Hard-hitting New Year stop smoking campaign is launched

Hard-hitting New Year stop smoking campaign is launched
A new national campaign shows smokers the pollution they are exposing their blood, heart, lungs and brain to. Evening Telegraph

Health professional gives kidney to stranger

Health professional gives kidney to stranger
A health professional has given the gift of life to a complete stranger by anonymously donating one of her kidneys to them. Chronicle and Echo

Surgery implant has 'huge potential'

Surgery implant has 'huge potential'
Researchers in Oxford have developed a degradable implant which they say has huge potential to improve surgical success rates.  BBC News

A fresh start for community health care

A fresh start for community health care
CQC has set out the plans in its publication A Fresh Start for Community Health Care.  NHS Networks

If NHS was a country it would 'barely have a credit rating', says BMA

If NHS was a country it would 'barely have a credit rating', says BMA
Dr Mark Porter, chairman of council at the British Medical Association, says the health service's finances are in a "dire" state.  Telegraph

NHS leaders call for end to waves of criticism of health service

NHS leaders call for end to waves of criticism of health service
The leaders of 10 NHS organisations have called for an end to waves of criticism of the health service.  Independent

NHS 'could save £600m a year' by screening for liver disease

NHS 'could save £600m a year' by screening for liver disease
The NHS could save £600m every year simply by screening people believed to be at risk of liver disease, experts have claimed.  Independent

Retendering NHS 111 contracts could cost millions

Retendering NHS 111 contracts could cost millions

Process in one of the 11 regions affected by NHS Direct's withdrawal from contracts will cost £500,000, BMJ finds

The bungled launch of the NHS 111 service is likely to cost the health service millions of pounds, according to an investigation by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The service was thrown into turmoil last July after one of the main providers, NHS Direct, announced it planned to pull out of its contracts due to severe financial problems.

The cost of retendering the contracts is likely to be very high, the BMJ said. In just one region affected, the West Midlands, the reprocurement process will cost £500,000, it found.

The NHS 111 line, which replaced NHS Direct as the number to call for urgent but non-emergency care, has been riddled with teething problems since its inception on 1 April. Patients have complained of calls going unanswered, poor advice given and calls being diverted to the wrong part of the country.

A month after the launch, leading medics said the "problematic" roll-out of the system had left many patients not knowing where to turn. NHS England launched an investigation into the advice line after a number of incidents, including three deaths, were linked to the service.

NHS Direct originally won 11 of the 46 contracts across England to provide the 111 service. But in July it announced it would be unable to provide the service in North Essex, Cornwall, Somerset, Buckinghamshire, east London and the City, south-east London, Sutton and Merton, West Midlands, Lancashire and Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire.

A spokeswoman for NHS Direct said the contracts, which covered more than a third of the population of England, were "financially unsustainable". In October the organisation announced that it was to close after projecting a £26m deficit for this financial year.

Dame Barbara Hakin, chief operating officer at NHS England, said: "NHS 111 is now a stable and improving service and we are confident it will continue to get better. I have been impressed by the way that the staff providing these services across the country have turned the situation around on behalf of the public.

"NHS 111 provides a good service with high levels of public satisfaction. Calls are answered promptly and more people are getting access to the service as we move to full coverage in February 2014. The recent urgent care review identified the important role that 111 can play. The concept of calling for advice first is essential for patient care outcomes and we are committed to ensuring 111 plays its full part in this."

Labour's shadow health minister Andrew Gwynne said: "It is now clear that ministers wasted millions on flawed contracts. Labour warned the government at the outset that 111 was fundamentally flawed but they pressed ahead with the rollout regardless.

"David Cameron is responsible for its shambolic introduction. The destruction of NHS Direct – a trusted, national service – is one of his worst acts of vandalism."  Guardian

Extended NHS charging for visitors and migrants

Extended NHS charging for visitors and migrants
Plans include extending charging for primary care services, such as prescriptions. GP and nurse consultations will remain free, which will mean that everyone will continue to have initial access to prevent risks to public health such as HIV, TB and sexually transmitted infections. Other types of primary care services that are being considered for charging include minor surgery that is carried out by a GP and physiotherapy that has been referred through a GP.  NHS Networks

Mid Staffs campaigners honoured

Mid Staffs campaigners honoured Two women who led the fight against one of the most shocking failings in NHS history are recognised in the New Year honours list. BBC News

7,000 key NHS clinical staff laid off amid enforced cuts

7,000 key NHS clinical staff laid off amid enforced cuts Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the BMA says £20bn savings drive to blame, as doctors and nurses are made redundant.

