Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Doctors 'must report child abuse'
Doctors 'must report child abuse': Doctors should not fear reporting suspicions about child abuse, the regulator of the profession says. BBC News
NHS Informatics to be pulled in three
NHS Informatics to be pulled in three: Responsibility for NHS IT at a national level is to be split three ways between the Department of Health, the NHS Commissioning Board, and the Health and Social Care Information Centre. E-Health Insider
Loneliness toolkit for health and wellbeing boards
Loneliness toolkit for health and wellbeing boards:
This digital toolkit aims to help assess the needs and set out strategic methods of tackling loneliness. This digital toolkit enables health and wellbeing boards to better understand, identify and commission interventions for the issue of loneliness in older age. It explains how to best include assessments of loneliness prevalence and indicators in joint strategic needs assessments and joint health and wellbeing strategies. It covers key research on the detrimental impact of loneliness on our health and offers a financial case for taking preventative action.
This digital toolkit aims to help assess the needs and set out strategic methods of tackling loneliness. This digital toolkit enables health and wellbeing boards to better understand, identify and commission interventions for the issue of loneliness in older age. It explains how to best include assessments of loneliness prevalence and indicators in joint strategic needs assessments and joint health and wellbeing strategies. It covers key research on the detrimental impact of loneliness on our health and offers a financial case for taking preventative action.
Health visitor numbers increasing
Health visitor numbers increasing:
The Department of Health has confirmed that it is "on track" to fulfil its target of increasing the number of health visitors by another 4,200 by April 2015.The DH website said over 6,000 health visitors would be trained by 2015 and added: "Increasing health visitor numbers should allow local teams to improve public health outcomes and provide personalised care, giving health visitors more time to provide... Healthcare Today
The Department of Health has confirmed that it is "on track" to fulfil its target of increasing the number of health visitors by another 4,200 by April 2015.The DH website said over 6,000 health visitors would be trained by 2015 and added: "Increasing health visitor numbers should allow local teams to improve public health outcomes and provide personalised care, giving health visitors more time to provide... Healthcare Today
Lansley 'was shut out of NHS reform meetings' - The Independent
Lansley 'was shut out of NHS reform meetings' - The Independent:
Lansley 'was shut out of NHS reform meetings' The Independent Andrew Lansley was excluded from key meetings at which the Government's highly controversial plans to reform the NHS were first drawn up, a new book serialised in The Independent reveals today. and more » |
Hundreds die from strokes at weekends because of poorer NHS care: study
Hundreds die from strokes at weekends because of poorer NHS care: study: Hundreds die unnecessarily every year because they suffer a stroke at weekend when NHS care is poorer.
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily TelegraphMonday, 9 July 2012
Racist nurse gave council hate crime talk to council staff
Racist nurse gave council hate crime talk to council staff:
A racist nurse who worked for Northamptonshire’s NHS mental health trust later gave a talk on race-hate to 300 staff in her council job, the local authority has admitted. Northampton Chornicle and Echo
A racist nurse who worked for Northamptonshire’s NHS mental health trust later gave a talk on race-hate to 300 staff in her council job, the local authority has admitted. Northampton Chornicle and Echo
NHS IT 'does have benefits'
NHS IT 'does have benefits': Why the NHS does need a joined-up computer system BBC News
GPs must educate patients to cut demand on NHS, ministers say
GPs must educate patients to cut demand on NHS, ministers say: GPs must play 'a key role' in educating patients about self-treatment to help manage demand on the NHS, ministers have said. GP Online
Total PFI bill ''will be around £301bn''
Total PFI bill ''will be around £301bn'': By 2029/30 the annual PFI spending for the NHS is expected to be £2.71bn, new Treasury figures show Public Service
10 years' budget pain for the NHS
10 years' budget pain for the NHS:
A report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies has warned that the NHS in England could face a decade of austerity.
In analysis of the long-term financial future of the health service, funded by the Nuffield Trust, the IFS say the NHS should be prepared to face even tougher times ahead than it has already experienced.
Within that, it said a serious consideration should be whether all services continue to... Healthcare Today
Full report here
A report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies has warned that the NHS in England could face a decade of austerity.
In analysis of the long-term financial future of the health service, funded by the Nuffield Trust, the IFS say the NHS should be prepared to face even tougher times ahead than it has already experienced.
Within that, it said a serious consideration should be whether all services continue to... Healthcare Today
Full report here
David Cameron accused of hypocrisy over £1.4bn 'raid' on NHS funds
David Cameron accused of hypocrisy over £1.4bn 'raid' on NHS funds:
Labour condemns PM as 'NHS conman' after official figures reveal Treasury took back unspent money earmarked for health
David Cameron has been accused of hypocrisy over the NHS after official figures revealed that the Treasury has taken back £1.4bn of money earmarked for health spending which was not spent by the Department of Health.
Labour condemned the move as a "raid" on NHS funding by George Osborne, while unions representing doctors and nurses and the country's leading health thinktank said patients would lose out as a result.
The Treasury have confirmed that £1.4bn of £1.7bn not spent by the department on the NHS in England in 2011-12 had come back to it. Whitehall sources said it would now be used to help fund the freeze in council tax, major infrastructure projects and other key areas of public spending not related to health.
Most of the £1.7bn underspend was the result of the NHS employing fewer managers and ministers scaling back on "wasteful" IT projects and administration costs, a DH spokesman said. "The reason why there's an underspend is because of efficiency [savings]," he added.
"The government promised that all efficiency savings would be reinvested in the NHS, but Friday's figures confirm George Osborne's £1bn raid on its budget to pay for tax cuts for millionaires," said Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary. "People will today see David Cameron for the NHS conman he is: repeatedly cutting the budget on the quiet while 4,000 nursing posts are axed and patients pay the price."
Prof John Appleby, chief economist at the King's Fund health thinktank, said the DH should not have allowed the underspend to be taken. "This money shouldn't have been given back by Andrew Lansley. It could have been spent on health or social care, where we know we need to spend more money because needs are rising," he said. "This is over a billion pounds that was agreed by parliament to be spent on healthcare, which now won't be, so it's very surprising that ministers have agreed to do this given we know that there are extra demands on the NHS, and this money could have been used to improve people's health."
The British Medical Association, the doctors' union, said that any savings made in the NHS should go into improving patient care, not to the Treasury. "It is unclear how these efficiency savings were made and we need to see more detail. If it is the case that significant efficiency savings have been achieved, these resources should be reinvested in patient care," said a BMA spokeswoman.
Dr Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the generation of a £1.7bn surplus at the same time as many hospital trusts were cutting staff to save money was "a matter of great concern. Any Treasury clawback will only serve to take resources still further from the frontline. Money saved would be far better invested in providing patient care and keeping people fit and healthy. Patients will rightly question why money is diverted elsewhere at a time when demand is rising and resources are scarce."
But Whitehall sources countered that the £1.4bn clawback was less than the amount of DH underspend they have taken back in recent years, which has averaged £2bn and reached £2.9bn in 2007-08.
Labour also seized on a separate DH admission that actual spending by the NHS in England last year was slightly less than the year before, bucking a longstanding year-on-year upward trend. According to Treasury figures the, service spent £104.24bn in 2011-12, which was £26m – or 0.02% – less than 2010-11. The fall occurred despite the coalition's pledge to increase the NHS budget by 0.1% a year every year until 2015. The Guardian
David Cameron has been accused of hypocrisy over the NHS after official figures revealed that the Treasury has taken back £1.4bn of money earmarked for health spending which was not spent by the Department of Health.
Labour condemned the move as a "raid" on NHS funding by George Osborne, while unions representing doctors and nurses and the country's leading health thinktank said patients would lose out as a result.
The Treasury have confirmed that £1.4bn of £1.7bn not spent by the department on the NHS in England in 2011-12 had come back to it. Whitehall sources said it would now be used to help fund the freeze in council tax, major infrastructure projects and other key areas of public spending not related to health.
Most of the £1.7bn underspend was the result of the NHS employing fewer managers and ministers scaling back on "wasteful" IT projects and administration costs, a DH spokesman said. "The reason why there's an underspend is because of efficiency [savings]," he added.
"The government promised that all efficiency savings would be reinvested in the NHS, but Friday's figures confirm George Osborne's £1bn raid on its budget to pay for tax cuts for millionaires," said Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary. "People will today see David Cameron for the NHS conman he is: repeatedly cutting the budget on the quiet while 4,000 nursing posts are axed and patients pay the price."
Prof John Appleby, chief economist at the King's Fund health thinktank, said the DH should not have allowed the underspend to be taken. "This money shouldn't have been given back by Andrew Lansley. It could have been spent on health or social care, where we know we need to spend more money because needs are rising," he said. "This is over a billion pounds that was agreed by parliament to be spent on healthcare, which now won't be, so it's very surprising that ministers have agreed to do this given we know that there are extra demands on the NHS, and this money could have been used to improve people's health."
The British Medical Association, the doctors' union, said that any savings made in the NHS should go into improving patient care, not to the Treasury. "It is unclear how these efficiency savings were made and we need to see more detail. If it is the case that significant efficiency savings have been achieved, these resources should be reinvested in patient care," said a BMA spokeswoman.
Dr Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the generation of a £1.7bn surplus at the same time as many hospital trusts were cutting staff to save money was "a matter of great concern. Any Treasury clawback will only serve to take resources still further from the frontline. Money saved would be far better invested in providing patient care and keeping people fit and healthy. Patients will rightly question why money is diverted elsewhere at a time when demand is rising and resources are scarce."
But Whitehall sources countered that the £1.4bn clawback was less than the amount of DH underspend they have taken back in recent years, which has averaged £2bn and reached £2.9bn in 2007-08.
Labour also seized on a separate DH admission that actual spending by the NHS in England last year was slightly less than the year before, bucking a longstanding year-on-year upward trend. According to Treasury figures the, service spent £104.24bn in 2011-12, which was £26m – or 0.02% – less than 2010-11. The fall occurred despite the coalition's pledge to increase the NHS budget by 0.1% a year every year until 2015. The Guardian
Warning over keyhole surgery safety in NHS cash squeeze
Warning over keyhole surgery safety in NHS cash squeeze: Surgeons are being forced to carry out operations using outdated equipment because of a squeeze on NHS budgets in the economic downturn, it is claimed today.
