Thursday 14 July 2022

KGH invests £1.2 million in new x-ray equipment

KGH invests £1.2 million in new x-ray equipment Kettering General Hospital has invested £1.2 million in state-of-the-art x-ray technology to improve patient care.

The trust has upgraded two of its seven x-ray rooms - one in main x-ray, and one in A&E - to incorporate two £150,000 (each) state-of-the-art machines which will help patients to be seen more quickly and result in higher quality diagnostic images. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Patients facing increasingly long and agonising waits for ambulances

Patients facing increasingly long and agonising waits for ambulances The latest figures indicate just how severely emergency care within the NHS is struggling and how that is putting patients with urgent and life-threatening care needs at risk. No matter the reason for calling an ambulance, patients face increasingly long and agonising waits for it to arrive. People suffering from heart attacks or strokes are on waiting on average nearly three times longer (52 minutes) than they should be (18 minutes). For other urgent calls, waiting times for one in 10 people have reached over seven hours, forcing many to make their own way to accident or emergency departments. Nuffield Trust

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The GP crisis we have long feared is arriving

The GP crisis we have long feared is arriving Today’s GP patient survey shows one of the most alarming collapses in NHS performance we have seen since the height of Covid-19, and suggests the crisis we have long feared is arriving. There has been a sharp downward trend in nearly every measure of how easy it is to get care [1]. 55% of people who say they needed an appointment also said they had avoided making one over the last year, up from 42% last year. Around half of people do not find it easy to get through on the phone, up from less than a third last year. The proportion of people with a poor experience of their practice overall has doubled in a single year, from 6.7% to 13.6%. Nuffield Trust

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RCN research shows huge numbers of patients being treated in corridors and on trollies

RCN research shows huge numbers of patients being treated in corridors and on trollies Investment in the nursing workforce is needed now, the RCN insists, as survey findings released today (14 July) show clinical care is taking place in settings such as hospital corridors and waiting rooms rather than on wards. 

Our poll of more than 20,000 nursing and midwifery staff found the situation is worst in emergency care settings where nearly two-thirds of respondents reported the problem. Royal College of Nursing

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A community-powered NHS: making prevention a reality

A community-powered NHS: making prevention a reality This report argues for a health care system that is focused as much on preventing illness as treating it. It discusses how working collaboratively with communities as equal partners in the design and delivery of health care could be a way of achieving this. New Local

    Developing workforce skills for a strong economy

    Developing workforce skills for a strong economy This report examines whether government has an effective approach to enhancing workforce skills. While much of the examination focused on the Department for Education’s activities given its responsibilities for leading government’s approach to skills, it does also look at other areas of the workforce including health and social care. It covers the workforce skills system; the scale of the skills challenge that government faces; government’s understanding of workforce skills needs; and how well government is supporting the development of workforce skills. National Audit Office

      Turkey teeth: Are cut-price reality TV teeth worth it?

      Turkey teeth: Are cut-price reality TV teeth worth it? Hundreds of British dentists have treated patients with serious complications after they travelled abroad to get cut-price crowns, a BBC documentary has learned. The latest cosmetic look, seen on ITV's Love Island and via the hashtag #Turkeyteeth, has given some people their dream smile but left others asking the NHS to pick up the pieces. BBC News

      Hundreds of children in mental health crisis facing 'unacceptable' A&E waits every week

      Hundreds of children in mental health crisis facing 'unacceptable' A&E waits every week Hundreds of children suffering from mental health issues are attending A&E each day, with some waiting up to five days in emergency departments,The Independent can reveal.

      Internal NHS data leaked to The Independent, shows the number of young patients waiting more than 12 hours from arrival has also more than doubled in the last year. The Independent

      ‘There were moments I questioned my passion for the job’: the overseas nurses helping to keep the NHS running

      ‘There were moments I questioned my passion for the job’: the overseas nurses helping to keep the NHS running Almost half of new nurses are now trained abroad. What is life in the UK – and the NHS – like for them?

      Even before the pandemic struck, there was a shortage of nurses in the UK. In January 2020, a survey by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) found that almost three-quarters of nurses said the staffing level on their last shift was not sufficient to meet the needs of patients safely and effectively. Yet this month NHS England predicted that the government will not meet its manifesto pledge to boost the NHS’s nursing workforce by 50,000 by March 2024. The key reason? NHS workers are quitting in droves, citing burnout, fatigue and pay as factors. The Guardian

      Breast cancer drug that doubles survival time is available on NHS after watchdog U-turns

      Breast cancer drug that doubles survival time is available on NHS after watchdog U-turns A breast cancer drug that almost doubles a patient’s survival time will now be available on the NHS in England after a U-turn from the watchdog.

      The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) rejected sacituzumab govitecan, also known as Trodelvy, for use in England in April after saying it was “too expensive” to be cost effective. The Daily Telegraph

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      Seeing the same GP could ease agony for dementia patients

      Seeing the same GP could ease agony for dementia patients Seeing the same GP during treatment could prevent dementia patients needing a series of trips to hospital as they near the end of their lives, a study found.

      Repeat hospital visits in the final months have previously been linked to poor end-of-life care, delirium and falls. They also cost the NHS vast sums.

      Now researchers have found offering dementia patients continuity of care from the same GP may lower the risk.  The Daily Mail

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