Guide to the healthcare system in England

Guide to the healthcare system in England:
The Guide to the Healthcare System in England covers:

• Providing care
• Commissioning care
• Safeguarding patients
• Empowering patients and local communities
• Education and training
• Supporting providers of care
• The role of the secretary of state for health

The accountability statement explains how decision making works in the NHS and fulfils the commitment set out in principle 7 of the NHS Constitution.
NHS Networks

Final 2012/13 staff flu vaccination figures released by the Department of Health

Final 2012/13 staff flu vaccination figures released by the Department of Health: Figures reveal that a greater proportion of NHS staff than ever before are now vaccinated against flu. NHS Employers News

'The stuff of Nobel prizes': The backache breakthrough? Half a million sufferers 'could be cured with antibiotics'

'The stuff of Nobel prizes': The backache breakthrough? Half a million sufferers 'could be cured with antibiotics':
Up to half a million patients with chronic low back pain may be suffering from an infection that can be treated with antibiotics.
Independent

Dedicated web pages launched for 74 specialised services Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs)

Dedicated web pages launched for 74 specialised services Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs):
NHS England has today launched a series of web pages dedicated to each of the 74 specialised services Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs).
CRGs cover the full range of specialised services and are responsible for providing NHS England with clinical advice regarding these directly commissioned services. The CRGs are made up of clinicians, commissioners, Public Health experts and patients and carers, and are responsible for the delivery of key ‘products’ such as service specifications and commissioning policies, which enable NHS England to commission services from specialist providers through the contracting arrangements overseen by its Area Teams.
National Programmes of Care and Clinical Reference Groups web pages
NHS Commissioning

Mentally-ill patients were 'Tasered' more than 50 times

Mentally-ill patients were 'Tasered' more than 50 times:
Police have resorted to firing Tasers to subdue mentally-ill patients in hospital and care homes more than 50 times in three years, Freedom of Information requests have disclosed.
Independent

New Choose & Book by end of year

New Choose & Book by end of year: NHS England plans to have a redeveloped Choose and Book service operating by the end of this year. EHI News

Is the NHS really that bad – what does the evidence show?

Is the NHS really that bad – what does the evidence show?:

The Care Quality Commission's annual inpatient survey suggests that the negative press is by no means all justified
Judging by recent media coverage, you might be forgiven for thinking that the NHS has become a patient's nightmare, with doctors and nurses routinely mistreating or ignoring those in their care, leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths in hospitals across the country.
What does the evidence say? The Care Quality Commission's annual inpatient survey – looking at the experiences of more than 64,500 people admitted to NHS hospitals in England in 2012 – got precious little media coverage. But it paints a very different picture.
Most of its survey questions give patients the choice of answering "yes, always", "yes, sometimes or to some extent" or "not at all".
In 2012, 80% of patients said they were always treated with dignity and respect in hospital, with only 3% saying they weren't. 80% said they always had confidence in the doctors treating them and 76% always had confidence in the nurses treating them, with only 3% not having confidence in either case. Ninety percent of the patients surveyed said they were always given enough privacy when being examined or treated; only 1% said they weren't.
When asked the key summary question – to rate their overall experience on a scale of 0 to 10 – 93% rated the experience at or above the average score of 5 and only 7% rated the experience below 5.
The 2012 survey shows a range of small year on year changes (usually 1 or 2% up or down) but it's more instructive to look at the 10-year sweep. The period 2002-12 shows substantial and demonstrable improvements across a range of areas that we know are important to patients.
Hospitals are now a lot cleaner: 68% of patients stated that their ward was very clean in 2012, up from 57% in 2002 (and another 33% in 2012 thought they were fairly clean). 92% of patients didn't have to share a ward with the opposite sex, up from 75% in 2002. The proportion of patients who felt that doctors often talked in front of them as if they weren't there decreased from 23% to 5% in 2012.
We all recognise how crucial it is to integrate our health and social care systems for good health outcomes. The survey shows that trusts are forging these important links within their local communities. Since 2002 there has been a marked decrease in the proportion of patients who felt there was a need to discuss further health or social care arrangements after leaving hospital and who would have liked to discuss this with staff but were unable to. The percentage went down from 33% in 2002 to 16% in 2012. Delayed discharges are also on a downward trend with the percentage of patients whose discharge was delayed falling from 48% in 2002 to 41% in 2012.
It's not a uniformly positive picture; there are a number of areas where the NHS needs to do better. No one can be satisfied that 20% of patients didn't feel they were given enough information about their treatment or that 48% of patients felt that they had to wait three minutes or longer for their call button to be answered.
But, overall, this evidence confirms the view that poor pockets of care are exactly that – pockets – and that poor care is not widespread, universal or endemic. We should, therefore, celebrate the successes of the NHS with the same enthusiasm and regularity as we, rightly, criticise the places where care has failed.
Guardian 