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
Councils' lack of cash hits 7,000 elderly and disabled
Councils' lack of cash hits 7,000 elderly and disabled:
More than 7,000 disabled and elderly people have lost some or all of their state-funded support, after cash-strapped councils changed their rules on who qualifies for social care. The Independent
More than 7,000 disabled and elderly people have lost some or all of their state-funded support, after cash-strapped councils changed their rules on who qualifies for social care. The Independent
Care pathway used to 'cut costs' claim doctors
Care pathway used to 'cut costs' claim doctors:
Hospitals may be withholding food and drink from elderly patients so they die quicker to cut costs and save on bad spaces, leading doctors have warned.The Independent
Hospitals may be withholding food and drink from elderly patients so they die quicker to cut costs and save on bad spaces, leading doctors have warned.The Independent
Increase in whooping cough cases continues
Increase in whooping cough cases continues: The number of confirmed cases of pertussis in England and Wales reported to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) continues to rise, with 1,781 cases reported to the end of May 2012, compared to a total of 1,118cases across the whole of 2011. Health Protection Agency
Friday, 6 July 2012
Northamptonshire falls service recognised with national award
Northamptonshire falls service recognised with national award:
A joint initiative from the county council and East Midlands Ambulance Service which treats people who have suffered falls has been given a national award. Evening Telegraph
A joint initiative from the county council and East Midlands Ambulance Service which treats people who have suffered falls has been given a national award. Evening Telegraph
Provider reform: will anything be different this time round? | Chris Ham
Provider reform: will anything be different this time round? | Chris Ham: Current debates about the future of hospitals and bringing care closer to home echo those of the 1970s. So will anything be different this time round? (Blog, 5 Jul 2012) Kings Fund
Report outlines effect of the NHS Constitution
Report outlines effect of the NHS Constitution:
The report seeks
to clarify the effect of the NHS Constitution on those who use NHS services and who work in the NHS. It considers whether, and to what extent, the Constitution has made a difference to patients, staff, carers and the public, and examines the degree to which it is succeeding in its aims. NHS Networks
The report seeks
to clarify the effect of the NHS Constitution on those who use NHS services and who work in the NHS. It considers whether, and to what extent, the Constitution has made a difference to patients, staff, carers and the public, and examines the degree to which it is succeeding in its aims. NHS Networks
Councils 'ration' elderly care
Councils 'ration' elderly care: Most councils in England are imposing unreasonably short time limits on people who care for the elderly at home, according to the UK Homecare Association. BBC News
'Wake up and smell' the data breach fine, warns ICO
'Wake up and smell' the data breach fine, warns ICO: Thousands of data protection complaints made in last year, but more than £2m worth of fines now issued Public Service
Securing the future financial sustainability of the NHS
Securing the future financial sustainability of the NHS:
This report found that, although in 2011-12 there was a surplus of £2.1 billion across the NHS as a whole, there is also some financial distress, particularly in some hospital trusts. It concludes that it is hard to see how continuing to give financial support to organisations in difficulty will be a sustainable way of reconciling growing demand for healthcare with the size of efficiency gains required within the NHS and that without major change for some providers, the financial pressure on them will only get more severe.
This report found that, although in 2011-12 there was a surplus of £2.1 billion across the NHS as a whole, there is also some financial distress, particularly in some hospital trusts. It concludes that it is hard to see how continuing to give financial support to organisations in difficulty will be a sustainable way of reconciling growing demand for healthcare with the size of efficiency gains required within the NHS and that without major change for some providers, the financial pressure on them will only get more severe.
NHS change model
NHS change model:
The model has been created to support the NHS to adopt a shared approach to leading change and transformation. It is hoped that practical information, tools and support will be added over the coming months.
The model has been created to support the NHS to adopt a shared approach to leading change and transformation. It is hoped that practical information, tools and support will be added over the coming months.
PFI will ultimately cost £300bn
PFI will ultimately cost £300bn:
Repayments on contracts will grow to £10bn a year by 2017-18, say Guardian figures, and government is still striking new deals PFI contracts: read the full list here
The cost of Britain's controversial private finance initiative will continue to soar for another five years and end up costing taxpayers more than £300bn, according to a Guardian analysis of contracts that were sanctioned by the Treasury.
Despite recent coalition criticism suggesting that the government was going cold on the scheme, recently published figures indicate that repayments will continue ballooning until they peak at £10.1bn a year by 2017-18.
The 717 PFI contracts currently under way across the UK are funding new schools, hospitals and other public facilities with a total capital value of £54.7bn, but the overall ultimate cost will reach £301bn by the time they have been paid off over the coming decades.
Much of this difference is due to ongoing running costs built into the contracts, but the schemes have also been criticised for providing poor value for money compared with the interest rates the government would pay if it borrowed money directly to pay for the schemes.
Last week, South London Healthcare Trust, which runs three hospitals in south-east London, was placed in administration by the health secretary as it struggled to meet the cost of its PFI obligations.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of the union Unison, said on Thursday night: "The NHS is just the start of the story.
"We're sitting on a PFI debt time bomb, and the sheer scale of the burden paints a seriously grim picture for the future of our public services."
PFI had left the UK with a "staggering mountain of debt," Prentis said.
The Treasury said on Thursday that it expected to make an announcement soon following a "fundamental review" of PFI and a search for alternatives, initiated by ministers late last year amid concern that too many of the deals represent poor value for money. Ministers recognised the concern felt about PFI and had already acted to make savings, added a spokeswoman.
The Treasury said that future liabilities under PFI total about £242bn (once existing payments are taken into account) and that this figure would shrink to £122bn if it were adjusted for future expected inflation. Nonetheless, details of the contracts compiled by the Treasury make clear that some NHS organisations will end up paying almost 12 times the initial sum over what is usually a 30-year contract.
For example, while the capital cost of rebuilding Calderdale Royal Hospital in Yorkshire is £64.6m, the scheme will end up costing Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust a total of £773.2m. Similarly, the cost of building the new Walsgrave district general hospital in Coventry will jump from an initial £379m to an eventual £4bn.
Most of the 717 contracts analysed were agreed under Labour, but a number have been signed recently and were agreed by the coalition.
In 2007-08, the total annual repayment cost of all PFI schemes in the UK was £5.78bn. But by 2017-18 that will have almost doubled to £10.1bn in a decade, and repayments will cost at least £9bn a year for the decade after that.
The Treasury document also reveals that 39 further PFI projects were being procured in March this year, with total capital costs of £5.36bn, despite senior ministers including David Cameron and George Osborne having heavily criticised Labour's extensive use of PFI while in office.
These deals will add tens of billions of pounds more to the £301bn price tag.
Before the 2010 election, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg condemned PFI as "a bit of dodgy accounting – a way in which the government can pretend they're not borrowing when they are, and we'll all be picking up the tab in 30 years".
In opposition, Osborne pledged that the Conservatives would stop using PFI and denounced Labour for relying so much on a source of finance that he said was "totally discredited". "We need to find new ways to leverage private-sector investment. Labour's PFI model is flawed and must be replaced," he said in November 2009.
But Margaret Hodge, chair of the powerful Commons public accounts committee, said the coalition had failed to come up with the promised alternative since coming to power. She accused ministers of extending PFI in effect through a recent scheme to encourage housing associations to build new social housing using borrowed money – a move she warned could put the viability of some of them in doubt by overloading them with unwanted debt.
Hodge said that "inevitably" some public services would have to be cut in coming years as sectors such as the NHS struggle to meet rising PFI repayments at a time when budgets are expected to remain tight. The squeeze on public spending is expected to last until 2017 or even beyond.
"£301bn is a hell of a lot of money," Hodge added. "The irony is that we privatised the buildings but nationalised the debts. It's crazy."
The huge sums revealed in the Treasury's list have renewed concerns about the wisdom of using PFI to build a wide range of public , facilities when the eventual costs are so much higher.
For example, Barts Health NHS Trust in London says the construction of new medical facilities at its two main sites will cost £1.1bn, but the document reveals that the eventual cost will be £7.1bn by the time the contract is fully paid off in 2048-49.
That will cost the trust an average of £115m a year at today's prices for the entire duration of the contract, the trust confirmed.
"The full business case clearly demonstrated that the private finance initiative option provided the best solution for the delivery of services and value for money for the NHS, compared with the publicly funded alternative," said a Barts spokeswoman.
"Our new hospitals replace outdated, awkwardly configured buildings with fantastic new facilities that meet the challenge of providing healthcare to a local population with some of the most challenging health needs in the UK."
A Treasury spokeswoman said: "The government has already taken action to drive savings in PFI and as part of its review of PFI aims to deliver a new, cheaper model, which will ensure a fair deal for the taxpayer now and in the longer term.
"The government has for the first time published a clear assessment of PFI liabilities."
An aide to George Osborne said : "Under Labour PFI offered little value for money and was hidden off balance sheet by Ed Balls and Gordon Brown.
"We have already driven savings in existing PFI projects, made the value for money criteria much stricter and for the first time published our PFI liabilities in the whole of government accounts." The Guardian
The cost of Britain's controversial private finance initiative will continue to soar for another five years and end up costing taxpayers more than £300bn, according to a Guardian analysis of contracts that were sanctioned by the Treasury.
Despite recent coalition criticism suggesting that the government was going cold on the scheme, recently published figures indicate that repayments will continue ballooning until they peak at £10.1bn a year by 2017-18.
The 717 PFI contracts currently under way across the UK are funding new schools, hospitals and other public facilities with a total capital value of £54.7bn, but the overall ultimate cost will reach £301bn by the time they have been paid off over the coming decades.
Much of this difference is due to ongoing running costs built into the contracts, but the schemes have also been criticised for providing poor value for money compared with the interest rates the government would pay if it borrowed money directly to pay for the schemes.
Last week, South London Healthcare Trust, which runs three hospitals in south-east London, was placed in administration by the health secretary as it struggled to meet the cost of its PFI obligations.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of the union Unison, said on Thursday night: "The NHS is just the start of the story.
"We're sitting on a PFI debt time bomb, and the sheer scale of the burden paints a seriously grim picture for the future of our public services."
PFI had left the UK with a "staggering mountain of debt," Prentis said.
The Treasury said on Thursday that it expected to make an announcement soon following a "fundamental review" of PFI and a search for alternatives, initiated by ministers late last year amid concern that too many of the deals represent poor value for money. Ministers recognised the concern felt about PFI and had already acted to make savings, added a spokeswoman.
The Treasury said that future liabilities under PFI total about £242bn (once existing payments are taken into account) and that this figure would shrink to £122bn if it were adjusted for future expected inflation. Nonetheless, details of the contracts compiled by the Treasury make clear that some NHS organisations will end up paying almost 12 times the initial sum over what is usually a 30-year contract.
For example, while the capital cost of rebuilding Calderdale Royal Hospital in Yorkshire is £64.6m, the scheme will end up costing Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust a total of £773.2m. Similarly, the cost of building the new Walsgrave district general hospital in Coventry will jump from an initial £379m to an eventual £4bn.
Most of the 717 contracts analysed were agreed under Labour, but a number have been signed recently and were agreed by the coalition.
In 2007-08, the total annual repayment cost of all PFI schemes in the UK was £5.78bn. But by 2017-18 that will have almost doubled to £10.1bn in a decade, and repayments will cost at least £9bn a year for the decade after that.
The Treasury document also reveals that 39 further PFI projects were being procured in March this year, with total capital costs of £5.36bn, despite senior ministers including David Cameron and George Osborne having heavily criticised Labour's extensive use of PFI while in office.
These deals will add tens of billions of pounds more to the £301bn price tag.
Before the 2010 election, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg condemned PFI as "a bit of dodgy accounting – a way in which the government can pretend they're not borrowing when they are, and we'll all be picking up the tab in 30 years".
In opposition, Osborne pledged that the Conservatives would stop using PFI and denounced Labour for relying so much on a source of finance that he said was "totally discredited". "We need to find new ways to leverage private-sector investment. Labour's PFI model is flawed and must be replaced," he said in November 2009.
But Margaret Hodge, chair of the powerful Commons public accounts committee, said the coalition had failed to come up with the promised alternative since coming to power. She accused ministers of extending PFI in effect through a recent scheme to encourage housing associations to build new social housing using borrowed money – a move she warned could put the viability of some of them in doubt by overloading them with unwanted debt.
Hodge said that "inevitably" some public services would have to be cut in coming years as sectors such as the NHS struggle to meet rising PFI repayments at a time when budgets are expected to remain tight. The squeeze on public spending is expected to last until 2017 or even beyond.
"£301bn is a hell of a lot of money," Hodge added. "The irony is that we privatised the buildings but nationalised the debts. It's crazy."
The huge sums revealed in the Treasury's list have renewed concerns about the wisdom of using PFI to build a wide range of public , facilities when the eventual costs are so much higher.
For example, Barts Health NHS Trust in London says the construction of new medical facilities at its two main sites will cost £1.1bn, but the document reveals that the eventual cost will be £7.1bn by the time the contract is fully paid off in 2048-49.
