GPs in England 'unconfident' discussing physical activity with patients – report

GPs in England 'unconfident' discussing physical activity with patients – report Less than two-thirds of doctors feel confident discussing activity levels and almost a third have never heard of national guidelines

The majority of doctors in England are unfamiliar with recommended levels of physical activity, with fewer than two-thirds confident about discussing the topic with their patients, researchers have revealed.

Set out in July 2011 by the Chief Medical Office, national guidelines recommend that adults aged between 19 and 64 undertake 75 minutes of intense activity or 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week.  Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• GP consultations not long enough to provide advice on exercise, says RCGP GPonline

NHS patients express increasing dissatisfaction with levels of privacy

NHS patients express increasing dissatisfaction with levels of privacy NHS patients are increasingly dissatisfied with the level of privacy afforded to them in hospital, a new report has revealed, after repeated Government failures to close mixed-sex wards.

A patient-led study assessing the non-clinical aspect of NHS care shows that scores in the area of "privacy, dignity and wellbeing" have decreased by four per cent since 2014.

The revelation comes just months after a long-standing pledge to close mixed-sex hospital wards was dropped by the Conservatives, despite it appearing in both its 2015 and 2010 manifestos. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment 2017 - England NHS Digital

NHS warned over hand sanitiser after pensioner drinks bottle and dies

NHS warned over hand sanitiser after pensioner drinks bottle and dies The NHS has been warned over the use of hand sanitiser after a confused patient drank two litres of gel and later died.

John Haughey, 76, would have been almost six times over the drink-drive limit after consuming the contents of the bottle which had been attached to the bottom of his bed at Hull Royal Infirmary. It contained as much alcohol as a litre of gin.

Mr Haughey drifted in and out of consciousness and died six days later of bronchopneumonia.

Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust has now admitted breach of its duty of care as part of a legal action by the patient's family, and agreed to pay an undisclosed, five-figure sum in damages. The Daily Telegraph

FEATURE: Is waiting longer for an ambulance a good thing? Reporter Carly Roberts goes out on a shift in Northampton

FEATURE: Is waiting longer for an ambulance a good thing? Reporter Carly Roberts goes out on a shift in Northampton My shift started at 6.30am. By 6.57am I was reaching for a vomit bowl and a urine bottle while riding backseat over the speed bumps on our first blue light run.

I was with the East Midlands Ambulance Service trying to ascertain whether new Government response time targets were, as promised, getting paramedics to life-threatening emergencies quicker. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Political consensus needed to ensure the future of health and social care

Political consensus needed to ensure the future of health and social care Survey data shows that the NHS is the institution that makes us most proud to be British and that public satisfaction with the NHS remains at historically high levels. Surveys also reveal increasing pessimism about the future, with the public identifying insufficient funding and the shortage of health care professionals as the main causes of the pressures facing the NHS. During the recent general election campaign, the future of the NHS – alongside Brexit – was identified as the most important issue facing the country. The King's Fund

Report from the UK Shape of Training Steering Group (UKSTSG)

Report from the UK Shape of Training Steering Group (UKSTSG) This report outlines the work of the UKSTSG who are tasked with providing policy advice on NHS workforce planning. It discusses how recommendations in the independent Shape of Training review could be implemented. One of the key recommendations discussed is the need for more generalists and the UKSTSG argues that developing the workforce in this way would support the needs of patients with co-morbidities, provide continuity of care and develop a greater number of doctors working at the interface of primary and secondary care.

Bowel cancer deaths drop by a third in 20 years

Bowel cancer deaths drop by a third in 20 years The rate of people dying from bowel cancer in the UK has plummeted by more than 30 per cent in the last 20 years,* according to new figures.

"GPs and patients are becoming more aware of bowel cancer symptoms and acting more quickly than in the past." - Dr Matt Seymour

Bowel cancer was responsible for 38 deaths per 100,000 people in 1995, falling to 26 deaths per 100,000 people by 2015. The drop in rates, taking into account changing population figures, equates to a decrease in bowel cancer deaths from 17,600 in 1995 to 15,800 in 2015.**

Experts believe better treatment lies behind the dramatic drop in deaths. Improved public awareness among both patients and doctors, the bowel screening programme, may also be playing a part. Cancer Research UK

See also:

• Bowel cancer deaths in UK drop by 30% in 20 years The Daily Mail

How bad is the NHS postcode lottery?s

How bad is the NHS postcode lottery? There has been much talk about whether more of a "postcode lottery" has opened up for NHS patients.

Recent revelations about IVF provision, highlighting major variations around England and more extensive care in Scotland and Wales, added to the debate.

Financial pressures have led some local health commissioners to restrict what services they offer patients.

Now a new analysis of publicly available data reveals diverging trends in England for a range of procedures, including colonoscopy and hip operations. The research has been carried out by the Medical Technology Group, an organisation with members including research charities and product suppliers. BBC News

Why Mental Health Service Cuts Are Contributing To The Mental Health Crisis

Why Mental Health Service Cuts Are Contributing To The Mental Health Crisis As a senior mental health nurse, I have recently made the difficult decision to leave my 17-year career due to stress and burnout caused by the constant cuts faced daily in NHS mental health services, and I’m not alone. Every day professionals are choosing to leave the NHS, or worse, are having to take long term sick leave due to their own mental health issues which have been caused by an extensive work overload, extreme stress and inevitable burn-out. Huffington Post UK

'Art helped me tell my story': brain injury survivors share self-portraits

'Art helped me tell my story': brain injury survivors share self-portraits Making Faces, an exhibition of work by artists exploring identity after a traumatic brain injury, is running at the Southbank Centre in London until 23 August 2017 Continue reading... The Guardian

Viagra prescriptions on NHS triple in 10 years as stigma fades

Viagra prescriptions on NHS triple in 10 years as stigma fades Doctors warn of dangers of buying erectile dysfunction drugs online after £17m of unlicensed and counterfeit Viagra seized in year

The number of prescriptions for Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs has nearly tripled in the last decade as they become cheaper and carry less stigma.

