'They saved my life': £90000 donation funds revolutionary equipment at Northampton General Hospital

'They saved my life': £90000 donation funds revolutionary equipment at Northampton General Hospital A £90,000 donation from a 90-year-old woman has funded revolutionary equipment to enhance cancer care at Northampton General Hospital (NGH), which has put them two-to-three years ahead. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

From white coat to grey suit: should more clinicians manage the NHS?

From white coat to grey suit: should more clinicians manage the NHS? In meeting the huge challenges facing the NHS, technology is often looked to as the great hope. Yet studies suggest good management is a more active ingredient for success.

Over the years numerous reports have called for more clinicians to manage the NHS, highlighting their deep knowledge of clinical care, and insight and credibility to make effective change.

Now, over a third of all NHS chief executives hold a clinical qualification and about a third of jobbing clinicians have part-time management roles too. But that’s still only a third, and getting trained in management is patchy and haphazard – a finding echoed in the recent Messenger Review of health and social care leadership.

How can we support more clinicians to manage the NHS, and learn from those who already do it well? Podcast from The Health Foundation

Odds stacked against it: how social care struggles to compete with supermarkets on pay

Odds stacked against it: how social care struggles to compete with supermarkets on pay ‘I dread hearing Aldi opening up nearby... I know I will lose staff.’

This quote cited in last month’s House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee report on the health and care workforce is familiar to many in adult social care. Along with other similar evidence, it led the committee to conclude that ‘social care providers are consistently being outbid by the retail and hospitality sectors’. The King's Fund

Guidance: Bureaucracy busting concordat: principles to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and administrative burdens on general practice

Guidance: Bureaucracy busting concordat: principles to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and administrative burdens on general practice The government made a public commitment as part of the 2020 to 2021 GP contract update to jointly review bureaucracy in general practice with NHS England. The intention of the review was to reduce the burden on general practitioners and primary care teams, releasing more time to focus on patient care. Department of Health and Social Care

At home early medical abortions made permanent in England and Wales

At home early medical abortions made permanent in England and Wales Women in England and Wales will be able to permanently access early medical abortions at home from 30 August.

New legislation will allow women to access pills for early medical abortion via a teleconsultation, and for both pills to be taken at home for gestation of up to 9 weeks and 6 days. Department of Health and Social Care

ONS: Why is the number of deaths higher than expected?

ONS: Why is the number of deaths higher than expected? The threat from Covid may have receded, but renewed concerns are being raised about the high number of total deaths being recorded.

Data from the national statisticians for the UK suggests during the past 10 weeks the number has been 12% higher than would have been expected, based on the average for previous years.

Covid-related deaths are - as they have been for much of the past year - pretty low, accounting for about 4% of deaths in July, making it the sixth-biggest cause of death. So what else could be causing this spike? BBC News

See also:

• Monthly mortality analysis, England and Wales: July 2022 Office for National Statistics
• Up to 12% more Brits than usual died every DAY during last month's heatwave, official data shows The Daily Mail 
• Twice as many people died with Covid in UK this summer compared with 2021 The Guardian

Pandemic may be responsible for drop in melanoma diagnoses, says Staffordshire consultant

Pandemic may be responsible for drop in melanoma diagnoses, says Staffordshire consultant Skin cancer specialists say they are concerned the pandemic has led to fewer people being treated after a drop in the number of melanoma diagnoses.

Wayne Jaffe, a consultant at University Hospital of North Midlands (UHNM), said his team were seeing people with more advanced stages of the disease.

Melanoma diagnoses fell by almost 30% nationally, between April and November 2020, figures show. BBC News

Blood donor world record attempt aims to boost low NHS stocks

Blood donor world record attempt aims to boost low NHS stocks A British charity is attempting to set a world record for the most blood donations given in one day as the NHS says donors are urgently needed to replenish low stocks.

Who Is Hussain, a Muslim social justice charity, is trying to rally 50,000 blood donors across six continents for the record attempt on Saturday August 27. The Independent

NHS fails on mental health care targets as waiting list rises to 1.2 million

NHS fails on mental health care targets as waiting list rises to 1.2 million The number of people waiting for community mental health care has risen to 1.2 million, with the NHS missing several targets, new data reveals.

The NHS England data found the figure for those waiting for a mental health follow-up appointment or learning disability service at the end of 2021-22 was up from 1.08 million at the end of quarter three. The Independent

Boy, 17, found dead after seeking mental health help ‘had not seen GP in person’

Boy, 17, found dead after seeking mental health help ‘had not seen GP in person’ A coroner has expressed concern at the difficulty of getting face-to-face appointments with GPs and other health professionals after a 17-year-old boy suffering from mental health problems was found dead. The Guardian

NHS in crisis: is the UK sleepwalking into privatisation?