That will cost the trust an average of £115m a year at today's prices for the entire duration of the contract, the trust confirmed.
"The full business case clearly demonstrated that the private finance initiative option provided the best solution for the delivery of services and value for money for the NHS, compared with the publicly funded alternative," said a Barts spokeswoman.
"Our new hospitals replace outdated, awkwardly configured buildings with fantastic new facilities that meet the challenge of providing healthcare to a local population with some of the most challenging health needs in the UK."
A Treasury spokeswoman said: "The government has already taken action to drive savings in PFI and as part of its review of PFI aims to deliver a new, cheaper model, which will ensure a fair deal for the taxpayer now and in the longer term.
"The government has for the first time published a clear assessment of PFI liabilities."
An aide to George Osborne said : "Under Labour PFI offered little value for money and was hidden off balance sheet by Ed Balls and Gordon Brown.
"We have already driven savings in existing PFI projects, made the value for money criteria much stricter and for the first time published our PFI liabilities in the whole of government accounts." The Guardian
Two doctors referred to GMC for taking industrial action
Two doctors referred to GMC for taking industrial action: Two doctors have been referred to the GMC for taking industrial action over pensions, it has emerged.
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
Whooping cough hits a 20-year peak
Whooping cough hits a 20-year peak:
Whooping cough, the highly infectious disease that was almost eradicated in the UK a generation ago, is now more common than at any time in the past 20 years, health authorities have warned.The Independent
Whooping cough, the highly infectious disease that was almost eradicated in the UK a generation ago, is now more common than at any time in the past 20 years, health authorities have warned.The Independent
Thursday, 5 July 2012
Health and social care data to integrate
Health and social care data to integrate:
The NHS Information Centre is set to have a national role in integrating health and social care data in a move that will see the two data sets joined up for the first time to aid integrated commissioning under the NHS Commissioning Board’s final information operating model.
The aim is to offer new opportunities to benchmark performance and costs and comes as the board’s commissioning intelligence lead Helen B...Healthcare Today
The NHS Information Centre is set to have a national role in integrating health and social care data in a move that will see the two data sets joined up for the first time to aid integrated commissioning under the NHS Commissioning Board’s final information operating model.
The aim is to offer new opportunities to benchmark performance and costs and comes as the board’s commissioning intelligence lead Helen B...Healthcare Today
If patients wait more than 18 weeks they can demand private hospital
If patients wait more than 18 weeks they can demand private hospital:
Health secretary Andrew Lansley looks set to announce that patients can demand to be treated privately if they have to wait more than 18 weeks for NHS care.
In addition, patients who are told they have cancer will be given a legal right to demand a consultation with an alternative provider if they have to wait more than two weeks on the NHS.
Mr Lansley said: “In the last year the NHS has reduced the n...Healthcare Today
Health secretary Andrew Lansley looks set to announce that patients can demand to be treated privately if they have to wait more than 18 weeks for NHS care.
In addition, patients who are told they have cancer will be given a legal right to demand a consultation with an alternative provider if they have to wait more than two weeks on the NHS.
Mr Lansley said: “In the last year the NHS has reduced the n...Healthcare Today
Opening up jobs in NHS to students with learning disabilities
Opening up jobs in NHS to students with learning disabilities:
An award-winning workplace familiarisation programme is offering fresh opportunities to college students with learning disabilities
A workplace familiarisation plus placement scheme, set up in 2006 and run by Lancashire teaching hospitals NHS foundation trust, is now offering around 90 students from local colleges placements in hospital roles such as catering, portering, domestic services or support work on a ward.
"We believe this programme to be the only one of its kind in the country," says Stephanie Iaconniani, equality and involvement lead at the trust and a driving force behind the programme which recently won a National Training Award. "People have different skills and abilities, yet people with disabilities are not always given the opportunities they deserve."
Through the eight week programme, students handle splints and oxygen masks, learn resuscitation skills, and try their hand with cleaning, security and catering equipment. Sessions cover health and safety, and equality and diversity, and students involved in the programme have grown in confidence over the course.
A student who took part in the 2006 programme, Scott McNamara, 23, is now a catering assistant at the trust. "I didn't know what I was going to do when I left college," he says. "At first I was nervous and too shy to talk to anyone. I thought just doctors and nurses worked in the hospital. But when they started showing us around catering and portering, I started to enjoy it."
"The course gives students a real insight into the work of all the people who actually make the hospital run," says Chris Fisher, clinical practice educator at the trust. "It also takes a bit of the mystique away, so if either they or a relative comes into hospital they feel more comfortable with the situation."
Over the last few years, students have moved on to paid and voluntary employment, at a local college, a supermarket and as a refuse collector; others volunteer with charities. Some choose to remain at the trust: "I like taking post to the nurses and doctors," says Neil Wilcox, 28 who has worked part-time in the post room since 2007. "It's good learning and seeing different things."
"The opportunities that have been developed make a tremendous difference to young in terms of the skills and employability it gives them," says Stephen Pegg, principal at Cardinal Newman College, "but it also makes a tremendous difference to the employer. They're getting young people who are very committed and very loyal."
The trust is now looking to extend the scheme to other public sector organisations including the county council, police and fire service. "This is a programme that I am very passionate about," says the trust's chief executive Karen Partington. "As a major employer, we want to ensure that our workforce reflects the diversity of the local community and supports people who are often excluded from mainstream employment. The success of the programme makes it an examplar for effective partnership working between the NHS and FE sector."
McNamara agrees. "If I hadn't come on the programme, I probably wouldn't have a job now because of my confidence. Now I do everything that everyone else does, and I enjoy coming to work – I just love it." Guardian
A workplace familiarisation plus placement scheme, set up in 2006 and run by Lancashire teaching hospitals NHS foundation trust, is now offering around 90 students from local colleges placements in hospital roles such as catering, portering, domestic services or support work on a ward.
"We believe this programme to be the only one of its kind in the country," says Stephanie Iaconniani, equality and involvement lead at the trust and a driving force behind the programme which recently won a National Training Award. "People have different skills and abilities, yet people with disabilities are not always given the opportunities they deserve."
Through the eight week programme, students handle splints and oxygen masks, learn resuscitation skills, and try their hand with cleaning, security and catering equipment. Sessions cover health and safety, and equality and diversity, and students involved in the programme have grown in confidence over the course.
A student who took part in the 2006 programme, Scott McNamara, 23, is now a catering assistant at the trust. "I didn't know what I was going to do when I left college," he says. "At first I was nervous and too shy to talk to anyone. I thought just doctors and nurses worked in the hospital. But when they started showing us around catering and portering, I started to enjoy it."
"The course gives students a real insight into the work of all the people who actually make the hospital run," says Chris Fisher, clinical practice educator at the trust. "It also takes a bit of the mystique away, so if either they or a relative comes into hospital they feel more comfortable with the situation."
Over the last few years, students have moved on to paid and voluntary employment, at a local college, a supermarket and as a refuse collector; others volunteer with charities. Some choose to remain at the trust: "I like taking post to the nurses and doctors," says Neil Wilcox, 28 who has worked part-time in the post room since 2007. "It's good learning and seeing different things."
"The opportunities that have been developed make a tremendous difference to young in terms of the skills and employability it gives them," says Stephen Pegg, principal at Cardinal Newman College, "but it also makes a tremendous difference to the employer. They're getting young people who are very committed and very loyal."
The trust is now looking to extend the scheme to other public sector organisations including the county council, police and fire service. "This is a programme that I am very passionate about," says the trust's chief executive Karen Partington. "As a major employer, we want to ensure that our workforce reflects the diversity of the local community and supports people who are often excluded from mainstream employment. The success of the programme makes it an examplar for effective partnership working between the NHS and FE sector."
McNamara agrees. "If I hadn't come on the programme, I probably wouldn't have a job now because of my confidence. Now I do everything that everyone else does, and I enjoy coming to work – I just love it." Guardian
Cancer patients 'may have suffered' as records lost
Cancer patients 'may have suffered' as records lost: Cancer patients may have died or suffered complications after a leading hospital lost their medical records and then played down the risk of them missing life-saving treatment, it has been alleged.
Telegraph Health News
Telegraph Health News
Rise in drug-resistant TB cases
Rise in drug-resistant TB cases: Cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) have risen by over a quarter in 2011, the Health Protection Agency says. BBC News
£1bn bailout to NHS trusts in six years
£1bn bailout to NHS trusts in six years:
Struggling NHS trusts have received more than £1bn in emergency bailout funds in the past six years, with a huge gap between the country's strongest and weakest organisations, a new report reveals. Independent
Struggling NHS trusts have received more than £1bn in emergency bailout funds in the past six years, with a huge gap between the country's strongest and weakest organisations, a new report reveals. Independent
Racist nurses struck off
Racist nurses struck off:
Two nurses who staged a sickening campaign of racist abuse on a hospital ward were kicked out of the profession today, Thursday, July 4. Northants Evening Telegraph
Two nurses who staged a sickening campaign of racist abuse on a hospital ward were kicked out of the profession today, Thursday, July 4. Northants Evening Telegraph
Occupational health services SLA template
Occupational health services SLA template:
This template can be adapted locally for occupational health units to use with their providers. It is fully endorsed by NHS Employers and is currently undergoing Quality Assurance for inclusion on the SEQOHS Knowledge Management System.
Template NHS Employers - news
Kings Fund
This template can be adapted locally for occupational health units to use with their providers. It is fully endorsed by NHS Employers and is currently undergoing Quality Assurance for inclusion on the SEQOHS Knowledge Management System.
Template NHS Employers - news
Kings Fund
Foundation Trust Performance Review Published
Foundation Trust Performance Review Published: Monitor, the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts, has today published its review of NHS Foundation Trust performance for the fourth quarter 2011/2012.
NHS spending squeeze on new drugs
NHS spending squeeze on new drugs: Source: PharmaTimes
According to a PharmaTimes report, the Office of Health Economics has forecast an NHS spending squeeze on innovative medicines over the next three years.
The annual drugs bill in the UK is currently around £10 billion, which equates to approximately 10% of NHS expenditure, having risen around 3.5% a year between 2007 and 2011.
However, figures suggest that whilst the total amount spent on the NHS is set to climb by 2.5% a year between 2011 and 2015, cash sunk into new innovative branded medicines will rise by just 1.3%.
And while the total medicines spend is predicted to grow around 3.7% annually up to 2015, in three years' time drugs launched between 2012 and 2015 are expected to account for less than 2% of this expenditure.
These figures have consequently sparked concern throughout the research-based pharmaceutical industry that the NHS is not investing enough on the most innovative medicines and that patients in the ...NELM News
According to a PharmaTimes report, the Office of Health Economics has forecast an NHS spending squeeze on innovative medicines over the next three years.
The annual drugs bill in the UK is currently around £10 billion, which equates to approximately 10% of NHS expenditure, having risen around 3.5% a year between 2007 and 2011.
However, figures suggest that whilst the total amount spent on the NHS is set to climb by 2.5% a year between 2011 and 2015, cash sunk into new innovative branded medicines will rise by just 1.3%.
And while the total medicines spend is predicted to grow around 3.7% annually up to 2015, in three years' time drugs launched between 2012 and 2015 are expected to account for less than 2% of this expenditure.
These figures have consequently sparked concern throughout the research-based pharmaceutical industry that the NHS is not investing enough on the most innovative medicines and that patients in the ...NELM News
Unused medication a huge cost to NHS
Unused medication a huge cost to NHS:
Unused medication returned to pharmacists could be costing the NHS as much as £150 million a year.
