Priorities for the NHS and social care in 2017

Priorities for the NHS and social care in 2017 2017 promises to be another challenging year for the health and care system, with demand for care increasing faster than the supply of resources.

A system already stretched to its limits will have to work even harder to maintain current standards of care and to balance budgets. This requires a continuing focus on operational performance and renewed efforts to transform the delivery of care at a time when frontline staff are working under intense pressure.

The NHS five year forward view (Forward View) will be tested to its limits as leaders work to improve performance and transform care. The NHS locally has to deliver £15 billion of the £22 billion efficiency improvements required under the Forward View, with the remaining £7 billion to be delivered nationally. It also has to provide evidence that new care models are delivering benefits. Failure to do so will raise serious questions about the assumptions on which the Forward View was based and on the ability of leaders to deliver their plans.

Against this background, we have identified five main priorities for 2017. The King's Fund

Extended hours in primary care linked to reductions in minor A&E attendances

Extended hours in primary care linked to reductions in minor A&E attendances This briefing summarises the findings of a study that found that practices that offered additional appointments showed a reduction in the number of their patients attending emergency departments for minor conditions but that there was no overall reduction in emergency visits. Costs were reduced for emergency departments but by less than the cost of the additional appointments. These findings suggest additional appointments may help reduce minor A&E visits but may be more costly overall. National Institute for Health Research

NHS machines: the utilisation of high-value capital equipment at NHS trusts

NHS machines: the utilisation of high-value capital equipment at NHS trusts This report examines the utilisation of five different types of machines in NHS trusts in England to assess how greater and more efficient use of existing resources can be encouraged. The Tax Payers' Alliance

Asthma patients 'missing out on basic care'

Asthma patients 'missing out on basic care' Millions of asthma patients in the UK are not getting basic care they need to manage their condition, a charity says.

Asthma UK, which questioned more than 4,500 patients, said two-thirds miss out on yearly check-ups, tailored advice and lessons in how to use their asthma inhalers.

It says it is a slight improvement on a year ago but remains a bleak picture.

In 2015 in the UK, 1,468 people died from an asthma attack - the highest level in a decade. BBC News

See also:

• Annual Asthma Survey Athma UK
• New NICE guideline to help people take control of their asthma could save the NHS millions NICE
• Millions of UK asthma sufferers 'not receiving basic levels of care' The Guardian

Private Ambulance Service: Staff 'lack training'

Private Ambulance Service: Staff 'lack training' Some staff at a private ambulance firm say they had an hour's training to drive under blue lights. BBC News

Terrorism 'first-aid training needed'

Terrorism 'first-aid training needed' People need to learn lifesaving skills in case they are caught up in a terror attack in the UK, a team of senior military and civilian medics has said.

They say people need to know how to help each other because it could take some time before it is deemed safe for paramedics to arrive on the scene.

Their app, called CitizenAID, offers step-by-step advice.

The idea is supported by counter-terrorism police. Security services say a UK terror attack is highly likely. BBC News

More GPs in A&E could push patients to hospital faster, warns RCGP

More GPs in A&E could push patients to hospital faster, warns RCGP Increasing the number of GPs working in A&E departments could encourage more patients to go to hospital as the first port of call for treatment, the RCGP has warned. GP Online

The physician associate will see you now - new role to assist patients in primary care

The physician associate will see you now - new role to assist patients in primary care By 2020 there could be as many as 1,000 physician associates working in primary care, but regulation of the profession is seen as crucial in the development of this new role

Chris Deane’s day starts like any other at the busy Warwickshire practice where he works. First he triages calls from patients, decides those who will need a home visit later in the day, and books others into free slots in his morning or afternoon surgeries.

Like his GP colleagues, he deals with around 60 patients a day, but unlike them he is not a family doctor. Instead, Deane is a qualified physician associate – a new breed of healthcare professional taking pressure off hard-pressed doctors and providing patients, especially those with long-term conditions, the continuity of care they need. Continue reading... The Guardian

Doctors warn of detox dangers after woman is hospitalised with 'life-threatening' problems

Doctors warn of detox dangers after woman is hospitalised with 'life-threatening' problems Health professionals have issues a warning to people embarking on New Year detoxes - after a woman was hospitalised in Milton Keynes with side-effects of the popular process. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Acute severe hyponatraemia secondary to polydipsia and associated herbal remedy use BMJ Case Reports
• TheTruth About Detox Diets NHS Choices
• Doctors issue new-year detox health warning BBC News
• Healthy woman's New Year 'detox' gives her life-threatening illness The Independent

Thousands forced to wait outside swamped hospitals as cold spell hits

Thousands forced to wait outside swamped hospitals as cold spell hits Heaving A&E departments are forcing thousands of patients to wait for hours in ambulances outside hospitals as freezing conditions hit the UK.

Health chiefs were forced to apologise yesterday after spiraling waiting times in one hospital caused a queue of 20 ambulances unable to offload patients.

