Health charities make urgent call for £1 billion a year to reverse cuts to public health funding

Health charities make urgent call for £1 billion a year to reverse cuts to public health funding Two leading health charities say that the government must make a clear and urgent commitment to restoring £1 billion of real-terms per head cuts to the public health grant which enables local authorities to deliver vital preventive services that protect and improve health. The King's Fund 

See also:

• Invest in public health now, or store up problems for the future The Health Foundation

The best job in the world? - the views of first-time NHS chief executives

The best job in the world? - the views of first-time NHS chief executives  This report contains the observations of nine new NHS chief executives, with tenures from 18 months to 2.5 years. It outlines the views of the new NHS chief executives on the changes in leadership approach and culture that they believe will be required if the NHS is to meet the ambitions of the Long Term Plan. NHS Confederation

NHS failure to meet waiting times targets risks patients' lives

NHS failure to meet waiting times targets risks patients' lives Only 38% of NHS trusts meeting 62-day waiting times standard for referral to treatment for cancer patients.

Waiting list for elective care has increased by 1.5 million since March 2013.

The NHS treats more and more people each year, and patients have a right to expect to receive treatment within the timescales set out by the NHS Constitution.

But more and more patients are being let down by the NHS’s continued failure to meet deadlines for waiting times. The percentage of patients treated within waiting times standards continues to get worse for both elective (non-urgent care) and cancer treatment.

It is unacceptable that less than half of NHS trusts and foundation trusts (trusts) meet the 18-week waiting times standard for elective treatment, and only 38% meet the 62-day standard from referral to treatment for cancer patients.  Commons Public Accounts Committee

See also:

• The King's Fund responds to the Public Accounts Committee’s report on NHS waiting times The King's Fund
• The worst places for cancer care waits revealed BBC News
• Three quarters of NHS services are FAILING to treat cancer patients quickly enough The Daily Mail
• Most NHS trusts missing cancer targets as waiting times soar The Daily Telegraph
• Cancer patients wait ‘unacceptably’ long time at three-fifths of NHS trusts, MPs say The Independent
• Patients at risk from growing NHS waiting lists – MPs ITV News

Environmental health inequalities in Europe: second assessment report

Environmental health inequalities in Europe: second assessment report This report documents the magnitude of environmental health inequalities within countries through 19 inequality indicators on urban, housing and working conditions, basic services and injuries. Inequalities in risks and outcomes occur in all countries in the WHO European Region, and the latest evidence confirms that socially disadvantaged population subgroups are those most affected by environmental hazards, causing avoidable health effects and contributing to health inequalities. World Health Organization

NHS to investigate GP 'fraud' in retaining ghost patients

NHS to investigate GP 'fraud' in retaining ghost patients The NHS anti-fraud body is to investigate general practice in a bid to crack down on apparently incorrectly claimed GP capitation fees. Pulse

See also:

• Ghost patients 'nothing sinister' – and the insinuation GPs are complicit in fraud is 'shocking’, says RCGP Royal College of General Practitioners 
• GP 'ghost patients' to be investigated by NHS fraud squad BBC News
• NHS fraud squad is investigating GP practices for claiming funding for 'ghost patients' The Daily Mail
• NHS fraud squad investigation into GPs making money out of 'ghost patients' The Daily Telegraph
• NHS fraud team to investigate so-called ‘ghost patients’ at GP surgeries iNews

Brexit: Care providers say number of EU workers falling

Brexit: Care providers say number of EU workers falling Providers of social care in the UK have told Newsnight they have seen a "frightening" decline in the numbers of EU nationals applying for jobs in the sector.

Jane Stewart from Peach Nursing said she currently employed just one British carer out of 44.

She said a drop in EU nationals applying for jobs meant that for the first time in 14 years she was forced to tell people: "I can't help you."

But the Department for Health and Social Care said the numbers of EU nationals working in the sector had risen since the 2016 Brexit referendum.

The department also said they “recognise the invaluable contribution of care workers” and they “remain focused on reaching a deal with the EU which benefits the health and care workforce”. BBC News

Trust me, I’m a disabled doctor

Trust me, I’m a disabled doctor An A&E consultant, a psychiatrist, and two junior doctors swap notes on being disabled in the medical profession.

Emergency medicine consultant Dr Cieran McKiernan speaks on the perils of self-diagnosis. He lost his leg after failing to treat a blister which became a 5cm-sq hole in his foot.

