Racist nurse gave council hate crime talk to council staff:
A racist nurse who worked for Northamptonshire’s NHS mental health trust later gave a talk on race-hate to 300 staff in her council job, the local authority has admitted. Northampton Chornicle and Echo
Monday, 9 July 2012
NHS IT 'does have benefits'
NHS IT 'does have benefits': Why the NHS does need a joined-up computer system BBC News
GPs must educate patients to cut demand on NHS, ministers say
GPs must educate patients to cut demand on NHS, ministers say: GPs must play 'a key role' in educating patients about self-treatment to help manage demand on the NHS, ministers have said. GP Online
Total PFI bill ''will be around £301bn''
Total PFI bill ''will be around £301bn'': By 2029/30 the annual PFI spending for the NHS is expected to be £2.71bn, new Treasury figures show Public Service
10 years' budget pain for the NHS
10 years' budget pain for the NHS:
A report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies has warned that the NHS in England could face a decade of austerity.
In analysis of the long-term financial future of the health service, funded by the Nuffield Trust, the IFS say the NHS should be prepared to face even tougher times ahead than it has already experienced.
Within that, it said a serious consideration should be whether all services continue to... Healthcare Today
Full report here
A report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies has warned that the NHS in England could face a decade of austerity.
In analysis of the long-term financial future of the health service, funded by the Nuffield Trust, the IFS say the NHS should be prepared to face even tougher times ahead than it has already experienced.
Within that, it said a serious consideration should be whether all services continue to... Healthcare Today
Full report here
David Cameron accused of hypocrisy over £1.4bn 'raid' on NHS funds
David Cameron accused of hypocrisy over £1.4bn 'raid' on NHS funds:
Labour condemns PM as 'NHS conman' after official figures reveal Treasury took back unspent money earmarked for health
David Cameron has been accused of hypocrisy over the NHS after official figures revealed that the Treasury has taken back £1.4bn of money earmarked for health spending which was not spent by the Department of Health.
Labour condemned the move as a "raid" on NHS funding by George Osborne, while unions representing doctors and nurses and the country's leading health thinktank said patients would lose out as a result.
The Treasury have confirmed that £1.4bn of £1.7bn not spent by the department on the NHS in England in 2011-12 had come back to it. Whitehall sources said it would now be used to help fund the freeze in council tax, major infrastructure projects and other key areas of public spending not related to health.
Most of the £1.7bn underspend was the result of the NHS employing fewer managers and ministers scaling back on "wasteful" IT projects and administration costs, a DH spokesman said. "The reason why there's an underspend is because of efficiency [savings]," he added.
"The government promised that all efficiency savings would be reinvested in the NHS, but Friday's figures confirm George Osborne's £1bn raid on its budget to pay for tax cuts for millionaires," said Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary. "People will today see David Cameron for the NHS conman he is: repeatedly cutting the budget on the quiet while 4,000 nursing posts are axed and patients pay the price."
Prof John Appleby, chief economist at the King's Fund health thinktank, said the DH should not have allowed the underspend to be taken. "This money shouldn't have been given back by Andrew Lansley. It could have been spent on health or social care, where we know we need to spend more money because needs are rising," he said. "This is over a billion pounds that was agreed by parliament to be spent on healthcare, which now won't be, so it's very surprising that ministers have agreed to do this given we know that there are extra demands on the NHS, and this money could have been used to improve people's health."
The British Medical Association, the doctors' union, said that any savings made in the NHS should go into improving patient care, not to the Treasury. "It is unclear how these efficiency savings were made and we need to see more detail. If it is the case that significant efficiency savings have been achieved, these resources should be reinvested in patient care," said a BMA spokeswoman.
Dr Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the generation of a £1.7bn surplus at the same time as many hospital trusts were cutting staff to save money was "a matter of great concern. Any Treasury clawback will only serve to take resources still further from the frontline. Money saved would be far better invested in providing patient care and keeping people fit and healthy. Patients will rightly question why money is diverted elsewhere at a time when demand is rising and resources are scarce."
But Whitehall sources countered that the £1.4bn clawback was less than the amount of DH underspend they have taken back in recent years, which has averaged £2bn and reached £2.9bn in 2007-08.
Labour also seized on a separate DH admission that actual spending by the NHS in England last year was slightly less than the year before, bucking a longstanding year-on-year upward trend. According to Treasury figures the, service spent £104.24bn in 2011-12, which was £26m – or 0.02% – less than 2010-11. The fall occurred despite the coalition's pledge to increase the NHS budget by 0.1% a year every year until 2015. The Guardian
David Cameron has been accused of hypocrisy over the NHS after official figures revealed that the Treasury has taken back £1.4bn of money earmarked for health spending which was not spent by the Department of Health.