Drugs returned to the chemist cannot be re-used and is incinerated rather than re-dispensedThe NHS spends £12bn a year in England on medicines, about a tenth of its budget, with £8bn of that spent in primary care.
The figures come at a time that the NHS is having to make £20bn in savings and also...Healthcare Today
Unused medication returned to pharmacists could be costing the NHS as much as £150 million a year.
Drugs returned to the chemist cannot be re-used and is incinerated rather than re-dispensedThe NHS spends £12bn a year in England on medicines, about a tenth of its budget, with £8bn of that spent in primary care.
The figures come at a time that the NHS is having to make £20bn in savings and also...Healthcare Today
Consultation on new care objectives for improving health and healthcare
Consultation on new care objectives for improving health and healthcare:
New objectives for the improvement of health and healthcare have been set out for public consultation.
‘Our NHS care objectives: a draft mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board’, sets out Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s expectations for the health service and marks the move to a more patient-centred, independent, transparent and outcomes focused NHS.
The mandate aims to:
The care objectives are set out in five domains that broadly cover the range of work the NHS does:
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said:
New objectives for the improvement of health and healthcare have been set out for public consultation.
‘Our NHS care objectives: a draft mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board’, sets out Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s expectations for the health service and marks the move to a more patient-centred, independent, transparent and outcomes focused NHS.
The mandate aims to:
- set care objectives that really matter to people
- ensure that patients continue to receive high quality care every time – care that is effective, safe and results in patients having as positive an experience as possible
- make sure that there is clear accountability and a transparent way to tell whether the Board is getting results
- set out a clear expectation for continual improvement across the health service.
The care objectives are set out in five domains that broadly cover the range of work the NHS does:
- preventing premature deaths – helping people live longer
- supporting people with a long term condition to look after themselves
- supporting people through their recovery from episodes of ill health or injury
- making sure that people have a positive experience of care in the NHS
- treating people in a clean, safe, environment and protecting them from unnecessary harm.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said:
‘In the past there has been too much focus on systems and processes rather than people. For the first time the mandate will focus on holding the health service to account for results that make a difference to people.Department of Health
‘Objectives for improving care will be shaped by what the public needs and will be one of the most important ways the Government can hold the new system to account.’
Health Secretary’s annual report on the NHS and public health published
Health Secretary’s annual report on the NHS and public health published:
The Secretary of State’s annual report has been published today, a year earlier than is required by law, in order to enable Parliament and the public to see the direction the NHS is heading. From 1 April 2013, the Secretary of State for Health will be under a new duty to produce the annual report relating to the performance of the health service in England, which will be laid before Parliament. The Health Secretary’s annual report will be the principal method by which Parliament will hold the Health Secretary to account for the performance of the health service in England.
The National Health Service and Public Health Service in England: Secretary of State’s Annual Report 2011/2012 covers a wide range of achievements from across the health service, including:
The Secretary of State’s annual report has been published today, a year earlier than is required by law, in order to enable Parliament and the public to see the direction the NHS is heading. From 1 April 2013, the Secretary of State for Health will be under a new duty to produce the annual report relating to the performance of the health service in England, which will be laid before Parliament. The Health Secretary’s annual report will be the principal method by which Parliament will hold the Health Secretary to account for the performance of the health service in England.
The National Health Service and Public Health Service in England: Secretary of State’s Annual Report 2011/2012 covers a wide range of achievements from across the health service, including:
- 96 per cent of patients spending less than 4 hours waiting in A&E
- 212 clinical commissioning groups on their way to being authorised by January next year
- 12,500 patients helped to access the cancer drugs previously denied them.
- £400 million invested to complete the roll out of the improving access to physcological therapies (IAPT)
- MRSA infections down 24.7 per cent and C difficile infections down 17 per cent, the lowest levels since mandatory surveillance began.
Report outlines effect of the NHS Constitution
Report outlines effect of the NHS Constitution:
A report on the effect of the NHS Constitution on patients, staff, carers and members of the public has been published today by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley. The report will inform efforts to fully embed the Constitution throughout the NHS.
The report seeks to clarify the effect of the NHS Constitution on those who use NHS services and who work in the NHS. It considers whether, and to what extent, the Constitution has made a difference to patients, staff, carers and the public, and examines the degree to which it is succeeding in its aims.
The independent NHS Future Forum, chaired by Professor Steve Field, advised the Health Secretary on the effect of the Constitution and outlined the need to raise awareness, and promote real understanding about, and use of, the Constitution.
Public awareness of the Constitution remains generally low and there is little evidence that patients use it as a means of exercising their rights. Staff awareness of the NHS Constitution is significantly higher than among the public but still few feel well informed about it.
In its advice to the Health Secretary, the Future Forum said:
‘We take heart from the fact that staff who are most informed about the NHS Constitution are also the most likely to value and champion it; and from the extent to which people in the East of England have become aware of the Constitution, showing the effectiveness of efforts made there. It is also clear that, when shared with different groups, the Constitution has the power to enthuse and galvanise people.’
The Future Forum will now consider how the Constitution can be strengthened and reinforced for the future, in terms of both content and awareness.
The NHS Future Forum will present its advice to the Government in the autumn. Following this, there will be a public consultation on any changes to strengthen the Constitution so that patients, staff and the public have the chance to have their say.
Read the report on the effect of the NHS Constitution
Read the letter to the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley from Professor Steve Field of the NHS Future Forum
Read the awareness survey NHS Constitution Wave 3 Report
Department of Health
A report on the effect of the NHS Constitution on patients, staff, carers and members of the public has been published today by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley. The report will inform efforts to fully embed the Constitution throughout the NHS.
The report seeks to clarify the effect of the NHS Constitution on those who use NHS services and who work in the NHS. It considers whether, and to what extent, the Constitution has made a difference to patients, staff, carers and the public, and examines the degree to which it is succeeding in its aims.
The independent NHS Future Forum, chaired by Professor Steve Field, advised the Health Secretary on the effect of the Constitution and outlined the need to raise awareness, and promote real understanding about, and use of, the Constitution.
Public awareness of the Constitution remains generally low and there is little evidence that patients use it as a means of exercising their rights. Staff awareness of the NHS Constitution is significantly higher than among the public but still few feel well informed about it.
In its advice to the Health Secretary, the Future Forum said:
‘We take heart from the fact that staff who are most informed about the NHS Constitution are also the most likely to value and champion it; and from the extent to which people in the East of England have become aware of the Constitution, showing the effectiveness of efforts made there. It is also clear that, when shared with different groups, the Constitution has the power to enthuse and galvanise people.’
The Future Forum will now consider how the Constitution can be strengthened and reinforced for the future, in terms of both content and awareness.
The NHS Future Forum will present its advice to the Government in the autumn. Following this, there will be a public consultation on any changes to strengthen the Constitution so that patients, staff and the public have the chance to have their say.
Read the report on the effect of the NHS Constitution
Read the letter to the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley from Professor Steve Field of the NHS Future Forum
Read the awareness survey NHS Constitution Wave 3 Report
Department of Health
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Health campaign launch a big success
Health campaign launch a big success:
A high-profile campaign called Know Your Pulse, which was launched in Corby, was a big success. Evening Telegraph
A high-profile campaign called Know Your Pulse, which was launched in Corby, was a big success. Evening Telegraph
VIDEO: Is healthcare really better abroad?
VIDEO: Is healthcare really better abroad?: There are claims that health care is better in parts of Europe and America than it is in the NHS across the UK. BBC News
Telehealth 'three times over NICE cost limit'
Telehealth 'three times over NICE cost limit': Telehealth is unlikely to provide value for money for the NHS unless equipment costs fall dramatically, research suggests. GP Online
dm+d made 'fundamental standard' for NHS
dm+d made 'fundamental standard' for NHS: The Information Standards Board for Health and Social Care has approved the NHS dictionary of medicines and devices as a fundamental standard for the NHS. E-Health Insider
Healthcare for the homeless: homelessness is bad for your health
Healthcare for the homeless: homelessness is bad for your health:
This report identifies that there is a range of solutions to the healthcare challenges faced by the homeless. It presents a number of models of care that have measurable evidence of success but which need to be adopted more widely and examples of effective models that are operated in other countries.
This report identifies that there is a range of solutions to the healthcare challenges faced by the homeless. It presents a number of models of care that have measurable evidence of success but which need to be adopted more widely and examples of effective models that are operated in other countries.
Unlocking diagnosis: the key to improving the lives of people with dementia
Unlocking diagnosis: the key to improving the lives of people with dementia:
This report makes recommendations on action that can be taken to increase the number of people with dementia with a diagnosis in the UK. It found that there were problems throughout the process of diagnosis. These problems included people having poor understanding of dementia and therefore not going to see their to doctor, the issues faced by GPs and memory specialists in diagnosing people with dementia, and the problems with the quality of support offered immediately following diagnosis.
This report makes recommendations on action that can be taken to increase the number of people with dementia with a diagnosis in the UK. It found that there were problems throughout the process of diagnosis. These problems included people having poor understanding of dementia and therefore not going to see their to doctor, the issues faced by GPs and memory specialists in diagnosing people with dementia, and the problems with the quality of support offered immediately following diagnosis.
Doctors to strike again
Doctors to strike again:
The majority of doctors attending the BMA's annual conference voted to escalate industrial action over the pensions dispute.Last week's strike by doctors affected thousands of patients who were unable to have planned operations or get access to their GPs.Delegates at the BMA conference in Bournemouth were mostly in agreement that further action was needed as a way of forcing MPs to reconsider pension plans whic... Healthcare Today
The majority of doctors attending the BMA's annual conference voted to escalate industrial action over the pensions dispute.Last week's strike by doctors affected thousands of patients who were unable to have planned operations or get access to their GPs.Delegates at the BMA conference in Bournemouth were mostly in agreement that further action was needed as a way of forcing MPs to reconsider pension plans whic... Healthcare Today
Can NHS transformation succeed without new income streams? | Sue Slipman
Can NHS transformation succeed without new income streams? | Sue Slipman:
How can we innovate and reform services without investment or changes in demand, asks Sue Slipman, chief executive of the Foundation Trusts Network
There appears to be consensus at policy level that it is in the interest of patients and service users that a more integrated approach to healthcare should be developed. The theory goes that in order to meet the challenge of future healthcare demand due to changing demography, lifestyle and new technology innovation, resources must shift into more community, home-based and self-service provision. Underpinning this is an assumption that transformed services will be cheaper.
If the service transition can be achieved, costs can be taken out of more expensive hospital care, but in order for it all to work there has to be investment in alternative services to get the demand out of hospitals. The problem is that currently, alternative investment does not appear to be working.
In a recent survey of Foundation Trust Network (FTN) members, 70% of acute providers had seen no decrease in emergency demand. This is despite the fact that a punitive penalties regime exists around emergency activity over 2008/09 levels paid for at marginal pricing and around re-admissions, where there is Department of Health recognition that less than 20% are the fault of the hospital itself.
In other words, there's plenty of push on hospitals to get demand out but little pull in alternative provision. In effect, the Nicholson challenge is a save to invest scheme for service transition across the NHS.
Some of our members are also telling us that the impact of existing cuts in social care budgets is beginning to tell on the level of admission of frail elderly people via emergency admission into hospitals. Some go so far as to say that they think some private sector care homes are off-loading the nursing costs of the elderly frail dying from their own budgets onto the NHS.
Foundation trusts have more freedom to innovate so they will develop new business models, but without the prospect of income streams to support them there will be no success. The key policy deficit is an answer to the funding problems of social care for the elderly and the Government looks set to duck the issues raised in the Dilnot report.
