Hundreds of New Year call-outs for East Midlands paramedics

Hundreds of New Year call-outs for East Midlands paramedics
Paramedics in the region were called to almost five emergencies a minute as people celebrated the New Year in the small hours of yesterday (Wednesday, January 1). Evening Telegraph

Thousands raised from Kettering charity dinner

Thousands raised from Kettering charity dinner
Cheques worth thousands of pounds have been handed over to the Kettering’s Cransley Hospice and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.  Evening Telegraph

Charge £10 to keep timewasters away from A&E units, say GPs

Charge £10 to keep timewasters away from A&E units, say GPs
One in three family doctors supports charging patients £5 to £10 every time they visit A&E and only refunding them if the trip is found to be necessary, a survey has found.  Independent

Schizophrenia: CBT 'little help'

Schizophrenia: CBT 'little help'
Talking therapies have "little impact" on the symptoms of people with schizophrenia, a study suggests.  BBC News

Lack of drug data 'extreme concern'

Lack of drug data 'extreme concern'
The lack of data on the effectiveness of medicines available to doctors and researchers is "of extreme concern" say a group of MPs.  BBC News

Hull triages A&E patients through kiosks

Hull triages A&E patients through kiosks
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust is using self-check-in and triage kiosks in its emergency departments.  EHI News

Could vitamin E slow dementia?

Could vitamin E slow dementia?

Research suggests that a daily dose of vitamin E could help people with dementia, BBC News reports.

However, high doses of vitamin E are not safe or suitable for everybody and should not be taken without medical advice.

The BBC reports on a US trial with a group of 613 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease who were already receiving treatment with widely used medication - acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChe inhibitors). 

Researchers looked at whether adding daily treatment with either a vitamin E supplement, another Alzheimer’s drug called memantine, or a combination of the two, improved the person’s ability to perform activities of daily living.

In comparison with a placebo, they found that during the average two-year study period people taking vitamin E alone showed slower decline on the activities scale than those taking the placebo. They were able to carry out everyday tasks such as washing and their caregivers reported spending less time looking after them.

There was no significant difference between the memantine and combination groups and the placebo groups.

However, the trial had a large drop-out rate which might have affected the results.

It’s important to note that people in the trial took vitamin E in very large doses, which may be unsafe for some people and can lead to adverse interaction with other medications.

Further research is required on both the effectiveness and safety of vitamin E before it can be recommended as a treatment for dementia.

Do not take high doses of vitamin E without checking with your GP that it is safe to do so.

Award-winning training scheme for carers could go nationwide

Award-winning training scheme for carers could go nationwide

Devon NHS Trust's project to train care home support staff acclaimed after halving avoidable hospital admissions

Sir David Nicholson, chief executive of NHS England, is keen to see a national roll out of the training scheme developed by nurses in north Devon, who have been boosting the clinical skills of care home support staff.

At the Guardian Public Services Awards 2013, Northern Devon Healthcare NHS trust won the partnership excellence category.

Chris Thomas, health and social care cluster manager at the trust says: "Sir David singled us out at the awards night and said 'This has to go out across the NHS'. That was quite something."

Nicholson's interest in the scheme, run by nurses Becky Young and Jan Hearnden, is not surprising given that, since it was launched, avoidable hospital admissions have fallen from 109 in April last year to 54 in June 2013. There is also anecdotal evidence that cases of adult safeguarding in the care homes where the scheme has been running have also gone down.

Third of GPs back charges for A&E patients to tackle crisis

Third of GPs back charges for A&E patients to tackle crisis

A&E specialists believe up to 40% of all visits unnecessary, but medical bodies warn charges would penalise poorer patients

One in three GPs want patients to be charged each time they visit A&E in order to reduce frivolous use of the NHS and the growing pressure on emergency departments, a survey has found.

In a poll of more than 800 family doctors, 32% said such fees would be the most cost-effective way of cutting the number of people who go to A&E who could have gone to their GP or a pharmacist instead or did not need medical attention at all.

Charging all patients £5 or £10 would significantly reduce the number of people turning up at A&E, which has been rising so much that emergency doctors have complained that A&E units have become worryingly overcrowded and that they cannot cope with the demand for care. Patients would receive refunds if their condition was shown to need attention.

