Concern over future of Corby Urgent Care Centre to be raised in Parliament

Concern over future of Corby Urgent Care Centre to be raised in Parliament The MP for Corby says he has been working tirelessly to find a resolution to the dispute over the town’s urgent care centre and has outlined his plans for the coming weeks. Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also:

• Residents set up ‘Save Corby Urgent Care Centre’ group Northamptonshire Telegraph

The NHS financial regime: cleverly flexible or horribly messy?

The NHS financial regime: cleverly flexible or horribly messy? The broad theory behind the NHS financial regime set out in the 2012 Health and Social Care Act built on experience garnered over the previous decade. Autonomous local commissioners would lay contracts with similarly autonomous providers (on a level playing field between NHS and private providers), paid for at nationally set prices (tariffs). These tariffs already existed (mostly for the acute sector) or were meant to progressively expand to cover a wider array of services. The King's Fund

UK health system comes out on top in new report

UK health system comes out on top in new report The UK was rated first out of 11 countries in a report on international healthcare systemspublished today by the Commonwealth Fund.

The report compared the UK to healthcare systems in the US, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and Australia.

The Commonwealth Fund’s report ranks the UK first overall and first for care process (prevention, safe care, coordination, and patient engagement) and equity (comparison of performance for higher- and lower-income individuals). The UK also scores highly in terms of getting value out of the money the tax payer puts in. NHS England

See also:

• Mirror, Mirror 2017: International Comparison Reflects Flaws and Opportunities for Better U.S. Health Care The Commonwealth Fund
• NHS ranked 'number one' health system BBC News
• NHS holds on to top spot in healthcare survey The Guardian

Guidance: Healthcare education and training tariff: 2017 to 2018

Guidance: Healthcare education and training tariff: 2017 to 2018 This document sets out:

• the national tariffs for healthcare education and training placements in the academic year 2017 to 2018
• how the tariffs will be implemented
• in what circumstances the national tariffs may be varied and how to do this

The tariffs cover non-medical placements and medical undergraduate and postgraduate placements in secondary care. Department of Health

2017 drug strategy

2017 drug strategy The drug strategy 2017 sets out how the government and its partners, at local, national and international levels, will take new action to tackle drug misuse and the harms it causes. It builds on an existing approach to preventing drug misuse, supporting people to recover from dependence and restricting the supply of drugs. Home Office

Children 'exercise less as they get older'

Children 'exercise less as they get older' The number of children doing an hour of exercise a day falls by 40% between the ages of five and 12. BBC News

GPs accuse government of 'long-standing underfunding'

GPs accuse government of 'long-standing underfunding' The Royal College of GPs says there is confusion over £500m of future spending commitments. BBC News

Sick patients dying ‘unnecessarily’ in NHS because of poor care

Sick patients dying ‘unnecessarily’ in NHS because of poor care Inquiry finds series of major flaws, including lack of equipment, leading to ‘shocking’ death rate among those who needed emergency oxygen treatment

Some of the sickest patients that hospitals treat are dying unnecessarily because they receive poor care, blighted by shortages of staff and equipment, a new NHS inquiry has revealed.

A death rate of one in three among inpatients who need emergency help with breathing is already high by international standards, and is getting worse. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Acute Non-Invasive Ventilation: Inspiring Change 2017 National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death
• Patients dying due to poor care, 'shocking' NHS report finds The Independent

GP crisis laid bare: 200 surgeries shut in past year

GP crisis laid bare: 200 surgeries shut in past year The figures do not differentiate between surgeries that have closed and merged. But with hundreds of GPs retiring or quitting the NHS each year, it is likely many will be due to closures. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Practices being forced to close will impact patients and wider NHS, says RCGP Royal College of General Practitioners
• More than 200 GP practices closed or merged in past 12 months GPonline

999 callers assessed by Skype instead of being sent ambulance

999 callers assessed by Skype instead of being sent ambulance Patients who phone 999 are being offered a video call assessment rather than an ambulance.

Video consultations using smartphone apps like Skype and FaceTime are being tested out in different areas of England for patients suffering from non-life-threatening conditions, such as falls or back pain.

The calls connect the patient with paramedics and nurses who assess their condition remotely, but there have been warnings that such video consultations can be unreliable.

Details of scheme were revealed by a former call handler at South Central Ambulance Service. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Northamptonshire's ambulance crews given new categories for 999 calls to help pick priorities Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• Patients who call 999 will be assessed over Skype The Daily Mail
• Ambulance response system overhaul will deliver improvements The Guardian

Record NHS negligence payouts, fuelled by maternity blunders

Record NHS negligence payouts, fuelled by maternity blunders The NHS paid out more than £1bn in damages for medical negligence last year - a record high, fuelled by maternity blunders, official figures show.

Patients groups said the figures showed the need to improve safety in hospitals, with particular concerns about the rising costs caused by catastrophic errors in childbirth.

Doctors’ representatives said the trends - which show a doubling in overall negligence costs in a decade, showed the need to cap costs, in order to limit the amount being spent on lawyers.

The figures from NHS Resolution show £1.7bn in total on negligence claims - with almost £700,000 spent on lawyers. The total figure has almost doubled since 2010/11, the statistics show. The Daily Telegraph