NHS in crisis: is the UK sleepwalking into privatisation? The number of Londoners turning to private GPs has hit a record high, but critics warn it’s creating a two-tier system. Katie Strick speaks to doctors and patients on both sides of the UK’s widening healthcare gap. Evening Standard

Simple eye test could diagnose children with autism in half the time, study suggests

Simple eye test could diagnose children with autism in half the time, study suggests A simple eye test at the opticians could diagnose children with autism, a study suggests.

US researchers found the eyes of youngsters with the condition respond more slowly when exposed to bright light.

Their pupils took longer to constrict and return to their original size. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Sensitivity and specificity of pupillary light reflex measures for ASD using monocular pupillometry (open access) Neurological Sciences

Former health secretary Matt Hancock pushes back against doctors' calls for pay rise

Former health secretary Matt Hancock pushes back against doctors' calls for pay rise Taxpayer cash should be spent on speeding up NHS treatment and operations rather than boosting doctors' salaries, former Health Secretary Matt Hancock suggested today amid an NHS pay row.

Mr Hancock pushed back against calls from doctors and nurses for the Government to up its 4.5 per cent increase, which unions say amounts to a real terms pay cut. The Daily Mail

Student finance is ‘broken’ and in urgent need of reform, says BMA, as six out of 10 medical students say they are forced to cut spending on

Student finance is ‘broken’ and in urgent need of reform, says BMA, as six out of 10 medical students say they are forced to cut spending on 60 per cent of UK medical students report being forced to cut spending on essentials such as food, clothing and heating, according to a BMA survey of UK medical students published today.

Despite the detrimental impact on their studies and wellbeing, over half of UK medical students (53.6%) say they have to work during term time to pay their bills, feed themselves and keep themselves warm. An overwhelming majority of those who are forced to work (73.1%) say this adversely affects their studying. British Medical Association

See also:

• Most UK medical students struggle to afford essentials, survey finds The Guardian
• Medical students cutting spending on food and heating, says BMA The Independent

Monkeypox vaccine rationed by giving mini doses

Monkeypox vaccine rationed by giving mini doses Three NHS sites are set to begin a pilot offering eligible patients smaller doses of monkeypox vaccine, amid global shortages of the jab.

Experts say the reduced shots are just as effective and will mean more people are protected.

The fractional dosing approach has been authorised in the US and the EU, as well as the UK. BBC News

See also:

• Monkeypox vaccines to be piloted in smaller but equally effective doses UK Health Security Agency
• Guidance: Monkeypox vaccination recommendations UK Health Security Agency
• Update on vaccination to protect against monkeypox in England UK Health Security Agency

Tony Nicklinson: Decade since death of right-to-die campaigner

Tony Nicklinson: Decade since death of right-to-die campaigner Right-to-die campaigner Tony Nicklinson would be "angry" there has not been more progress on the issue a decade after his death, his daughter has said.

Mr Nicklinson had locked-in syndrome and fought for the right to legally end his life.

He was paralysed from the neck down after suffering a stroke in 2005. He died on 22 August 2012. BBC News

Brain stimulation boosts memory for a month

Brain stimulation boosts memory for a month Scientists have discovered they can boost people's memory for a least a month by harmlessly stimulating parts of the brain with electricity.

Volunteers performed better at word memorisation games, which tested both their immediate "working" memory and their long-term memory, experts found.

Exactly what the results mean for day-to-day life is still unclear. BBC News

See also:

• Long-lasting, dissociable improvements in working memory and long-term memory in older adults with repetitive neuromodulation (open access) Nature Neuroscience

New research offers hope for diabetes patients with sight loss

New research offers hope for diabetes patients with sight loss A new laser treatment for patients with sight loss as a result of diabetes has been shown to be cost-effective and non-invasive, according to research following a clinical trial.

There are currently several treatment options offered to people with Diabetic Macular Oedema (DMO), including two types of laser treatment and eye injections. The Independent

See also:

• DIAbetic Macular Oedema aNd Diode Subthreshold micropulse laser (DIAMONDS): A randomized double-masked non-inferiority clinical trial (abstract, but article available with a Trust OpenAthens account) Ophthalmology

NHS 111 delays ‘leave patients waiting 20 times longer than target’

NHS 111 delays ‘leave patients waiting 20 times longer than target’ Patients calling NHS 111 are being left waiting for operators to answer 20 times longer than the expected time, according to new figures.

The service aims for calls to be answered in less than 20 seconds on average but the latest provisional data shows the average answer time in July was 395 seconds, or six and a half minutes. The Independent

GPs to prescribe walking and cycling in bid to ease burden on NHS

GPs to prescribe walking and cycling in bid to ease burden on NHS GPs around England are to prescribe patients activities such as walking or cycling in a bid to ease the burden on the NHS by improving mental and physical health.

The £12.7m trial, which was announced by the Department for Transport and will begin this year, is part of a wider movement of “social prescribing”, an approach already used in the NHS, in which patients are referred for non-medical activities. The Guardian

See also:

• Walking, wheeling and cycling to be offered on prescription in nationwide trial Department of Health and Social Care