Five reasons why this NHS winter may be different

Five reasons why this NHS winter may be different Last week saw the publication of the most recent NHS winter performance data the last set of performance data that will be published before the general election. What does this data suggest about the prospects for the NHS and its patients as we head into winter? King's Fund

See Also:

• NHS winter crisis: extra beds created by 52% of UK hospitals The Guardian

There are 59 people in Northants wishing for one thing this Christmas

There are 59 people in Northants wishing for one thing this Christmas For 59 Northamptonshire people and their families, there will be only one thing on their Christmas wishlist this year as they wait for an organ transplant.
NHS Blood and Transplant is urging families in Northamptonshire to talk about their decision on organ donation when they get together over the festive season, so their loved ones know what they want when they die. Northampton Chronicle & Echo

'Sugar overload' warning for festive hot drinks

'Sugar overload' warning for festive hot drinks Seasonal lattes and hot chocolates being sold by some High Street coffee chains can contain up to 23 spoonfuls of sugar per cup, a study has found.

Action on Sugar analysed more than 200 drinks and found "shockingly" large amounts of sugar in many of them. Some were made using vegan-friendly alternatives to cow's milk. BBC News - Health

See Also:

• The Christmas coffees crammed with NINE TIMES more sugar than a Krispy Kreme doughnut Mail Online

NHS spend £2.5m a week on out of area mental health patients

NHS spend £2.5m a week on out of area mental health patients The NHS spends £2.5 million per week on treating out of area mental health patients, as some patients travel over 300 km for a bed, new analysis has shown.

The figures show that in the last year, the NHS has spent over £128 million on patients who have to be sent hours away from their home because of a lack of hospital beds locally.

The number of out of area placements due to bed shortages rose by four per cent from last year, up to 8,400 across England.  The Telegraph

Drug-related hospital admissions data for 2018-19 published in new report

Drug-related hospital admissions data for 2018-19 published in new report Statistics on Drugs Misuse, England 2019 is an annual compendium which includes data on hospital admissions, deaths and the prevalence of drug use. Most of the data is for England only, but some is for England and Wales combined.

The report contains newly-published information on hospital admissions1 for drug-related mental and behavioural disorders and poisoning by drug misuse in England in 2018-19. This data is presented by age, gender, local authority and region.

This year’s publication also includes drug-related hospital admissions broken down by level of deprivation. NHS Digital

Child life expectancy projections cut by years

Child life expectancy projections cut by years Children born this year expected to live shorter lives than previously thought, say official stats. Years have been knocked off official projections of children's life expectancies in the UK, an Office for National Statistics (ONS) report shows.

A baby girl born in 2019 is now expected to celebrate three fewer birthdays on average, than under previous calculations. Official 2014 data thought that girl would make it to 93.6. Now the figure is 90.4. The report also slashed the likelihood of children reaching 100. BBC News - Health

Link found between homelessness and brain injury

Link found between homelessness and brain injury Homeless people experience a disproportionately high lifetime prevalence of traumatic brain injury, new research shows.

This is the finding from a systematic review and first meta-analysis on the prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in people who are homeless or in unstable housing situations, published this week in The Lancet Public Health. On Medica

See Also:

• Traumatic brain injury in homeless and marginally housed individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis The Lancet Public Health

‘Hospital mergers increase death and harm’? Not so fast…

‘Hospital mergers increase death and harm’? Not so fast… Health Foundation - In February 2019 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a working paper on the impact of hospital competition on rates of patient harm in the English NHS. The Health Foundation examined the central conclusion of the CMA paper – that the research provides ‘further empirical evidence that competition ultimately benefits patients’ – finding that this cannot be substantiated from the analysis.  This working paper outlines how more rigorous well-designed research is needed to measure the impact of competition on the quality of care. The King's Fund - Health Management And Policy Alert