Alarming dirty air figures prompt campaign to map Northampton’s air pollution hotspots

Alarming dirty air figures prompt campaign to map Northampton’s air pollution hotspots After shock figures revealed Northampton topped the country’s air pollution charts last week, the Green Party is calling on the public’s help to draw up a map of the town’s worst affected places. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

NHS grants case studies

NHS grants case studies These three case studies show how innovative use of NHS grants to voluntary organisations can help respond to the needs of patients and the public, and also target health inequalities. The case studies illustrate examples of the NHS and the voluntary sector working together effectively to improve people's health and wellbeing in their local community. Regional Voices

NHS consultant paid £375,000 in overtime

NHS consultant paid £375,000 in overtime Growing pressures are leading UK hospitals to increasingly rely on premium overtime pay to get consultants to do extra work, with one paid £375,000 last year. BBC News

See also:

• NHS Employers comments on the BBC's FOI about consultants' overtime NHS Employers
• NHS consultants: Overworked or overpaid? BBC News

Judge approves judicial review against Hunt's junior doctor contract imposition

Judge approves judicial review against Hunt's junior doctor contract imposition A judicial review into the 'imposition' of the junior doctors' contract will be held in September after a campaign group successfully argued the case was in the public interest and raised more than £150,000 to cover costs. GP Online

Government urged to save jobs of over 33,000 EU nurses

Government urged to save jobs of over 33,000 EU nurses Nursing leaders have called for safeguards on the future of European Union health workers as new research reveals that over 33,000 EU trained nurses work in the UK.

The figures obtained by the Royal College of Nursing from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) show that there are currently over 33,000 EU trained nurses registered to work in the UK as a whole, with over 9,000 joining the register in 2015/16 – a 21% increase on 2014/15. OnMedica

'I fell asleep at the wheel': the dangers of doctors driving home

'I fell asleep at the wheel': the dangers of doctors driving home As new research finds that two in five have dropped off at the wheel, doctors speak out about the need for change

Steven Best was on his way home from work when he crashed and wrote off his car.

The GP, who at the time was a junior doctor working in obstetrics, had just finished his shift at 5pm after starting work at 9am the day before. He was in the fast lane of the dual carriageway when a car in the slow lane crossed into his line of vision and he hit it. Continue reading... The Guardian

Sepsis campaign aims to save thousands of lives

Sepsis campaign aims to save thousands of lives Mum whose son died ‘delighted’ at project to raise awareness of blood poisoning that kills nearly 50,000 people annually

Thousands of lives could be saved by urging unwell patients and their loved ones to ask doctors to check for sepsis, experts said as they announced a new campaign to raise awareness of the devastating condition.

Every year, sepsis, or blood poisoning, kills nearly a third of the 150,000 people it affects. But campaigners say better care could save 13,500 lives, as well as up to £314m from NHS budgets. Continue reading... The Guardian

Dementia missed in men, because memory is more often spared

Dementia missed in men, because memory  is more often spared Dementia is more likely to be missed in men because they are less likely to lose their memory, a major study has found.

Research on 1,600 patients found that male dementia sufferers were more likely to have suffered from “atypical” symptoms which are more difficult to spot.

The findings were revealed as scientists said simple eye tests could soon be used to spot early signs of Alzheimer’s disease long before symptoms emerge. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Opticians could offer early warning tests for dementia, studies suggest The Daily Telegraph

Foxhill Manor care home: Did CQC rating mean it had to close?

Foxhill Manor care home: Did CQC rating mean it had to close? Shut in 2014 following a damning Care Quality Commission report, Foxhill Manor offered "placements of last resort" to dementia and mental health patients. Could it have been saved and what does the Foxhill story tell us about the state of modern care? BBC Northampton

Clinical network develops tool for better children’s services

Clinical network develops tool for better children’s services A toolkit for providers and guidance for commissioners to improve care and outcomes for children, young people and their families. Children and young people across the region were involved in development of the resource. Yorkshire and Humber Clinical Networks

English language requirements for public sector workers published

English language requirements for public sector workers published The Immigration Act 2016 creates a duty for employers to ensure that all public sector staff working in customer-facing roles speak English to an appropriate standard. To support employers to meet their obligations the government has published an early draft of the code of practice. NHS Employers

Working with epilepsy and homelessness: guidance for community nurses

Working with epilepsy and homelessness: guidance for community nurses This guidance is aimed at community nurses and it provides advice on how to support people who are homeless and who have epilepsy. It covers the specific risks and needs of people who are homeless and includes useful advice nurses to enable nurses to support patients with epilepsy and give practical advice for coordinating their care. The Queen's Nursing Institute

