Yes, it’s tough at the top of the NHS. But leaders at all levels need support | Karen Lynas

Yes, it’s tough at the top of the NHS. But leaders at all levels need support | Karen Lynas Instead of spending £420m a year on management consultants, the NHS could more efficiently train and develop our own staff to improve care.

We know it’s lonely at the top of the NHS. Top jobs are highly pressured in any environment but try overlaying that with the imperative to provide safe and high-quality services for patients with complex needs in a climate of severe financial constraint, enormous public scrutiny and a feverish media, and the leadership pressure gauge has just rocketed off the scale.

But does it need to be? Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• 'Some chief executives are surprised by the loneliness' – Dame Mary Marsh The Guardian
• We must not take NHS workers for granted The Guardian

NHS needs funding rise to make it envy of world again, says healthcare expert

NHS needs funding rise to make it envy of world again, says healthcare expert Damage caused by PFI, pay rows and the 2012 reorganisation needs reversing, says Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The NHS has been the envy of the world for its fairness, good outcomes and value for money, but it needs more funds and the dismantling of recent changes if it is to be so again, according to a leading expert on international health systems.

Healthcare in the UK still takes first place in the rankings of 11 wealthy nations put together by the Commonwealth Fund in the US. But Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, says the real glory days of the NHS were in the 1980s. Other countries, such as Spain, Italy and Portugal, modelled their own systems on it.

Our child health outcomes are not as good as they should be Continue reading... The Guardian

Patients far more likely to die if nurses care for more than six, major study finds

Patients far more likely to die if nurses care for more than six, major study finds New research finds patients looked after by nurses coping with more than 10 patients have death rates 20 per cent higher than those with a case load of six. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Hospital death rates rise if fewer nurses are on wards, says new research The Independent 

Old Problems, New Solutions: Improving Acute Psychiatric Care for Adults in England

Old Problems, New Solutions: Improving Acute Psychiatric Care for Adults in England The report highlights system-wide problems in mental healthcare in England including variable quality of care on inpatient units, inadequate availability of inpatient care or alternatives to inpatient admission, and patients remaining in hospital for longer than necessary due to inadequate residential provision.

The Commission’s report consequently recommends significant changes to how services are commissioned, organised and monitored across the whole mental health system. It also calls for faster access to acute care and an end to sending severely-ill mental health patients long distances for treatment. The Commission on Acute Adult Psychiatric Care

• Report summary
• Full report

See also:

• The Way Ahead for Adult Acute Mental Healthcare Provision Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Adult acute psychiatric care in England Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Long trips for mental care 'must end' BBC News
• Mental health patients 'should not have to travel across UK for beds' The Guardian

Review of information technology in NHS

Review of information technology in NHS IT expert Professor Bob Wachter has launched a review of computer systems across the NHS. The review, ‘Making IT work: harnessing the power of health IT to improve care in England’, will look at places where IT has worked well and those areas that need improving. It will also look at different ways to implement IT in healthcare as the NHS works towards being paperless by 2020. Department of Health

Precautionary recall - six batches of St John’s Wort Tablets

Precautionary recall - six batches of St John’s Wort Tablets Six batches of St John’s Wort Tablets containing 91,800 packs are being recalled today as a precaution because of product contamination.

These tablets have levels of a toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloid (PA) above the threshold recommended by the Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC), a European expert body. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency#

See also:

• Safety recall of St John's Wort tablets  BBC News
• St John's Wort tablets recalled by MHRA over liver damage concerns The Daily Telegraph

Heads warn over pupils' mental health

Heads warn over pupils' mental health Head teachers issue a warning over their struggle to deal with children's mental health problems at primary schools in England. BBC News

Record rise in 'NHS dissatisfaction'

Record rise in 'NHS dissatisfaction' The biggest-ever rise in public dissatisfaction with the NHS was recorded last year, according to a long-running survey. BBC News

See also:

• British public's satisfaction with the NHS falls by five percentage points The King's Fund
• Reasons for being (dis)satisfied with the NHS The King's Fund
• RCGP response to British Social Attitudes survey results Royal College of General Practitioners 
• 12-hour A&E waits on rise in England  BBC News
• General practice tops NHS patient satisfaction rankings GP Online
• Public satisfaction with NHS drops 5% in last year The Guardian

'No safe way to suntan', experts warn

'No safe way to suntan', experts warn There is no safe or healthy way to get a tan from sunlight, new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) warns. BBC News

See also:

• Sunlight exposure: risks and benefits (Guideline NG 34) NICE
• Telling people to avoid all sunshine is very dim The Daily Telegraph
• There is no safe way to get a natural sun tan The Independent 

'Jeremy Hunt personally vetoed deal that would have ended junior doctors strike'

'Jeremy Hunt personally vetoed deal that would have ended junior doctors strike' Officials from both NHS Employers and the Department of Health 'saw the offer as an opportunity to resolve the dispute' The Independent

See also:

• BMA slams Hunt's 'shambolic mishandling' of junior doctor dispute as strike nears GP Online

Cosmetic surgery operations on the rise, with breast enlargement most popular procedure

Cosmetic surgery operations on the rise, with breast enlargement most popular procedure A record number of adults in the UK underwent cosmetic surgery last year, new figures have shown. The Independent

See also:

• Cosmetic surgery ops on the rise BBC News
• Demand for cosmetic surgery rises 13 per cent OnMedica

'Greedy' doctors and nurses are abandoning the NHS to work for 'rip-off agencies', health regulators claim

'Greedy' doctors and nurses are abandoning the NHS to work for 'rip-off agencies', health regulators claim Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS Improvement, accused some doctors and nurses of 'really bad' behaviour for abandoning shifts at the last minute for a better offer elsewhere. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Locum doctors and nurses rip off NHS, says health service's regulator The Daily Telegraph

This NHS crisis is not economic. It's political

This NHS crisis is not economic. It's political As the health services endures its biggest squeeze, talk of it being unviable is wide of the mark. We cannot afford to do without it.

