NHS 'lost' 91-year-old woman due to 'data protection'

NHS 'lost' 91-year-old woman due to 'data protection' A frustrated son said the NHS "lost" his 91-year-old mother after she was taken to hospital by ambulance.

Harry Whitehouse said the East Midlands Ambulance Service could not tell him where his mother Margaret had been taken due to "data protection". BBC Nottingham

NICE: a terrible beauty

NICE: a terrible beauty NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) is one of the many arms-length bodies set up by the last Labour government – and one of the few to have survived. In the health sector it is almost the only one to have reached the present day with its original remit intact.

It has done so despite living much of its life in ferment. NICE has been accused of everything from being ‘a death panel’ – by denying people potentially life-saving treatment – to being one of Britain’s greatest cultural exports – countries around the world have sought to learn lessons from NICE as they seek to introduce health technology assessment and guidelines. The King's Fund

Care After Cure: Creating a fast track pathway from hospitals to homes

Care After Cure: Creating a fast track pathway from hospitals to homes This report examines how to reduce these pressures on the NHS by making better use of existing residential care facilities, and asks what is needed to allow residential care to step up and take on a more substantial role in the health and social care ecosystem through working more closely with providers of healthcare.

The report proposes a ‘Fast Track Discharge Fund’, worth more than £3 billion over the next five years, and funded out of existing NHS budgets, to both pay for residential care beds to accommodate patients with no medical need to be in hospital, and invest in skills, training and facilities within the residential care sector. Respublica

See also:

• Care homes 'could solve NHS bed-blocking' BBC News
• Bed Blocking crisis to cost NHS £3.3 billion in next five years The Daily Telegraph

What to expect from a good care service

What to expect from a good care service Guidance from the Care Quality Commission aimed at the public, which describes what constitutes good quality care in:

• Hospitals
• GPs
• Care homes
• Home care agencies
• Dentists

Working together we can improve gender identity services – Will Huxter

Working together we can improve gender identity services – Will Huxter In his latest blog the chair of the NHS England Gender Task & Finish Group looks at the work being done to help improve people’s experience of NHS gender identity services.

NHS to help create 'healthy new towns'

NHS to help create 'healthy new towns' Ten new housing developments in England are to be built with healthy living in mind, under an NHS scheme. BBC News

See also:

• Theme parks can inspire new towns to beat childhood obesity, says NHS boss Simon Stevens The Daily Telegraph
• Ten new 'healthy' towns to be built in England The Guardian

Matthew Garnett: Autistic teenager stuck inside psychiatric unit for six months 'is being kept like a prisoner'

Matthew Garnett: Autistic teenager stuck inside psychiatric unit for six months 'is being kept like a prisoner' Family of Matthew Garnett have started a petition calling for NHS bosses to find him a space at a specialist autistic unit. The Independent

Zika virus: Scientists find direct evidence of link with Guillain-Barré syndrome

Zika virus: Scientists find direct evidence of link with Guillain-Barré syndrome Study suggests Latin America can expect rise in number of people suffering from mysterious neurological disorder. The Independent

See also:

• Zika 'might cause' paralysis syndrome BBC News
• 1 in 5 Puerto Ricans will be infected with Zika Virus, warns expert The Daily Mail

Constipation costs the NHS £145m a year as many were 'too embarrassed'

Constipation costs the NHS £145m a year as many were 'too embarrassed' The NHS dealt with 48,409 unplanned emergency admissions to hospital where constipation was given as the primary diagnosis in 2014/15, official figures show. The Daily Mail

Mid-Staff hospital scandal will see no one prosecuted after three year probe

Mid-Staff hospital scandal will see no one prosecuted after three year probe Despite a three-year police investigation, insufficient evidence could be found to mount a single prosecution against managers or staff involved in the Mid-Staffordshire hospital scandal. The Daily Mail

NHS nurse shortages 'to last another four years'

NHS nurse shortages 'to last another four years' Figures show almost 24,000 nursing vacancies as trusts go overseas to recruit staff.

A senior health official has admitted there will be a shortage of nurses in the NHS for another four years after figures revealed that thousands of posts for doctors and nurses have not been filled.

The escalating NHS recruitment crisis is forcing more than two-thirds of trusts to look to migrants to fill vacancies, according to figures released after a freedom of information request by the BBC.

Impossible to ignore the staffing crisis in the NHS. The government attacking the staff isn't the solution Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Will scrapping nurse bursaries help or worsen NHS staffing crisis? The Guardian

NHS chief at centre of 111 scandal authorised secret policy which recorded 999 calls as receiving a 'swift response'

NHS chief at centre of 111 scandal authorised secret policy which recorded 999 calls as receiving a 'swift response' Exclusive: The rule was applied regardless of whether the medical emergency could have been helped by a defibrillator, or whether any attempt was made to use it, a leaked report reveals. The Daily Telegraph