On call with the community first responders saving lives every day in Northampton

On call with the community first responders saving lives every day in Northampton Ambulances and paramedics are more stretched than ever. The pressures on the NHS’s emergency services means crews are faced with more 999 calls than ever before – so many that at its worst, they have to decide which jobs need their attention first.

But at least in Northampton, a team of some 40 volunteers are making sure there is always someone there when an emergency strikes. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Campaign launched in Corby to prevent ‘dangerous’ wrong decisions over NHS care

Campaign launched in Corby to prevent ‘dangerous’ wrong decisions over NHS care Patients who choose the wrong NHS service may not only be delaying their care but could also be making a ‘dangerous’ mistake, Corby health chiefs warned today (Tuesday) at the launch of a new campaign.

With the introduction of new services and healthcare providers in the town, the awareness campaign is aiming to help patients select the correct NHS service at the first time of choosing. Northamptonshire Telegraph

How apprenticeships are just the starting point for great careers in healthcare - Training Journal

How apprenticeships are just the starting point for great careers in healthcare In 2017, Government reforms sought to improve the quality of apprenticeship training and boost the number of apprentices in the UK to 3m by 2020.

Apprenticeships are an excellent training route into healthcare for people starting their careers, as well as for individuals looking to develop and progress, and we place huge value on our apprenticeship programmes.

Not only are they a way of addressing staff shortages and boosting the workforce, but apprenticeships enable individuals to gain on the job training and build their knowledge, confidence and experience. As employers, we can upskill our teams and plug skills gaps. Training Journal

Untapped potential: investing in health and care data analytics

Untapped potential: investing in health and care data analytics This report highlights nine key reasons why there should be more investment in analytical capability. Action and investment is needed across the system so the NHS has the right people with the right tools to interpret and create value from its data. This could result in an NHS that can make faster progress on improving outcomes for patients. The Health Foundation

Yet another case of history repeating

Yet another case of history repeating With poor care for people with learning disabilities once again in the news, Helen Buckingham laments the NHS’s failure to learn from what’s gone on before, while arguing that the future doesn’t have to see the same mistakes. Nuffield Trust

RCPsych calls on NICE to update its antidepressant withdrawal advice

RCPsych calls on NICE to update its antidepressant withdrawal advice OFFICIAL guidance on coming off antidepressants needs to reflect the full range of patients’ experiences; the Royal College of Psychiatrists says today.

Existing advice from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – which provides national guidance to improve health and social care in England – suggests most people should be able to come off antidepressants over four weeks.

However, it is increasingly apparent from the experiences shared by some patients and clinicians, including GPs, that some patients can suffer from more severe symptoms that can last much longer. This may affect those who have been prescribed antidepressants over a long period and who have stopped their use too quickly. Royal College of Psychiatrists

See also:

• Royal College of Pyschiatrists warn doctors anti-depressants have dangerous side effects The Daily Mail

NHS WiFi now available to millions of patients

NHS WiFi now available to millions of patients Free NHS WiFi is now available in 6,749 GP practices and 212 acute, mental health and community NHS Trusts across England, benefitting millions of patients.

95% of GP practices and 98% of NHS trusts are already connected with the remaining four trusts and ten CCGs all underway with their own procurements and set to be live this year. NHS Digital exceeded its target to have 95% coverage, by 31 March 2019, in GP practices and NHS trusts.

Patient safety essentials toolkit

Patient safety essentials toolkit This toolkit includes documents on improving teamwork and communication, tools to help you understand the underlying issues that can cause errors, and valuable guidance about how to create and maintain reliable systems. Each of the nine tools includes a short description, instructions, an example, and a blank template. Please note that free registration is required to access the toolkit. Institute for Healthcare Improvement

English council funding: what’s happened and what’s next?

English council funding: what’s happened and what’s next? This report finds that overall spending on local services by English councils fell by 21 per cent between 2009-10 and 2017-18. Some services have seen much deeper cuts though. Spending on planning & development and housing services fell by more than 50 per cent while cultural & leisure services and highways & transport also saw cuts of more than 40 per cent over the same period. This has allowed councils to protect social care services from the full force of budget cuts. Spending on adult social care fell by 5 per cent between 2009–10 and 2017–18 – although the numbers receiving care fell by much more – and spending on acute children’s social care services (such as social work, safeguarding and fostering) actually rose by 10 per cent. Institute for Fiscal Studies

Ultra-processed food linked to early death

Ultra-processed food linked to early death Ultra-processed foods - such as chicken nuggets, ice cream and breakfast cereals - have been linked to early death and poor health, scientists say.

