NHS offering £127m of contracts to private companies despite health secretary pledging: 'No privatisation on my watch'

NHS offering £127m of contracts to private companies despite health secretary pledging: 'No privatisation on my watch' The NHS is offering more than 20 contracts to private companies, despite health secretary Matt Hancock having insisted there would be "no privatisation on my watch", Labour has said.

The party released data showing 21 NHS contracts worth £127m are currently out to tender - 19 of which have been put out since mid-February.

The figures were revealed by House of Commons Library analysis and include a £91m contract to run an NHS assessment service in the South East, a £16m deal to provide health services in Leicestershire and a £6m tender for a GP surgery in High Wycombe. The Independent

NHS patients have cancer scans cancelled after supplier problems

NHS patients have cancer scans cancelled after supplier problems Scan delays in England leading to ‘stress and anxiety’ for those awaiting their prognosis

Concerns have been raised that problems related to the supply of a substance used to screen for cancerous cells is causing delays for NHS patients in England, with many exposed to repeated cancellation of scans at short notice.

Choline is a radiotracer injected into patients an hour before PET-CT scans, predominately when patients are feared to have a recurrence of prostate cancer. Without it the scans cannot go ahead. The Guardian

‘Second-class’ NHS workers struggle as pay gap widens

‘Second-class’ NHS workers struggle as pay gap widens Staff employed on minimum wage by private contractors across England missed out on £2,000 income boost

Tens of thousands of NHS workers are struggling to get by on the minimum wage because their private sector employers are failing to match public sector pay rises.

The estimated 100,000 low-paid cleaners, porters, security guards and catering staff who work for private contractors in hospitals across England are being treated as “second-class employees”, thanks to a growing pay divide between public and private sector workers, according to the country’s leading health union. The Guardian

See also:

• NHS pay gap ‘risks damaging health service beyond repair’, trade union warns The Independent

Molly Case, the NHS nurse who finds poetry on the wards

Molly Case, the NHS nurse who finds poetry on the wards Her impassioned poem defending the NHS thrust Case into the public eye. With a memoir out soon, she talks about how the job of caring continues to inspire her

Read an extract from Molly Case’s memoir How to Treat People

Not so long ago, first-person accounts of what goes on in the operating theatre or the emergency ward – and in the hearts and minds of those who work there – were hard to find. Author William Boyd said recently that when writing his novel about a surgeon, The Blue Afternoon, some years ago, he failed to unearth any descriptions of surgery by surgeons at all. But no more. The medical memoir has become a publishing phenomenon. The Guardian

Dementia patients should be offered music and dance therapy

Dementia patients should be offered music and dance therapy More people with dementia should be given music or dance therapy in a bid to prevent them being "over-medicalised", the Health Secretary has said.

It follows research which found that giving people with dementia personal playlists resulted in a 60 per cent reduction in the need for mind-altering drugs. The Daily Telegraph

Homeopathic medicine will be banned by the NHS because they are a 'misuse of public funds'

Homeopathic medicine will be banned by the NHS because they are a 'misuse of public funds' Homeopathic treatments will be blacklisted by the NHS after it emerged GPs are issuing thousands of prescriptions a year – despite being told to stop.

NHS experts say the alternative ‘medicines’ have no credible scientific evidence to support their continued use and are a ‘misuse of public funds’.

Since 2017, official NHS England guidelines have advised against prescribing the treatments which it warns are ‘at best a placebo’. The Daily Mail

See also:

• NHS still spending £55,000 a year on homeopathy, despite ban The Daily Telegraph

Having your fudge and eating it

Having your fudge and eating it Sally Gainsbury takes a closer look at NHS sustainability funds and control totals, and what they might actually mean for the providers who have played their part over the past three years. Nuffield Trust

Specialist mental health support for new mums available in every part of England

Specialist mental health support for new mums available in every part of England New and expectant mothers across the country can now access specialist mental health care in the area where they live, NHS England announced.

The landmark rollout of specialist perinatal community services across the whole of England, means that mums and mums-to-be who are experiencing anxiety, depression or other forms of mental ill health should be able to access high quality care much closer to home.

Five years ago two in five parts of the country had no access to specialist community perinatal mental health treatment, but there is now full geographical coverage for the first time, with services in every one of the 44 local NHS areas, and plans to develop them further.

See also:

• Bringing new mums back from crisis BBC News

Charter to strengthen relations between the Helpforce programme and staff in the National Health Service

Charter to strengthen relations between the Helpforce programme and staff in the National Health Service This charter shows how volunteers can make a valuable contribution to the NHS in England, without undermining paid staff or affecting patient safety. The aim is to ensure that the tens of thousands of people who give up their time to provide comfort and help to patients are given guidance about their roles. It’s also intended to safeguard against their use as cheap substitutes for trained health staff. Helpforce

Fourteen hospitals to pilot new A&E targets

Fourteen hospitals to pilot new A&E targets Fourteen hospitals have been chosen to pilot a new way to measure performance, which could pave the way for the end of the four-hour A&E target in England.

NHS England said last month that it was time to review the "outdated target".

But the move is controversial, with some seeing it as an attempt to move the goalposts because the target has been missed for more than three years. BBC News

Parents being misled over kids' snacks, says child health expert

Parents being misled over kids' snacks, says child health expert Parents are at risk of being misled by "manipulative marketing campaigns" and "crafty messaging" on children's snacks, a child health expert has said.

Dr Max Davie said that given levels of obesity, it was crucial for parents to know what their children were eating.