Heart device can call NGH docs if patient falls ill - Northampton Chronicle & Echo

Heart device can call NGH docs if patient falls ill A life-saving heart shock device can now tell Northampton General Hospital doctors if patients fall ill...over the phone. More than 200 Northamptonshire patients use implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICD), similar to the one the ex-footballer Fabrice ... Northampton Chronicle & Echo

NHS aims to beat MRSA in Northamptonshire - Northampton Chronicle & Echo

NHS aims to beat MRSA in Northamptonshire The pledge came as board papers revealed action was taken on Northampton General Hospital's Creaton ward during March, after the superbug was found on the skin of one patient in February and another during March. Checks highlighted high dust levels ... Northampton Chronicle & Echo

Cuts see NHS services and jobs 'at risk' - Northampton Chronicle & Echo

Cuts see NHS services and jobs 'at risk' Northamptonshire Healthcare (NHFT) is being forced to 're-design' four services after funding was cut, including respite for adults with learning disabilities, such as The Martins facility in Rushden, a crisis phone line for mentally ill patients who ... Northampton Chronicle & Echo

NHS stops referring patients to private hospital after damning report

NHS stops referring patients to private hospital after damning report:

Care failures at Mount Alvernia in Surrey included surgeon who operated without gloves in blood-stained shirt sleeves.
The NHS has said it will not refer patients to a private hospital following a scathing assessment of the chaotic and dangerous conditions that led it to suspend children's surgery.

Fears patients may have suffered harm or died due to NHS helpline failings

Fears patients may have suffered harm or died due to NHS helpline failings: NHS investigates claims that 'serious untoward incidents' have resulted from failings with NHS Direct replacement service
The NHS is investigating claims that some patients have suffered harm, and even died, as a result of problems with its new telephone advice service, 111.

News story: New measures unveiled to protect people if care providers fail

News story: New measures unveiled to protect people if care providers fail:

Care and Support Minister, Norman Lamb, today announced legislation would be introduced to give the Care Quality Commission (CQC) powers to oversee the financial stability of the largest and most difficult to replace care providers.

The role of local authorities is also being clarified so that, if a care provider fails, local authorities will have ultimate responsibility for ensuring continuity of care for all people receiving care regardless of who is funding the services.

The CQC’s oversight of finances, and the clarity of the local authority role, will give people who depend on care providers, along with their families and carers, an added level of assurance that their care needs will continue to be met.

Care and Support Minister, Norman Lamb said:

Everyone who receives care and support wants to know they will be protected if the company in charge of their care goes bust.

The fear and upset that the Southern Cross collapse caused to care home residents and families was unacceptable. This early warning system will bring reassurance to people in care and will allow action to be taken to ensure care continues if a provider fails.

The new powers are subject to Parliamentary approval. They were consulted on earlier in the year and the department has today published the formal consultation response.

This is part of wider work to improve standards and quality across the care sector and was first announced in the Care and Support white paper in July 2012. The department has progressed other initiatives in the sector to improve quality of care, including a website bringing together comparative information about care in local areas, and a Code of Conduct and Minimum Training Standards of care for adult social care.
Department of Health

Magnetic pulses may help treat depression

Magnetic pulses may help treat depression: A treatment for depression that uses magnetic pulses to activate key areas of the brain is being offered in Britain for the first time. Telegraph

Three deaths investigated involving NHS non-emergency 111 hotline

Three deaths investigated involving NHS non-emergency 111 hotline:
Three deaths and another 19 “potentially serious" incidents are being investigated in relation to the NHS's 111 non-emergency helpline, which was rolled out nationally last month. Independent

One manual shouldn't dictate US mental health research - New Scientist

One manual shouldn't dictate US mental health research The controversies swirling around the imminent update of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, produced by the American Psychiatric Association, have badly hurt confidence in psychiatric diagnosis. The problem ... And now we have ... New Scientist

Junior doctor 'wrongly gives cancer all-clear to hundreds of women'

Junior doctor 'wrongly gives cancer all-clear to hundreds of women': Around 250 patients who attended a breast cancer clinic at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital in Dorset between January 2011 and July last year have been asked back to have reassessments. Health - Mail online

Hospital 'not reporting hundreds of blundering doctors'

Hospitals 'not reporting hundreds of blundering doctors': Almost 200 doctors have not been reported to the General Medical Council for potentially fatal errors despite new legislation following the Harold Shipman case. Telegraph

New NHS helpline is putting people's lives at risk, say doctors

New NHS helpline is putting people's lives at risk, say doctors:
The new NHS 111 system is putting lives at risk because operators are making "inappropriate" decisions, GPs have warned in a damning report obtained by The Independent.

Quarter of adults 'walk hour a week'

Quarter of adults 'walk hour a week': A Ramblers poll suggests a quarter of adults walk for no more than one hour each week. BBC News - Health