Labour condemned the move as a "raid" on NHS funding by George Osborne, while unions representing doctors and nurses and the country's leading health thinktank said patients would lose out as a result.
The Treasury have confirmed that £1.4bn of £1.7bn not spent by the department on the NHS in England in 2011-12 had come back to it. Whitehall sources said it would now be used to help fund the freeze in council tax, major infrastructure projects and other key areas of public spending not related to health.
Most of the £1.7bn underspend was the result of the NHS employing fewer managers and ministers scaling back on "wasteful" IT projects and administration costs, a DH spokesman said. "The reason why there's an underspend is because of efficiency [savings]," he added.
"The government promised that all efficiency savings would be reinvested in the NHS, but Friday's figures confirm George Osborne's £1bn raid on its budget to pay for tax cuts for millionaires," said Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary. "People will today see David Cameron for the NHS conman he is: repeatedly cutting the budget on the quiet while 4,000 nursing posts are axed and patients pay the price."
Prof John Appleby, chief economist at the King's Fund health thinktank, said the DH should not have allowed the underspend to be taken. "This money shouldn't have been given back by Andrew Lansley. It could have been spent on health or social care, where we know we need to spend more money because needs are rising," he said. "This is over a billion pounds that was agreed by parliament to be spent on healthcare, which now won't be, so it's very surprising that ministers have agreed to do this given we know that there are extra demands on the NHS, and this money could have been used to improve people's health."
The British Medical Association, the doctors' union, said that any savings made in the NHS should go into improving patient care, not to the Treasury. "It is unclear how these efficiency savings were made and we need to see more detail. If it is the case that significant efficiency savings have been achieved, these resources should be reinvested in patient care," said a BMA spokeswoman.
Dr Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the generation of a £1.7bn surplus at the same time as many hospital trusts were cutting staff to save money was "a matter of great concern. Any Treasury clawback will only serve to take resources still further from the frontline. Money saved would be far better invested in providing patient care and keeping people fit and healthy. Patients will rightly question why money is diverted elsewhere at a time when demand is rising and resources are scarce."
But Whitehall sources countered that the £1.4bn clawback was less than the amount of DH underspend they have taken back in recent years, which has averaged £2bn and reached £2.9bn in 2007-08.
Labour also seized on a separate DH admission that actual spending by the NHS in England last year was slightly less than the year before, bucking a longstanding year-on-year upward trend. According to Treasury figures the, service spent £104.24bn in 2011-12, which was £26m – or 0.02% – less than 2010-11. The fall occurred despite the coalition's pledge to increase the NHS budget by 0.1% a year every year until 2015. The Guardian
Warning over keyhole surgery safety in NHS cash squeeze
Warning over keyhole surgery safety in NHS cash squeeze: Surgeons are being forced to carry out operations using outdated equipment because of a squeeze on NHS budgets in the economic downturn, it is claimed today.
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
Councils' lack of cash hits 7,000 elderly and disabled
Councils' lack of cash hits 7,000 elderly and disabled:
More than 7,000 disabled and elderly people have lost some or all of their state-funded support, after cash-strapped councils changed their rules on who qualifies for social care. The Independent
More than 7,000 disabled and elderly people have lost some or all of their state-funded support, after cash-strapped councils changed their rules on who qualifies for social care. The Independent
Care pathway used to 'cut costs' claim doctors
Care pathway used to 'cut costs' claim doctors:
Hospitals may be withholding food and drink from elderly patients so they die quicker to cut costs and save on bad spaces, leading doctors have warned.The Independent
Hospitals may be withholding food and drink from elderly patients so they die quicker to cut costs and save on bad spaces, leading doctors have warned.The Independent
Increase in whooping cough cases continues
Increase in whooping cough cases continues: The number of confirmed cases of pertussis in England and Wales reported to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) continues to rise, with 1,781 cases reported to the end of May 2012, compared to a total of 1,118cases across the whole of 2011. Health Protection Agency
Friday, 6 July 2012
Northamptonshire falls service recognised with national award
Northamptonshire falls service recognised with national award:
A joint initiative from the county council and East Midlands Ambulance Service which treats people who have suffered falls has been given a national award. Evening Telegraph
A joint initiative from the county council and East Midlands Ambulance Service which treats people who have suffered falls has been given a national award. Evening Telegraph
Provider reform: will anything be different this time round? | Chris Ham
