Tuesday 21 January 2020

Mental health: needs of gang-affiliated young people

Mental health: needs of gang-affiliated young people A briefing on the burden of mental illness faced by young people involved with gangs, part of the 'Ending Gang and Youth Violence' programme. Public Health England

How will we know if integrated care systems reduce demand for urgent care? Establishing fair benchmark levels for the blended payment system

How will we know if integrated care systems reduce demand for urgent care? Establishing fair benchmark levels for the blended payment system For the 2019/20 financial year the National Tariff Payment System (NTPS) for emergency care moved from a fee-for service arrangement to a blended payment system. The blended system encourages the provider to moderate activity growth by providing financial incentives for effective demand management. However there is currently scant detail surrounding crucial aspects of the NTPS scheme. Failure to address this issue may not only lead to the inappropriate distribution of resources across the health system; it could result in tens of millions of pounds being diverted away from urgent care. The Strategy Unit

    Mental health funding and investment: a digest of issues

    Mental health funding and investment: a digest of issues This briefing looks at the financial and investment challenges facing mental health providers. It warns that the provision of mental health services is not being prioritised across the whole of the NHS. This is despite the significant progress that has been made by the sector to innovate and transform services, and improve people’s access to care and the quality of care they receive. NHS Providers

      Shifting the mindset: a closer look at hospital complaints

      Shifting the mindset: a closer look at hospital complaints There has been some positive change in the years following the Mid Staffordshire Inquiry to improve openness and transparency in the NHS. Yet when it comes to complaints, many hospitals are too focused on process rather than demonstrating how they’ve listened.

      This new report investigates how hospitals report on complaints and whether current efforts are sufficient to build public trust. Healthwatch England

        NHS bosses to rethink 'what can realistically be delivered by PCNs'

        NHS bosses to rethink 'what can realistically be delivered by PCNs' NHS England has promised to consider 'what can realistically be delivered' by primary care networks (PCNs) after 'large numbers of GPs' submitted feedback on draft network DES specifications in the first-ever public consultation on a part of the GP contract. GPonline

        NHS faces huge clinical negligence legal fees bill

        NHS faces huge clinical negligence legal fees bill The NHS in England faces paying out £4.3bn in legal fees to settle outstanding claims of clinical negligence, the BBC has learned through a Freedom of Information request.

        Each year the NHS receives more than 10,000 new claims for compensation.

        This figure includes all current unsettled claims and projected estimates of ones in the future.

        The Department of Health has pledged to tackle "the unsustainable rise in the cost of clinical negligence". BBC News

        Cambuslang mum suing NHS after attempted murder accusation

        Cambuslang mum suing NHS after attempted murder accusation A mother who was wrongly accused of trying to kill her disabled daughter by medical staff is to sue the hospital where the claims were made.

        Kirsteen Cooper was accused of causing infections and cutting a feeding tube attached to her daughter Baillie.

        This led to police charging her with attempted murder and access to her daughter being restricted for two years.

        After accusations were disproved by medics, the charges were dropped. BBC News

        Blue Monday: Why it's a 'load of rubbish'

        Blue Monday: Why it's a 'load of rubbish' Christmas is over, it's cold and dark outside and that summer holiday seems like a world away.

        Blue Monday - also known as the most depressing day of the year - has been trending on Twitter all day.

        Coined by psychologist Cliff Arnall in 2004, it falls on the third Monday in January every year.

        He came up with it after a holiday company asked him for a "scientific formula" for the January blues.

        Unsurprisingly, there was nothing scientific about it. BBC News

        Breakthrough discovery could lead to ‘one-size-fits-all’ cancer treatment

        Breakthrough discovery could lead to ‘one-size-fits-all’ cancer treatment A newly discovered type of killer immune cell has raised the prospect of a “universal” cancer therapy, scientists say.

        Researchers at Cardiff University suggest the new T-cell offers hope of a “one-size-fits-all” cancer therapy.

        T-cell therapies for cancer — where immune cells are removed, modified and returned to the patient's blood to seek and destroy cancer cells — are the latest paradigm in cancer treatments. The Independent

        See also:

        Philip Hammond blocked 10-year plan for social care as chancellor, says former health secretary

        Philip Hammond blocked 10-year plan for social care as chancellor, says former health secretary A bid to draw up a 10-year-plan for social care by former health secretary Jeremy Hunt was blocked by the then chancellor Philip Hammond, Mr Hunt has said.

        In an interview with the Health Service Journal, Mr Hunt, the country’s longest-serving health secretary, said the task of solving the UK’s social care crisis was “unfinished business” from his time as health minister. The Independent

        Health of poor British adults is now WORSE than it was for those born 100 years ago

        Health of poor British adults is now WORSE than it was for those born 100 years ago Poor British people in 2020 are unhealthier than those born into poverty 100 years ago, a study has found.

        Adults on low incomes who were born in 1920 enjoyed better health between the ages of 30 and 60, compared to those born in 1970.

        The study considered how many people are living with long-term illnesses which are considered 'life-limiting' – such as heart failure, as well as self-reported health. The Daily Mail

        See also:

        Will Brexit end the shortcut of NHS operations done by EU doctors?

        Will Brexit end the shortcut of NHS operations done by EU doctors? Faced with the prospect of waiting for up to three years for a hip replacement on the NHS, Brian Ashworth took matters into his own hands.

        He found a way to have the operation within 30 days — in Lithuania, 1,700 miles from his home in Northern Ireland. And, incredibly, it was paid for by the NHS.

        Brian, 56, from Bangor, is among thousands of patients who have used a little-known EU scheme that allowed them to bypass NHS waiting lists by visiting hospitals across Europe.

        Yet, with Brexit looming, its future could hang in the balance. The Daily Mail