In London alone, the winter crisis means more than 6,000 patients each week are being left in the back of emergency vehicles because A&E departments are too busy to admit them, new figures reveal.

The crisis in hospitals means that ambulance services are then unable to respond to subsequent 999 calls. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Sharp rise in number of patients turned away from A&E The Guardian

East Midlands Ambulance Service has busiest 48 hours

East Midlands Ambulance Service has busiest 48 hours An ambulance service has its busiest ever 48 hours, taking 1,000 more calls on New Year's Day than normal. BBC Northampton

Patients no more at risk of death on weekends than during week

Patients no more at risk of death on weekends than during week Patients are not a greater risk of dying on weekends than at any other times, a British academic argued.

Professor Dr Nick Black warned politicians needed “to avoid unjustified claims about an increased risk of death among patients” because of the so-called weekend effect.

This was the justification used by Jeremy Hunt to implement a seven day a week NHS and impose new contracts on junior doctors leading to the first ever strike when they refused to provide emergency cover.

The Professor of Health Services Research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said past studies had incorrectly estimated mortality at up to a sixth higher for weekend admissions. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Do women make better doctors?

Do women make better doctors? A US study claims that female physicians kill fewer patients than their male counterparts - study author Dr Ashish Jha and surgeon Dr Scarlett McNally discuss. BBC News

NHS faces 'the worst January' in scramble for beds

NHS faces 'the worst January' in scramble for beds The NHS faces "potentially the worst January" ever as it struggles to cope with the backlog of patients taking up beds over Christmas, with a leading doctor warning it is like a "credit card bill from hell".

Dr Mark Holland, president of the Society for Acute Medicine (SAM), said hospitals had already seen "record numbers" of elderly patients over the Christmas period, and that the health service is on the brink of a major crisis. ITV News

See also:

• NHS could face its worst January as it struggles with festive backlog, warns doctor The Guardian

Children eat half of daily sugar intake before 9am

Children eat half of daily sugar intake before 9am Sugar-laden breakfasts mean that the nation's children are consuming half of their daily sugar allowance before they even start school, health officials have warned.

The average English child eats the equivalent of three cubes of sugar (11g) every morning for breakfast, Public Health England (PHE) said.

Sugary cereals, fruit juice and some spreads are to blame, according to the health body's new Change4Life campaign.

By the end of the day, children are consuming three times more than their recommended daily allowance of sugar, according to information gathered from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey. The Independent

One in four UK babies miss out on health visitor checks

One in four UK babies miss out on health visitor checks The Social Mobility Commission raises concern over figures, and Labour accuses Tories of failing to invest in early years support

One in four babies born in the UK are not receiving mandatory checkups from health visitors during the first two years of their life.

A fifth of babies do not receive the recommended reviews after they turn one, and one in four miss out at the age of two, according to the government’s commission on social mobility. Continue reading... The Guardian

Serious mistakes in NHS patient care are on the rise, figures reveal

Serious mistakes in NHS patient care are on the rise, figures reveal Fears grow that unprecedented strain on hospitals is causing increase in surgical, diagnostic and care errors

Serious mistakes by hospital staff that put patients at risk are on the rise, despite the government’s drive since the Mid Staffs scandal to make care safer, official NHS figures reveal.

The last few years have seen more cases of delayed diagnosis, staff failure to act on patients’ test results, poor care of seriously ill patients and blunders during surgery. Continue reading... The Guardian

Seven-day NHS plan puts weekday surgeries at risk, warns top GP

Seven-day NHS plan puts weekday surgeries at risk, warns top GP Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard says government’s pledge to guarantee access to family doctors at weekends is unrealistic

Britain’s top GP has said surgeries will have to stop seeing patients during the week unless ministers abandon their drive to guarantee access to family doctors at weekends.

Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard condemned the policy, a key Conservative pledge, as unrealistic and said it was ignoring the lack of demand among patients to see GPs at weekends and a serious shortage of family doctors. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Seven day GP service could not be achieved without 'serious impact' on weekday services, says RCGP Royal College of General Practitioners
• Jeremy Hunt accused of compromising weekday hospital care The Guardian
• Lengthy waits to see GPs may pose serious risk to patients, says top doctor The Guardian
• Seven-day working for GPs costs more and doesn’t get results | Zara Aziz The Guardian

Cut out the cake culture at work, say top dentists

Cut out the cake culture at work, say top dentists Eating biscuits and cakes in the office is contributing to the nation's obesity epidemic and poor oral health, according to the British Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS). The Daily Mail

'Jet-in' carers fly from Benidorm to Britain amid 'massive' care crisis

'Jet-in' carers fly from Benidorm to Britain amid 'massive' care crisis Builders, barmaids and bankrupt businessmen are flying into Britain from Spanish holiday spots to earn lucrative sums as care workers for the elderly, amid a spiralling crisis in social care.

A Telegraph investigation reveals that thousands of expats are funding lifestyles in the sun by jetting in for fortnightly placements to take sole charge of the vulnerable, with, in many cases, just a few days’ training. The Daily Telegraph