An "arbitrary" straitjacket on the NHS's budget by Whitehall is leading to job losses, recruitment freezes and inadequate care for patients, the leader of the country's doctors warns on Tuesday.

Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the British Medical Association, said forcing the NHS in England to make £20bn of "efficiency gains" by 2015 at a time of rising demand for healthcare was wrong and damaging.

Porter was speaking to the Guardian after the Department of Health (DH) admitted that 7,060 NHS clinical staff, such as doctors and nurses, have been made redundant since the coalition took power in 2010, at the same time as David Cameron was pledging to protect the service's frontline from cuts.

Liver disease deaths: areas with highest levels 'most starved of NHS funds'

Liver disease deaths: areas with highest levels 'most starved of NHS funds' British Liver Trust slates funding policy giving areas with lowest fatalities 10% more in GP budgets than areas with most deaths.

Health reforms have ensured that the areas with the greatest number of deaths from liver disease are being "starved of NHS funds", a leading charity has warned.

According to an analysis by the British Liver Trust, areas with the lowest numbers of deaths will on average get funding increases worth 10% more than those areas with the highest number.

Despite a personal commitment from the prime minister for liver disease to be tackled as a priority, charities said that no real action had been taken and that a promised strategy was now two years overdue.

Campaigners also said also that the money to tackle the disease was slowly being reduced. Just before Christmas NHS England unveiled how much local groups of GPs would be able to spend on their patients.

Minister calls for shake-up of ambulance response targets in rural areas after death of young chef

Minister calls for shake-up of ambulance response targets in rural areas after death of young chef Norman Lamb, minister for care and support, says rural areas are often neglected as ambulance trusts focus on easier urban response times as they chase targets. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Rural ambulance times 'need rethink' BBC News

Doctors fork out £5 million to fight private rivals due to Government health ...

Doctors fork out £5 million to fight private rivals due to Government health... Sandwell and West Birmingham CCG paid £503,310 in legal costs, Nene CCG in Northamptonshire spent £330,000, West Cheshire CCG £176,544 and East Leicestershire and Rutland CCG £129,069. Others with high legal bills include Southern Derbyshire ... The Daily Mirror

Migrants to face NHS care charges

Migrants to face NHS care charges Migrants are to face new charges for some NHS services in England, ministers say, but GP consultations will remain free. BBC News

See also:

• Press release: Extended NHS charging for visitors and migrants Department of Health
• RCGP comment on Government plans for visitor and migrant NHS access Royal College of General Practitioners
• Migrants will be charged by A&E: Foreigners who have emergency treatment will be billed in clampdown on health tourism The Daily Mail
• Tourists and migrants to be charged to use NHS emergency services The Guardian
• Migrants can see GPs for free, despite promise of crackdown The Daily Telegraph 
• Migrants will have to pay at A&E – and all patients will have to prove they are not foreigners to get free NHS treatment The Independent

Was 2013 the NHS's annus horriblis?

Was 2013 the NHS's annus horriblis? Nick Triggle on whether 2013 was NHS's annus horriblis. BBC News

Growing exodus of A&E doctors to Australia adds to strain on NHS

Growing exodus of A&E doctors to Australia adds to strain on NHS College of Emergency Medicine says NHS cannot afford to lose so much talent at a time of understaffing in A&E units.

8,000 people get tummy tucks on NHS

8,000 people get tummy tucks on NHS NHS offers 'tummy tucks' to 8,000 people at an estimated cost of £50m amid concerns taxpayers' money is being wasted. The Daily Telegraph

Exclusive: Action on implants - Government to implement cosmetic surgery controls

Exclusive: Action on implants - Government to implement cosmetic surgery controls

Every woman who undergoes a breast implant operation will have the procedure logged on a national register, to help prevent a repeat of the cosmetic surgery scandal which affected tens of thousands in the UK and 400,000 worldwide, The Independent on Sunday reveals.

See also:

• Breast implants to be registered BBC News
• Breast implant register for UK in the wake of the PIP scandal The Guardian
• National register for breast implant operations The Daily Telegraph

Patients’ views on Northampton General Hospital could be passed to inspectors

Patients’ views on Northampton General Hospital could be passed to inspectors Views of NGH patients are being sought so they can passed to inspectors who will visit next month. Northampton Chronicle and Echo