when the home secretary, Sajid Javid, announced that medical cannabis would be made available on prescription from November, including the two main active ingredients cannabidiol (CBD) and the psychoactive component of the plant, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Having used the drug for years to alleviate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), I and thousands of others would benefit from the change, or so I thought.
I’d hoped that acquiring cannabis oil legally would be a formality by now, but the door still remains firmly closed. Having recently moved house, I registered with a new doctor and enquired about getting the oil for my pain management. The request for oil containing THC was met with incredulity and a lecture on the dangers it could have on my mental health. I had to bite my tongue as I was offered ibuprofen or OxyContin instead: the former can rot your guts and the latter can leave you addicted to opiates. To say the least, it was a disappointing appointment. The Guardian
I was delighted when the home secretary, Sajid Javid, announced that medical cannabis would be made available on prescription from November, including the two main active ingredients cannabidiol (CBD) and the psychoactive component of the plant, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Having used the drug for years to alleviate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), I and thousands of others would benefit from the change, or so I thought.
I’d hoped that acquiring cannabis oil legally would be a formality by now, but the door still remains firmly closed. Having recently moved house, I registered with a new doctor and enquired about getting the oil for my pain management. The request for oil containing THC was met with incredulity and a lecture on the dangers it could have on my mental health. I had to bite my tongue as I was offered ibuprofen or OxyContin instead: the former can rot your guts and the latter can leave you addicted to opiates. To say the least, it was a disappointing appointment. The Guardian
Hospital develops AI to identify patients likely to skip appointments
Hospital develops AI to identify patients likely to skip appointments Exclusive: London’s UCLH creates tool predicting 90% of no-shows – potentially saving NHS millions
A leading hospital has developed artificial intelligence to predict which patients are most likely to miss appointments.
University College Hospital in London created an algorithm using records from 22,000 appointments for MRI scans, allowing it to identify 90% of those patients who would turn out to be no-shows. The machine intelligence is not perfect – it also incorrectly flags about half of patients attending appointments as being at risk of not showing. The Guardian
A leading hospital has developed artificial intelligence to predict which patients are most likely to miss appointments.
University College Hospital in London created an algorithm using records from 22,000 appointments for MRI scans, allowing it to identify 90% of those patients who would turn out to be no-shows. The machine intelligence is not perfect – it also incorrectly flags about half of patients attending appointments as being at risk of not showing. The Guardian
Nearly 4 million GP appointments could be freed up by 2022 under NHS plans
Nearly 4 million GP appointments could be freed up by 2022 under NHS plans Nearly 4 million GP appointments could be freed up by 2022 under an NHS plan to cut bureaucracy.
The Time for Care programme encourages GP surgeries to be more efficient, by allowing patients to book appointments sooner, cutting paperwork and offering faster access to health specialists.
The programme has been piloted at over 2,000 surgeries since 2016 and will now be rolled out across the country with an aim to cover three quarters of GP practices by 2022. The Daily Telegraph
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The Time for Care programme encourages GP surgeries to be more efficient, by allowing patients to book appointments sooner, cutting paperwork and offering faster access to health specialists.
The programme has been piloted at over 2,000 surgeries since 2016 and will now be rolled out across the country with an aim to cover three quarters of GP practices by 2022. The Daily Telegraph
See also:
- GP scheme frees up half a million hours for patients NHS England
- Releasing time to care NHS England
- Time for Care 'one part' of much bigger solution that is needed on GP workforce and workload Royal College of General Practitoners
- More GP appointments available due to success of pilot scheme BBC News
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