Provider reform: will anything be different this time round? | Chris Ham: Current debates about the future of hospitals and bringing care closer to home echo those of the 1970s. So will anything be different this time round? (Blog, 5 Jul 2012) Kings Fund
Report outlines effect of the NHS Constitution
Report outlines effect of the NHS Constitution:
The report seeks
to clarify the effect of the NHS Constitution on those who use NHS services and who work in the NHS. It considers whether, and to what extent, the Constitution has made a difference to patients, staff, carers and the public, and examines the degree to which it is succeeding in its aims. NHS Networks
The report seeks
to clarify the effect of the NHS Constitution on those who use NHS services and who work in the NHS. It considers whether, and to what extent, the Constitution has made a difference to patients, staff, carers and the public, and examines the degree to which it is succeeding in its aims. NHS Networks
Councils 'ration' elderly care
Councils 'ration' elderly care: Most councils in England are imposing unreasonably short time limits on people who care for the elderly at home, according to the UK Homecare Association. BBC News
'Wake up and smell' the data breach fine, warns ICO
'Wake up and smell' the data breach fine, warns ICO: Thousands of data protection complaints made in last year, but more than £2m worth of fines now issued Public Service
Securing the future financial sustainability of the NHS
Securing the future financial sustainability of the NHS:
This report found that, although in 2011-12 there was a surplus of £2.1 billion across the NHS as a whole, there is also some financial distress, particularly in some hospital trusts. It concludes that it is hard to see how continuing to give financial support to organisations in difficulty will be a sustainable way of reconciling growing demand for healthcare with the size of efficiency gains required within the NHS and that without major change for some providers, the financial pressure on them will only get more severe.
This report found that, although in 2011-12 there was a surplus of £2.1 billion across the NHS as a whole, there is also some financial distress, particularly in some hospital trusts. It concludes that it is hard to see how continuing to give financial support to organisations in difficulty will be a sustainable way of reconciling growing demand for healthcare with the size of efficiency gains required within the NHS and that without major change for some providers, the financial pressure on them will only get more severe.
NHS change model
NHS change model:
The model has been created to support the NHS to adopt a shared approach to leading change and transformation. It is hoped that practical information, tools and support will be added over the coming months.
The model has been created to support the NHS to adopt a shared approach to leading change and transformation. It is hoped that practical information, tools and support will be added over the coming months.
PFI will ultimately cost £300bn
PFI will ultimately cost £300bn:
Repayments on contracts will grow to £10bn a year by 2017-18, say Guardian figures, and government is still striking new deals PFI contracts: read the full list here
The cost of Britain's controversial private finance initiative will continue to soar for another five years and end up costing taxpayers more than £300bn, according to a Guardian analysis of contracts that were sanctioned by the Treasury.
Despite recent coalition criticism suggesting that the government was going cold on the scheme, recently published figures indicate that repayments will continue ballooning until they peak at £10.1bn a year by 2017-18.
The 717 PFI contracts currently under way across the UK are funding new schools, hospitals and other public facilities with a total capital value of £54.7bn, but the overall ultimate cost will reach £301bn by the time they have been paid off over the coming decades.
Much of this difference is due to ongoing running costs built into the contracts, but the schemes have also been criticised for providing poor value for money compared with the interest rates the government would pay if it borrowed money directly to pay for the schemes.
Last week, South London Healthcare Trust, which runs three hospitals in south-east London, was placed in administration by the health secretary as it struggled to meet the cost of its PFI obligations.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of the union Unison, said on Thursday night: "The NHS is just the start of the story.
"We're sitting on a PFI debt time bomb, and the sheer scale of the burden paints a seriously grim picture for the future of our public services."
PFI had left the UK with a "staggering mountain of debt," Prentis said.
The Treasury said on Thursday that it expected to make an announcement soon following a "fundamental review" of PFI and a search for alternatives, initiated by ministers late last year amid concern that too many of the deals represent poor value for money. Ministers recognised the concern felt about PFI and had already acted to make savings, added a spokeswoman.
The Treasury said that future liabilities under PFI total about £242bn (once existing payments are taken into account) and that this figure would shrink to £122bn if it were adjusted for future expected inflation. Nonetheless, details of the contracts compiled by the Treasury make clear that some NHS organisations will end up paying almost 12 times the initial sum over what is usually a 30-year contract.
