Monday 17 February 2020

Locked away: the national scandal you may have missed

Locked away: the national scandal you may have missed | John Harris The way the NHS, local authorities and private providers treat our most vulnerable people should shame us all.

Adele Green is a mother of four, who lives in the Northern suburbs of Bristol. I spoke to her last week about her son, Eddie, who is now 20 years old, and living in hospital in Doncaster, 180 miles from his family.

That may seem unbearable enough, but it pales into insignificance next to what Eddie has suffered elsewhere. Variously diagnosed with autism, dyspraxia, ADHD and more, he is now officially understood as having a learning disability with complex needs. As a child who liked cycling and dancing, and had the same caring nature he still displays, he moved through an array of educational placements before, in late 2012, he ended up at a now-defunct residential school near his home. As his mother told me last week, soon after arriving “he had a really big meltdown – it was something he couldn’t cope with, from being at home to being somewhere completely different”.

Eddie was moved to a so-called assessment and treatment unit (ATU) in Northampton, run by St Andrew’s HealthcareThe Guardian

Smaller hospitals: deserving of support at every level

Smaller hospitals: deserving of support at every level Smaller hospitals provide care to nearly half the population of England and are often the linchpin of rural communities. Yet their position is precarious despite recent pledges to tailor operating models to meet their needs more equitably. Nuffield Trust

‘Our NHS people matter’ – five years of the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES)

‘Our NHS people matter’ – five years of the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) As the fifth annual Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) data report is published, Yvonne Coghill, Director of the WRES Implementation Team at NHS England, looks at race equality progress over time. The King's Fund

Give GPs the right to NHS salaries in switch from system of independent contractors

Give GPs the right to NHS salaries in switch from system of independent contractors Historic GP ‘partner model’ should be phased out in England to tackle workforce crisis, provide better care and ‘let doctors be doctors’

A new IPPR report calls for general practitioners to become salaried employees of the NHS, rather than independent contractors, known as partners, who run their own GP practices. This move would overturn the historic model of general practice that has been in place since 1948.

The think tank’s researchers argue that this shift, to be phased in, would enable the NHS in England to deliver better access to and quality of primary care in the community. It would also help to address the workforce crisis in general practice, they say. Institute for Public Policy Research

Coronavirus: Schools to be advised not to close over suspected cases

Coronavirus: Schools to be advised not to close over suspected cases Schools do not need to close or send staff and pupils home if there is a suspected case of coronavirus, new guidance is to recommend.

Public Health England will say no restrictions or special control measures are needed while tests are carried out on a suspected case.

If a case is confirmed, health protection teams will speak to the head teacher and action will be taken.

PHE is expected to issue the new guidance later. BBC News

See also:

How safe are breast implants?

How safe are breast implants? Breast enlargement is one of the most popular cosmetic surgeries worldwide. There are millions of satisfied patients, so just how safe are implants? BBC News

Mumps: Why adults might still need the MMR jab

Mumps: Why adults might still need the MMR jab Health experts are warning young adults are at risk of developing mumps because many of their age group missed out on getting two doses of the MMR jab as children.

Latest figures show cases of mumps in England have reached their highest level in a decade.

So why is mumps a risk, and how effective is the MMR vaccination? BBC News

NHS hospitals have only a few weeks left to get rid of their fax machines and are in 'desperate need of new systems'

NHS hospitals have only a few weeks left to get rid of their fax machines and are in 'desperate need of new systems' With an NHS ban on fax machines due to come into force next month, Dean Kirby asks why this outdated technology is still in use on the wards.

In an NHS hospital somewhere in the UK, a doctor is standing over to a fax machine waiting for a patient's medical records to arrive from a GP surgery.

The machine finally whirrs into life - only to be halted midway through delivering its life-saving message because of a paper jam.

This isn't a scene from a 1980s TV medical drama. It is happening right now in hospitals across 21st century Britain. iNews

See also:

Watchdog warns of maternity risks at scandal-hit hospital – despite minister’s claim wards are safe

Watchdog warns of maternity risks at scandal-hit hospital – despite minister’s claim wards are safe An NHS hospital at the centre of a maternity inquiry is still putting babies and mothers at risk, the care watchdog has warned – contradicting claims by a minister to the Commons that the unit was a safe place to give birth.

Bosses at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust have been told by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to take action after it warned of safety risks following inspections at the end of January and earlier this month. The Independent

A drug can stop HIV infection – so why isn't it available on the NHS in England?

A drug can stop HIV infection – so why isn't it available on the NHS in England? Major studies have shown that the prophylactic PrEP effectively ends the threat of contracting HIV. But gay men and other users are currently left to self-source it online

In August 2017, George was living in Glasgow when he received a call from his partner in South America. They had remained together despite the distance, a physical rather than emotional separation. George answered, and the voice on the other end of the phone dissolved into tears.

“He had just been diagnosed with HIV,” says George. “I was worried about him. I was worried for myself and my future health. And I was worried about what my family would think.” The Guardian

Our personal health history is too valuable to be harvested by the tech giants

Our personal health history is too valuable to be harvested by the tech giants | Eerke Boiten Action to prevent deeper access to our private lives and data is more essential than ever

Health data paints a rich picture of our lives. Even if you remove your name, date of birth and NHS number to “anonymise” yourself, a full health history will reveal your age, gender, the places where you have lived, your family relationships and aspects of your lifestyle.

Used in combination with other available information, this may be enough to verify that this medical history relates to you personally and to target you online. Consequently, whenever the NHS shares health data, even if it is anonymised, we need to have confidence in who it goes to and what they can do with it. The Guardian

BAME trainee doctors in 'climate of fear' over racism

BAME trainee doctors in 'climate of fear' over racism Many black, Asian and minority ethnic trainee doctors are experiencing a “climate of fear” at medical schools amid a failure to address widespread racism, according to the British Medical Association.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chairman, said the schools’ inadequate response to racism had left many BAME medical students afraid to speak out. The Guardian

Judges rule that doctors can stop providing life-support treatment to brain-damaged baby

Judges rule that doctors can stop providing life-support treatment to brain-damaged baby A couple who want doctors to keep providing life-support treatment to their brain-damaged baby have lost another legal battle.

Karwan Ali and Shokhan Namiq, who live in Manchester, had appealed after a High Court judge concluded that four-month-old Midrar was brain stem dead and said doctors could lawfully stop treating him. The Daily Telegraph