How many times have you read that the NHS is bust? No need for answers on a postcard: I can tell you.

Over 2015, the number of national newspaper headlines featuring “NHS” alongside the words bust, deficit, meltdown or financial crisis came to a grand total of 80. Call this the NHS panic index – a measure of public anxiety over the viability of our health service. Using a database of all national newspapers, our librarians added up the number of such headlines for each year. The index shows that panic over the sustainability of our healthcare isn’t just on the rise ­– it has begun to soar.

Demoralised staff can resign, go on an agency book, pick their shifts and earn more Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Surge in privatisation threatening free NHS treatment, unions say The Guardian
• US firms look to capitalise as NHS becomes increasingly privatised The Guardian
• Don’t believe the myth that the NHS is unaffordable | Neena Modi The Guardian
• How paying for your treatment would help save the NHS | Christopher Smallwood The Guardian
• NHS: Rules preventing tax-avoiding companies from securing health care contracts scrapped The Independent

Psychiatrist brother of George Osborne admits sleeping with vulnerable patient

Psychiatrist brother of George Osborne admits sleeping with vulnerable patient Dr Adam Osborne admitted engaging in an 'inappropriate' emotional and sexual relationship with one of his patients. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• George Osborne's brother Adam admits having sex with vulnerable patient The Independent

‘I’ve got a moth in my ear’: East Midlands Ambulance Service reveals time-wasting 999 calls

‘I’ve got a moth in my ear’: East Midlands Ambulance Service reveals time-wasting 999 calls The East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) has revealed details of time-wasting 999 calls it received in 2015. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

NHS campaigners put up ‘not for sale’ boards in Northamptonshire

NHS campaigners put up ‘not for sale’ boards in Northamptonshire NHS campaigners erected dozens of ‘not for sale’ boards across Kettering. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

GPs told by CCGs to find alternatives for co-proxamol prescriptions

GPs told by CCGs to find alternatives for co-proxamol prescriptions CCGs are sending letters to GPs telling them to switch prescriptions for co-proxamol to paracetamol because of escalating costs for the drug since it was removed from the Drug Tariff in October.

NHS Nene Valley CCG and NHS Basildon and Brentwood CCGs have told their members to switch patients to alternative medication after fears that the annual spend will far outreach the £3.2 million spent in 2014 on co-proxamol. Pulse

Planning for 2016/17 and beyond: from survival to sustainability

Planning for 2016/17 and beyond: from survival to sustainability Since the 2015 Spending Review last November, a flurry of letters, guidance and other documentation has been unleashed on NHS leaders. Key among these is the NHS planning guidance 2016/17–2020/21 and a series of letters sent to trust chief executives in mid-January, outlining new measures that aim to curb spending and ensure the provider sector breaks even by the end of next year.

Our latest briefing summarises some of the fundamental changes that this will bring, and offers a commentary on what it might mean for the NHS over the next five years. The King's Fund

Review shows how NHS hospitals can save money and improve care

Review shows how NHS hospitals can save money and improve care Implementing the recommendations will help end variations in quality of care and finances that cost the NHS billions, Lord Carter has advised Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt in his final report.

His review found unwarranted variation in running costs, sickness absence, infection rates and prices paid for supplies and services.

As part of the review, a ‘model hospital’ has been developed which will advise NHS trusts on the most efficient allocation of resources and allows hospitals to measure performance against other trusts.

Following the model hospital examples could save hospitals £5 billion a year by 2020 to 2021 and put an end to the variations the review uncovered across the NHS, including:

• average running costs for a hospital (£ per square metre) vary from £105 at one trust to as high as £970 for another
• infection rates for hip and knee replacements vary from 0.5 to 4%
• prices paid by different hospitals for hip replacements range from £788 to £1,590
• the use of floor space - one trust uses 12% for non-clinical purposes and another uses as much as 69%
• sickness absence rates differ from 3.1% to 5%

As well as reviewing hospitals across England, Lord Carter’s review looked at healthcare systems abroad, including in the US, Germany, Australia, Italy and France where hospitals have a greater focus on efficiency because they have established the clear link it has with patient care. Department of Health

See also:

• Carter Review - final report and recommendations NHS Employers

Doctors' union irresponsible, says Hunt

Doctors' union irresponsible, says Hunt Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt accuses the British Medical Association of "totally irresponsible" behaviour over a lengthy industrial dispute. BBC News

See also:

• VIDEO: Hunt blamed for doctors' low morale BBC News
• Junior doctors' strike: BMA 'totally irresponsible', says Jeremy Hunt The Guardian
• Jeremy Hunt accuses BMA of 'total irresponsibility' over doctors dispute - video The Guardian
• Junior doctors rally in central London – video The Guardian
• Vanessa Redgrave pays tribute to NHS staff at junior doctors rally The Guardian
• My placards: ‘I’m fed up with the spin around the junior doctor strike’ The Guardian
• Jeremy Hunt squirms as Andrew Marr reads out letters from junior doctors The Independent