Northamptonshire’s NHS spend on agency staff predicted to hit almost £50m this year

Northamptonshire’s NHS spend on agency staff predicted to hit almost £50m this year Spending on agency staff across the county’s three NHS trusts to fill vacant posts is hugely over budget, with the figure projected to hit just under £50m. 

Just five months into the financial year the county’s integrated care board (ICB) has reported the NHS trusts that run the county’s two general hospitals and the mental health and community services have spent £20.7m on agency staff and predicts that amount will have reached £49m by next March. NN Journal

EMAS pledges new ambulances and more call handlers to cope with winter period, plus Northamptonshire specific projects

EMAS pledges new ambulances and more call handlers to cope with winter period, plus Northamptonshire specific projects The ambulance provider for Northamptonshire is pledging new ambulances and more call handlers to help cope with the pressures of the busy winter period.

East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) says the winter months are traditionally one of the busiest times of year for the NHS due to increases in flu cases and cold weather-related illnesses such as trips and falls. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Kettering breast cancer centre gets a 'facelift'

Kettering breast cancer centre gets a 'facelift' Work has started to create a "tranquil and peaceful" waiting area at a hospital's breast cancer treatment centre.

Glennis Hooper, who helped raise funds for the facility, said the area at Kettering General Hospital, Northamptonshire, needed "sprucing up".

The breast cancer survivor was the founder of the charity Crazy Hats Appeal in 2001, and it has donated £390,000 to the project. BBC Northampton

Government must be honest about difficult trade-offs health service now faces

Government must be honest about difficult trade-offs health service now faces New analysis from the Health Foundation’s REAL Centre sheds light on the significant uncertainty facing the delivery of health services over the remainder of this parliament. While the welcome increase to the NHS budget will provide temporary respite, we warn that health and care services will face difficult trade-offs.

The extra funding announced in the 2022 Autumn Statement will mean that for the parliament as a whole (2019/20 to 2024/25), NHS spending will increase by an average of around 3% a year in real terms. But for the next two years the increase in the NHS budget amounts to 2% each year in real terms. The Health Foundation

See also:

• NHS cash injection won’t go as far as first impressions suggest Nuffield Trust
• UK health spending ‘to grow less than in austerity era’, analysis reveals The Guardian

How to improve dialogue between Disabled people and health and care services

How to improve dialogue between Disabled people and health and care services Fazilet Hadi, Head of Policy at Disability Rights UK, considers how Disabled people’s organisations can harness their power and expertise to improve how health and care services work with Disabled people. The King's Fund

Stressed out and burned out: the global primary care crisis

Stressed out and burned out: the global primary care crisis This briefing presents the first findings from the 2022 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey of Primary Care Physicians to explore the effects of the pandemic on the primary care workforce across nations. Conducted in ten high-income countries, it compares changes in workload, stress, emotional distress, burnout, quality of care delivered, and career plans. The Commonwealth Fund

Research: English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilisation and resistance (ESPAUR) report

Research: English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilisation and resistance (ESPAUR) report The ESPAUR report includes national data on antibiotic prescribing and resistance, antimicrobial stewardship implementation, and awareness activities. UK Health Security Agency

See also:

• Powering the UK's approach to AMR: the future of AMR policy Reform
• Antibiotic resistance: 150 serious infections occur per day in England The Independent

Independent review of Integrated Care Systems

Independent review of Integrated Care Systems The government has announced a new independent review into oversight of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) to reduce disparities and improve health outcomes across the country, following record investment in health and social care.

The review will be led by former Health Secretary the Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt who is currently Chair of NHS Norfolk & Waveney Integrated Care Board, and will explore how to empower local leaders to focus on improving outcomes for their populations. Department of Health and Social Care

Health Secretary Steve Barclay defends delay to social care cap

Health Secretary Steve Barclay defends delay to social care cap The health secretary has defended the delay to a cap on care costs in England, saying it will allow more funding for social care.

Under the plans people would have paid no more than £86,000 towards their personal care during their lifetime.

Steve Barclay said the delay was a "difficult decision" but the government was committed to the reforms.

He told the BBC the extra funding would help with discharging people from hospitals more quickly. BBC News

See also:

• East of England Ambulance Service: 'If we are queuing, we can't get to patients' BBC News
• NHS patients face long waits for ambulances and A&E for 'YEARS', ministers admit The Daily Mail
• Steve Barclay refuses to say NHS in England is functioning properly The Guardian

NHS chiefs in Scotland discuss having wealthy pay for treatment

NHS chiefs in Scotland discuss having wealthy pay for treatment NHS leaders in Scotland have discussed abandoning the founding principles of the service by having the wealthy pay for treatment.

The discussion of a "two-tier" health service is mentioned in draft minutes of a meeting of NHS Scotland health board chief executives in September.

They also raise the possibility of curtailing some free prescriptions.

Scotland's Health Secretary Humza Yousaf insisted the NHS would stay publicly owned and publicly operated. BBC News

Staying warm: What does an unheated room do to your body?

Staying warm: What does an unheated room do to your body? Mention deadly cold and I think of polar explorers with icicles dangling from their beards and mountaineers tackling the heights of Everest; of fingers turning black with frostbite and the chilling clutch of hypothermia.

So I was sceptical when I was asked to take part in a cold experiment that took place at just 10 degrees Celsius. Yes, 10C.

To me that's mild, nowhere near freezing and certainly no Arctic blast. Surely we'd have to go much colder before putting a strain on the body? I was wrong. BBC News

GPs in England treat up to three times more patients than safety limit demands

GPs in England treat up to three times more patients than safety limit demands GPs are struggling to cope with as many as 90 appointments and consultations a day – more than three times a recommended safety limit.

General practices in England are carrying out more appointments than before the pandemic but face severe workforce shortages. More than 1.45 million patients waited at least 28 days to see a GP in September, according to the most recent NHS figures.

GPs who spoke to the Observer last week say that almost every day they breach the British Medical Association (BMA) guideline of “not more than 25 contacts per day” to deliver safe care. One doctor said he had more than 90 consultations on one day. The Guardian

Vapes are twice as good as NRT at helping smokers quit, landmark review concludes

Vapes are twice as good as NRT at helping smokers quit, landmark review concludes Vapes are better than nicotine-replacement patches and gums at helping smokers quit, influential researchers ruled today.

Oxford University researchers found smokers using electronic cigarettes are up to twice as likely to give up the habit for six months.

Cancer experts welcomed the report, which adds to the growing pile of evidence that shows e-cigarettes are effective quit-smoking tools. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation Cochrane Library

How botched overseas cosmetic surgery has cost the NHS £5million in four years

How botched overseas cosmetic surgery has cost the NHS £5million in four years Both the NHS and British cosmetic surgeons are growing increasingly concerned that the health service is being used to subsidise the poor follow-up care of cheap surgery offered overseas. The Daily Mail

NHS departments that cost £3billion a year to run could be merged under money-saving plan

NHS departments that cost £3billion a year to run could be merged under money-saving plan NHS back-office departments and quangos that cost almost £3billion a year could be merged, the Health Secretary suggested yesterday.

Steve Barclay also said he wanted to reduce targets and centralised ‘diktat’ to save money and make services run more smoothly.

His comments came after he appointed former Labour health secretary Patricia Hewitt to review NHS efficiency in the hope that billions in public money goes directly to patient care. The Daily Mail