Doctors are assessing patients in phone calls before granting face-to-face appointments

Doctors are assessing patients in phone calls before granting face-to-face appointments The approach is being rolled out across 180 UK surgeries, covering 1.7 million people. Campaigners worry GPs will miss symptoms they would have spotted at close hand. The Daily  Mail

See also:

• GPs trained to give patients phone consultations instead of in-person appointments The Daily Telegraph
• Quarter of GPs happy to give mobile phone number to patients GP Online

NHS to use private firms to beat the winter crisis

NHS to use private firms to beat the winter crisis NHS hospitals have been ordered to hand over swathes of operations to the private sector to ease a looming winter crisis, according to leaked memos.

Health officials have also instructed hospitals to discharge thousands of patients in a bid to reduce record levels of crowding, while managers have been banned from declaring “black alerts”.

NHS trusts have been told to take a series of measures to dramatically reduce bed occupancy levels in an attempt to ensure that wards can cope as pressures mount.

Patients groups said the situation was “frightening”, while charities described the measures as an “extremely worrying” reflection of a system under “extraordinary pressure”. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Send patients to private sector to avert winter crisis, hospitals told The Guardian

GP urgent home visits to ease A&E crisis

GP urgent home visits to ease A&E crisis GPs are under pressure to provide emergency home visits to ease the crisis in overstretched A&E departments, NHS documents reveal.

Local doctors groups are being asked to establish “A&E Delivery Boards” and to draw up rotas of medics able to respond to 111 requests for urgent care at home.

The boards are ostensibly responsible for easing winter pressures, but the new NHS England best practice guidelines state the measures should remain in place all year round because of the unprecedented demand on hospitals. The Daily Telegraph

Involving patients and the public in developing STPs

Involving patients and the public in developing STPs In my work life I am a senior leadership consultant at The King’s Fund; however like all of us I am also a citizen in my community, and I am writing here from both perspectives.

In my local area over the past few weeks, I have heard quite a few people talking about the same thing – that is a recent article in the local paper stating that three major departments in our hospital are to be moved to the regional hospitals 50 to 60 miles away. As it turned out, the source of this story was proposals in our local sustainability and transformation plan (STP) which had been leaked to the press. This has caused a good deal of concern locally, with many people feeling fearful, confused and angry.

Joining up care for older people with frailty

Joining up care for older people with frailty Advancements in medicine are a great success story, and as a result our patients are living longer, but they are also increasingly living with multiple, long term conditions and that brings a number of challenges for general practice and the wider NHS.

Older patients make up the majority of those attending GP surgeries and acute hospitals so getting the right combinations of care in the right place and at the right time is crucial to avert avoidable admissions and delayed discharge from hospital.

Integrated care for older people with frailty: innovative approaches in practice is being launched today at the British Geriatrics Society’s national scientific meeting where over 700 geriatricians, and other healthcare professionals engaged in the specialist care of older people are gathering to share best practice and the latest scientific research. Royal College of General Practitioners and British Geriatrics Society

See also:

• GPs urged to collaborate more with geriatricians OnMedica

Meeting the need: what makes a 'good' JSNA for mental health or dementia?

Meeting the need: what makes a 'good' JSNA for mental health or dementia? This research outlines how mental health needs assessments can prompt concerted action to improve wellbeing and life chances in local communities. It explores how five local councils across England went about understanding the mental health needs of their communities and taking action to meet them more effectively. It finds that joint strategic needs assessments (JSNAs) for mental health and dementia can help to direct investment, to improve services and to help local agencies work together more effectively. Centre for Mental Health

NHS efficiency map

NHS efficiency map This map aims to promote best practice in identifying, delivering and monitoring cost improvement programmes in the NHS. It contains links to a range of tools and guidance to help NHS bodies improve their efficiency. The map is split into three sections: enablers for efficiency, provider efficiency and system efficiency. It highlights the successes some NHS providers have had in delivering specific efficiency schemes and provides sign-posts to existing tools and reference materials. It also includes updated definitions for different types of efficiency. Healthcare Financial Management Association

Lansley: 'Incredibly difficult' for NHS

Lansley: 'Incredibly difficult' for NHS A former health secretary says an "incredibly difficult" two years await the NHS and social care in England.

Lord Lansley, health secretary from 2010-12, said he was "disappointed" that more funding was not announced in the Autumn Statement.

Tory council leader Izzi Seccombe said funding was needed now and councils had been "cut to the bone".

But Prime Minister Theresa May said ministers were already working to ease the situation.

Funding cuts to council-run social care in England have been blamed for a big increase in patients stuck in hospital beds because care cannot be arranged elsewhere. BBC News

See also:

• Andrew Lansley chides chancellor over lack of NHS and social care funding The Guardian

Born addicts

Born addicts Three babies are born addicted to drugs every day because of their mother's dependency, but some experts believe it is better to allow mother and baby to detox together. BBC News

See also:

• The rehab centre for mums and babies BBC News

Thatcher pushed for breakup of welfare state despite NHS pledge

Thatcher pushed for breakup of welfare state despite NHS pledge PM declared the health service was ‘safe with us’ but secretly pressed on with radical proposals, archives reveal

Margaret Thatcher secretly tried to press ahead with a politically toxic plan to dismantle the welfare state even after a “cabinet riot” and her famous declaration that the “NHS is safe with us”, newly released Treasury documents show.