Trainee GP Dr Hannah Barham-Brown's wheelchair means she's regularly mistaken for a patient, while Dr Emily Burns spotted one patient's 'diagnosis' of Query Malingering - a euphemism for faking it - was actually Ehlers Danlos syndrome, a rare condition she has herself.

Dr Caroline Walker says she hasn't got to go far to find doctors who, like her, have mental health difficulties.

The foursome chat about the ups and down of the medical profession, the ambition to embrace diversity and how working less than full-time hours could be beneficial to all junior doctors. BBC News

Postpartum psychosis: 'I always feared I’d go mad, and when I had my son I did'

Postpartum psychosis: 'I always feared I’d go mad, and when I had my son I did' Jen Wight lived in fear of mental illness after her elder sister, Jo, was sectioned when they were teenagers. But by the age of 36 she had a good job, was happily married and had just given birth to a healthy baby. It seemed that she had been worrying for no reason. BBC News

Contaminated blood inquiry: Family's call for justice

Contaminated blood inquiry: Family's call for justice Jackie Tomkinson is clear what she wants from the Infected Blood Inquiry - justice.

Her husband David, a haemophiliac, died of Aids after contracting HIV through contaminated blood products supposed to help his condition.

Mrs Tomkinson and her daughter Rebecca, of Otley in West Yorkshire, have submitted evidence to the inquiry, which could last more than two years.

Headed by retired judge Sir Brian Langstaff, the inquiry is travelling around the UK to hear personal testimony from people affected by contaminated blood.

It has just started sitting in Leeds in West Yorkshire for two weeks. BBC News

See also:

• Contaminated blood inquiry: 'We watched them all die' BBC News
• Contaminated blood inquiry: 'My four brothers died' BBC News

More funding and support needed for younger people with dementia, says patient

More funding and support needed for younger people with dementia, says patient Younger people with dementia and those who give up work to support them need more funding, according to a man who developed an early onset form of the disease.

Paul Hoskins also called for more funds for research into it. The Independent

Drug shortages are endangering lives and wasting NHS time

Drug shortages are endangering lives and wasting NHS time | Zara Aziz I shouldn’t have to spend large chunks of my day tracking down certain medicines or researching alternatives

As a GP, managing patients’ medicine requests has until now been a seamless process of writing prescriptions to send to nominated pharmacies to dispense. But drug shortages mean that many common medications are often “out of stock” so I have to identify and prescribe alternatives. Yet, it is not always apparent which alternatives are in stock and whether a problem is limited to a few pharmacies (with different wholesalers) or is a universal shortage.

All this takes lots of staff and patient time, and scarce resources, away from healthcare. If a shortage occurs during a busy on-call surgery or just before a holiday break, out-of-stock queries pile up.

Patients risk running out of medication and suffering adverse reactions. The Guardian

University students are happy to have their mental health issues shared with their parents, poll finds

University students are happy to have their mental health issues shared with their parents, poll finds Students would be happy to have their mental health issues flagged with their parents by university, a survey has found.

Four in five (81 per cent) undergraduates said that their university could share information with their next of kin, according to a poll of over 14,000 students.

The annual Student Academic Experience Survey, conducted by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) and the sector group Advance HE, also found that students are increasingly anxious. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Students want parents to be told in mental health crisis BBC News

Men suffering mental health issues can be put off asking for help

Men suffering mental health issues can be put off asking for help Female GP receptionists can put men off asking for help with mental health issues, experts said yesterday.

Those seeking assistance can struggle to open up to a member of the opposite sex, especially strangers, MPs were told. Professor Sarah Niblock, of the UK Council for Psychotherapy, told the Commons women and equalities committee of the ‘stigma’ and ‘shame’ many men feel about admitting they need help.

The committee is looking at barriers men face accessing support. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Mental health of men and boys discussed by Committee Commons Women and Equalities Committee

Children with rare conditions will be offered DNA sequencing at all intensive-care units in England

Children with rare conditions will be offered DNA sequencing at all intensive-care units in England Every sick child in England with mysterious conditions will have the chance to have their entire DNA mapped as of next year.

All youngsters admitted to intensive care in England with an unknown disorder will be offered a genome analysis from January.

The NHS will be the first in the world to offer the screening, also an option given to the parents of children, carried out via a blood sample.

Experts say the move could transform the diagnosis of children with rare diseases. The Daily Mail