It comes as University of Glasgow researchers examined seemingly healthy children's snacks sold in UK shops.

They found some snacks labelled as containing one portion of fruit or veg did not live up to the claim. BBC News

See also:

• Confused health and nutrition claims in food marketing to children could adversely affect food choice and increase risk of obesity (abstract) Archives of Diseases in Childhood
• Health claims on children's food 'are confusing', study finds The Daily Mail
• Three quarters of children's snacks which claim 'one of your five a day' are inaccurate The Daily Telegraph
• Three quarters of ‘healthy’ children’s snacks and drinks don’t meet five-a-day claims The Independent

Even one drink a day increases stroke risk, study finds

Even one drink a day increases stroke risk, study finds Even light-to-moderate drinking increases blood pressure and the chances of having a stroke, according to a large genetic study in The Lancet, countering previous claims that one or two drinks a day could be protective.

The UK and Chinese researchers followed 500,000 Chinese people for 10 years.

They say the findings are relevant to all populations and the best evidence yet on the direct effects of alcohol. BBC News

See also:

• Conventional and genetic evidence on alcohol and vascular disease aetiology: a prospective study of 500 000 men and women in China (open access) The Lancet
• Occasional drinkers not healthier than tee-totallers, myth busting stroke study shows The Independent

How is the NHS preparing for a no-deal Brexit?

How is the NHS preparing for a no-deal Brexit? Vital medical supply lines are at risk, it’s been suggested, if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Brexiteers have dismissed such concerns as “Project Fear”. In Wales, the NHS has secured extra warehouse space to stock-pile essentials and one major UK hospital food supplier says it has spent five million pounds on Brexit preparations. Channel 4 News

Breast implants banned in France for cancer risk still on sale in UK

Breast implants banned in France for cancer risk still on sale in UK Breast implants banned in France because of their cancer risk will continue to be on sale in the UK, the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has confirmed.

The macro-textured and polyurethane breast implants for cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, France's National Agency for Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) ruled.

It said they came with a slight risk of developing a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The Independent

Matt Hancock called in to settle Oxford hospital scanners row

Matt Hancock called in to settle Oxford hospital scanners row Health secretary to review private healthcare plan local MP calls ‘murky and opaque’

The health secretary has been called in to settle a row over a “murky and opaque” plan to privatise a key element of cancer treatment currently handled by one of England’s most highly respected hospitals.

The proposal to let the company InHealth take charge of the Thames Valley regional PET-CT scanning service, which is run by Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, has been set aside until the Department of Health completes a review of the procurement process. The Guardian

See also:

• Oxford cancer scanner privatisation plan to be reviewed BBC News
• NHS threatens to sue one of its OWN trusts for libel The Daily Mail
• Risks of privatising NHS scanner service | Letters The Guardian

King's College hospital trust makes biggest overspend in NHS history

King's College hospital trust makes biggest overspend in NHS history London trust to record annual deficit of between £180m and £191m after series of setbacks

A leading London hospital trust is set to record an annual deficit of between £180m and £191m – the biggest overspend in NHS history, the Guardian can reveal.

King’s College hospital trust believes it overshot its projected £146m deficit for 2018-19 by a further £34m-£45m after it experienced a series of setbacks, documents seen by the Guardian show.

NHS could save 100 stillborn babies with better treatment of women pregnant with twins and triplets

NHS could save 100 stillborn babies with better treatment of women pregnant with twins and triplets Poor care for women pregnant with twins and triplets is resulting in 100 stillbirths a year, research suggests.

NHS hospitals' failure to follow official guidelines on multiple births is also responsible for 630 unnecessary C-sections and 1,300 infant admissions to intensive care each year, experts found.

Their research project, funded by the Department of Health, focused on ensuring 30 British maternity units followed official guidelines to the letter over a year. Experts found this vastly improved outcomes for twins, triplets and their mothers. The Daily Mail

Jorgie's family speaks: "We watched her failing. Nobody listened."

Jorgie's family speaks: "We watched her failing. Nobody listened." At the end of three days of complicated medical evidence looking at the death of little Jorgie Stanton-Watts, Zena Stanton was finally given the chance to address the people who said she holds responsible for her grandaughter's death.

Taking the stand, physically supported by her husband Bob. who kept his hand on her shoulder as she wept during her evidence, 68-year-old Zena spoke of how the loss of Jorgie, who died after she was neglected at Kettering General Hospital, had affected her ‘strong, united family’. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Primary care networks and the NHS long-term plan

Primary care networks and the NHS long-term plan With NHS England stating that around 88 per cent of GP practices are already part of some form of wider collaboration with other practices, it might be tempting to think that that the new-found importance of primary care networks – groups of GP practices covering populations of 30–50,000 – in the NHS long-term plan is really evolution not revolution (they got 25 mentions in the plan: I counted them). It might be equally tempting for many to ignore the changes as being all rather parochial to the world of GPs – after all, they are formally part of the GP contract. Don’t fall for either temptation – both represent a misunderstanding of just how important the new primary care networks are meant to be. The King's Fund

Leave no patient behind: lessons from genetics on the risks of biased data

Leave no patient behind: lessons from genetics on the risks of biased data In the last two months, my Dad has been shuttling between various GP surgeries and hospitals, trying to get the dosage right for his warfarin treatment. This has required 15 appointments so far, with frequent frustration when the test results show the dosage is still wrong. As Dad rearranges yet another day around a visit to the doctor, his experience seems far from the vision of personalised care enabled by new technology, genetic testing and big data, as promised by NHSX and the Topol Review. The Health Foundation