Kettering and Northampton hospitals to 'merge management teams'

Kettering and Northampton hospitals to 'merge management teams' The hospitals released a joint statement to announce the news - which they say will 'strengthen health services in Northamptonshire.'

Bosses were keen to stress that the organisations themselves would not be merged, but that the appointment of a group chief executive officer would enable the hospitals to work more closely together. Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also:

• Move towards group model announced by NGH and KGH Northampton General Hospital

Thousands of Nene women missing breast screening tests, NHS figures reveal

Thousands of Nene women missing breast screening tests, NHS figures reveal More than 20,000 women in Nene missed their last screening for breast cancer, NHS figures reveal. Daventry Express

Social care services: funding cuts are biting hard

Social care services: funding cuts are biting hard When we were writing last year’s Social care 360 report we found an appropriate name for a key, v-shaped graph showing the divergence between the number of people requesting social care support from councils and those receiving it. We called it the ‘crocodile’s mouth’ graph, partly because the slightly sinister tone (never smile at a crocodile) reflected a rather worrying trend – more people were asking for support but fewer were receiving it. The King's Fund

Guidance: Physical activity guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report

Guidance: Physical activity guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report A report from the Chief Medical Officers in the UK on the amount and type of physical activity people should be doing to improve their health. Department of Health and Social Care

Access to child and adolescent mental health services in 2019

Access to child and adolescent mental health services in 2019 The Education Policy Institute (EPI) has published its Annual Report on access to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).

The study examines access to specialist services, waiting times for treatment, and provision for the most vulnerable children in England.

The research is based on new data obtained using freedom of information (FOI) requests to mental health providers and local authorities over the course of a year. This data is not published by the NHS.

The majority of lifelong mental health problems develop early on, during childhood or adolescence. The wider economic costs of mental ill health in England are vast, estimated at £105bn each year.

See also:

• 'Treatment gap' in youth mental health services BBC News
• More than one in four children referred to specialist mental health services rejected for treatment The Daily Mail
• Quarter of children referred for specialist mental health care on NHS are turned away The Daily Telegraph
• One in four young people with mental health referral 'rejected' The Guardian

Measuring progress: commitments to support and expand the mental health workforce in England

Measuring progress: commitments to support and expand the mental health workforce in England This report finds that recent commitments to support and expand the mental health workforce have fallen short of their goals. To assess progress against these commitments and identify where further action is required, the report analyses workforce data and a survey of health care professionals working in the sector. British Medical Association

Specialty, associate specialist and locally employed doctors workplace experiences survey: initial findings report

Specialty, associate specialist and locally employed doctors workplace experiences survey: initial findings report This report contains the initial results of a survey of Specialty and Associate Specialist (SAS) and Locally Employed (LE) doctors – the one in six UK doctors who are not GPs, consultants nor in training roles. The survey founds that 30 per cent of SAS doctors and 23 per cent of their LE counterparts had been bullied, undermined or harassed at work in the last year, either by colleagues or by patients and their families. General Medical Council

Eczema, acne and skin-picking: 'More mental health help needed'

Eczema, acne and skin-picking: 'More mental health help needed' "I felt very ashamed and I still do if I'm going through a bad flare."

For Phaedra Longhurst, 27, the effects of skin-picking disorder dermatillomania, eczema and acne are more than just skin deep. And she's not alone.

Each year, about 13 million people in the UK visit their GP with a skin complaint and a recent survey of dermatologists suggests there is insufficient access to related mental support. BBC News

Mystery Chinese virus: How worried should we be?

Mystery Chinese virus: How worried should we be? A mystery virus - previously unknown to science - is causing severe lung disease in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

More than 50 people have been infected. Seven are currently in a critical condition.

A new virus arriving on the scene, leaving patients with pneumonia, is always a worry and health officials around the world are on high alert.

But is this a brief here-today-gone-tomorrow outbreak or the first sign of something far more dangerous? BBC News

See also:

• Wuhan pneumonia: Mystery China virus is from same family as Sars, scientists say The Independent

Thousands on waiting lists for gender identity clinics

Thousands on waiting lists for gender identity clinics Andrea Halliley is one of thousands of people on waiting lists for NHS gender identity clinics in England.

The 51-year-old ex-soldier is one of more than 13,500 transgender and non-binary adults on waiting lists. BBC News

See also:

• Transgender people face NHS waiting list 'hell' BBC News

Female doctors earn £40,000 less than male colleagues due to ‘two-tier’ GP pay gap

Female doctors earn £40,000 less than male colleagues due to ‘two-tier’ GP pay gap Women GPs earn an average of £40,000 a year less than their male colleagues – one of the worst gender pay gaps for any profession.

Researchers largely blame the 35 per cent pay gap on a two-tier system in which more men choose to operate as private contractors with the NHS, running their practice as a business.

The pay disparity can affect GPs of all ages and grades, according to the study by the Institute for Public Policy Research, which was shared with The Independent.

Who do I treat first: a cancer patient or the woman with a bleed on her brain?

Who do I treat first: a cancer patient or the woman with a bleed on her brain? Every time I tell a patient in intensive care their treatment is to be delayed, I’m angry and ashamed.

It’s a sunny Friday morning. I find a parking space easily, just as a song by my favourite band ends and I turn off the ignition. It’s 8.15am when I see the night consultant in the corridor: the past 13 hours caring for critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) has taken its toll. Their long night is over. My long day is just beginning. The Guardian

A&E waiting times worst on record, as medics say NHS on its knees

A&E waiting times worst on record, as medics say NHS on its knees Accident & Emergency waiting times are now the worst on record, with more than a fifth of patients waiting more than four hours.

Medics warned that they were “on their knees” as the NHS continued to miss a raft of key targets.

Casualty units should see at least 95 percent of patients within four hours. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Long overdue action on social care is needed: Health Foundation response to NHS England's monthly performance statistics The Health Foundation
• The King's Fund calls for a review of hospital bed numbers The King's Fund
• A&E staff 'despair' as NHS delays are at their worst ever level The Guardian
• Patients suffer record delays because of pressure at A&E units The Guardian
• NHS crisis: A&E waiting times hit worst level on record The Independent
• NHS A&E wait times worst on record as health service attempts to cope with increasing demand ITV News
• A&E departments had worst month on record in December OnMedica

Pharmacists 'should be given the power to diagnose people with cancer'

Pharmacists 'should be given the power to diagnose people with cancer' Pharmacists should be given the power to diagnose people with cancer and refer them to specialists, experts have said.

A report by University College London said pharmacies should serve as 'early diagnosis hubs' in order to improve cancer survival rates.

The call was backed by the Royal College of Pharmacists and the British Lung Foundation, who said pharmacists are often best placed to spot early symptoms of lung cancer. The Daily Mail