For example, while the capital cost of rebuilding Calderdale Royal Hospital in Yorkshire is £64.6m, the scheme will end up costing Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust a total of £773.2m. Similarly, the cost of building the new Walsgrave district general hospital in Coventry will jump from an initial £379m to an eventual £4bn.
Most of the 717 contracts analysed were agreed under Labour, but a number have been signed recently and were agreed by the coalition.
In 2007-08, the total annual repayment cost of all PFI schemes in the UK was £5.78bn. But by 2017-18 that will have almost doubled to £10.1bn in a decade, and repayments will cost at least £9bn a year for the decade after that.
The Treasury document also reveals that 39 further PFI projects were being procured in March this year, with total capital costs of £5.36bn, despite senior ministers including David Cameron and George Osborne having heavily criticised Labour's extensive use of PFI while in office.
These deals will add tens of billions of pounds more to the £301bn price tag.
Before the 2010 election, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg condemned PFI as "a bit of dodgy accounting – a way in which the government can pretend they're not borrowing when they are, and we'll all be picking up the tab in 30 years".
In opposition, Osborne pledged that the Conservatives would stop using PFI and denounced Labour for relying so much on a source of finance that he said was "totally discredited". "We need to find new ways to leverage private-sector investment. Labour's PFI model is flawed and must be replaced," he said in November 2009.
But Margaret Hodge, chair of the powerful Commons public accounts committee, said the coalition had failed to come up with the promised alternative since coming to power. She accused ministers of extending PFI in effect through a recent scheme to encourage housing associations to build new social housing using borrowed money – a move she warned could put the viability of some of them in doubt by overloading them with unwanted debt.
Hodge said that "inevitably" some public services would have to be cut in coming years as sectors such as the NHS struggle to meet rising PFI repayments at a time when budgets are expected to remain tight. The squeeze on public spending is expected to last until 2017 or even beyond.
"£301bn is a hell of a lot of money," Hodge added. "The irony is that we privatised the buildings but nationalised the debts. It's crazy."
The huge sums revealed in the Treasury's list have renewed concerns about the wisdom of using PFI to build a wide range of public , facilities when the eventual costs are so much higher.
For example, Barts Health NHS Trust in London says the construction of new medical facilities at its two main sites will cost £1.1bn, but the document reveals that the eventual cost will be £7.1bn by the time the contract is fully paid off in 2048-49.
That will cost the trust an average of £115m a year at today's prices for the entire duration of the contract, the trust confirmed.
"The full business case clearly demonstrated that the private finance initiative option provided the best solution for the delivery of services and value for money for the NHS, compared with the publicly funded alternative," said a Barts spokeswoman.
"Our new hospitals replace outdated, awkwardly configured buildings with fantastic new facilities that meet the challenge of providing healthcare to a local population with some of the most challenging health needs in the UK."
A Treasury spokeswoman said: "The government has already taken action to drive savings in PFI and as part of its review of PFI aims to deliver a new, cheaper model, which will ensure a fair deal for the taxpayer now and in the longer term.
"The government has for the first time published a clear assessment of PFI liabilities."
An aide to George Osborne said : "Under Labour PFI offered little value for money and was hidden off balance sheet by Ed Balls and Gordon Brown.
"We have already driven savings in existing PFI projects, made the value for money criteria much stricter and for the first time published our PFI liabilities in the whole of government accounts." The Guardian
The cost of Britain's controversial private finance initiative will continue to soar for another five years and end up costing taxpayers more than £300bn, according to a Guardian analysis of contracts that were sanctioned by the Treasury.
Despite recent coalition criticism suggesting that the government was going cold on the scheme, recently published figures indicate that repayments will continue ballooning until they peak at £10.1bn a year by 2017-18.
The 717 PFI contracts currently under way across the UK are funding new schools, hospitals and other public facilities with a total capital value of £54.7bn, but the overall ultimate cost will reach £301bn by the time they have been paid off over the coming decades.
Much of this difference is due to ongoing running costs built into the contracts, but the schemes have also been criticised for providing poor value for money compared with the interest rates the government would pay if it borrowed money directly to pay for the schemes.
Last week, South London Healthcare Trust, which runs three hospitals in south-east London, was placed in administration by the health secretary as it struggled to meet the cost of its PFI obligations.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of the union Unison, said on Thursday night: "The NHS is just the start of the story.
"We're sitting on a PFI debt time bomb, and the sheer scale of the burden paints a seriously grim picture for the future of our public services."
PFI had left the UK with a "staggering mountain of debt," Prentis said.