Putting all this in the context of the Institute for Fiscal Studies report, funded by the Nuffield Trust, of tight public spending limits for the NHS until the end of the decade and the subsequent requirement for fast-paced productivity savings, attention should shift to where the money is in the system, where it is being spent and how effective that spend is proving to be in getting the demand flow going in the right direction.
The key question in the report is whether the NHS can make the necessary productivity improvements to remain entirely free at the point of use without additional taxation or rationing or even the unmentioned spectre of the introduction of co-payment?
The jury is out.
Clearly, maximum productivity delivery requires some radical solutions, joining whole patient pathways. Even if there is the political will and cover to enable this to be delivered: will it be enough?
Sue Slipman is chief executive of the Foundation Trust Network. The Institute for Fiscal Studies report for the Nuffield Trust, is the first output from an ongoing Nuffield Trust research programme: Buying time: what is the scale of the financial challenge facing the NHS and how can it rise to the challenge?
Guardian Professional.
There appears to be consensus at policy level that it is in the interest of patients and service users that a more integrated approach to healthcare should be developed. The theory goes that in order to meet the challenge of future healthcare demand due to changing demography, lifestyle and new technology innovation, resources must shift into more community, home-based and self-service provision. Underpinning this is an assumption that transformed services will be cheaper.
If the service transition can be achieved, costs can be taken out of more expensive hospital care, but in order for it all to work there has to be investment in alternative services to get the demand out of hospitals. The problem is that currently, alternative investment does not appear to be working.
In a recent survey of Foundation Trust Network (FTN) members, 70% of acute providers had seen no decrease in emergency demand. This is despite the fact that a punitive penalties regime exists around emergency activity over 2008/09 levels paid for at marginal pricing and around re-admissions, where there is Department of Health recognition that less than 20% are the fault of the hospital itself.
In other words, there's plenty of push on hospitals to get demand out but little pull in alternative provision. In effect, the Nicholson challenge is a save to invest scheme for service transition across the NHS.
Some of our members are also telling us that the impact of existing cuts in social care budgets is beginning to tell on the level of admission of frail elderly people via emergency admission into hospitals. Some go so far as to say that they think some private sector care homes are off-loading the nursing costs of the elderly frail dying from their own budgets onto the NHS.
Foundation trusts have more freedom to innovate so they will develop new business models, but without the prospect of income streams to support them there will be no success. The key policy deficit is an answer to the funding problems of social care for the elderly and the Government looks set to duck the issues raised in the Dilnot report.
Putting all this in the context of the Institute for Fiscal Studies report, funded by the Nuffield Trust, of tight public spending limits for the NHS until the end of the decade and the subsequent requirement for fast-paced productivity savings, attention should shift to where the money is in the system, where it is being spent and how effective that spend is proving to be in getting the demand flow going in the right direction.
The key question in the report is whether the NHS can make the necessary productivity improvements to remain entirely free at the point of use without additional taxation or rationing or even the unmentioned spectre of the introduction of co-payment?
The jury is out.
Clearly, maximum productivity delivery requires some radical solutions, joining whole patient pathways. Even if there is the political will and cover to enable this to be delivered: will it be enough?
Sue Slipman is chief executive of the Foundation Trust Network. The Institute for Fiscal Studies report for the Nuffield Trust, is the first output from an ongoing Nuffield Trust research programme: Buying time: what is the scale of the financial challenge facing the NHS and how can it rise to the challenge?
Guardian Professional.
NHS will need extra £20bn a year by 2020, says thinktank
NHS will need extra £20bn a year by 2020, says thinktank:
Ministers should contemplate charging for the NHS to meet patient demand, claims Institute of Fiscal Studies
The health service will need an extra £20bn a year by the end of the decade to meet patient demand and implement the Dilnot report into social care without cutting other essential services - a level of funding that means ministers should contemplate charging for the NHS and tax rises, a leading thinktank will say on Wednesday.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says in a report that England's NHS budget squeeze - with savings of £20bn up to 2015 - is already the "tightest four-year period for the last 50 years". NHS spending will be essentially flat in real terms - at about £110bn a year - until 2015.
However, with the NHS accounting for 23% of government spending, plus an ageing population, rising patient expectations and expensive new drugs on the horizon, the thinktank warns that in the last half of the decade a mixture of charging, tax rises and perhaps even greater borrowing will be needed.
The IFS considers a range of scenarios from the beginning of the next parliament in 2015 until 2022 - and calculates the tax gap between spending and receipts if public spending were to rise. The analysis factors in the £10bn of welfare cuts called for in the March budget.
The authors also consider the Dilnot recommendations for the elderly, which argue that lifetime costs for social care needed to be capped at £35,000 - and that council-funded home help and care home places for the elderly and adults with disabilities should be offered to everyone with less than £100,000 of assets, up from the current limit of £23,250.
There are growing concerns within the Treasury about the cost of the changes while meeting the political charge that this would be a sop to wealthy baby boomers. However, the IFS says if the NHS were to cope with the rising cost of an elderly population, Dilnot's proposals were implemented and other government spending kept growing to 1% a year, the extra cost every year would be £19.5bn.
Even if the elderly are discounted from the calculations the cost runs into billions of pounds. The IFS suggests that after 2015, even if NHS spending were just to keep pace with projected economic growth - at 2.4% - and letting other public spending to rise at 1% a year, there would be a need for an "increase in taxation, borrowing or further welfare cuts of roughly £9bn". This it says is equivalent to increasing VAT by 2% from its current level of 20%.
Carl Emmerson of the IFS said "serious consideration should be given to the options for the NHS, which include reviewing the range of services available free at the point of use and reconsidering the level of taxation needed to finance them."
The study reveals the cost of "tax and spend" politics. To keep the share of public spending as a percentage of GDP constant after 2015 the IFS calculates it would need an additional £44bn of "tax increases or extra borrowing" - the equivalent tax burden of £1,400 for every family in the UK. The Guardian
The health service will need an extra £20bn a year by the end of the decade to meet patient demand and implement the Dilnot report into social care without cutting other essential services - a level of funding that means ministers should contemplate charging for the NHS and tax rises, a leading thinktank will say on Wednesday.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says in a report that England's NHS budget squeeze - with savings of £20bn up to 2015 - is already the "tightest four-year period for the last 50 years". NHS spending will be essentially flat in real terms - at about £110bn a year - until 2015.
However, with the NHS accounting for 23% of government spending, plus an ageing population, rising patient expectations and expensive new drugs on the horizon, the thinktank warns that in the last half of the decade a mixture of charging, tax rises and perhaps even greater borrowing will be needed.
The IFS considers a range of scenarios from the beginning of the next parliament in 2015 until 2022 - and calculates the tax gap between spending and receipts if public spending were to rise. The analysis factors in the £10bn of welfare cuts called for in the March budget.
The authors also consider the Dilnot recommendations for the elderly, which argue that lifetime costs for social care needed to be capped at £35,000 - and that council-funded home help and care home places for the elderly and adults with disabilities should be offered to everyone with less than £100,000 of assets, up from the current limit of £23,250.
There are growing concerns within the Treasury about the cost of the changes while meeting the political charge that this would be a sop to wealthy baby boomers. However, the IFS says if the NHS were to cope with the rising cost of an elderly population, Dilnot's proposals were implemented and other government spending kept growing to 1% a year, the extra cost every year would be £19.5bn.
Even if the elderly are discounted from the calculations the cost runs into billions of pounds. The IFS suggests that after 2015, even if NHS spending were just to keep pace with projected economic growth - at 2.4% - and letting other public spending to rise at 1% a year, there would be a need for an "increase in taxation, borrowing or further welfare cuts of roughly £9bn". This it says is equivalent to increasing VAT by 2% from its current level of 20%.
Carl Emmerson of the IFS said "serious consideration should be given to the options for the NHS, which include reviewing the range of services available free at the point of use and reconsidering the level of taxation needed to finance them."
The study reveals the cost of "tax and spend" politics. To keep the share of public spending as a percentage of GDP constant after 2015 the IFS calculates it would need an additional £44bn of "tax increases or extra borrowing" - the equivalent tax burden of £1,400 for every family in the UK. The Guardian
Patients dying in hospital in pain and lacking dignity: survey
Patients dying in hospital in pain and lacking dignity: survey: Patients in hospital are needlessly dying in pain and being stripped of their dignity and privacy, the first national survey of bereaved families has found.
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
NHS pays out record £1.2bn claims
NHS pays out record £1.2bn claims:
The NHS has paid out a record £1 billion in litigation claims in one year, it has emerged.The Independent
The NHS has paid out a record £1 billion in litigation claims in one year, it has emerged.The Independent
Andrew Lansley to outline key priorities he expects the NHS to address over the next three years
Andrew Lansley to outline key priorities he expects the NHS to address over the next three years:
Andrew Lansley will today outline the key priorities he expects the NHS to address over the next three years as he makes his first ever “state of the health service” address to Parliament. The Independent
Andrew Lansley will today outline the key priorities he expects the NHS to address over the next three years as he makes his first ever “state of the health service” address to Parliament. The Independent
NHS could start charging for services and treatments within 10 years
NHS could start charging for services and treatments within 10 years:
The NHS could start charging for some services and treatments within the next 10 years after new research suggests a further decade of austerity will leave the status-quo unsustainable. The Independent
The NHS could start charging for some services and treatments within the next 10 years after new research suggests a further decade of austerity will leave the status-quo unsustainable. The Independent
Dignity paramount in end-of-life care
Dignity paramount in end-of-life care: The Royal College of Nursing has expressed concern over the 10 per cent of patients whose end-of-life care was rated poor by respondents to a national survey. RCN
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Who gets how much of the public health budget? ACRA's work reveals discrepancy between likely funding and needs | David Buck
Who gets how much of the public health budget? ACRA's work reveals discrepancy between likely funding and needs | David Buck: How much local authorities get will be decided centrally for the first time, in contrast to the current system where Primary Care Trusts take their own decisions. But how will public health funding allocations be decided? (Blog, 2 Jul 2012) Kings Fund
Nurse regulator 'let down' public
Nurse regulator 'let down' public: Substantial failings "at every level" of the Nursing and Midwifery Council mean it is letting down patients, says a damning report. BBC News
NMC official response (and links to report) here
NMC official response (and links to report) here
GPs will not work more for free
GPs will not work more for free: Doctors warn that GPs do not want to work for longer for free, as a Liberal Democrat survey raises concerns about extending opening hours. BBC News
One in six NHS providers fall short of CQC standards
One in six NHS providers fall short of CQC standards: Up to one in six NHS providers are not meeting Care Quality Commission (CQC) essential standards, a report has revealed. GP Online
Poor data masks evidence on NHS efficiency across UK
Poor data masks evidence on NHS efficiency across UK: Poor data collection means that, despite huge variations in NHS spending across the UK, officials still cannot determine which policies are most cost-efficient, a report has warned. GP Online
Model staff engagement policy published
Model staff engagement policy published: We have developed a model staff engagement policy based good examples from that exist already and based on learning from those organisations who already have a policy in place. NHS Employers
PIP breast implants: web forum on patient experiences - second report of session 2012–13
PIP breast implants: web forum on patient experiences - second report of session 2012–13:
Women who received substandard breast implants have had their say about their experiences in a web forum run by the House of Commons Health Committee. This report contains a summary of the comments received on the forum which ran in May 2012.
Women who received substandard breast implants have had their say about their experiences in a web forum run by the House of Commons Health Committee. This report contains a summary of the comments received on the forum which ran in May 2012.