Figures from NHS Digital show there were 2,958,199 prescriptions for sildenafil in 2016, compared with 1,042,431 in 2006. Prescription numbers rose by 43% between 2014 and 2015, and by 16% between 2015 and 2016. Continue reading... The Guardian

Japanese fungus spreading through British hospitals

Japanese fungus spreading through British hospitals A dangerous Japanese fungus is spreading through British hospital wards, health officials warned.

More than 200 patients have been affected or found to carry the fungus, which is resistant to regular drugs.

Hospitals and nursing homes have been ordered to deep clean affected areas and isolate patients after it spread to at least 55 hospitals.

The fungus, Candida auris, has been resistant to all three main classes of anti-fungal drug treatment. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Candid auris Public Health England
• Japanese fungus spreading in UK hospitals BBC News
• Safety alert after drug-resistant 'Japanese fungus' is found in 55 UK hospitals The Daily Telegraph

GPs must consult panel to sending patients to hospital

GPs must consult panel to sending patients to hospital The controversial scheme in the north east of England covers all non-urgent referrals – including requests for hip and knee surgery, cataract removal as well as x-rays and scans. The Daily Mail

Bed blocking figures for Northamptonshire are twice as high as national average, new figures show

Bed blocking figures for Northamptonshire are twice as high as national average, new figures show Northamptonshire is one of the worst areas in England for "bed-blocking", a national report has revealed.

In June, the county had double the national daily average for the numbers of patients kept in hospitals and social care sites by "delayed transfer of care" (DTOC).

Northamptonshire also tied for third across England for the number of beds taken up by patients affected by DTOC. 

Meanwhile, in May, Northampton General Hospital saw 90 incidents of DTOC - near five times its target of 23 incidents a month. Northamptonshire Telegraph

MP writes open letter to health bosses after Corby Urgent Care Centre meeting

MP writes open letter to health bosses after Corby Urgent Care Centre meeting Tom Pursglove has asked bosses at Corby CCG whether they have considered their positions over the uncertainty of the future of the town’s Urgent Care Centre.

At a meeting earlier this week, it was agreed that the site would stay open in the short term if a deal can be agreed between the CCG and site operators Lakeside+.

Mr Pursglove said he was happy that ‘common sense had prevailed’ but has been highly critical of the actions of the CCG’s governing body. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Reducing inequalities in health: towards a brave old world?

Reducing inequalities in health: towards a brave old world? In the past few weeks there has been a lot of interest in trends in population mortality and life expectancy. Michael Marmot pointed out that life expectancy at population level seems to have stalled, which served as a reminder that there has been concern about trends in mortality rates among older people, in 2015 in particular, but perhaps more importantly over a longer period since around 2010. Public Health England also published its first health profile for England and its interpretation of the mortality trends above.

But here I want to focus on inequalities in health, and what three very recent pieces of information and analysis tell us. The King's Fund

MDU says only 15% of claims against doctors succeed

MDU says only 15% of claims against doctors succeed An outdated and adversarial legal system is leading to doctors and patients having to endure considerable stress and anxiety caused by medical negligence claims, yet few succeed, the Medical Defence Union (MDU) has said.

The MDU, the UK's leading medical defence organisation, made the comments as it revealed in its Annual Report for 2016 that it successfully defended 85% of medical claims that closed last year.

Vulnerable children not in crisis are 'left in limbo'

Vulnerable children not in crisis are 'left in limbo' Thousands of vulnerable children in England are being "left in limbo" because their needs are not severe enough, a charity has warned.

Action for Children estimates 140,000 children referred to social services over issues like drugs, alcoholism, domestic violence and neglect are not getting the help they need.

It says they often fall through the cracks as they are not at crisis point.

Ministers say their social care reforms will improve support. BBC News

Tory government quietly doubles number of NHS properties it is selling off

Tory government quietly doubles number of NHS properties it is selling off A secret “fire sale” of hospital land – including dozens of properties still being used for medical care – is planned to bail out the cash-strapped NHS, new documents show.

The Department of Health has quietly doubled the amount of land it intends to dispose of, triggering accusations of desperate measures to plug a big hole in NHS finances.

Details of more than half of the 1,300 hectares now up for sale have been kept under wraps because of “sensitivity” – raising suspicions that many other sites also have clinical uses. The Independent

Ambulance call-outs for mental health patients in England soar by 23%

Ambulance call-outs for mental health patients in England soar by 23% Figures show paramedics helped 30,000 more people experiencing a mental health crisis in 2016-17 compared with 2014-15

The number of ambulance call-outs for people experiencing mental health problems in England has soared by nearly a quarter in two years.

Data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows paramedics helped over 30,000 more patients (172,799) in crisis in 2016-17 compared with 140,137 in 2014-15, a rise of 23%. Continue reading... The Guardian