Researchers in France and Spain say the amount of such food being eaten has soared.

Their studies are not definite proof of harm but do come hot on the heels of trials suggesting ultra-processed foods lead to overeating.

Experts expressed caution but called for further investigation. BBC News

See also:

• Ultra-processed food and adverse health outcomes The BMJ
• Ultra-processed food intake and risk of cardiovascular disease: prospective cohort study (NutriNet-Santé) The BMJ 
• Eating too much ultra-processed foods raises the risk of death The Daily Mail

Transgender no longer recognised as 'disorder' by WHO

Transgender no longer recognised as 'disorder' by WHO Transgender health issues will no longer be classified as mental and behavioural disorders under big changes to the World Health Organization's global manual of diagnoses.

The newly-approved version instead places issues of gender incongruence under a chapter on sexual health.

A World Health Organization expert said it now understands transgender is "not actually a mental health condition".

Human Rights Watch says the change will have a "liberating effect worldwide" BBC News

2,000 domestic abuse survivors placed at risk of homelessness a year, report finds

2,000 domestic abuse survivors placed at risk of homelessness a year, report finds Two thousand domestic abuse survivors a year are put at risk of homelessness or being forced back into the arms of their abuser due to local authority rules saying they are not vulnerable enough to access housing.

An estimated 1,960 households fleeing domestic abuse in England are not being provided with a safe home by local authority housing teams because not everyone escaping domestic abuse is considered in “priority need”, finds a report by Crisis and the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ending Homelessness (APPGEH). The Independent

Woman left infertile after surgeon removes wrong fallopian tube

Woman left infertile after surgeon removes wrong fallopian tube Doctor phoned Chelsie Thomas, 27, to say he had mistakenly removed her left tube

A woman was left infertile after a surgeon removed her healthy fallopian tube by mistake.

Chelsie Thomas, 27, was admitted to Walsall Manor hospital, in the West Midlands, suffering from an ectopic pregnancy in March last year. Though the pregnancy was in her right tube, the doctor mistakenly removed the left fallopian tube during surgery. The Guardian

UK fails to back international agreement on reducing drug costs

UK fails to back international agreement on reducing drug costs The UK has been accused of acting in bad faith after backing away from an international agreement aimed at reducing the cost of drugs worldwide.

In the run-up to this month’s World Health Assembly – the decision-making body of the World Health Organization – member states spent three weeks negotiating the agreement aimed at increasing transparency over drug pricing, with the UK, United States, Germany, Japan and Switzerland demanding changes to the text.

However, when the final agreement was signed on Monday the UK, Germany and Hungary formally dissociated themselves from it as they said they needed more time to consider its implications. The Daily Telegraph

Self-harm increased 50% in middle-aged men after the 2008 financial crisis

Self-harm increased 50% in middle-aged men after the 2008 financial crisis There was a 50 per cent spike in self-harm among middle-aged men after the financial crash of 2008, according to scientists.

A study has found the numbers of men harming themselves rose 'significantly' after the credit crunch.

People aged between 40 and 59 are the most likely to self-harm, according to researchers, and common triggers include alcohol problems and financial trouble. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Self-harm in midlife: analysis using data from the Multicentre Study of Self-harm in England British Journal of Psychiatry

Cruel rationing of vital cataract ops has DOUBLED since 2017

Cruel rationing of vital cataract ops has DOUBLED since 2017 Cruel rationing of vital cataract operations has doubled since NHS officials were ordered to stop refusing patients the surgery, a shocking report has revealed.

At least 2,851 people were turned down for a cataract operation in 2018/19 after their doctor had referred them for the procedure, according to figures published in the British Medical Journal.

Astonishingly, the number of refusals have doubled since guidance published by NHS watchdog NICE in October 2017 was supposed to spell an end to people being denied the operations. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Leading ophthalmologist vows to stamp out “unjustified” screening for cataract surgery The BMJ
• Cataract patients across England being denied NHS surgery The Medical Technology Group
• Investigation reveals doubling in NHS rationing of cataract surgery The Daily Telegraph
• NHS surgery rationing on the rise as thousands rejected for cataract surgery, investigation finds The Independent
• CCGs rationing cataract surgery against guidelines OnMedica