New report on apprenticeship levy strategies in NHS Trusts

New report on apprenticeship levy strategies in NHS Trusts A new report published by BPP University has surveyed 175 trusts on their apprenticeship levy strategies. The key findings from the report include:
- 95 per cent of the 175 trusts in England surveyed plan to use their apprenticeship levy fund
- more than half surveyed expect to spend the majority, if not all of their levy funds for 2017-18
- trusts plan to spend most of their levy funds on existing employees, rather than recruiting new employees into apprenticeship roles
- nine out of ten employers said they would use the levy to support workforce planning
- an appetite for nursing degree apprenticeships with 85 per cent of the 175 trusts surveyed looking to offer them. NHS Employers

Community-wide approach needed to tackle growing challenge of loneliness and social isolation

Community-wide approach needed to tackle growing challenge of loneliness and social isolation Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, has responded to a study published in the BMJ about the links between loneliness and social isolation and cardiovascular conditions.

She said: "Loneliness and social isolation can have a devastating impact on our patients' long term health and wellbeing - this is something the College has been highlighting for some time, and is backed up by this research.

"The reality is that loneliness and social isolation, particularly for older people, can be on a par in terms of its impact on health with suffering from a chronic long-term condition, and, as this study shows, increase the likelihood of developing serious conditions, such as heart attacks and strokes. Royal College of General Practitioners

Extended NHS 111 direct booking pilot subject to local pay decisions - Pulse

Extended NHS 111 direct booking pilot subject to local pay decisions - Pulse Local commissioners will decide how much, if at all, GP practices will be paid to take part in extended piloting of NHS 111 direct booking of appointments.

A pilot running in the North East of England since 2016 has offered practices 70p per patient, however NHS England told Pulse this was not national policy.

NHS England also confirmed that it will require CCGs to ensure 30% of all GP appointments are open to direct booking by NHS 111 from April 2019. Pulse

NHS 'is hiding care cash' as families blow life savings - The Times

NHS 'is hiding care cash' as families blow life savings - The Times Thousands of vulnerable elderly people may be missing out on state funding for their care because they and their families have no idea it exists, according to an exclusive survey.

Almost nine in ten people (87%) in a poll of more than 1,000 aged 45-60 — the group most likely to be taking care funding decisions for their parents — did not know about NHS continuing healthcare. This covers the care fees of those with complex medical needs. Crucially, it is available regardless of wealth. The Times

May must consider tax rises to fund NHS and social care, say MPs - The Guardian

May must consider tax rises to fund NHS and social care, say MPs - The Guardian Theresa May is under mounting pressure to consider tax rises to fund Britain’s creaking health and social care system, as a group of high-powered MPs on Monday call for a new commission to recommend money-raising measures.

Among the signatories to a letter to the prime minister are 21 select committee chairs who are urging May to set up a year-long “parliamentary commission”, echoing the approach taken after the banking bailouts.

Sarah Wollaston, MP for Totnes and chair of the health and social care committee, said: “We call on the government to act with urgency and to take a whole system approach to the funding of the NHS, social care and public health. On behalf of all those who rely on services, we need to break down the political barriers and to agree a way forward.” The Guardian

See also:

• An NHS tax would make the public question whether the health service is really worth what we pay for it The Telegraph
• How should we pay for the NHS? BBC News
• NHS finances in 'perilous state', says damning Public Accounts Committee report The Independent

Southern Health fined £2 million over deaths of two patients - BBC News

Southern Health fined £2 million over deaths of two patients - BBC News An NHS trust that admitted failing two patients who died in its care, one in a bath, has been fined £2m.

Connor Sparrowhawk, 18, drowned in Oxford in 2013. Teresa Colvin, 45, died in Hampshire in 2012.

Southern Health admitted to "systemic failures" and pleaded guilty in 2017 to breaching health and safety laws. BBC News

See also:

• NHS trust fined £2m for Connor Sparrowhawk and Teresa Colvin deaths The Guardian

Exclusive: GPs deliver services worth millions of pounds for free

Exclusive: GPs deliver services worth millions of pounds for free GP practices are continuing to provide services worth many millions of pounds per year for which they receive no funding, a GPonline poll reveals.Seven out of 10 GP partners say their practice delivers at least one non-core service for no extra money, the poll of 255 partners found - suggesting that more than 5,000 practices in England may be carrying out unfunded work. GP Online

Global antibiotic consumption soars feeding spread of UK 'super-bugs'

Global antibiotic consumption soars feeding spread of UK 'super-bugs'
Drug-resistant superbugs are rising in the UK because of lack of regulation of antibiotics in developing countries, experts have warned.

One of the biggest studies of antibiotic use around the world has established that while antibiotic use in Britain has slowed, global consumption jumped by 65 percent, to 34.8 billion daily doses between 2000 and 2015. The Telegraph

See also:

• 'I almost died': the true cost of antibiotic resistance in Britain and around the world The Telegraph
• Antibiotic demand has surged by 65 percent Mail Online
• Global use of antibiotics has risen by almost 40 % in 15 years Mail Online

Patients not told about doctors' big pharma conflicts of interest - new study

Patients not told about doctors' big pharma conflicts of interest - new study
Hospitals are failing to inform patients when doctors responsible for choosing their drugs have received thousands of pounds from pharmaceutical companies, a new study reveals.