Research 'Red Tape' Causing Life-Threatening Delay In Medical Breakthroughs
Research 'Red Tape' Causing Life-Threatening Delay In Medical Breakthroughs:
The charity, which funds around £100m of medical research every year, is calling for the NHS to open up its data to the scientists it funds at universities and hospitals across the UK.The report claims that researchers experience delays in gaining permission to access data, uncertainty about the rules governing the process of approval, and an overly complicated system that can slow potentially life-saving discoveries.Survey fi... Healthcare Today
The charity, which funds around £100m of medical research every year, is calling for the NHS to open up its data to the scientists it funds at universities and hospitals across the UK.The report claims that researchers experience delays in gaining permission to access data, uncertainty about the rules governing the process of approval, and an overly complicated system that can slow potentially life-saving discoveries.Survey fi... Healthcare Today
Telehealth: why we're still waiting for the definitive report
Telehealth: why we're still waiting for the definitive report:
The study was completed a long time ago, yet the findings haven't been published. Is it because the NHS doesn't like the conclusions?
As an ageing patient, reluctant to go near hospitals for fear of contracting MRSA, I have been increasingly irritated that definitive results of the "whole systems demonstrator" (WSD) of telehealth and telecare have been so slow to appear. Preliminary findings were published and launched with a fanfare by the King's Fund last year.
Then came silence, until January, when the government realised that telemedicine could mean vast savings for the NHS. Telehealth meant that fewer hospital beds would be needed since long-term patients would in future be treated at home, with a home monitor and direct line to the district nurse/GP/hospital. So, it launched the 3 million lives initiative.
Embarrassingly, the medical profession – GPs and hospital doctors alike – responded by sitting on their hands while they waited for the results of the WSD. They had smelled a rat.
The final report was being held because rigorous academic study would show that the preliminary findings were too optimistic. They were hoping that the final report would show that they would not have to bother about changing their time-honoured ways of handling patients, to make use of these pesky new technologies, like superfast broadband. And they could give the government a bloody nose – as payback for the health bill and the cuts in pensions – by boycotting the 3 million lives initiative.
The academics in the Nuffield Trust have finally published in the BMJ a report on the WSD. Or, to be more precise, it is a report on half the WSD. The original WSD covered 6,000 patients in Cornwall, West Ham and Kent with a variety of long-term conditions. What has now been published covers 3,000 patients and is limited to patients suffering from three long-term conditions: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, or heart failure. The remote treatment of patients with these three diseases is now called telehealth.
The other 3,000 patients in the trial, being monitored remotely for other complaints, are defined as being treated with telecare. We have to wait until the end of this year for the WSD report on them. Hence, we will not get an overall picture of the success or failure of the WSD.
I can see why it has been quicker to provide a telehealth report. There are only three conditions handled and the main measures have been whether fewer people have died, and whether trips to hospital have been reduced. Telecare is more diffused, and much of the current treatments are provided by the social care department of local government, not NHS. It is tricky for academics to get their heads round such a messy scene.
The headline findings of telehealth were mixed. The good news was that mortality of telehealth patients over the year of the trial was 46% less than the control group. Hospital admissions were 18% lower. To me, these figures should be enough to justify an immediate rollout. I fancy the idea of increasing my chances of staying alive. But it won't happen – because the third big finding of the report was that telehealth would not save money.
And money is what matters to the NHS. It has to save £2bn. If telehealth does not save money, it is a no-no, not only with the DH but also with the commissioning groups. And at a time when hospital trusts are approaching bankruptcy, they will not relish losing more inpatients because telehealth keeps them out of hospital.
This particular trumpet gives a particularly uncertain sound, so I can't see any clinician or administrator preparing for the telehealth/telecare battle. We will have to wait another long year for the justification of further bigger and better rollouts of these initiatives. Meanwhile, I and my contemporaries soldier on into our 80s, forever fearful of unnecessary trips to hospital. Guardian Professional.
As an ageing patient, reluctant to go near hospitals for fear of contracting MRSA, I have been increasingly irritated that definitive results of the "whole systems demonstrator" (WSD) of telehealth and telecare have been so slow to appear. Preliminary findings were published and launched with a fanfare by the King's Fund last year.
Then came silence, until January, when the government realised that telemedicine could mean vast savings for the NHS. Telehealth meant that fewer hospital beds would be needed since long-term patients would in future be treated at home, with a home monitor and direct line to the district nurse/GP/hospital. So, it launched the 3 million lives initiative.
Embarrassingly, the medical profession – GPs and hospital doctors alike – responded by sitting on their hands while they waited for the results of the WSD. They had smelled a rat.
The final report was being held because rigorous academic study would show that the preliminary findings were too optimistic. They were hoping that the final report would show that they would not have to bother about changing their time-honoured ways of handling patients, to make use of these pesky new technologies, like superfast broadband. And they could give the government a bloody nose – as payback for the health bill and the cuts in pensions – by boycotting the 3 million lives initiative.
The academics in the Nuffield Trust have finally published in the BMJ a report on the WSD. Or, to be more precise, it is a report on half the WSD. The original WSD covered 6,000 patients in Cornwall, West Ham and Kent with a variety of long-term conditions. What has now been published covers 3,000 patients and is limited to patients suffering from three long-term conditions: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, or heart failure. The remote treatment of patients with these three diseases is now called telehealth.
The other 3,000 patients in the trial, being monitored remotely for other complaints, are defined as being treated with telecare. We have to wait until the end of this year for the WSD report on them. Hence, we will not get an overall picture of the success or failure of the WSD.
I can see why it has been quicker to provide a telehealth report. There are only three conditions handled and the main measures have been whether fewer people have died, and whether trips to hospital have been reduced. Telecare is more diffused, and much of the current treatments are provided by the social care department of local government, not NHS. It is tricky for academics to get their heads round such a messy scene.
The headline findings of telehealth were mixed. The good news was that mortality of telehealth patients over the year of the trial was 46% less than the control group. Hospital admissions were 18% lower. To me, these figures should be enough to justify an immediate rollout. I fancy the idea of increasing my chances of staying alive. But it won't happen – because the third big finding of the report was that telehealth would not save money.
And money is what matters to the NHS. It has to save £2bn. If telehealth does not save money, it is a no-no, not only with the DH but also with the commissioning groups. And at a time when hospital trusts are approaching bankruptcy, they will not relish losing more inpatients because telehealth keeps them out of hospital.
This particular trumpet gives a particularly uncertain sound, so I can't see any clinician or administrator preparing for the telehealth/telecare battle. We will have to wait another long year for the justification of further bigger and better rollouts of these initiatives. Meanwhile, I and my contemporaries soldier on into our 80s, forever fearful of unnecessary trips to hospital. Guardian Professional.
Thousands denied IVF because of British restrictions
Thousands denied IVF because of British restrictions: Thousands of couples in Britain are being denied the chance to become parents because the country has one of the most restrictive policies in Europe when it comes to publicly funding fertility treatment, campaigners said today.
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
Dementia sufferers wait for a year for diagnosis: report
Dementia sufferers wait for a year for diagnosis: report: MPs call for end to 'shocking variation' in standards, as report reveals some dementia sufferers wait a year for diagnosis.
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
Monday, 2 July 2012
Vaccination programme under way at NGH after paediatrician is diagnosed with whooping cough
Vaccination programme under way at NGH after paediatrician is diagnosed with whooping cough:
Children’s department staff at Northampton General Hospital are being vaccinated after a doctor was diagnosed with whooping cough. Northampton Chronicle and Echo
Children’s department staff at Northampton General Hospital are being vaccinated after a doctor was diagnosed with whooping cough. Northampton Chronicle and Echo
Microsoft releases Health Choices app
Microsoft releases Health Choices app: Health Choices, a smartphone app that provides health guidance and information about NHS services has been released by Microsoft for use on Apple and Android devices. E-Health Insider
New health visiting shared learning published
New health visiting shared learning published: This case study describes a new model of community practice teacher support designed by Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust. NHS Employers
New CPD guidance for doctors
New CPD guidance for doctors: The General Medical Council (GMC) has launched new guidance to help doctors reflect on how their learning and development improves the quality of care they provide to patients. NHS Employers
CQC report shows where NHS should be looking to improve
CQC report shows where NHS should be looking to improve: NHS organisations have been provided with a useful pointer as to where they can improve said NHS Confederation deputy chief executive David Stout in response to the CQC's first market report NHS Confederation
Toward best practice in interventional radiology
Toward best practice in interventional radiology:
This document sets out case studies using service delivery models that provide benefits for patients and staff. The clinical teams have shared their learning so that their experiences may be a stimulus to others to improve local interventional radiology services.
This document sets out case studies using service delivery models that provide benefits for patients and staff. The clinical teams have shared their learning so that their experiences may be a stimulus to others to improve local interventional radiology services.
Recovery resources
Recovery resources:
This online resource has been designed to support commissioners and services in meeting the drug strategy outcomes. It features evidence and guidance; case studies of local initiatives; and links to other useful material.
This online resource has been designed to support commissioners and services in meeting the drug strategy outcomes. It features evidence and guidance; case studies of local initiatives; and links to other useful material.
Monitor not responsible for oversized PFI
Monitor not responsible for oversized PFI:
An investigation into the private finance initiative arrangement at Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals Foundation Trust has published its findings.
Carried out by KPMG, the probe focused on how the trust was burdened with a large PFI agreement for a new hospital.
It found that Monitor was unable to prevent the deal but concluded the regulator could have spotted the trust’s slide into deficit earlier ... Healthcare Today
An investigation into the private finance initiative arrangement at Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals Foundation Trust has published its findings.
Carried out by KPMG, the probe focused on how the trust was burdened with a large PFI agreement for a new hospital.
It found that Monitor was unable to prevent the deal but concluded the regulator could have spotted the trust’s slide into deficit earlier ... Healthcare Today
There still seems to be a gap between the rhetoric and the actual care delivery on the ground
There still seems to be a gap between the rhetoric and the actual care delivery on the ground: Jill Davies, Research Programme Manager at the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities comments on the Care Quality Commission (CQC)'s report on its inspection of learning disabilities services.
Smoking ban 'has reduced asthma and heart attacks'
Smoking ban 'has reduced asthma and heart attacks':
Prohibition of smoking in pubs and restaurants appears to have encouraged people to try to cut down
Five years after the English smoking ban drove nicotine addicts out of pubs and on to pavements, the fug-filled restaurants and bars are a hazy memory. But it is not just our clothes that smell better – evidence is accumulating to show the UK population is in better health too.
The ban did not, as opponents warned, drive people out of pubs and into their homes to smoke. If anything, the ban, which brought more awareness of the dangers of secondhand smoke to friends and family as well as a greater degree of social disapproval, appears to have encouraged people to try to cut down.
A review of the benefits by Professor Linda Bauld of Bath University, published last year, found "no significant evidence of increased smoking at home among study participants after the law was in place. In contrast, some participants increased restrictions on smoking at home."
The big worry was that an increase in smoking at home would harm children. But a study carried out in Scotland, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2010, suggested their health had improved. Fewer have been admitted to hospital with asthma attacks since the Scottish ban on 26 March 2006, more than a year before its English counterpart.
The researchers looked at more than 21,000 asthma admissions between 2000 and 2009 for children under 15 years. Before the legislation, admissions among preschoolers were rising by more than 9% a year, while for older children they were stable. After the ban, they dropped by 18.4% for preschool children and 20.8% for those aged five to 14.
The authors admit they do not know if parents of the children smoked, so there is no direct link to the ban, and the admissions drop may have another cause, but they say: "We are not aware of any national educational campaigns, changes in healthcare delivery or clinical management, or changes in other exposures, such as air pollution, that coincided with the date on which the legislation was introduced."