Local empowerment: how to achieve a sustainable health service

Local empowerment: how to achieve a sustainable health service This report, sponsored by KPMG, recommends that local areas should negotiate health devolution deals directly with the government to empower local leaders to drive integration, transformation and financial sustainability in their local health and care economies. . It argues that much more NHS funding should be raised and controlled locally with local NHS and local government leaders devolved total control of their entire local health budget. Correspondingly local areas should be increasingly free of central government control and direction, with greater local flexibilities. Localis

NHS faces 'compensation time bomb' as clinical negligence liabilities double

NHS faces 'compensation time bomb' as clinical negligence liabilities double Medico-legal organisations have warned of a ticking time bomb on medical indemnity after the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) announced clinical negligence liability for hospitals almost doubled to £56bn last year. GP Online

See also:

• Annual Report and Accounts NHS Litigation Authority 

Week-long waiting times to see a GP could rise sharply

Week-long waiting times to see a GP could rise sharply Numbers of patients who will have to wait more than one week to see their GP could rise by 40% over the next few years if the government fails to implement its promises to increase support for general practice, claims the RCGP.

The college released details of its analysis at the weekend which concluded that the number of occasions when patients will have to wait longer than a week to see their GP could increase from the 69 million occasions it happened in 2015-16 to 98 million in 2020-21.

The analysis was carried out into NHS England’s GP Patient survey published earlier this month. OnMedica

See also:

• RCGP predicts one-week wait for 100m GP appointments by 2020 GP Online

Spain reports first case of baby born with microcephaly after mother contracts Zika virus

Spain reports first case of baby born with microcephaly after mother contracts Zika virus Spain has recorded the first European case of a baby born with Zika-related birth defects.

Though dozens of people across the continent are known to have contracted the virus, usually after having travelled in the affected South American countries, but this is the first time a baby has been in born to a mother carrying the virus in Europe. The Independent

See also:

• Detailed guide: Zika virus: travel advice Public Health England
• Detailed guide: Zika virus: country specific risk Public Health England
• Spain registers first Zika microcephaly birth in Europe BBC News

Kate Granger inspired all of us in the NHS to be more compassionate

Kate Granger inspired all of us in the NHS to be more compassionate With her #hellomynameis campaign, Kate reminded me that if I lose my humanity, I am a shadow of the doctor I should be

He’d been rushed the day before to our surgical emergency unit. An elderly man, crying out in pain, he’d looked haggard, gaunt and frightened as we wheeled him straight to the CT scanner. Now, stripped of his clothes and draped in a gown, he stared up in trepidation as my consultant surgeon, impatient to be done with his morning ward round, stopped by the bedside. Without so much as an introduction, this experienced doctor broke the news to the patient of his terminal illness by turning to the bedside entourage and muttering, perfectly audibly: “Get a palliative care nurse to come and see him.” No one had even told “him” he had cancer.

As panic began to rise in my patient’s face, I remember catching the ward sister’s eye to see her cringing alongside me. The ward round had already swept on. I felt sick, complicit in something barbaric. But, as an inexperienced house officer barely qualified as a doctor, I scuttled dutifully after my boss, leaving someone else to pick up the pieces. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• I want my legacy to be that the NHS treats all patients with compassion The Guardian

Children 'going blind and risk dying from cancer' as doctors overlook crucial NF1 signs

Children 'going blind and risk dying from cancer' as doctors overlook crucial NF1 signs Despite being more common than cystic fibrosis and being linked to a number of serious complications, the incurable condition neurofibromatosis (NF1) is not checked for in infancy. The Daily Mail

NHS chief launched cover-up after surgeon operated on wrong finger because he 'did not know his right from his left', tribunal hears

NHS chief launched cover-up after surgeon operated on wrong finger because he 'did not know his right from his left', tribunal hears An NHS chief staged a cover-up after a surgeon operated on the wrong finger of a patient because he “did not know his right from his left”, a tribunal heard.

Rachel Sansbury, head of nursing for the surgical division at Lancashire Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, is said to have told a member of staff that revealing that the surgeon had a condition affecting his co-ordination could stop him operating, lengthening waiting lists.

Mrs Sansbury, who faces six charges relating to dishonestly asking colleagues to conceal or misrepresent the performance of the trust, allegedly also told staff who raised concerns about incidents going unreported not to “open that can of worms”. The Daily Telegraph

Mother claims she has to restrain mentally-ill son, 24, with handcuffs due to 'lack of support from NHS'

Mother claims she has to restrain mentally-ill son, 24, with handcuffs due to 'lack of support from NHS' A mother claims she has to put her mentally-ill son in handcuffs at home because of a lack of support from mental health services.

Joely Hignett alleges she has to physically restrain 24-year-old son Kyle Hignett - who has a borderline personality disorder and suffers from psychosis - to stop him from harming himself or others.

The 44-year-old mother of two, from Warrington, Cheshire, has released "distressing" footage of Kyle sobbing and screaming to raise awareness of his condition and said she feels "let down" by the mental health system. The Daily Telegraph