Hard-hitting New Year stop smoking campaign is launched

Hard-hitting New Year stop smoking campaign is launched
A new national campaign shows smokers the pollution they are exposing their blood, heart, lungs and brain to. Evening Telegraph

Health professional gives kidney to stranger

Health professional gives kidney to stranger
A health professional has given the gift of life to a complete stranger by anonymously donating one of her kidneys to them. Chronicle and Echo

Surgery implant has 'huge potential'

Surgery implant has 'huge potential'
Researchers in Oxford have developed a degradable implant which they say has huge potential to improve surgical success rates.  BBC News

A fresh start for community health care

A fresh start for community health care
CQC has set out the plans in its publication A Fresh Start for Community Health Care.  NHS Networks

If NHS was a country it would 'barely have a credit rating', says BMA

If NHS was a country it would 'barely have a credit rating', says BMA
Dr Mark Porter, chairman of council at the British Medical Association, says the health service's finances are in a "dire" state.  Telegraph

NHS leaders call for end to waves of criticism of health service

NHS leaders call for end to waves of criticism of health service
The leaders of 10 NHS organisations have called for an end to waves of criticism of the health service.  Independent

NHS 'could save £600m a year' by screening for liver disease

NHS 'could save £600m a year' by screening for liver disease
The NHS could save £600m every year simply by screening people believed to be at risk of liver disease, experts have claimed.  Independent

Retendering NHS 111 contracts could cost millions

Retendering NHS 111 contracts could cost millions

Process in one of the 11 regions affected by NHS Direct's withdrawal from contracts will cost £500,000, BMJ finds

The bungled launch of the NHS 111 service is likely to cost the health service millions of pounds, according to an investigation by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The service was thrown into turmoil last July after one of the main providers, NHS Direct, announced it planned to pull out of its contracts due to severe financial problems.

The cost of retendering the contracts is likely to be very high, the BMJ said. In just one region affected, the West Midlands, the reprocurement process will cost £500,000, it found.

The NHS 111 line, which replaced NHS Direct as the number to call for urgent but non-emergency care, has been riddled with teething problems since its inception on 1 April. Patients have complained of calls going unanswered, poor advice given and calls being diverted to the wrong part of the country.

A month after the launch, leading medics said the "problematic" roll-out of the system had left many patients not knowing where to turn. NHS England launched an investigation into the advice line after a number of incidents, including three deaths, were linked to the service.

NHS Direct originally won 11 of the 46 contracts across England to provide the 111 service. But in July it announced it would be unable to provide the service in North Essex, Cornwall, Somerset, Buckinghamshire, east London and the City, south-east London, Sutton and Merton, West Midlands, Lancashire and Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire.

A spokeswoman for NHS Direct said the contracts, which covered more than a third of the population of England, were "financially unsustainable". In October the organisation announced that it was to close after projecting a £26m deficit for this financial year.

Dame Barbara Hakin, chief operating officer at NHS England, said: "NHS 111 is now a stable and improving service and we are confident it will continue to get better. I have been impressed by the way that the staff providing these services across the country have turned the situation around on behalf of the public.

"NHS 111 provides a good service with high levels of public satisfaction. Calls are answered promptly and more people are getting access to the service as we move to full coverage in February 2014. The recent urgent care review identified the important role that 111 can play. The concept of calling for advice first is essential for patient care outcomes and we are committed to ensuring 111 plays its full part in this."

Labour's shadow health minister Andrew Gwynne said: "It is now clear that ministers wasted millions on flawed contracts. Labour warned the government at the outset that 111 was fundamentally flawed but they pressed ahead with the rollout regardless.

"David Cameron is responsible for its shambolic introduction. The destruction of NHS Direct – a trusted, national service – is one of his worst acts of vandalism."  Guardian

Extended NHS charging for visitors and migrants

Extended NHS charging for visitors and migrants
Plans include extending charging for primary care services, such as prescriptions. GP and nurse consultations will remain free, which will mean that everyone will continue to have initial access to prevent risks to public health such as HIV, TB and sexually transmitted infections. Other types of primary care services that are being considered for charging include minor surgery that is carried out by a GP and physiotherapy that has been referred through a GP.  NHS Networks

Mid Staffs campaigners honoured

Mid Staffs campaigners honoured Two women who led the fight against one of the most shocking failings in NHS history are recognised in the New Year honours list. BBC News

7,000 key NHS clinical staff laid off amid enforced cuts

7,000 key NHS clinical staff laid off amid enforced cuts Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the BMA says £20bn savings drive to blame, as doctors and nurses are made redundant.

An "arbitrary" straitjacket on the NHS's budget by Whitehall is leading to job losses, recruitment freezes and inadequate care for patients, the leader of the country's doctors warns on Tuesday.

Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the British Medical Association, said forcing the NHS in England to make £20bn of "efficiency gains" by 2015 at a time of rising demand for healthcare was wrong and damaging.

Porter was speaking to the Guardian after the Department of Health (DH) admitted that 7,060 NHS clinical staff, such as doctors and nurses, have been made redundant since the coalition took power in 2010, at the same time as David Cameron was pledging to protect the service's frontline from cuts.