GP workload must be capped to prevent mass exodus, say LMCs

GP workload must be capped to prevent mass exodus, say LMCs Increasing GP workload is leading to an exodus of doctors from UK primary care, according to LMC leaders who have demanded urgent limits on work intensity. GP Online

See also:

• Struggling GPs must have emergency powers to close practice list, warn LMCs GP Online

Nearly half disability benefit claimants have a mental illness

Nearly half disability benefit claimants have a mental illness The Institute for Fiscal Studies highlights the 'dramatic' rise in the number of people claiming disability benefit because they have a mental illness. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• The changing characteristics of UK disability benefit recipients The Institute for Fiscal Studies
• Disability Benefit Receipt and Reform: Reconciling Trends in the United Kingdom Journal of Economic Perspectives

More mental health cuts inevitable without funding reform, warns boss of under-fire trust

More mental health cuts inevitable without funding reform, warns boss of under-fire trust Mental health services will be cut further unless the government reforms the NHS funding system to give them a fairer settlement, the boss of an under-fire provider has warned. Community Care

Biggest NHS trust is failing on safety and quality of care, says watchdog

Biggest NHS trust is failing on safety and quality of care, says watchdog Care Quality Commission rates Barts health trust in London as inadequate due to issues including staff shortages and number of cancelled operations

Inspectors have criticised the NHS’s largest hospital trust after finding it is seriously understaffed, focuses too little on safety and has cancelled operations on numerous occasions because there were too few beds.

The Care Quality Commission has found a series of failings in the safety and quality of care being provided at Barts health trust in London, where major problems – including a deficit approaching £100m – have led to the recent departure of its two main bosses. Continue reading. The Guardian

Trans life: getting help from a gender clinic shouldn’t be a waiting game

Trans life: getting help from a gender clinic shouldn’t be a waiting game My referral led to a two-year wait for a 40-minute conversation. Is speedier NHS support really too much to ask?

Transgender is an umbrella term and it’s important not to forget the diversity beneath it. That said, there is one thing most trans people have in common and that’s the experience of waiting.

First, we wait for referrals from our GPs to a gender clinic. Or – even though the NHS recognises that being trans is not a mental illness – to a psychiatrist, who, I was apologetically told, had more authority to issue gender clinic referrals. Continue reading... The Guardian

Patients waiting longer for help amid nursing shortage

Patients waiting longer for help amid nursing shortage Two fifths of hospital patients said there were 'sometimes or rarely or never' enough nurses on duty to care for them. The Daily Telegraph

Minister warns food industry could face 'sugar tax'

Minister warns food industry could face 'sugar tax' Food companies could be forced to pay a ‘sugar tax’ if they continue to sell unhealthy food, a Government minister has warned. The Independent

See also:

• Tesco soft drinks gradual sugar cut BBC News
• Sugar tax to pay for treating obesity The Daily Telegraph
• Tesco announces plans to cut sugar content of its soft drinks by five per cent every year The Independent

NHS nurses see their wages fall over the past year - while senior managers enjoy a pay rise

NHS nurses see their wages fall over the past year - while senior managers enjoy a pay rise The average pay of an NHS nurse has fallen over the past year, while the salaries of senior managers have increased by nearly two per cent, latest figures show. The Independent

Six ways to harness the power of people and place to improve health care

Six ways to harness the power of people and place to improve health care Despite an abundance of ideas that would improve the commissioning and delivery of health care in the UK, there is widespread failure to implement and embed them. Andrew Constable gives his ideas on how to give improvement work every chance of succeeding. The Health Foundation

NHS launches new collaboration to sustain and improve local hospitals

NHS launches new collaboration to sustain and improve local hospitals The NHS invites expressions of interest from hospitals across England interested in developing new ways of delivering and improving their local acute services.

The aim is to enhance the viability of local hospitals through new formal shared working arrangements between clinical specialists at different hospitals, and to improve efficiency by sharing back office administration and management between different sites.

The new ‘vanguard’ sites, to be developed as part of implementing the Five Year Forward View, build on the proposals in the recent report from Sir David Dalton. NHS England

Every patient a research patient? Evaluating the current state of research in the NHS

Every patient a research patient? Evaluating the current state of research in the NHS According to this report, based on interviews with clinicians, nurses and administrators involved in NHS clinical cancer research, daily pressures on the NHS are having a serious impact on its ability to support world-leading research into cancer. It reveals pockets of excellence in clinical research, but also showed how escalating pressures to deliver routine NHS services are squeezing out time for hospital staff to do vital research. It also highlights how financial pressures are affecting research infrastructure and the capacity of host organisations to fund additional research costs. University of Birmingham on behalf of Cancer Research UK

BMA casts doubt on seven-day services plans

BMA casts doubt on seven-day services plans Serious questions must be answered about the feasibility of Government commitments to create a seven-day NHS, the British Medical Association has warned.