The Treasury said on Thursday that it expected to make an announcement soon following a "fundamental review" of PFI and a search for alternatives, initiated by ministers late last year amid concern that too many of the deals represent poor value for money. Ministers recognised the concern felt about PFI and had already acted to make savings, added a spokeswoman.
The Treasury said that future liabilities under PFI total about £242bn (once existing payments are taken into account) and that this figure would shrink to £122bn if it were adjusted for future expected inflation. Nonetheless, details of the contracts compiled by the Treasury make clear that some NHS organisations will end up paying almost 12 times the initial sum over what is usually a 30-year contract.
For example, while the capital cost of rebuilding Calderdale Royal Hospital in Yorkshire is £64.6m, the scheme will end up costing Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust a total of £773.2m. Similarly, the cost of building the new Walsgrave district general hospital in Coventry will jump from an initial £379m to an eventual £4bn.
Most of the 717 contracts analysed were agreed under Labour, but a number have been signed recently and were agreed by the coalition.
In 2007-08, the total annual repayment cost of all PFI schemes in the UK was £5.78bn. But by 2017-18 that will have almost doubled to £10.1bn in a decade, and repayments will cost at least £9bn a year for the decade after that.
The Treasury document also reveals that 39 further PFI projects were being procured in March this year, with total capital costs of £5.36bn, despite senior ministers including David Cameron and George Osborne having heavily criticised Labour's extensive use of PFI while in office.
These deals will add tens of billions of pounds more to the £301bn price tag.
Before the 2010 election, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg condemned PFI as "a bit of dodgy accounting – a way in which the government can pretend they're not borrowing when they are, and we'll all be picking up the tab in 30 years".
In opposition, Osborne pledged that the Conservatives would stop using PFI and denounced Labour for relying so much on a source of finance that he said was "totally discredited". "We need to find new ways to leverage private-sector investment. Labour's PFI model is flawed and must be replaced," he said in November 2009.
But Margaret Hodge, chair of the powerful Commons public accounts committee, said the coalition had failed to come up with the promised alternative since coming to power. She accused ministers of extending PFI in effect through a recent scheme to encourage housing associations to build new social housing using borrowed money – a move she warned could put the viability of some of them in doubt by overloading them with unwanted debt.
Hodge said that "inevitably" some public services would have to be cut in coming years as sectors such as the NHS struggle to meet rising PFI repayments at a time when budgets are expected to remain tight. The squeeze on public spending is expected to last until 2017 or even beyond.
"£301bn is a hell of a lot of money," Hodge added. "The irony is that we privatised the buildings but nationalised the debts. It's crazy."
The huge sums revealed in the Treasury's list have renewed concerns about the wisdom of using PFI to build a wide range of public , facilities when the eventual costs are so much higher.
For example, Barts Health NHS Trust in London says the construction of new medical facilities at its two main sites will cost £1.1bn, but the document reveals that the eventual cost will be £7.1bn by the time the contract is fully paid off in 2048-49.
That will cost the trust an average of £115m a year at today's prices for the entire duration of the contract, the trust confirmed.
"The full business case clearly demonstrated that the private finance initiative option provided the best solution for the delivery of services and value for money for the NHS, compared with the publicly funded alternative," said a Barts spokeswoman.
"Our new hospitals replace outdated, awkwardly configured buildings with fantastic new facilities that meet the challenge of providing healthcare to a local population with some of the most challenging health needs in the UK."
A Treasury spokeswoman said: "The government has already taken action to drive savings in PFI and as part of its review of PFI aims to deliver a new, cheaper model, which will ensure a fair deal for the taxpayer now and in the longer term.
"The government has for the first time published a clear assessment of PFI liabilities."
An aide to George Osborne said : "Under Labour PFI offered little value for money and was hidden off balance sheet by Ed Balls and Gordon Brown.
"We have already driven savings in existing PFI projects, made the value for money criteria much stricter and for the first time published our PFI liabilities in the whole of government accounts." The Guardian
Two doctors referred to GMC for taking industrial action
Two doctors referred to GMC for taking industrial action: Two doctors have been referred to the GMC for taking industrial action over pensions, it has emerged.
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
Whooping cough hits a 20-year peak
Whooping cough hits a 20-year peak:
Whooping cough, the highly infectious disease that was almost eradicated in the UK a generation ago, is now more common than at any time in the past 20 years, health authorities have warned.The Independent
Whooping cough, the highly infectious disease that was almost eradicated in the UK a generation ago, is now more common than at any time in the past 20 years, health authorities have warned.The Independent
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