Tuesday 26 November 2019

Corrected contributions? Understanding the NHS pensions tax ‘trap’

Corrected contributions? Understanding the NHS pensions tax ‘trap’ Following an announcement in the media last week that the government has found a solution to the problem of doctors taking a dramatic financial hit through pensions tax for undertaking overtime shifts, Helen Buckingham explains the situation as it stands on the tax 'trap' debate. Nuffield Trust

Pregnancy and childbirth in prison: what do we know?

Pregnancy and childbirth in prison: what do we know? Following the recent death of a baby born in prison, Miranda Davies presents new findings on the plight of pregnant prisoners – a group whose health needs are not currently being met. Nuffield Trust

PHE and NHS England urge eligible people to get free flu vaccine

PHE and NHS England urge eligible people to get free flu vaccine Primary school flu vaccination programme resumes following temporary delay of nasal spray vaccine from the manufacturer. Public Health England

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Guide to caring for people with multiple long-term conditions

Guide to caring for people with multiple long-term conditions A guide from the taskforce on multiple conditions showcases ten examples of improving care to the 15 million people in England with multiple long-term conditions. The Richmond Group of Charities 

Type 2 diabetes peer mentor programme: midterm evaluation

Type 2 diabetes peer mentor programme: midterm evaluation This report outlines the findings so far from an interim evaluation of a peer mentoring service for people living with type 2 diabetes. The programme builds on Brigstowe's model of peer mentoring for people diagnosed with HIV and aimed to see if similar wellbeing and health outcomes could be achieved when transferring the model to other long-term health conditions. Brigstowe

    Can the NHS boost nurse numbers by 50,000?

    Can the NHS boost nurse numbers by 50,000? The Conservative manifesto pledges to add 50,000 nurses to the workforce in England by 2024-25.

    How realistic is this target, particularly given that nurse numbers have gone up by only about 5,000 since 2010?

    Workforce is one of the main concerns for the NHS in England right now. Health employers talk of difficulties filling rotas and worries about how future staff can be recruited at a time of rising patient demand. BBC News

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    Martin Marshall: GPs need to do less, but it’s not what patients want to hear

    Martin Marshall: GPs need to do less, but it’s not what patients want to hear | Denis Campbell The new chair of the RCGP says doctors are under pressure to overtreat, and calls on politicians to stem the exodus from the profession

    The NHS does too much medicine”. These are surprising words to hear uttered by a GP, given their role as gatekeepers to the NHS – the doctors who send patients to hospital for tests, surgery or other treatment.

    But Martin Marshall, the new chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, firmly believes that part of the reason the NHS is so overstretched is that doctors (GPs and hospital doctors) overdiagnose illness – and as a result patients have too many exploratory tests and too many unnecessary treatments. Getting a grip on that, he believes, would help relieve the pressure on the health service in general and the nation’s overworked family doctors in particular. The Guardian

    Hospital beds at record low in England as NHS struggles with demand

    Hospital beds at record low in England as NHS struggles with demand The number of hospital beds has fallen to its lowest level ever, despite the head of the NHS warning that bed closures have gone too far.

    The health service in England has cut so many beds in recent years that it has just 127,225 left to cope with the rising demand for care, which will intensify as winter starts to bite.

    In total, 17,230 beds have been cut from the 144,455 that existed in April-June 2010, the period when the coalition Conservative/Liberal Democrat government took office and imposed a nine-year funding squeeze on the NHS, even though critics cautioned against it because of growing pressures on the service. The Guardian

    A third of maternity doctors 'burnt out' and at risk of losing empathy for women in their care 

    A third of maternity doctors 'burnt out' and at risk of losing empathy for women in their care More than a third of maternity doctors are “burnt out,” and at risk of lacking empathy for the women in their care, researchers have warned.

    The study of more than 3,000 obstetricians and gynaecologists found high levels of long-term stress and overwork, especially among trainee medics.

    Researchers said the findings - from the largest UK study on the topic - were “very worrying,” with serious implications for patients. The Daily Telegraph

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    Six million TONNES of asbestos are still in schools and hospitals in the UK

    Six million TONNES of asbestos are still in schools and hospitals in the UK Six million tonnes of asbestos are still inside 1.5million buildings in the UK including hospitals and eight out of 10 schools, according to a report.

    Think-tank ResPublica has urged the Government to reform its policies in order to save teachers and nurses from asbestos related deaths.

    The toxic material was once used for insulation and fire-proofing but can lead to serious cases of lung disease and cancer, particularly mesothelioma, if inhaled.

    Although the use of asbestos was banned 20 years ago, anything built or refurbished before 1999 may still contain it. The Daily Mail

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