NHS 'shining stars' celebrated at awards ceremony in Northamptonshire

NHS 'shining stars' celebrated at awards ceremony in Northamptonshire Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) held its annual staff awards ceremony on Thursday 15 December 2022 to recognise and honour its ‘shining stars’ – the doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and other NHS colleagues working to provide outstanding care to patients across the county. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Are local authorities equal partners in statutory integrated care systems?

Are local authorities equal partners in statutory integrated care systems? Partnership working between local government and the NHS has come a long way in recent years. Back in 2016, when some of my colleagues first began delving into the inner workings of sustainability and transformation partnerships – the precursors to today’s integrated care systems (ICSs) – the picture was not always pretty. Many local government leaders told us that they felt little ownership over the system plans to which, at least nominally, they were partners. One said that ‘the majority of chief execs in [our area] just think it’s a joke’. The King's Fund

What’s the story behind NHS staff losing their sparkle?

What’s the story behind NHS staff losing their sparkle? Having recently joined the Health Foundation after a career trying to turn evidence into guidance at NICE, whenever I read a research output, I find my first question is still, ‘What recommendations can be derived from this research?’. Developing evidence-based guidance also taught me that there is very rarely a straightforward answer to the question of ‘what’: often ‘what’, and indeed ‘how’, can’t be answered without considering ‘why’.

A vision for pharmacy professional practice in England

A vision for pharmacy professional practice in England This report, produced in partnership with The King’s Fund, outlines key ambitions for the future of pharmacy in England over the next decade. It sets out how pharmacy teams can support better patient care and address key challenges facing the nation’s health. It calls for the complete integration of pharmacy professionals across health and care systems to enable a transformation in patient care, supported by a comprehensive pharmacy workforce strategy, improved use of data and research to drive better patient outcomes, and strong skilful leadership and collaboration to inform professional practice. Royal Pharmaceutical Society

NHS campaign reminds public to use NHS 111 online ahead of the festive season

NHS campaign reminds public to use NHS 111 online ahead of the festive season The NHS is reminding people they can get assessed and directed to the care they need by using NHS 111 online without leaving the comfort of their homes, with new TV adverts running from today.

As part of the next stage of the NHS ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign, television adverts will show people travelling to a range of healthcare settings on their sofas, armchairs or beds, as they answer questions about their health concern on NHS 111 online. NHS England

Nurses to strike as ambulance crews plan walkouts

Nurses to strike as ambulance crews plan walkouts About 10,000 NHS nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are to strike for the second time in less than a week in protest over their pay.

Wednesday will see ambulance staff in England and Wales walk out too, unless a meeting later with the health secretary can avert it.

Steve Barclay has invited three unions representing paramedics to talks.

It follows warnings of extensive disruption to services at a very challenging time of year for the NHS. BBC News

See also:

• Industrial Action at EMAS: Information for the public East Midlands Ambulance Service
• NHS Confederation responds to this week's strikes NHS Confederation
• NHS briefing: Industrial action winter 2022 NHS England
• Industrial action in ambulance services NHS England
• Trusts urge ministers to talk to unions after 'significant' strike impact in some areas NHS Providers
• Day two of nursing strikes: RCN issues ultimatum to government Royal College of Nursing
• Talk to unions, boost NHS pay and strikes won’t be necessary UNISON
• More nurses' strikes in January if no negotiations - union BBC News
• Ambulance strike: Avoid risky activity during strike - health minister BBC News
• NHS strikes: Why are nurses and ambulance staff taking industrial action? BBC News
• Health Secretary Steve Barclay grilled about NHS by ill child's mother BBC News
• Health Secretary Steve Barclay gets confronted again The Daily Mail
• Are nurses on strike today? Which hospitals are affected? The Daily Mail
• Plea for strikers to call off walkouts as NHS faces meltdown The Daily Telegraph
• The unions must take their share of the blame for the failing NHS The Daily Telegraph
• NHS faces ‘incredibly challenging’ time as nurses warn strikes could last months Evening Standard
• Sick child’s mother rebukes Steve Barclay over NHS staff being ‘worked to the bone’ The Guardian
• ‘The damage you’re doing to families is terrible’: mother challenges health secretary – video The Guardian
• NHS ambulance strikes will put patients at risk – but delays already at record high The Guardian
• Patients in north-west England have to get themselves to A&E during strikes The Guardian
• Thousands of nurses stage second walkout in bitter row over pay The Independent
• Heart attack and stroke patients could be denied ambulances during strike The Independent
• Nurses' strike: How A&E and other NHS services will be impacted - and which hospitals are affected Sky News

