Number of smokers in England falls to record low

Number of smokers in England falls to record low Smoking rates across England are the lowest on record, health officials have said.

Public Health England (PHE) said that 16.9 per cent of the population in England are smokers - the lowest level since records began.

The figures were released as the health body launched its annual Stoptober campaign to encourage the nation's remaining smokers to quit for the month of October. If people give up the habit for 28 days they are five times more likely to quit for good, PHE said. The Independent

See also:

•  Quitting smoking sweeps the nation as Stoptober returns Public Health England
• Smoking rates in England fall to lowest on record BBC News
• Number of smokers in England drops to an all-time low with just one-in-six adults lighting up The Daily Mail
• Number of smokers in England drops to all-time low The Guardian

NHS plans to make senior doctors reveal outside earnings

NHS plans to make senior doctors reveal outside earnings About half of hospital consultants are believed to undertake private work, risking conflicts of interests, says NHS England

Doctors will have to reveal the amount of money they earn from private work under new plans to improve transparency. NHS England chairman Sir Malcolm Grant told the Times that the extent of private work carried out had been “under the radar” for too long. “We are looking into something that is quite a touchy subject,” he said.

A spokesman for NHS England, which is trying to increase transparency, said that every hospital is to publish a register of consultants’ outside earnings from April in a drive to unearth potential conflicts of interest. It is believed that about half of England’s 46,000 NHS consultants do private work, on top of average earnings of £112,000 a year. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• NHS doctors to declare income from private work BBC News
• Consultants will have to reveal all their income from private work amid reports they can earn hundreds of thousands on top of their NHS hours The Daily Mail
• NHS plans to make senior doctors reveal earnings from private work The Independent

Jeremy Hunt acted illegally over junior doctors, court hears

Jeremy Hunt acted illegally over junior doctors, court hears Legal challenge brought by five trainees over health secretary’s decision to impose new contract begins in high court.

Jeremy Hunt acted illegally and beyond his powers by deciding to impose a new contract on NHS junior doctors, the high court has been told in a legal challenge to the health secretary’s handling of the year-long dispute.

The court on Monday began a two-day judicial review of the legal challenge to Hunt brought byfive junior doctors. Continue reading... The Guardian

Doctor will see you now - on his webcam: Patient safety fears as GPs pay private firms to give consultations via computer

Doctor will see you now - on his webcam: Patient safety fears as GPs pay private firms to give consultations via computer Patients will first have to download an app on their computer or mobile phone and then at an allocated time they must log on and speak to their GP using their built-in camera or webcam. The Daily Mail

See also:

• NHS offers appointments with a doctor via webcam rather than in person The Daily Telegraph

Leaked emails reveal junior doctors secretly polled by union amid fears thousands now oppose strikes

Leaked emails reveal junior doctors secretly polled by union amid fears thousands now oppose strikes Junior doctors are being secretly polled by union representatives amid fears thousands no longer want to join in walkouts, leaked emails reveal.

A memo sent to thousands of medics suggests that the controversial strikes could be dropped if doctors do not actively express their willingness to take part.

Medics are due to take part in the biggest strikes in NHS history in just over a fortnight, with week-long walkouts repeated every month until Christmas. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• I'm a hospital consultant and I worry about five-day junior doctor strikes The Guardian

Embattled mental health NHS trust chairman stands down

Embattled mental health NHS trust chairman stands down The interim chairman of a scandal-hit mental health trust that was criticised for not investigating hundreds of unexpected patient deaths has resigned after only four months.

Tim Smart, who took over the heavily criticised Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust in May, said yesterday he was standing down “for personal reasons”. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Boss of NHS trust quits after admitting £240k-a-year job was created for chief exec The Daily Mail
• Southern Health trust interim chair resigns The Guardian

Policy paper: Progress report on the UK 5 year AMR strategy: 2015

Policy paper: Progress report on the UK 5 year AMR strategy: 2015 The second annual progress report describes what was achieved in the second year of implementation, including a number of significant achievements on the international stage.

The UK 5 year antimicrobial resistance (AMR) strategy 2013 to 2018 represents an ambitious programme to slow the development and spread of AMR taking a “One-Health” approach spanning people, animals, agriculture and the wider environment.

This is published on behalf of the high level steering group responsible for driving delivery of the UK AMR strategy. Department of Health

See also:

• Government’s progress in preventing drug resistant infections Department of Health
• Policy paper: Government response the review on antimicrobial resistance Department of Health

Improving access to psychological therapies: workforce census report

Improving access to psychological therapies: workforce census report The 2015 Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Workforce Census Report offers the most comprehensive view to date of the size and shape of the IAPT workforce in England, including insight into the capacity of IAPT services to offer the full range of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended psychological therapies. NHS England

Real lives: listening to the voices of people who use social care

Real lives: listening to the voices of people who use social care In summer 2016, working in collaboration with the British Red Cross and Royal Voluntary Service, The Richmond Group of Charities commissioned The King’s Fund and the Nuffield Trust to undertake a series of interviews with individuals with experience of using social care services. The aim of this work was to complement and add value to a wider piece of research being undertaken by The King’s Fund and the Nuffield Trust to examine the future sustainability of the social care system, Social Care for Older People: Home Truths (published 15 September 2016). The personal experiences of people needing care and support and their carers outlined in Real Lives illustrate the key issues and challenges facing local authorities, policymakers and those who depend on services.

Junior doctors take contract fight to high court

Junior doctors take contract fight to high court Junior doctors in England are going to the High Court to try and stop the government imposing a new contract.

The group Justice for Health, which is mounting the legal challenge, says the contract is unsafe and unsustainable and it accuses Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt of acting outside his powers.

The Department says the case is without merit.

Ministers insist the new contract is needed to improve levels of medical cover in hospitals at weekends.

The hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London will run for two days. BBC News

See also:

• Junior doctors defy union over strike by helping NHS introduce new contracts The Daily Mail
• Jeremy Hunt has won a battle against junior doctors, but not the war The Guardian

Fire service rescuing more obese people across UK

Fire service rescuing more obese people across UK The number of obese people being rescued by fire services because they are too large to move on their own rises by more than a third over the past three years in the UK. BBC News

See also:

• Sharp increase in the number of obese people needing rescue by firefighters, new figures show The Daily Telegraph

New unit

New unit Politicians seem to have settled on a new unit of measuring public spending - the hospital. So how much does one actually cost? BBC News

Ambulance staff picket GP surgeries in row over unpaid wages

Ambulance staff picket GP surgeries in row over unpaid wages Sussex GPs who hold senior CCG management posts have seen their practices picketed by ambulance staff in a row over unpaid wages, following the collapse of a private provider. GP Online

First official figures reveal how likely you are to be alive 10 years after a cancer diagnosis

First official figures reveal how likely you are to be alive 10 years after a cancer diagnosis Data experts have forecast how many people with cancer can expect to survive a decade. The new figures, from the Office for National Statistics, show the stark differences between cancers. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Cancer Registration Statistics, England: 2014 Office for National Statistics
• Survival rates 10 years after cancer diagnosis predicted for first time The Daily Telegraph

Just 1 in 5 students has vital meningitis jab

Just 1 in 5 students has vital meningitis jab  Figures showed that by the end of August, just 17 per cent of all 18-year-olds leaving school had been vaccinated – despite GPs writing to all eligible 17 and 18-year-olds at the start of the month. The Daily Mail

Doctors to be sent on NHS courses in how to talk to their patients

Doctors to be sent on NHS courses in how to talk to their patients Doctors and nurses will be sent on courses in compassion, amid growing concern that too many are failing to listen to patients.

Thousands of NHS staff will be urged to improve their communication skills, as part of a national drive to help patients improve their health.

The country’s most senior doctor said the future of the health service depended on coaching staff in how to have a more “equal conversation” with patients.

Prof Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS medical director, said the skills were needed to help patients tackle unhealthy lifestyles which have left the health service under unprecedented strain. The Daily Telegraph

National 'Uber-style' private GP service sparks backlash

National 'Uber-style' private GP service sparks backlash Anew ‘Uber-style' system of private GP appointments using NHS doctors is to be rolled out nationally, sparking a backlash from some medics.

The new service will match patients who are prepared to pay between £40 and £70 for an appointment, with family doctors prepared to work privately from their own practice in their spare time.

Critics said it was not fair to encourage patients to jump the queue if they could afford to avoid long waiting lists on the NHS.

But the company behind it said it would “drive down queues in surgeries” and reduce pressure on Accident & Emergency departments. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Uber-style service which allows patients to skip queues and pay to see NHS doctors is 'a slippery slope towards privatisation' The Daily Mail

Research and analysis: Northamptonshire: abdominal aortic aneurysm screening programme

Research and analysis: Northamptonshire: abdominal aortic aneurysm screening programme This document sets out observations and recommendations from the quality assurance (QA) visit to Northamptonshire General Hospital. Public Health England

Engaging local people: a guide for local areas developing Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs)

Engaging local people: a guide for local areas developing Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) This document is for teams developing STPs in each of the 44 footprint areas, and the statutory organisations which form part of them. It is intended to clarify the expectations on stakeholder involvement, in particular patient and public participation. It also covers legal duties around engagement and consultation and will be of particular interest to communication and engagement leads for STPs and footprint leaders.

Sweden’s Esther Model for Improving Care of Elderly Patients with Complex Needs

Sweden’s Esther Model for Improving Care of Elderly Patients with Complex Needs The Esther model in Jönköping County, Sweden, seeks to improve care for elderly patients with complex care needs—symbolically known as “Esthers”—by persistently focusing on what is best for them. The Commonwealth Fund

See also:

• How an Information System Can Reduce Health Risks Among the Elderly: Sweden’s Senior Alert Program The Commonwealth Fund