The biggest health impact has been a drop in heart attack emergency admissions – the "Montana effect", which has since been identified in many other places that have brought in smoking bans. Helena, in Montana, introduced a smoking ban in June 2002, but it was scrapped that December. In those six months, however, researchers publishing in the British Medical Journal found a drop in heart attack admissions to hospital.
Anna Gilmore and her colleagues, at Bath's school for health, analysed heart attack hospital admissions for England between July 2002 and September 2008 and found a significant drop of 2.4% after the July 2007 ban. It was the equivalent of 1,200 fewer heart attack patients, they said in their paper in the BMJ.
It was a considerably smaller drop in admissions than that found in a study in Scotland by Jill Pell and colleagues. In her review Baud suggested that either less secondhand smoke was being inhaled in England before the ban than in Scotland, or the authors of the Scottish study did not take into account other reasons for declining coronary rates.
But overall, it is clear that smoking bans have made a difference to heart health. A Cochrane review, which scrutinised the data from 10 studies from North America, Italy and Scotland, found a drop in hospital heart attack admissions in all of them and a drop in the numbers of deaths in two.
Peers yesterday gave a second reading to a Bill proposed by Lord Ribiero, the ex-president of the Royal College of Surgeons, which would ban smoking in cars containing children, raising hopes among campaigners that it may secure enough support to pass the Lords and be discussed by MPs.
It will take many more years to find out what the effect is on preventing cancers and lung diseases, which take much longer to show up.
Robin Hewings, Cancer Research UK's tobacco control manager, said the smokefree legislation had already saved lives.
"Although we won't see a reduction in cancer rates for some years to come, the health gains that we have seen are very encouraging – such as the reduction in admissions to hospital for heart attacks. People no longer have to breathe cancer-causing chemicals from smoky air in their workplace. The law banning smoking in public places triggered around 300,000 smokers to try to kick the habit. There are now fewer public triggers that might tempt a smoker to fall off the wagon."
Hewings said the ban had changed the social norms around smoking indoors.
"Research has shown that far fewer people now allow smoking in their own homes – meaning that more children are benefiting from a smokefree environment too."
Meanwhile, according to new polling data which Cancer Research UK says shows "shocking levels of ignorance about smoking and cancer", it has emerged that fewer than one in five people realise that smoking causes many different forms of cancer. In a YouGov poll of 4,099 adults, weighted to make it representative of the UK population, only 12% knew that smoking can cause ovarian cancer, while the proportions who knew that smoking was linked to cancer of the bowel (13%), cervix (13%), kidney (15%) and liver (19%) were almost as small. However, 89% knew it can cause lung cancer. The Guardian
Five years after the English smoking ban drove nicotine addicts out of pubs and on to pavements, the fug-filled restaurants and bars are a hazy memory. But it is not just our clothes that smell better – evidence is accumulating to show the UK population is in better health too.
The ban did not, as opponents warned, drive people out of pubs and into their homes to smoke. If anything, the ban, which brought more awareness of the dangers of secondhand smoke to friends and family as well as a greater degree of social disapproval, appears to have encouraged people to try to cut down.
A review of the benefits by Professor Linda Bauld of Bath University, published last year, found "no significant evidence of increased smoking at home among study participants after the law was in place. In contrast, some participants increased restrictions on smoking at home."
The big worry was that an increase in smoking at home would harm children. But a study carried out in Scotland, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2010, suggested their health had improved. Fewer have been admitted to hospital with asthma attacks since the Scottish ban on 26 March 2006, more than a year before its English counterpart.
The researchers looked at more than 21,000 asthma admissions between 2000 and 2009 for children under 15 years. Before the legislation, admissions among preschoolers were rising by more than 9% a year, while for older children they were stable. After the ban, they dropped by 18.4% for preschool children and 20.8% for those aged five to 14.
The authors admit they do not know if parents of the children smoked, so there is no direct link to the ban, and the admissions drop may have another cause, but they say: "We are not aware of any national educational campaigns, changes in healthcare delivery or clinical management, or changes in other exposures, such as air pollution, that coincided with the date on which the legislation was introduced."
The biggest health impact has been a drop in heart attack emergency admissions – the "Montana effect", which has since been identified in many other places that have brought in smoking bans. Helena, in Montana, introduced a smoking ban in June 2002, but it was scrapped that December. In those six months, however, researchers publishing in the British Medical Journal found a drop in heart attack admissions to hospital.
Anna Gilmore and her colleagues, at Bath's school for health, analysed heart attack hospital admissions for England between July 2002 and September 2008 and found a significant drop of 2.4% after the July 2007 ban. It was the equivalent of 1,200 fewer heart attack patients, they said in their paper in the BMJ.
It was a considerably smaller drop in admissions than that found in a study in Scotland by Jill Pell and colleagues. In her review Baud suggested that either less secondhand smoke was being inhaled in England before the ban than in Scotland, or the authors of the Scottish study did not take into account other reasons for declining coronary rates.
But overall, it is clear that smoking bans have made a difference to heart health. A Cochrane review, which scrutinised the data from 10 studies from North America, Italy and Scotland, found a drop in hospital heart attack admissions in all of them and a drop in the numbers of deaths in two.
Peers yesterday gave a second reading to a Bill proposed by Lord Ribiero, the ex-president of the Royal College of Surgeons, which would ban smoking in cars containing children, raising hopes among campaigners that it may secure enough support to pass the Lords and be discussed by MPs.
It will take many more years to find out what the effect is on preventing cancers and lung diseases, which take much longer to show up.
Robin Hewings, Cancer Research UK's tobacco control manager, said the smokefree legislation had already saved lives.
"Although we won't see a reduction in cancer rates for some years to come, the health gains that we have seen are very encouraging – such as the reduction in admissions to hospital for heart attacks. People no longer have to breathe cancer-causing chemicals from smoky air in their workplace. The law banning smoking in public places triggered around 300,000 smokers to try to kick the habit. There are now fewer public triggers that might tempt a smoker to fall off the wagon."
Hewings said the ban had changed the social norms around smoking indoors.
"Research has shown that far fewer people now allow smoking in their own homes – meaning that more children are benefiting from a smokefree environment too."
Meanwhile, according to new polling data which Cancer Research UK says shows "shocking levels of ignorance about smoking and cancer", it has emerged that fewer than one in five people realise that smoking causes many different forms of cancer. In a YouGov poll of 4,099 adults, weighted to make it representative of the UK population, only 12% knew that smoking can cause ovarian cancer, while the proportions who knew that smoking was linked to cancer of the bowel (13%), cervix (13%), kidney (15%) and liver (19%) were almost as small. However, 89% knew it can cause lung cancer. The Guardian
Hospital closures inevitable and NHS operation rationing will continue, warns think-tank
Hospital closures inevitable and NHS operation rationing will continue, warns think-tank: NHS patients should expect continued rationing of common operations for years to come, while hospital closures are "inevitable", according to influential think tank The King's Fund
. The Daily Telegraph
. The Daily Telegraph
Friday, 29 June 2012
Radical changes are needed – my reflections on themes from the NHS Confederation conference
Radical changes are needed – my reflections on themes from the NHS Confederation conference: Reflecting back on the conference, Anna Dixon considers outstanding reform issues, including the difficult decisions that must be made around hospital reconfiguration. (Blog, 28 Jun 2012) Kings Fund
Healthcare across the UK: A comparison of the NHS in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Healthcare across the UK: A comparison of the NHS in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: The report finds variations in health outcomes across the four nations, and will help health departments examine how better value for money could be achieved. The National Audit Office
NHS walk-in centres being closed
NHS walk-in centres being closed: Walk-in centres are rapidly becoming a casualty of the tougher financial climate in the NHS in England. BBC News
US healthcare reform law upheld
US healthcare reform law upheld: A key component of US President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare reform act, called the "individual mandate", is upheld, the Supreme Court rules. BBC News
Cancer awareness campaign fails to improve diagnosis rates
Cancer awareness campaign fails to improve diagnosis rates: A DH-backed cancer awareness campaign failed to detect more cases or improve recognition of symptoms, casting doubt over whether a recent £8.5m bowel cancer campaign was worthwhile. GP Online
CCGs will disappear like fundholding, top manager warns
CCGs will disappear like fundholding, top manager warns: The new system of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) is unlikely to last longer than the GP fundholding scheme of the 1990s, according to one of the most senior hospital managers in the NHS. GP Online
Guidance and information on supporting revalidation
Guidance and information on supporting revalidation:
This guidance has been devised to simplify the appraisal process and the supporting information doctors need in order to revalidate. Following extensive work and consultation coordinated by the AoMRC, the specialty guidance frameworks have been produced based on AoMRC’s core framework (agreed by all member colleges and faculties) to ensure commonality in appraisal for revalidation regardless of a doctor’s specialty.
This guidance has been devised to simplify the appraisal process and the supporting information doctors need in order to revalidate. Following extensive work and consultation coordinated by the AoMRC, the specialty guidance frameworks have been produced based on AoMRC’s core framework (agreed by all member colleges and faculties) to ensure commonality in appraisal for revalidation regardless of a doctor’s specialty.
NHS IT directors: Spending cuts will be detrimental to patient care - Computing
NHS IT directors: Spending cuts will be detrimental to patient care - Computing:
 Computing | NHS IT directors: Spending cuts will be detrimental to patient care Computing The survey, commissioned by IT services company 2e2, found that 87 per cent of the respondents said they were under pressure to cut costs to achieve the government's aim to save £20bn from the NHS budget by 2014-15. According to 2e2, this translates to ... |
Doctors vote to strike again as pension row escalates
Doctors vote to strike again as pension row escalates:
NHS faces bank holiday-style service after BMA conference calls for further industrial action
Doctors voted on Thursday to ramp up their pensions dispute with more industrial action that threatens to reduce the NHS to a bank holiday-style service, dealong only with emergency cases.
Most of the 500 delegates at the British Medical Association's annual conference backed a motion calling for doctors across the UK to escalate the industrial action, a week after protests that deprived tens of thousands of patients of a planned operation or appointment with specialists or GPs.
However, there is some tentative optimism among BMA leaders that a resolution to the year-long dispute could soon emerge from behind-the-scenes talks.
Delegates agreed that more industrial action was necessary to try to force ministers to backtrack on pension arrangements that have infuriated the profession because they will force doctors to work until they are 68, pay more to pension contributions and forfeit their final salary scheme.
The BMA motion said any future action "should be in conjunction with other public sector unions" and that the ruling council of the medical union "should consider a range of options in defence of our pensions".
The options included a withdrawal from the establishment of clinical commissioning groups, bodies that will become key in the NHS in England under the coalition's controversial health reforms.
In secondary hospital care, the option is for "withdrawal of labour with emergency cover only". Such a move would mean the NHS being able to offer only a minimal service, similar to that given on Christmas Day or bank holidays when staff deal only with emergency cases.
The move does not bind the BMA's council, which will discuss what steps the union should take on Friday afternoon.
The motion was passed despite warnings from delegates, including Ivan Camphor, a GP who said doctors would risk losing patients' goodwill by taking further action.
Kevin O'Kane, a London hospital consultant, who proposed the motion with Anna Athow, a council member, said the move would show the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, that doctors would fight – by taking several further days of action, if necessary – until they received fair treatment over their pensions.
O'Kane, who chairs the BMA's 32,000-strong London region, told the gathering in Bournemouth: "We need to send out a very strong message to the government that we are serious about this, and get another day of action on the books. Let's get more days of action announced and get some momentum around this. Mr Lansley, we are very serious about this and you had better believe it."
But the conference rejected a part of the motion calling on the BMA council to name a date for a second day of action. That rejection could have heeded the advice of the BMA's outgoing chairman, Hamish Meldrum, who just before the vote advised against support.
