In addition to broken bones, falls may lead to prolonged lies on the floor, with resulting complications, and they are a common precipitant for people moving into long-term care, or needing more help at home.
Thursday, 5 September 2013
New chairman for troubled hospital
New chairman for troubled hospital A hospital in Northamptonshire which failed to meet government targets for A&E treatment appoints a new chairman and four board members. BBC News
What are the real costs of falls and fractures?
What are the real costs of falls and fractures? David Oliver
Falls and fall-related injuries are a major challenge to health and care systems and to the older people who suffer them. Around one in three people over 65 and one in two people over 80 fall at least once each year. Falls account for around 40 per cent of all ambulance call-outs to the homes of people over 65 and are a leading cause of older people’s use of hospital beds. Each year there are around twice as many fractures resulting from falls as there are strokes in the over 65s.
Thousands of women's lives could be saved by blood test
Thousands of women's lives could be saved by blood test Thousands of women's lives could be saved by simple blood test to detect signs of a heart attack, research suggests. Telegraph
Good hygiene may be to blame for soaring Alzheimer's
Good hygiene may be to blame for soaring Alzheimer's Modern cities and improved hygiene could be behind rising rates of Alzheimer's in Britain and the rest of the developed world, scientists say.
Telegraph
Telegraph
Quarter of GPs offer Patient Access
Quarter of GPs offer Patient Access A quarter of GPs in England are now actively using Emis' Patient Access, which can be used to give patients access to their records and transactional services such as online booking. EHI News
National PACS Programme broke even
National PACS Programme broke even The programme to deliver picture and archiving communications systems to hospitals in England has saved almost as much money as it cost, according to figures released by the National Audit Office under the Freedom of Information Act. EHI News
Hospital trust that failed to ensure patients' safety is fined £350k
Hospital trust that failed to ensure patients' safety is fined £350k Basildon hospital admitted failing to protect patients and visitors after two people died after contracting legionnaires' disease
A hospital trust has been ordered to pay fines and costs of £350,000 for failing to ensure the safety of its patients.
Basildon hospital admitted failing to protect patients and visitors between 2006 and 2007 after James Compton, 74, and Raymond Cackett, 54, died after contracting legionnaires' disease. Six others were also infected by chronic Legionella.
Bosses also pleaded guilty to a similar count after a patient, who was on the hospital's elderly ward, was injured after falling five metres from an unrestricted window.
Sentencing at Chelmsford crown court, the judge David Turner said: "These are failures of very different kinds but each is in its own way serious."
He ordered the Essex hospital – one of 14 named in a report into abnormally high death rates by the NHS medical director, Sir Bruce Keogh – to pay a fine of £100,000 for the legionnaires' offence and £75,000 for the fall.
Crossing boundaries: improving integrated care for people with mental health problems
Crossing boundaries: improving integrated care for people with mental health problems
Mental Health Foundation -
Mental Health Foundation -
This report sets out the findings from the Mental Health Foundation’s Inquiry into integrated health care for people with mental health problems, which ran from April 2012 to June 2013. Its aim was to identify good practice, generate discussion, and draw up key messages on integrated healthcare for people with mental health problems.
Psychiatrists and nurses admit lying to dementia patients
Psychiatrists and nurses admit lying to dementia patients More than two thirds of psychiatrists and nearly all nurses questioned in research have admitted lying to dementia patients.
Telegraph
Telegraph
Stopping tamoxifen 'ups breast cancer death risk'
Stopping tamoxifen 'ups breast cancer death risk' “Hundreds of women are dying needlessly every year as they stop taking breast cancer drugs because of the unbearable side effects,” reports The Daily Telegraph.
The news is based on a study looking at whether women prescribed tamoxifen after breast cancer surgery took the drug as prescribed (adherence).
Researchers wanted to compare the cost-effectiveness of tamoxifen after breast cancer surgery for women who were highly adherent with those whose adherence to treatment was low.
Researchers analysed data on just over 1,000 Scottish women prescribed tamoxifen to try and reduce risk of cancer recurrence. They found that women with low “adherence” (stopping or taking it irregularly) to tamoxifen had shorter time to cancer recurrence, increased medical costs, and poorer quality of life.
However, despite the headlines, we can’t tell why the women didn’t stick with their treatment. The reasons people stop taking potentially life-saving treatment are complex, and can be due to many factors, including psychosocial and health factors, as well as side effects.
Currently, women given tamoxifen after breast cancer surgery are advised to take it for five years, and the results of this study support this. The study authors suggest that it would be cost-effective for the health service to intervene to encourage women to continue taking tamoxifen daily for the whole five-year period.
Where did the story come from?
Links To The Headlines
Hundreds of women dying needlessly after quitting cancer drugs. The Daily Telegraph, September 4 2013
Lethal toll as women quit ‘unbearable’ cancer drug tamoxifen. The Times, September 4 2013
Breast cancer drug could save lives of more than 400 women, study shows. The Guardian, September 4 2013
Skipping breast cancer drugs costs lives, warns charity. BBC News, September 4 2013
Links To Science
McCowan C, et al. The value of high adherence to tamoxifen in women with breast cancer: a community-based cohort study. British Journal of Cancer. Published online September 3 2013
NHS Choices
Commissioning inclusive services
Commissioning inclusive services The National Inclusion Health Board has produced a new guide to help bring a greater focus on tackling health inequalities, by supporting JSNAs and JHWSs to identify the needs of the most vulnerable and set clear priorities for how these can be met.
