NHS weekend failings: Report shows patients 24% more likely to die if operation is on a Friday

NHS weekend failings: Report shows patients 24% more likely to die if operation is on a Friday

NHS patients having an operation on a Friday are 24 per cent more likely to die than if they had one earlier in the week, in a damning indictment for the standard of care provided at weekends. The Independent

Britain's poor 'will die before they retire' if pension reforms aren't matched by health improvements

Britain's poor 'will die before they retire' if pension reforms aren't matched by health improvements

Thousands of Britain’s poorest people “will be dead before they can retire” if sweeping pension reforms are not matched by urgent action on health inequalities between rich and poor, experts have said. The Independent

East Midlands Ambulance Service prosecutes more attackers than any NHS trust

East Midlands Ambulance Service prosecutes more attackers than any NHS trust East Midlands Ambulance Service has topped the league table for taking legal action against people who have assaulted its paramedics. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• Paramedics attacked 83 times last year Northamptonshire Telegraph

Engaging with BME communities: insights for impact

Engaging with BME communities: insights for impact This report highlights ways in which providers and commissioners have developed innovative solutions and approaches to better cater for and engage with BME communities. NHS Confederation

Admissions avoidance and diabetes: guidance for clinical commissioning groups and clinical teams

Admissions avoidance and diabetes: guidance for clinical commissioning groups and clinical teams This report finds that there are tens of thousands of people with diabetes a year who are not receiving the support they need to manage their condition from primary care or do not have sufficient access to specialist diabetes teams once they get to hospital. It calls on the NHS to do more both to prevent diabetes-related hospital admissions and to make hospital stays shorter. Diabetes UK

Avoiding unhappy returns: radical reductions in readmissions, achieved with volunteers

Avoiding unhappy returns: radical reductions in readmissions, achieved with volunteers This research finds that almost 150,000 older people had no support on returning home from hospital and for those that did get some kind of help, approximately 20 per cent didn’t receive continuing support. This report contains a summary of the achievements of the Hospital 2 Home scheme in Leicestershire service in it's first year, finding that over 600 older people have been supported, with very low readmission rates to hospital among those who used the scheme. Royal Voluntary Service

NHS struggle to meet £20bn savings target hits elderly hardest

NHS struggle to meet £20bn savings target hits elderly hardest Knee and hip replacement operations and cataract removals fall to lowest level for five years as patients left longer in pain.

Patients are being denied knee replacements and cataract removals as the NHS struggles to meet its £20bn savings target, official data has revealed.

Cancer: two in three patients will survive by end of decade

Cancer: two in three patients will survive by end of decade The number of people dying from breast, prostate and bowel cancer will almost halve by 2020, new figures suggest. The Daily Telegraph

Social workers invaded my body and stole baby, says mother forced to have caesarean

Social workers invaded my body and stole baby, says mother forced to have caesarean Mother who had forced caesarean section before being told baby would be taken into care accuses social workers of stealing her baby. The Independent

Equivalent of 20 classrooms-full of children take up smoking every day in UK, according to research

Equivalent of 20 classrooms-full of children take up smoking every day in UK, according to research

The equivalent of 20 classrooms-full of children take up smoking every day in the UK, new research has estimated, as doctors urged local authorities to view cutting smoking rates as “a child protection issue”. The Independent

See also:

• '20 classrooms of kids' a day take up smoking NHS Choices

Nurses who left pensioners at Northampton care home malnourished with bones exposed found guilty of neglect

Nurses who left pensioners at Northampton care home malnourished with bones exposed found guilty of neglect Five nurses have been found guilty by a misconduct panel of neglect at a Northampton care home where pensioners lived on porridge and had pressure sores so deep their bones were exposed. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also

• Five nurses found guilty of neglect for leaving pensioners with bedsores The Daily Mail

'Let me keep my dead husband's sperm'

'Let me keep my dead husband's sperm' A 28-year-old woman has begun a legal bid to prevent her dead husband's frozen sperm, stored in a CARE fertility clinic in Northampton, from being destroyed. BBC News

World dementia cases 'set to treble'

World dementia cases 'set to treble' The number of people living with dementia worldwide is set to treble by 2050, according to a new analysis. BBC News

Doctors in training speak out on undermining and patient safety

Doctors in training speak out on undermining and patient safety Nearly one in five doctors in training has witnessed someone being bullied in their current post, and more than one in four has experienced undermining behaviour themselves, according to a major survey from the General Medical Council.

HP plans open source offer for NHS

HP plans open source offer for NHS Hewlett Packard is planning to provide a full electronic patient record system on the open source framework being developed by NHS England. E-Health Insider

Study may bust myth of 'fat and fit' healthy obesity

Study may bust myth of 'fat and fit' healthy obesity

The Times has reported that the idea you can be ‘fat and fit’ is “a big fat myth”.

The term ‘fat and fit’ refers to the hypothesis that if you are obese, but all other metabolic factors such as blood pressure, are within recommended limits, then your obesity will not have a harmful effect on your health.

This new research brought together the results of 12 studies into the effects of different weight and metabolic health factors on risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality.

Improving care for lung cancer patients: a collaborative approach

Improving care for lung cancer patients: a collaborative approach The purpose of this booklet is to give lung cancer teams across the country an overview of the aims, activities and achievements of the Improving Lung Cancer Outcomes Project (ILCOP). It outlines the ILCOP approach to quality improvement and also contains four case studies. Royal College of Physicians

New five-year pricing deal on NHS branded medicines agreed

New five-year pricing deal on NHS branded medicines agreed Costs of these drugs to NHS will be flat-lined for two years from Jan 1st. OnMedica

See also:

• Pharmaceutical price regulation scheme 2014 Department of Health

UK cancer survival rates ‘lag behind Europe’

UK cancer survival rates ‘lag behind Europe’

Britain’s survival rates for nine of the ten most common forms of cancer lag behind the European averages, a major study has shown. The Independent

See also:

• Cancer survival in Britain the worst in Europe The Daily Telegraph

Fitness to work test DOES disadvantage mentally ill: Court of Appeal upholds ruling against Government

Fitness to work test DOES disadvantage mentally ill: Court of Appeal upholds ruling against Government The Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling that the Government's controversial fitness to work test does disadvantage people with mental health problems. The Independent