NHS trust apologises as man kept in hospital for more than a year

NHS trust apologises as man kept in hospital for more than a year A man with physical and mental health problems is "living" in a hospital despite being fit to leave, a court has heard.

The man, who is in his 30s, has been in hospital for more than a year.

A barrister leading the man's legal team told how he had tried to "escape" and broke an arm during the attempt.

The Court of Protection heard that he remained in hospital because no "available alternative accommodation" had been found. BBC News

Care workers paid £8,000 less than NHS equivalents in England - study

Care workers paid £8,000 less than NHS equivalents in England - study A care worker in England is paid on average £8,000 a year less than NHS staff with the same skills, research for a care provider suggests.

The charity, Community Integrated Care, also told BBC News it was having to provide food parcels for some staff who were struggling to pay their bills.

Separate research shows low pay is the most common reason why care staff quit. BBC News

See also:

• Unfair to care 2022-23: Understanding the social care pay gap and how to close it Korn Ferry

Government to sue Mone-linked PPE firm for £122m

Government to sue Mone-linked PPE firm for £122m The government is suing a company that supplied it with personal protective equipment (PPE) for £122m plus costs.

PPE Medpro won contracts through the so-called VIP lane in 2020, after being recommended by Tory peer Baroness Mone.

The government is attempting to get its money back on one of the deals in the High Court, claiming the medical gowns supplied "did not comply with the specification in the contract". BBC News

See also:

• PPE Medpro: UK government launches action to recover £122m The Guardian

Revealed: Mental health patients who reported ‘abuse’ ignored by NHS and regulator

Revealed: Mental health patients who reported ‘abuse’ ignored by NHS and regulator Patients and their families who reported allegations of abuse at a chain of mental health units did not even receive responses from the regulator and the NHS, The Independent can reveal.

An investigation by The Independent and Sky News last month exposed how “systemic abuse” went unchecked at hospitals run by The Huntercombe Group over a number of years.

Now more patients have come forward – bringing the total number of cases past 50 – and shown how they tried to raise the alarm to the health service and Care Quality Commission, but say they were ignored while abuse continued.

See also:

• Pinned down, force-fed and drugged into ‘zombie-like’ state: ‘Systemic abuse’ at children’s hospitals revealed The Independent
• Police investigating ‘rape of child’ at scandal-hit mental health hospital The Independent
• 'It just felt like they'd given up on me': 30 new patients of Huntercombe Group tell their stories of what life is like at mental health units Sky News

Breakthrough new NHS drug can delay spread of breast cancer

Breakthrough new NHS drug can delay spread of breast cancer Breast cancer sufferers will be granted extra months of life thanks to a new drug that has been approved for NHS use.

Enhertu, or trastuzumab deruxtecan, will be rolled out to 600 women a year in England. Trials have shown that that drug improves the survival of recipients by halting the spread of tumours.

It gives patients an extra 22 months of life, on average, before the cancer progresses. The Independent

See also:

• Trastuzumab deruxtecan for treating HER2-positive unresectable or metastatic breast cancer after 1 or more anti-HER2 therapies NICE

NHS hopes new artificial intelligence software will be able to spot damage in heart scans in seconds

NHS hopes new artificial intelligence software will be able to spot damage in heart scans in seconds Artificial intelligence software is poised to drastically slash NHS cardiology waiting lists and give heart patients a faster diagnosis.

The program can carry out complicated measurements in less than a minute that normally take doctors about 20 minutes. The Daily Mail