Getting the midwifery workforce right

Getting the midwifery workforce right This report outlines how maternity services should be organised, funded and staffed. It discusses the role of the midwife and approaches for services to enable them to make safe and effective staffing decisions. Royal College of Midwifery

See also:

• RCM guidance on implementing the NICE safe staffing guideline on midwifery staffing in maternity settings Royal College of Midwifery

Private lives, public health: the changing shape of contraceptive services in England post-2013

Private lives, public health: the changing shape of contraceptive services in England post-2013 This report is the result of an audit of the impact of funding cuts and commissioning reforms on contraceptive services in England by analysing the results of an FOI request sent to all 152 upper tier and unitary councils. The findings show a mixed picture with some areas managing to sustain current service provision but there are signs that full, open access contraceptive care and services are under increasing strain in many places. Advisory Group on Contraception

'Gender-biased infections' may exist

'Gender-biased infections' may exist Viruses can evolve to become more aggressive in men than in women - at least in theory, a study suggests.

The report, published in Nature Communications, argues there is a benefit to a virus "going easy" in women as it helps it spread.

Some infections are known to be less deadly in women, but this is largely put down to differences in the immune system.

Experts said the findings were intriguing. BBC News

GPs are not 'crying wolf' about pressures, says NHS chief executive

GPs are not 'crying wolf' about pressures, says NHS chief executive GPs are willing to consider 'radical' changes to their model of practise because they have been 'systematically under-invested in', NHS England's chief executive has said.

Simon Stevens said that general practice in England will change, away from the 'cottage industry', with new models including hospital takeovers and GP super-practices.

And he said these changes were made possible because GPs were 'willing to contemplate some quite radical changes', but he admitted that this was a direct response to under-investment and NHS leaders placing 'rising workload and demands' on GPs. Pulse

£300,000 NHS dialysis unit fraudsters jailed

£300,000 NHS dialysis unit fraudsters jailed An NHS manager, his partner and three contractors, who all helped defraud Epsom and St Helier Hospital NHS Trust of hundreds of thousands of pounds for work that was unnecessary or was never carried out, have been sentenced following a fraud investigation led by NHS Protect.

NHS Protect says the thefts, from Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, were "too extensive and complex to ever be precisely added up", but the total is estimated at around £300,000. The exact figure will be determined at a future confiscation hearing to get the money back. OnMedica

Working with the NHS: 'doors are opening for innovative small firms'

Working with the NHS: 'doors are opening for innovative small firms' The health service is increasingly relying on small businesses to meet its needs. But how can entrepreneurs find a way in?

As the fifth largest organisation in the world, the NHS can provide lucrative opportunities for small business. But from the outside, it’s often seen as an unwieldy, unnecessarily bureaucratic body that’s difficult to break into.

For Jason Williams, business development director at seeDATA, a partnership came about through an agreement with the local academic health science network (AHSN), which the company had worked with previously to build a bespoke customer relationship management platform. Continue reading... The Guardian

Dementia will soon be controlled just like HIV, says research institute

Dementia will soon be controlled just like HIV, says research institute Alzheimer's may in some cases be as manageable as HIV/Aids by 2025, the head of Britain's new Dementia Research Institute (DRI) predicts.

Professor Bart De Strooper said he hoped to see a time in the near future when the condition could be stabilised even if it proved impossible to cure.

There is even a chance that the brain could re-wire itself and restore lost mental ability once progress of the disease has been halted, he believes. The Independent

See also:

• Alzheimer's 'will be as manageable as HIV' within ten years, says the head of new Dementia Research Institute  The Daily Mail

'Unarguable' case that care for elderly needs more money says NHS chief

'Unarguable' case that care for elderly needs more money says NHS chief There is an "unarguable" case for an urgent cash injection into social care to fend off an immediate crisis in care of the elderly, the head of the NHS has said.

Simon Stevens made the plea as he mooted long-term moves towards a system of compulsory insurance to cover the cost of care home fees, or care in the home.

The chief executive said social care should be “first in the queue” for any extra funding available, agreeing with peers that the situation had reached crisis point. The Daily Telegraph

Doctors warned: don't tell girls with anorexia to come back when thinner

Doctors warned: don't tell girls with anorexia to come back when thinner Doctors have been warned not to tell patients with anorexia to come back for help when they are thinner, following new advice from watchdogs.

The NHS guidance also tells GPs to look out for the condition in patients working in “high risk” professions like fashion, dance, modelling, where eating disorders are rife.

The draft advice from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) warns GPs not to delay referring patients with eating disorders for treatment, amid fears that too many doctors wait to see if symptoms worsen before treatment is given. The Daily Telegraph

Safe Sleeping campaign for babies relaunched by Northamptonshire health experts

Safe Sleeping campaign for babies relaunched by Northamptonshire health experts Share a room, not a bed – that’s the advice to parents of newborn babies from the organisation responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in Northamptonshire. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Learning, candour and accountability: A review of the way NHS trusts review and investigate the deaths of patients in England

Learning, candour and accountability: A review of the way NHS trusts review and investigate the deaths of patients in England The Secretary of State for Health asked us to look at how acute, community and mental health NHS trusts across the country investigate and learn from deaths to find out whether opportunities for prevention of death have been missed, and identify any improvements that are needed.

