Wednesday 4 September 2019

Healthy New Towns: how the NHS can help create healthy places

Healthy New Towns: how the NHS can help create healthy places We have been working with NHS England over the past 18 months, along with colleagues at the Town and Country Planning Association and The Young Foundation, to draw out the learning from NHS England’s Healthy New Towns programme. This has resulted in the publication of Putting health into place, which presents learning from the programme as practical guidance for local areas, and we will continue to play a role in supporting its implementation. The King's Fund

Nursing students are still dropping out in worrying numbers

Nursing students are still dropping out in worrying numbers Analysis by Nursing Standard and the Health Foundation shows a quarter of all nursing students are leaving or suspending their degrees before graduation.

See also:

New HIV diagnoses fall by a third in the UK since 2015

New HIV diagnoses fall by a third in the UK since 2015 Data by Public Health England (PHE) reveal that new HIV diagnoses in the UK have fallen to their lowest level since 2000. New diagnoses fell by almost a third (28%) from 6,271 in 2015 to 4,484 in 2018.

RCGP calls for 5,000 GPs to be trained a year to meet workforce targets and safeguard patient care

RCGP calls for 5,000 GPs to be trained a year to meet workforce targets and safeguard patient care Currently, there are 3,500 placements for GP training a year - and this year, more junior doctors have chosen to specialise in general practice than ever before - but the College says these numbers must increase to at least 5,000 a year as soon as possible, and for this to be funded appropriately. Royal College of General Practitioners

See also:

Unrelieved pain in palliative care in England

Unrelieved pain in palliative care in England This study estimates that currently there are approximately 125,971 end-of-life patients receiving, or in need of, palliative care suffering from unrelieved pain. Of these, an estimated 16,130 patients experience no relief from their pain at all in the last three months of life. Some of these patients suffer unnecessarily because of variations in the quality of care across care settings, for example, hospice versus at home services). Office of Health Economics

    Suicide rate rises for first time since 2013

    Suicide rate rises for first time since 2013 The suicide rate in the UK has risen for the first time since 2013, official figures show.

    Office for National Statistics data for 2018 showed 11.2 deaths from suicide per 100,000 people - up from 10.1 in 2017.

    Changes to the way suicides are recorded were brought in midway through last year and may account for some of the rise, the ONS says.

    However, the suicide rate is still lower than its 1980s peak. BBC News

    See also:

    Cancer 'biggest middle-age killer in rich nations'

    Cancer 'biggest middle-age killer in rich nations' Cancer now causes more deaths among the middle-aged in higher-income countries than cardiovascular disease, a study suggests.

    Globally, heart problems and stroke is the leading cause of death at this age.

    But the researchers say people in rich nations are 2.5 times more likely to die of cancer than cardiovascular disease in their middle years.

    In poorer nations, the reverse is true - with cardiovascular disease three times more likely to claim the lives. BBC News

    See also:

    Violence in the NHS: staff face routine assault and intimidation

    Violence in the NHS: staff face routine assault and intimidation Lack of training and prosecutions, and workforce shortages, are placing staff in greater danger, say health unions

    When Dr Miranda Roland, an A&E registrar, was held hostage by a patient brandishing a pair of steel surgical scissors in a cubicle, she didn’t panic. Moments earlier, she had gone in to check on the young patient, who was having a mental health episode after taking drugs, and had closed the door behind her. Although she was alone, Roland thought she was safe – all sharp and dangerous objects had been removed. Unfortunately, the patient had managed to hide a pair of scissors, which she pulled out before backing the doctor into a corner. “I was able to keep calm and talk her out of stabbing me,” Roland recalls. “I was lucky. It was that tense, it could have gone either way.” The Guardian

    Violence in mental health can't be ignored, but nor can the pain of punitive policies

    Violence in mental health can't be ignored, but nor can the pain of punitive policies | Peter Beresford Modern understanding of disability takes account of the barriers people face. Let’s do the same for mental health policy

    When Anna became physically unwell as a student, her GP referred her to a psychiatrist and she agreed to voluntary treatment. After interviewing her for less than an hour, the psychiatrist diagnosed her with schizophrenia and told her there was a risk she would kill her mother.

    “I have never been violent in my life, ever,” she says. But for 35 years Anna has had to live with this information, knowing it is written in her medical records and has limited her life opportunities for two decades. The Guardian

    'Miracle' jab which cures rare form of child blindness to be offered by the NHS, Simon Stevens to announce

    'Miracle' jab which cures rare form of child blindness to be offered by the NHS, Simon Stevens to announce A “miracle” jab which cures a rare form of child blindness will now be offered by the NHS, Simon Stevens will announce today.

    Previously no treatment has been available for infants born with inherited retinal dystrophies disorders, which cause poor vision and often result in complete blindness by childhood.

    Mr Stevens, chief executive of the NHS, is expected to announce the revolutionary gene therapy treatment, which costs over £600,000 per patient, at the Health Innovation Expo conference in Manchester. The Daily Mail

    See also:

    NHS could save thousands of pounds by cutting back on expensive air mattresses

    NHS could save thousands of pounds by cutting back on expensive air mattresses High-tech mattresses used by the NHS are no better than cheaper alternatives at protecting against pressure sores, according to a study.

    The devices, built into one in ten hospital beds, are allocated to patients at risk of pressure sores - mostly the elderly.

    Whether they work compared to cheaper special foam mattresses had not been studied in depth until now. The Daily Mail

    See also: