Tensions run high at meeting over future of Corby Urgent Care Centre

Tensions run high at meeting over future of Corby Urgent Care CentreThere were outbursts aplenty at a tense meeting over the future of the Corby Urgent Care Centre Thursday night.

More than 100 people crammed into the White Hart in Corby Old Village to share their concerns after it was revealed there are no takers for a new contract due to start on October 1. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Guidance: Dementia in older age: barriers to primary prevention and factors

Guidance: Dementia in older age: barriers to primary prevention and factors These documents help commissioners and researchers make decisions about prioritisation of primary prevention measures relevant to dementia.

This review, by the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (2016), shows that there is evidence that the risk of dementia is increased by:

• physical inactivity
• current smoking
• diabetes
• hypertension in mid-life
• obesity in mid-life and depression

It also shows that mental activity can reduce the risk of dementia.

To promote primary prevention of dementia, it is important to understand both the barriers to primary prevention and factors which facilitate primary prevention. Public Health England

GP Forward View falling short on workforce but still the lifeline general practice needs

GP Forward View falling short on workforce but still the lifeline general practice needs The College’s Annual Assessment of the plan, that was launched in April 2016, recognises that NHS England is making progress in delivering many of its approximately 100 pledges – and that the commitment to spend an additional £2.4 billion each year on general practice by 2020/21 is on track.

But the College’s analysis, based on the most up to date statistical and member feedback, raises concerns that the GP Forward View is not having the positive impact on frontline general practice and patient care to the extent and with the speed that is needed.

Today’s report follows an interim assessment by the College, published in January, that found whilst progress is being made, national ambition was not being matched by local delivery and many GPs had yet to see significant change. The College is now calling for a ‘re-think’ on aspects the GP Forward View in order to turn things around – specifically around workforce pledges, but also on other key issues for GPs, such as spiralling costs of indemnity. Royal College of General Practitioners

See also:

• Annual assessment of GP Forward View (download) Royal College of General Practitioners
• Two in five GPs to quit inside five years as Forward View flounders, warns RCGP GPonline
• Royal College of GPs warn profession could reach 'breaking point' The Guardian

Member briefing: Brexit

Member briefing: Brexit National Voices is a member of the Brexit Health Alliance, a group of organisations convened by the NHS Confederation and including industry, professional bodies and patient organisations. This briefing explains the priority areas of concern for the health and care sector as Britain leaves the European Union, and explains the role the Brexit Health Alliance is seeking to play.

Mental health staff recruitment plan for England

Mental health staff recruitment plan for England Thousands more mental health workers are to be recruited by the NHS in England, the health secretary has said.

Jeremy Hunt said it was time to end the "historic imbalance" between mental and physical health services.

The aim is to recruit enough nurses, therapists and consultants to treat an extra one million patients by 2020-21.

But the Royal College of Nursing said the plans did not add up, and more "hard cash" would be needed if the new staff were to be trained in time.

The government said an extra £1bn already promised for mental health services in England would fund the scheme - part of a pot of £1.3bn committed in 2016 to transform provision. BBC News

See also:

• Government promises an extra 21,000 NHS mental health staff The Daily Telegraph
• Mental health sector gives mixed response to £1.3bn plan to improve NHS services The Guardian
• Jeremy Hunt to 'create 21,000 new NHS posts' as part of mental health expansion The Independent

HIV tests for new GP patients 'can aid early diagnosis'

HIV tests for new GP patients 'can aid early diagnosis' Offering HIV testing when people register with a new GP in areas of high prevalence is cost-effective and could prolong lives, a new study says.

Patients at 40 GP surgeries in the London borough of Hackney were given finger-prick HIV testing when registering.

The study, in the Lancet, found this raised the rate of diagnosis four-fold.

The Terrence Higgins Trust welcomed the findings and called on healthcare commissioners to act on them.

Public Health England already recommends that all GPs in areas where HIV prevalence is high, or extremely high, should offer testing to everyone who registers with the practice and has not previously been diagnosed with the virus. BBC News

See also:

• NHS study: HIV test should be given to all registered The Daily Mail

Mixed-sex wards endanger and humiliate women

Mixed-sex wards endanger and humiliate women Even as gender-neutral spaces grow, hospitals show that in some areas men and women are best kept apart

Courtesy of some artful timing, the latest of Theresa May’s difficulties – on mixed-sex hospital wards – caused less of a stir than her choice of the Alps, also disclosed as Westminster shut down, for her and Philip’s next walking holiday. Confirmation of a 50% rise, in May’s one year in office, in the number of patients treated in same-sex wards, a subject of consuming Tory interest until she dropped it from their manifesto, must now take second place to a £26 shirt dress.

Accusations of shiftiness are more quickly forgotten, after all, than are reversals on this scale. The unacceptability of mixed-sex wards has been a cherished theme for every opposition since Tony Blair alighted, in 1996, on what is still, universally, agreed to be a valid cause of public upset. Continue reading... The Guardian

NHS bosses are secretly planning to slash prescriptions

NHS bosses are secretly planning to slash prescriptions NHS bosses are secretly planning to extend waiting times, slash prescriptions and heavily ration hip and knee operations, doctors’ leaders warn.

They have launched a major cost-cutting drive across 13 regions in England which all massively blew their budgets last year.

Managers in these areas which include Bristol, Northumberland, Cambridgeshire and North and Central London have been ordered to make collective savings of £500 million over the next 12 months.

But they have not published any details of how they will meet this target or set out exactly which treatments and services will be cut. The Daily Mail

Negligent hospitals to get free pass at inquests under costs cap - warning

Negligent hospitals to get free pass at inquests under costs cap - warning NHS hospitals responsible for patient deaths will get a free pass at inquests under Government proposals to cap legal costs, the lawyer for victims of the Bristol heart scandal has warned.

Coroners’ hearings to establish what went wrong will become “truncated” and chances to learn lessons lost, said Laurence Vick, who represented multiple families in the wake of the 1990s fatalities.

Loved-ones with limited means are often represented for free at inquests by lawyers who gamble on getting paid after winning a subsequent compensation battle in court. The Daily Telegraph

A joined-up approach to recruitment

A joined-up approach to recruitment Andrew Belcher, clinical resource planning manager at Northampton General Hospital, explains how healthcare providers in his county have come together collectively to address the skills crisis.

The shortage of nurses and doctors is a national issue. The Royal College of Nursing’s chief executive and general secretary, Janet Davies, recently revealed there are 40,000 nursing vacancies in England, with 96% of hospitals in the UK having nursing shortages. It was also reported that GP recruitment has slumped by 20%, adding to the pressures on A&E doctors because people have trouble accessing a GP.

In Northamptonshire, four leading NHS healthcare providers have partnered with the University of Northampton to collectively address the skills crisis.

Northampton General Hospital has partnered with the University of Northampton, Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS FT, Kettering General Hospital and St Andrew’s Healthcare to launch the ‘Best of Both Worlds’ recruitment campaign. National Health Executive

See also:

• Nurses needed across Northamptonshire News-Medical.Net

Corby Urgent Care Centre contingency plan ‘no longer an option’

Corby Urgent Care Centre contingency plan ‘no longer an option’ Corby CCG says it is unable to make any reassurances over provision for the town’s urgent care centre when the current contract ends in nine weeks.

The site in Cottingham Road has been at the centre of an ongoing row over funding, with operators Lakeside+ saying a new contract to start on October 1 doesn’t offer enough money.

Corby CCG put the contract out to tender but the only bidder withdrew - and it’s now been revealed that that bidder was the same organisation which was earmarked as a contingency operator when Lakeside+ threatened to walk away in March. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Practical value in the NHS

Practical value in the NHS ‘Value’ sounds like a familiar concept but it can mean different things to different people. One definition of value in the health and care sector is ‘health outcomes per dollar spent’, so attempts to increase value can look at either improving quality or reducing cost.

The King’s Fund has previously highlighted the fact that addressing waste and variability in clinical work can create better value in the NHS. But what does value mean to people working in the NHS – and how it is being applied in practice?

Are STP mental health plans destined to fail?

Are STP mental health plans destined to fail? Norman Lamb MP warns that it would be a huge mistake to waste the opportunity sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) present to fix struggling mental health services and encourage parity of esteem. National Health Executive

Nursing associate case studies published

Nursing associate case studies published Health Education England has now published a range of case studies on the pilot nursing associate role programme, featuring the new trainees.

Using data to improve nurse retention case study

Using data to improve nurse retention case study A new case study looking at how staff from Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust used data to reduce nurse turnover by 2 per cent and the costs relating to recruitment of temporary and agency staff. NHS Employers

‘Top up stealth tax’ forced on older people entitled to free care

‘Top up stealth tax’ forced on older people entitled to free care A new report has revealed that the families of a quarter of care home residents whose care is supposed to be free are being forced into paying top up fees.

When a person is moving into a care home they take the means-test to decide whether they are able to pay for their own care or whether the council should pay. To qualify for state-funded support, they must show that they have modest assets - which currently can only be up to the value of £23,250.

In its latest 'Behind the headlines' report, Age UK has revealed that even those who have met these strict conditions to pass the means test are now being made to pay ‘top up fees’. These fees are paid by the care home resident to supplement the council’s payment of their care.

GPC warning ignored as CCGs roll out bans on GPs prescribing OTC drugs

GPC warning ignored as CCGs roll out bans on GPs prescribing OTC drugs CCGs are imposing bans on GPs prescribing drugs available OTC just days after NHS England began a consultation on the issue, despite warnings that GPs refusing to prescribe medicines their patients need could be in breach of their contracts. GPonline

NHS accused of shrouding £500m of planned cuts in secrecy

NHS accused of shrouding £500m of planned cuts in secrecy BMA says patients deserve to know the impact of savings in healthcare across England

Doctors’ leaders have accused NHS bosses of shrouding controversial plans for £500m of cuts to services across England in “totally unacceptable secrecy”.

Patients deserve to know how hospitals being told to “think the unthinkable” as part of the savings drive will affect their access to healthcare, the British Medical Association (BMA) said on Friday. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Refusal to discuss 'unthinkable' cuts British Medical Association
• Secret NHS cuts will cause uproar once revealed, doctors claim ITV News

I’m an NHS doctor: understaffing is putting my patients at risk | Anonymous

I’m an NHS doctor: understaffing is putting my patients at risk | Anonymous The government has broken its word and, despite all the warnings, seems to be ignoring the danger of a Mid Staffs-style scandal on a national scale• Anonymous is a junior hospital doctor

A new joke is doing the rounds in my hospital. How many doctors does it take to change a lightbulb? The answer is 11. One to do the actual changing, the other 10 invented by Department of Health spin doctors in response to the latest headlines about NHS understaffing.

This week, those headlines could not have been more stark. Data from NHS Digital revealed that there are more than 86,000 vacant posts in NHS England – a rise of 15.8% on last year, and the highest number on record. But not one of the doctors and nurses I work with was remotely surprised by the news. One day’s fleeting headlines are our everyday lived and breathed reality.

Keeping everyone safe will demand superhuman efforts that I’m not sure I have the stamina to keep providing much longer Continue reading... The Guardian

My son died of sepsis. He'd still be alive if I'd known what it was

My son died of sepsis. He'd still be alive if I'd known what it was There is a gaping hole in public, and clinical, awareness of the condition. Information about sepsis needs to be put into parents’ hands

My son Sam should be 10 years old. I say “should” because on 23 December 2010 he died suddenly and avoidably from sepsis. When he came down with flu-like symptoms the week before Christmas I wasn’t overly concerned as he was still behaving like Sam would when he was ill.

But the morning of 22 December was different. He didn’t perk up as normal after medicine. He looked very pale, wasn’t interested in anything and was incredibly thirsty. What struck me as most odd was that his very high temperature had dropped almost to normal, but he looked so much more ill. I thought a lowering temperature meant he should be getting better – it didn’t make sense. I had never heard of sepsis. Continue reading... The Guardian