We looked at the processes and systems trusts use to identify, investigate and learn from the death of a person using their services. We looked particularly closely at how trusts investigate the deaths of people with a mental health problem or learning disability. Care Quality Commission

See also:

• Bereaved families 'let down by NHS' BBC News
• NHS accused of spending 'more time on cover ups than saving lives' The Daily Telegraph
• Hospitals fail too often to investigate deaths, NHS watchdog finds The Guardian

Medical professionalism matters report

Medical professionalism matters report The report is the culmination of 18 months of events and conversations with the medical profession, from GPs, consultants and trainees who work on the ground, to royal colleges, training providers and employers.

As is widely acknowledged many doctors feel the current environment is the most challenging of their careers, as the pressures of day-to-day practice rise with the often conflicting demands of doctors’ employers and the patients they care for. General Medical Council

A Cry for Health: Why we must invest in domestic abuse services in hospitals

A Cry for Health: Why we must invest in domestic abuse services in hospitals SafeLives calls on every hospital in England and Wales to have specialist domestic abuse support onsite. Health providers must be part of the long-term solution to tackle domestic abuse.

The findings of SafeLives' research, which provides evidence from over 4,000 victims supported in hospital and community settings, show that we are missing opportunities to identify victims of domestic abuse – particularly the most vulnerable – and that locating a team of Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (Idvas) within a hospital is a key way to address this.

Charity warns of FGM 'parties' taking place in England

Charity warns of FGM 'parties' taking place in England Girls are being taken to female genital mutilation (FGM) "parties" in cities across England, a charity has warned.

The Black Health Initiative in Leeds says midwives from Africa are being flown into the country to carry out the illegal practice.

West Yorkshire Police said they were aware girls were being subjected to FGM locally.

Latest NHS figures show more than 8,000 women across England have recently been identified as being victims of FGM. BBC News

Social care funding shortfall 'urgent' says Lib Dem Norman Lamb

Social care funding shortfall 'urgent' says Lib Dem Norman Lamb Liberal Democrat Health spokesman, Norman Lamb, urges government action on the crisis in social care funding. BBC News

See also:

• Reality Check: Is the care budget growing? BBC News
• Social care: why are we 'beyond the crisis point'? The Guardian

The doctor on your Xbox? The NHS needs more digital ambition

The doctor on your Xbox? The NHS needs more digital ambition Patients and staff use a wide range of new technologies, from smart watches to virtual gaming. Let’s see how the NHS can use it

Imagine a world where doctors and nurses glance at their watch to see patient updates, where virtual reality headsets are used to consult on medical procedures, or where patients could interact with their doctor through their television or media console.

All of this, and a great deal more, is achievable with the technology we have today, but both the NHS and its technology suppliers are yet to embrace what’s possible and make these scenarios happen.

Chat apps could be used to book an appointment at the doctors’ surgery or the hospital Continue reading... The Guardian

NHS England sending anorexic patients to Scotland for treatment

NHS England sending anorexic patients to Scotland for treatment Mental health experts voice concern over growing trend and say it could increase vulnerable patients’ chances of dying

The NHS in England is sending patients who are seriously ill with eating disorders to Scotland for treatment because chronic bed shortages mean they cannot be cared for in England.

Vulnerable patients, mainly teenagers and young adults, are being taken hundreds of miles from their homes in order to receive residential care in Glasgow and near Edinburgh. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• NHS 'sending English eating disorder patients to Scotland due to bed shortages' The Daily Mail
• Eating disorders: what is treatment like where you live? The Guardian

The chemists running out of lifesaving drugs because they have all been sold abroad

The chemists running out of lifesaving drugs because they have all been sold abroad As a result of drug shortages in the UK patients are being harmed and even hospitalised, according to a survey of GPs and pharmacists for the parliamentary All-Party Pharmacy Group (APPG). The Daily Mail

Syphilis could become impossible to treat after a common strain of the STI has become resistant to antibiotics

Syphilis could become impossible to treat after a common strain of the STI has become resistant to antibiotics Researchers from the University of Zurch, Switzerland, have found 90 per cent of a new strain of syphilis samples they analysed were resistant to antibiotics. The Daily Mail

Retired carer left to die after hospital replaced 'old-fashioned' whiteboard with computer system

Retired carer left to die after hospital replaced 'old-fashioned' whiteboard with computer system A grandmother who was admitted to hospital with a broken arm died after an email mix-up meant she was not seen for three days because doctors did not know she was there.

Patricia Fowler, 75, was left lying in pain in a cardiac ward for three days before she was seen by a consultant because she had the same first name as another patient.

By then, Mrs Fowler had developed pneumonia and sepsis, which led to her death.

An inquest heard the mix-up occurred after the hospital switched from using old fashioned white boards to an email system. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Grandmother who went to hospital with broken arm died from pneumonia and sepsis The Daily Mail