The plan commissioned by Thatcher and her chancellor Sir Geoffrey Howe included proposals to charge for state schooling, introduce compulsory private health insurance and a system of private medical facilities that “would, of course, mean the end of the National Health Service”. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• How Maggie kept alive secret plot to dismantle the welfare state even after she abandoned the proposals following a Cabinet rebellion The Daily Mail
• Margaret Thatcher defied Cabinet to pursue dismantling of welfare state, documents reveal i News

NHS hospitals suffer from chronic bed shortage, surgeons say

NHS hospitals suffer from chronic bed shortage, surgeons say Royal College of Surgeons calls for rethink after figures show 89% of beds are full overnight for fourth quarter in a row

The Royal College of Surgeons said there was a chronic shortage of NHS hospital beds in England, after occupancy rates for overnight stays topped 89% for a fourth successive quarter.

The maximum occupancy rate for ensuring patients are well looked after and not exposed to health risks, is considered to be 85%, a figure that has not been achieved since NHS England began publishing statistics in 2010. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• New statistics show chronic shortage of beds, as increasing numbers of older patients stay in hospital Royal College of Surgeons

Lancet study on statins was 'fundamentally flawed' critics say

Lancet study on statins was 'fundamentally flawed' critics say A major Lancet study which backed the safety of statins was “fundamentally flawed” and underestimated the side-effects of the heart drugs, a group of medics have said.

The research published in September concluded that the drugs help prevent around 80,000 major cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks or strokes, every year.

Scientists said the drugs did far more harm than good, with too many patients had been put off taking them because of needless fears about side-effects. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• More clarity needed on the true benefits and risks of statins Prescriber
• Now MORE experts claim statins are a waste of time: They say studies show cutting bad cholesterol fails to slash heart risk  The Daily Mail

Three GP practices in Northampton trial scheme to create more same-day appointments

Three GP practices in Northampton trial scheme to create more same-day appointments Three GP Practices in Northampton are teaming up to provide their 33,000 patients with a new way to access emergency, same-day appointments. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Health at a Glance: Europe 2016

Health at a Glance: Europe 2016 This fourth edition of Health at a Glance: Europe presents key indicators of health and health systems in the 28 EU countries, 5 candidate countries to the EU and 3 EFTA countries. This 2016 edition contains two main new features: two thematic chapters analyse the links between population health and labour market outcomes, and the important challenge of strengthening primary care systems in European countries; and a new chapter on the resilience, efficiency and sustainability of health systems in Europe, in order to align the content of this publication more closely with the 2014 European Commission Communication on effective, accessible and resilient health systems. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

See also:

• Britain has the shortest maternity stays and the fewest hospital beds in the EU The Daily Mail
• Warnings that NHS 'teetering on precipice' amid bed shortages The Daily Telegraph
• The UK is a hotspot for gonorrhoea and cocaine, researchers say The Daily Telegraph

Changing risk behaviours and promoting cognitive health in older adults

Changing risk behaviours and promoting cognitive health in older adults This resource is intended for local authority and clinical commissioning groups to identify what types of interventions they should focus on to help the uptake and maintenance of healthy behaviours and promote cognitive health among older adults living in the community.

It is also intended for providers of lifestyle behaviour change programmes to support the development of evidence-informed prevention packages for older adults.

It is produced in a way that makes it accessible to public health managers and practitioners working in the public, private and third sector. Public Health England

Testing times to come? an evaluation of pathology capacity across the UK

Testing times to come? an evaluation of pathology capacity across the UK This report finds that pathology services in the UK are struggling to cope with the increasing number of patient samples that need to be tested. A growing and ageing UK population means that more people than ever before are being referred for cancer tests including biopsies and blood tests. However, pathology staff numbers are not growing to meet the rising demand for tests, resulting in a lack of capacity for pathology services. Cancer Research UK

'Concern' as study highlights aneurysm death rate

'Concern' as study highlights aneurysm death rate The death rate from abdominal aortic aneurysms is more than three times higher in England than in the US, analysis of official data shows.

The weakening and swelling of the main blood vessel from the heart is normally fatal if it bursts.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, raised "concern" that English surgeons may be performing preventative operations less often.

Experts say the issue should be investigated further. BBC News

Air pollution 'causes 467,000 premature deaths a year in Europe'

Air pollution 'causes 467,000 premature deaths a year in Europe' Toxic air is causing almost half a million premature deaths in Europe every year, a new report says. BBC News

See also:

• Stronger measures needed to tackle harm from air pollution European Environment Agency
• Air quality in Europe — 2016 report European Environment Agency

Winter deaths 'halve to 24,000'

Winter deaths 'halve to 24,000' There were 24,300 extra deaths in England and Wales last winter - about half the number of 2014-15. BBC News

Autumn statement 'missed opportunity' for health and social care

Autumn statement 'missed opportunity' for health and social care Health and care leaders have criticised the government's autumn statement as a missed opportunity after it failed to announce any new funding for health or social care. GP Online

See also:

• The King's Fund responds to the Autumn Statement The King's Fund
• Autumn Statement 2016 - the impact on employers NHS Employers
• Autumn Statement: Row as care funding omitted from measures BBC News
• Autumn Statement: Missed opportunity for NHS? BBC News
• Labour pours scorn over autumn statement for ignoring sick and old The Guardian
• NHS completely absent from 72-page Autumn Statement document The Independent