The guide can be found on the LGA’s Knowledge Hub. NHS Networks
Good practice guidance
Good practice guidance NICE Good practice guidance provides advice and guides good practice for those in health and social care involved in handling, prescribing, commissioning and making decisions about medicines. NICE
News story: Local Clinical Research Network hosts announced by the NIHR
News story: Local Clinical Research Network hosts announced by the NIHR The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Local Clinical Research Network will distribute £280 million of NIHR funding per year to hospitals and surgeries across England to pay for research nurses, scans, x-rays and other clinical research costs.
The network will help to increase the opportunities for patients to take part in clinical research, and will be responsible for making sure that studies are carried out efficiently. It also supports the government’s strategy for UK Life Sciences by improving the environment for life-sciences research in the NHS.
Clinical research provides evidence about ‘what works’, and on how the NHS can provide better treatments for NHS patients across all areas of medicine. The promotion, conduct and use of clinical research is included in the NHS Constitution, which pledges that patients will be informed of research studies they may be able to take part in.
Last year, more than 630,000 patients took part in clinical research studies supported by the NIHRClinical Research Network.
Dr Daniel Poulter, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health, said:
Department of HealthThese changes will give patients around the country better access to clinical research. That means new treatments will be developed faster and available for patients earlier.The UK’s position as a world leader in the field of research is something we are rightly proud of. The network provides a platform for exciting studies to take place and build on that reputation.
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
Patients encouraged to ask about clinical research
Patients encouraged to ask about clinical research The parents of children who need treatment at Kettering Hospital are being encouraged to inquire about the possibility of taking part in clinical research. Evening Telegraph
Hunt announces new push to create database of NHS patients' records
Hunt announces new push to create database of NHS patients' records Health secretary says government will match hospital funding for new IT systems but campaigners question privacy safeguards
The government's controversial push to create a database of patients' records containing the nation's medical details will be boosted by a £1bn technology fund, ministers will announce today.
Despite privacy campaigners warning that identifiable patient data could harm rather than help the public, the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, will argue today that the sharing of such information is necessary to help ease pressures on A&E departments by cutting down on the paperwork that hampers clinicians.
The cash will be used for new IT systems in hospitals that will allow consultants, GPs' surgeries, social workers and out-of-hours doctors to share patients' electronic records routinely "so they will be able to give them personal and effective treatment with full knowledge of their care history".
Where are the voices of the healthcare assistants in mental health? - The Guardian
Where are the voices of the healthcare assistants in mental health? And even Peter Carter, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, who himself trained as a mental health nurse and spent 12 years as chief executive of a mental health NHS trust, is repeatedly quoted talking about the physical care tasks ... Guardian
Second NHS hospital may be franchised before election
Second NHS hospital may be franchised before election Circle, Serco and Care UK reportedly interested in taking over running of George Eliot hospital in Warwickshire
A second NHS hospital could be taken over by a private company before the general election, it has emerged.
Board papers published by the NHS Trust Development Authority reveal (pdf) that George Eliot hospital in Warwickshire, which serves 290,000 people, could be "franchised", with a private sector firm taking over its management.
Last February Hinchingbrooke became the first NHS hospital to be privatised when it was handed over to Circle Health for 10 years.
Health Service Journal reported that private firms such as Circle, Serco and Care UK were circling George Eliot, and other NHS trusts had expressed an interest in taking it over. The sell-off has been backed by the Treasury.
'World's biggest silent killer': Breakthrough could revolutionise treatment of blood pressure
'World's biggest silent killer': Breakthrough could revolutionise treatment of blood pressure Removing one of the smallest organs in the human body could dramatically reduce blood pressure in patients who do not respond to medicines, potentially revolutionising treatments for thousands. Independent
Future payment systems in the NHS
Future payment systems in the NHS
Healthcare Financial Management Association -
Healthcare Financial Management Association -
The HFMA, in conjunction with The King’s Fund and Monitor, held a one-day workshop for NHS finance leaders in May 2013 to debate a future NHS payment system. This briefing summarises views from the day on: the limitations of the current system; desirable features of the new system; steps to achieving a new system; considerations and limitations; and ideas for further work.
Building dementia-friendly communities: a priority for everyone
Building dementia-friendly communities: a priority for everyone
Alzheimer's Society -
This report finds that while there are some excellent examples of community provision for dementia, less than half of survey respondents think their area is set up to help them live well with dementia (42%). Results also become considerably lower the more advanced the person's dementia is. Findings show that there is significant goodwill in the community to help people with dementia live well. The report states that not only do people feel that dementia-friendly places would be better for everyone, but that for every one person with dementia that is able to stay in their own home for a year longer, rather than entering residential care, £11,000 would be saved.
Alzheimer's Society -
This report finds that while there are some excellent examples of community provision for dementia, less than half of survey respondents think their area is set up to help them live well with dementia (42%). Results also become considerably lower the more advanced the person's dementia is. Findings show that there is significant goodwill in the community to help people with dementia live well. The report states that not only do people feel that dementia-friendly places would be better for everyone, but that for every one person with dementia that is able to stay in their own home for a year longer, rather than entering residential care, £11,000 would be saved.
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