Nearly half of NGH A&E patients could have been treated elsewhere yesterday

Nearly half of NGH A&E patients could have been treated elsewhere yesterday Northampton General Hospital is urging patients to use other NHS services as almost half of patients seen by A&E doctors yesterday could have received treatment elsewhere.

Northampton General Hospital is experiencing intense pressure on their A&E department this week, and doctors are asking patients to choose the most appropriate service for their needs and seek advice as soon as they start to feel unwell. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• Busy Kettering A&E breaks patient number records and warns people of long waits Northamptonshire Telegraph

CIO interview: Hugo Mathias, CIO, Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust

CIO interview: Hugo Mathias, CIO, Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust For all the talk of a ‘paperless NHS’, replacing legacy systems and eliminating paper records is a challenge – but one that Hugo Mathias is tackling through real-time information and cultural change. Computer Weekly

Digital-first primary care: helpful disruptor or unnecessary disruption?

Digital-first primary care: helpful disruptor or unnecessary disruption? Digital-first primary care – a model of general practice where patients use smartphone and desktop apps to book and conduct their consultations remotely – has generated a huge amount of interest and debate. Is it the Uber of general practice that will make it easier for people to get hold of a GP? Or is it going to cause the demise of general practice as we know it by creating a two-tier system?  The King's Fund

Modern screening can be more personalised and convenient to save lives says new report

Modern screening can be more personalised and convenient to save lives says new report The NHS has the opportunity to upgrade cancer screening to save thousands more lives each year, a major report said today.

Leading expert Professor Sir Mike Richards was jointly commissioned by NHS chief executive Simon Stevens and Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock to make recommendations on overhauling national screening programmes, as part of a new NHS drive for earlier diagnosis and improved cancer survival.

In his report, Sir Mike, who was the NHS’ first cancer director as well as the CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, called for people to be given much greater choice over when and where they are screened. NHS England

See also:

• Review of national cancer screening programmes in England NHS England
• NHS screening 'needs to fit with busy lives' BBC News
• Women must be offered breast cancer checks and smear tests during their lunch hour, report demands The Daily Mail
• NHS to offer women mammograms and smears in lunch breaks in bid to boost cancer survival rates The Daily Telegraph
• Offer cancer screenings during lunch breaks, report urges The Guardian
• Cancer screening services need major overhaul to halt ‘worrying decline’, report warns The Independent

Making the NHS the best place to work: support for engagement to improve our people’s experience at work

Making the NHS the best place to work: support for engagement to improve our people’s experience at work This resource , developed in partnership with NHS Employers, provides extra support and examples of good practice to those organisations seeking further help with staff engagement. NHS Improvement

Mental health sick leave rises for emergency workers

Mental health sick leave rises for emergency workers More emergency service staff are taking sick leave due to poor mental health, figures suggest.

Data for 57 fire, police and ambulance services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland shows the number of staff who took time off due to mental ill health rose by a third between 2014 and 2018.

Workers have been urged to "seek help" after traumatic events.

The government said it was funding support for workers to "counter the stigma" around mental health. BBC News

Mum left without food for 10 days after Calea safety alert

Mum left without food for 10 days after Calea safety alert A woman who relies on liquid food after having most of her intestines removed was left without supplies for 10 days after a safety alert.

Jenny Evans, 31, from Grosmont near Abergavenny, is fed intravenously with a liquid that is tailored exactly to her needs.

She hooks up to it four nights a week, and while she sleeps it infuses into her blood over the course of 12 hours.

But she feared she would end up in hospital after the supply was delayed. BBC News

There’s a binge drinking boom among older people – what does it mean for the nation’s mental health?

There’s a binge drinking boom among older people – what does it mean for the nation’s mental health? Although enjoying a glass of red wine now and again may be healthy for your heart and gut, drinking too much alcohol can put you at higher risk of developing many serious health conditions. Heavy alcohol consumption has been linked to a number of health issues, including developing certain types of cancer, stroke, heart and liver disease, and brain damage. In older people, drinking unhealthy levels of alcohol can be even more damaging to health, and may cause memory loss, high blood pressure, balance problems, and worsen mental health. The Independent

Little progress made in tackling air pollution in Europe, research says

Little progress made in tackling air pollution in Europe, research says European Environment Agency found levels of fine particulate matter stalled after decades of reductions

Little progress has been made on tackling air quality in Europe, new research shows, despite public outcry in many countries and increasing awareness of the health impacts of pollution.

Levels of the dangerous fine particulate matter known as PM2.5, which can lodge deep in the lungs and pass into the bloodstream, appear to have reached a plateau across Europe, after more than a decade of gradual reductions. The results come from the European Environment Agency’s Air Quality in Europe 2019 report, published on Wednesday, which collates data taken from thousands of monitoring stations in 2017. The Guardian

Cortisone injections for hip and knee pain are more dangerous than was thought

Cortisone injections for hip and knee pain are more dangerous than was thought Cortisone injections for hip and knee pain lead to more complications than previously thought, research has found.

The anti-inflammatory jabs are used by athletes to mask pain, and to treat symptoms of osteoarthritis.

But the study by Boston University School of Medicine found that the treatment could speed up a joint's disintegration and force patients to have total knee or hip replacements. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Intra-articular Corticosteroid Injections in the Hip and Knee: Perhaps Not as Safe as We Thought? (open access) Radiology
• Cortisone injections may accelerate arthritis, study finds The Daily Mail

Worsening drug shortages are causing patients to be admitted to hospital

Worsening drug shortages are causing patients to be admitted to hospital Worsening drug shortages have caused some patients to be admitted to hospital, a major survey has revealed.

One in four pharmacists said their patients have come to harm because they could not get vital medication, a poll by the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) found.

Some chemists told the pharmacy union that people with epilepsy have suffered seizures because of a shortage of anti-epileptic drugs. The Daily Mail

NHS chief says that GP surgeries should send MMR jab reminders to parents

NHS chief says that GP surgeries should send MMR jab reminders to parents GP surgeries should text or phone the parents of children who have missed their MMR jab, the Government's health protection chief urges today.

Duncan Selbie calls on family doctors to go through the 'painstaking task' of searching their records to hunt for unvaccinated patients.

Families which have slipped through the net should be called or sent text reminders inviting them to the surgery, he says. The Daily Mail