See also:

• Prime Minister's seven-day pledge empty headline grabbing BMA
• Doctors rubbish seven-day GPs plan BBC News
• Ministers must stop 'surreal obsession' with seven day surgeries, top doctor warns The Daily Telegraph
• Ministers must scrap plans for seven-day GP service, warns GPC chairman GP Online
• David Cameron 'must drop obsession' with seven-day access to GPs The Guardian
• Head of British Medical Association: Seven-day GP access plan 'surreal' and must be scrapped The Independent

'Baby deaths' midwife struck off

'Baby deaths' midwife struck off A former midwife at Furness General Hospital who admitted she "made mistakes" that contributed to the deaths of two babies is struck off. BBC News

See also:

• Midwife struck off for misconduct after deaths of two babies The Guardian

NHS fails 'thousands' cancer patients

NHS fails 'thousands' cancer patients The NHS in England is failing "thousands" of cancer patients by treating them too slowly, a charity warns. BBC News

See also:

• Waiting Times for Suspectedand Diagnosed CancerPatients2014-15 Annual Report NHS England
• NHS failing cancer patients as waiting numbers highest since records began The Daily Mail
• More NHS hospitals breach waiting times for cancer treatment The Guardian
• NHS cancer care faces fresh scrutiny after hospitals miss key targets The Guardian

Developing evidence-enriched practice in health and social care with older people

Developing evidence-enriched practice in health and social care with older people An innovative project looking at how evidence can be used to enrich practice, based on research from the JRF A Better Life programme, has released its findings.

The project, which ran for one year in six sites across Wales and Scotland, focused on what matters to older people, carers, staff, organisations and researchers.

The project demonstrated the benefits of using research and related contextual evidence in developing services and workforces, resulting in improved wellbing for older people, carers and staff. Joseph Rowntree Trust

NHS to pilot new urgent care models where health service is struggling

NHS to pilot new urgent care models where health service is struggling New urgent care models could be developed in areas where health services are under pressure, NHS England's chief executive has suggested. GP Online

NHS treats transgender people as second-class citizens, says watchdog

NHS treats transgender people as second-class citizens, says watchdog Delays in preparatory treatment and therapy, and years waiting for life-changing operations, put unacceptable pressure on patients, campaigners say.

People preparing for gender reassignment are being treated as second-class citizens by the NHS in England, with many taking at least six years to go through the process, according to the state-funded watchdog Healthwatch.

Katherine Rake, its chief executive, said those seeking to change their gender often faced an “incredibly troubling” experience, with the process taking “a considerable part of people’s lives”. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• A transgender woman's journey: 'You feel desperate, helpless' The Guardian

Almost one in four deaths 'avoidable with lifestyle and healthcare changes'

Almost one in four deaths 'avoidable with lifestyle and healthcare changes' ONS study shows 23% of deaths in England and Wales in 2013 were amenable to treatment or could have been prevented through public health measures.

Nearly a quarter of deaths in England and Wales in 2013 were potentially avoidable with good healthcare, improvements to lifestyles or vaccination, the Office for National Statistics has said.

In all, 114,740 (23%) of the 506,790 deaths recorded in the two countries were either amenable to treatment or could have been prevented through public health measures, or sometimes both, according to experimental statistics published on Wednesday. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Avoidable Mortality in England and Wales, 2013 Office for National Statistics
• One in FOUR die from avoidable disease that could be prevented with a healthier lifestyle The Daily Mail

MPs took tobacco firms' gifts before packaging vote

MPs took tobacco firms' gifts before packaging vote 38 MPs have received a total of £60,000 of industry hospitality since changes to packets were first suggested in 2010. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• MPs accept tobacco industry hospitality worth £60,000 - including a Paul McCartney concert The Independent

'Great scandal' of childhood obesity to be top NHS target

'Great scandal' of childhood obesity to be top NHS target Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt promises a national strategy to address Britain's spiralling weight problem. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Children of the 90s more likely to be overweight or obese NHS Choices
• British getting fatter younger OnMedica