Meldrum, who this week warned doctors that further action would damage patients' trust in them, indicated to delegates that there might be an announcement soon about progress on breaking the deadlock. A lot of discussions had been held since last week's day of action and there could be some news soon, he said.
Making his final address to the BMA after leading the 140,000-strong organisation for five years, Meldrum said it might "not be wonderful that things go back to 2008 [when the BMA agreed a pensions deal with the Labour government]", but that there might be developments.
On Monday, Meldrum hinted thatdoctors might be persuaded to call off the dispute if ministers agreed to concessions over two key concerns:
• Doctors having to carry on in their jobs until they are 68, which, some say, will be impractical for A&E doctors and certain categories of surgeons. .
• The planned increases in doctors' pension contributions that are due to happen in 2013 and 2014.
However, Department of Health sources confirmed that while the detail of those two issues was still to be agreed, doctors would receive no concessions in response to taking, or threatening to take, industrial action.
A letter sent by Lansley on Wednesday to Christina McAnea, Unison's head of health, who is co-ordinating the opposition of 15 health unions to the pension plans, indicated there could be scope for agreement on the two issues identified by Meldrum.
Lansley wrote: "We also need to discuss contribution rate increases in years two and three and how this will feed through in tiered contribution rates. This work needs to be taken forward in a spirit of partnership focussed on achieving pension arrangements that will best meet the needs of staff and employers."
In another seemingly emollient passage, he said: "I recognise that trade unions are particularly concerned about the increase in normal pension age. The implications of this will be considered in the Review of Working Longer, and the government has also committed to keep the link under review as recommended by Lord Hutton."
Sources involved in the dispute suggested that, as part of a potential resolution to the dispute, certain sorts of doctors might be able to do less onerous tasks than usual when they reached their mid-60s.
Lansley's letter also made clear that he would be pressing ahead with implementing the shake-up of the NHS pensions scheme, partly because "the majority of NHS staff" had not rejected the proposals in a series of votes – that often had low turnouts – which had been held by unions including Unison, Unite, the Royal College of Nursing, and the Royal College of Midwives The Guardian
Doctors voted on Thursday to ramp up their pensions dispute with more industrial action that threatens to reduce the NHS to a bank holiday-style service, dealong only with emergency cases.
Most of the 500 delegates at the British Medical Association's annual conference backed a motion calling for doctors across the UK to escalate the industrial action, a week after protests that deprived tens of thousands of patients of a planned operation or appointment with specialists or GPs.
However, there is some tentative optimism among BMA leaders that a resolution to the year-long dispute could soon emerge from behind-the-scenes talks.
Delegates agreed that more industrial action was necessary to try to force ministers to backtrack on pension arrangements that have infuriated the profession because they will force doctors to work until they are 68, pay more to pension contributions and forfeit their final salary scheme.
The BMA motion said any future action "should be in conjunction with other public sector unions" and that the ruling council of the medical union "should consider a range of options in defence of our pensions".
The options included a withdrawal from the establishment of clinical commissioning groups, bodies that will become key in the NHS in England under the coalition's controversial health reforms.
In secondary hospital care, the option is for "withdrawal of labour with emergency cover only". Such a move would mean the NHS being able to offer only a minimal service, similar to that given on Christmas Day or bank holidays when staff deal only with emergency cases.
The move does not bind the BMA's council, which will discuss what steps the union should take on Friday afternoon.
The motion was passed despite warnings from delegates, including Ivan Camphor, a GP who said doctors would risk losing patients' goodwill by taking further action.
Kevin O'Kane, a London hospital consultant, who proposed the motion with Anna Athow, a council member, said the move would show the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, that doctors would fight – by taking several further days of action, if necessary – until they received fair treatment over their pensions.
O'Kane, who chairs the BMA's 32,000-strong London region, told the gathering in Bournemouth: "We need to send out a very strong message to the government that we are serious about this, and get another day of action on the books. Let's get more days of action announced and get some momentum around this. Mr Lansley, we are very serious about this and you had better believe it."
But the conference rejected a part of the motion calling on the BMA council to name a date for a second day of action. That rejection could have heeded the advice of the BMA's outgoing chairman, Hamish Meldrum, who just before the vote advised against support.
Meldrum, who this week warned doctors that further action would damage patients' trust in them, indicated to delegates that there might be an announcement soon about progress on breaking the deadlock. A lot of discussions had been held since last week's day of action and there could be some news soon, he said.
Making his final address to the BMA after leading the 140,000-strong organisation for five years, Meldrum said it might "not be wonderful that things go back to 2008 [when the BMA agreed a pensions deal with the Labour government]", but that there might be developments.
On Monday, Meldrum hinted thatdoctors might be persuaded to call off the dispute if ministers agreed to concessions over two key concerns:
• Doctors having to carry on in their jobs until they are 68, which, some say, will be impractical for A&E doctors and certain categories of surgeons. .
• The planned increases in doctors' pension contributions that are due to happen in 2013 and 2014.
However, Department of Health sources confirmed that while the detail of those two issues was still to be agreed, doctors would receive no concessions in response to taking, or threatening to take, industrial action.
A letter sent by Lansley on Wednesday to Christina McAnea, Unison's head of health, who is co-ordinating the opposition of 15 health unions to the pension plans, indicated there could be scope for agreement on the two issues identified by Meldrum.
Lansley wrote: "We also need to discuss contribution rate increases in years two and three and how this will feed through in tiered contribution rates. This work needs to be taken forward in a spirit of partnership focussed on achieving pension arrangements that will best meet the needs of staff and employers."
In another seemingly emollient passage, he said: "I recognise that trade unions are particularly concerned about the increase in normal pension age. The implications of this will be considered in the Review of Working Longer, and the government has also committed to keep the link under review as recommended by Lord Hutton."
Sources involved in the dispute suggested that, as part of a potential resolution to the dispute, certain sorts of doctors might be able to do less onerous tasks than usual when they reached their mid-60s.
Lansley's letter also made clear that he would be pressing ahead with implementing the shake-up of the NHS pensions scheme, partly because "the majority of NHS staff" had not rejected the proposals in a series of votes – that often had low turnouts – which had been held by unions including Unison, Unite, the Royal College of Nursing, and the Royal College of Midwives The Guardian
NHS facing 'colossal' care bill unless system is overhauled urgently
NHS facing 'colossal' care bill unless system is overhauled urgently: The Coalition is failing to live up to its pledge to find an urgent solution to the funding crisis over care for the elderly, the leaders of the Royal College of Nursing and Age UK claim today.
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily TelegraphWarning over shortage of midwives
Warning over shortage of midwives:
The Government must address the "serious shortage" of midwives, the Royal College of Midwives said, as an independent report found that numbers of staff are one of the main challenges facing maternity services. The Independent
The Government must address the "serious shortage" of midwives, the Royal College of Midwives said, as an independent report found that numbers of staff are one of the main challenges facing maternity services. The Independent
Thursday, 28 June 2012
Most patients would recommend Kettering General Hospital
Most patients would recommend Kettering General Hospital:
A majority of Kettering General Hospital patients would recommend the service to friends and family, a survey has revealed. Evening Telegraph
A majority of Kettering General Hospital patients would recommend the service to friends and family, a survey has revealed. Evening Telegraph
Local health profiles published for every county and council in England
Local health profiles published for every county and council in England: Details of local health needs in every county and council in England have been published, alongside tools to help users analyse the data.
You can find Northamptonshire here.
You can find Northamptonshire here.
New health visitor service ''will be dynamic''
New health visitor service ''will be dynamic'': New parents will get more support from health visitors in the home and community, says Department of Health Public Service
Update on induction for junior doctors
Update on induction for junior doctors: The Joint Negotiating Committee for Junior Doctors (JNC J) has issued guidance for the induction of junior doctors. NHS Employers
Healthcare public health advice service to clinical commissioning groups: guidance to support the provision of healthcare public health advice to CCGs
Healthcare public health advice service to clinical commissioning groups: guidance to support the provision of healthcare public health advice to CCGs:
This guidance aims to help local authority based Directors of Public Health and NHS commissioners with local planning in the transition year before the new healthcare system goes live in April 2013. It is intended supersede the draft guidance issued to local public health teams and CCGs in February 2012.
This guidance aims to help local authority based Directors of Public Health and NHS commissioners with local planning in the transition year before the new healthcare system goes live in April 2013. It is intended supersede the draft guidance issued to local public health teams and CCGs in February 2012.
The home cure
The home cure:
This report examines whether, through changes to delivery, out-patient home care programmes can achieve better outcomes. Introduced in the 2000s to reduce ‘bed-blocking’ in hospitals, evidence now suggests that effective reablement can facilitate swifter discharge and reduce the need of ongoing home care support by up to 60 per cent. The savings to both health and social care services are substantial; but in reality performance is variable. This report finds that reablement services could benefit from deep structural changes to how they are delivered.
This report examines whether, through changes to delivery, out-patient home care programmes can achieve better outcomes. Introduced in the 2000s to reduce ‘bed-blocking’ in hospitals, evidence now suggests that effective reablement can facilitate swifter discharge and reduce the need of ongoing home care support by up to 60 per cent. The savings to both health and social care services are substantial; but in reality performance is variable. This report finds that reablement services could benefit from deep structural changes to how they are delivered.
Assessment of health-system crisis preparedness: England
Assessment of health-system crisis preparedness: England:
This report describes the level of preparedness of the English health system to deal with crises, regardless of cause. It also examines the risk-prevention and risk-mitigation initiatives of the country. While the main focus is on the national level, some attention has been paid to weaknesses in the command structure at the regional level. Recommendations on possible action are included.
This report describes the level of preparedness of the English health system to deal with crises, regardless of cause. It also examines the risk-prevention and risk-mitigation initiatives of the country. While the main focus is on the national level, some attention has been paid to weaknesses in the command structure at the regional level. Recommendations on possible action are included.
Guidance offered to GPs on spotting autism
Guidance offered to GPs on spotting autism:
Family doctors have been given new guidance to help them identify autism in adults to help them get the help they need.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published the guidance to see NHS staff better equipped to recognise the signs and symptoms of autism in adults.
There are half a million people in the UK with an autism spectrum condition (ASC) including Asperger syndrome... Healthcare Today
Family doctors have been given new guidance to help them identify autism in adults to help them get the help they need.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published the guidance to see NHS staff better equipped to recognise the signs and symptoms of autism in adults.
There are half a million people in the UK with an autism spectrum condition (ASC) including Asperger syndrome... Healthcare Today
Adults with autism need more help in accessing services
Adults with autism need more help in accessing services: Early diagnosis of adults with autism can help them access the services they need, including assistance with getting jobs and keeping hold of them. NICE
Obese and smokers less of a burden on the NHS than the healthy who live longer - report
Obese and smokers less of a burden on the NHS than the healthy who live longer - report: Healthy people live longer and end up needing 24 hour care, report says.
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
Don't sign, hospitals warned before PFI deal
Don't sign, hospitals warned before PFI deal: An NHS hospital trust was officially warned not to sign the £500 million PFI deal that left it on the brink of bankruptcy, an independent report discloses.
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily TelegraphOne in four hospitals, clinics and care homes fail to meet basic standards for patient safety and quality of care
One in four hospitals, clinics and care homes fail to meet basic standards for patient safety and quality of care:
One in four hospitals, clinics and care homes in England are failing to meet basic standards for patient safety and quality of care, according to the most comprehensive study of its kind. The Independent
One in four hospitals, clinics and care homes in England are failing to meet basic standards for patient safety and quality of care, according to the most comprehensive study of its kind. The Independent
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