A survey in the British Medical Journal shows just six per cent of NHS trusts publish their register of gifts and hospitality online and that the majority make it practically impossible for patients to determine if there is a conflict of interest.  The Telegraph

Thousands of bowel cancer patients at risk as hospitals ignore genetic test

Thousands of bowel cancer patients at risk as hospitals ignore genetic test The lives of thousands of bowel cancer patients are being put at needless risk because hospitals are failing to perform a simple genetic test, an investigation has found.

More than eight out of 10 hospitals are ignoring official guidelines by not carrying out screening for Lynch syndrome when patients are diagnosed with the cancer.

Carried by an estimated 175,000 people, the faulty gene makes a person 80 per cent more likely to develop bowel cancer and means chemotherapy is less likely to work. The Telegraph

See also:

• Four in five hospitals won't carry out 'life saving' bowel cancer test Mail Online
• Lynch Syndrome: Call for NHS to fund 'life-saving' bowel cancer test Sky News
• Hospitals 'failing' on genetic bowel cancer test BBC News

NHS: Over 3,000 more midwifery training places offered

NHS: Over 3,000 more midwifery training places offered More than 3,000 places on midwifery training courses are to be created over the next four years in England as part of plans to meet NHS staffing demands.

The government has announced a 25% boost in training places, which it said amounted to the "largest ever" increase in NHS midwives and maternity staff. It follows a similar plan for nurses which was announced last year. The Royal College of Midwives welcomed the move but said training more midwives was only half of the problem. The plan needs investment and time to make it work, the RCM added. BBC News - Health
See also:

• Hunt to unveil plan for women to have the same midwives throughout pregnancy The Guardian

Hospital doctors will find new NHS order on checkups 'impossible'

Hospital doctors will find new NHS order on checkups 'impossible' Hospital bosses have ridiculed a new edict from the NHS which insists every inpatient should be medically assessed each morning and evening by a senior doctor.

They claim the order is “impossible” to fulfil because so many hospitals are struggling to fill medical rotas because of widespread shortages of doctors, which are as high as 25% in some places.

The instruction came earlier this month in a letter to the chief executives and medical directors of hospitals in England from the regulators NHS England and NHS Improvement. It made clear that in a bid to cut the number of patients using beds unnecessarily, hospitals must “ensure every patient has a review at the start and end of the day by a senior clinician to facilitate discharge”. The Guardian

Home ‘MOTs’ to improve housing health

Home ‘MOTs’ to improve housing health The NHS is teaming up with councils to improve health through better housing through home ‘MOTs’, quick homes grants, falls help lines, stair lifts and heating systems among others.

A King’s Fund and National Housing Federation report out now on housing and health says the cost of poor housing to the NHS is £1.4 billion per year. NHS Networks

See also:

• Health and Housing report The King's Fund

New draft regulations to prevent discrimination against applicants who speak up

New draft regulations to prevent discrimination against applicants who speak up Staff who speak up about patient safety issues and seek new jobs in the NHS will be protected under new draft regulations proposed by the government.

The new regulations seek to prohibit an employer from treating an applicant less favourably than another based on their previous history of raising concerns. Under existing legislation, ‘workers’ are protected against detrimental treatment, while the new amendments to the Employment Rights Act 1996 will extend this to include applicants. NHS Employers

Jeremy Hunt backs 10-year funding deals for NHS – video

Jeremy Hunt backs 10-year funding deals for NHS – video The health secretary has conceded he believes taxes may have to rise to pay for a boost in NHS spending. Appearing on ITV’s Peston on Sunday, Hunt said speculation in the Sunday Times about a £4bn-a-year funding boost to coincide with the NHS’s 70th birthday was premature.

However, Hunt, who resisted Theresa May’s plan to move him into another post in January, argued that it was time to scrap what he said had been a 'feast or famine' approach to funding the health service The Guardian

Northampton General Hospital working to improve patient safety with orthopaedic data audit

Northampton General Hospital working to improve patient safety with orthopaedic data audit  Northampton General Hospital has successfully completed the national programme of local data audits to improve patient safety. The registry collects orthopaedic data to provide evidence to support patient safety, standards in quality of care, and overall cost effectiveness in joint replacement surgery. Northampton Chronicle & Echo

News story: Tuberculosis (TB) cases fall by over a third in last 6 years

Tuberculosis (TB) cases fall by over a third in last 6 years New Public Health England (PHE) data released for World TB day show a 9.3% decline in cases of TB in 2017. This represents the lowest rate of TB in 35 years. This contributes to the 38% decline in the number of people with TB in England over the last 6 years.
However, there is still more work to do. TB is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and England has one of the highest rates in Western Europe with just under 5,200 people affected by TB in 2017. Public Health England

IAPT pathway for people with long-term physical conditions and medically unexplained symptoms

IAPT pathway for people with long-term physical conditions and medically unexplained symptoms From April 2018 all CCGs are expected to expand Improving Access to Psychological Therapies by commissioning (IAPT) services integrated into physical healthcare pathways. This document supports this expansion by setting out the treatment pathway that underpins the access and waiting time standards, which all services should seek to measure themselves against. NHS England

NHS boss demands maximum punishment for every violent offence against paramedics

NHS boss demands maximum punishment for every violent offence against paramedics The head of NHS England, Simon Stevens, told a gathering of ambulance service top brass that he wanted to see the authorities take the toughest possible action against members of the public who subject frontline ambulance crews and control room staff to violent acts or abuse while on duty. NHS England

Supporting employees' mid-life career needs

Supporting employees' mid-life career needs As part of the Department for Work and Pensions' Fuller Working Lives strategy (2017), the National Careers Service has teamed up with local enterprise partnerships to trial supporting local employers with their employees’ mid-life career needs. NHS Employers