Who's who in health and social care guides 2014

Who's who in health and social care guides 2014 These guides have been updated to include new and current contact information for key figures within local health economies. Each regional guide contains contact information for representatives on health and wellbeing boards, CCGs, Healthwatch, strategic clinical networks and senates, and directors for adult and child social care. Regional Voices

• Guides
• Regional Voices news

Choice in mental health care

Choice in mental health care This guidance aims to help commissioners, GPs and providers support mental health patients exercising their legal rights to choose who provides their care and treatment. This guidance has been updated to reflect suggestions from consultation which highlighted the need for further clarity and it also includes a set of clinical scenarios to illustrate how mental health patients’ legal rights should work in practice. NHS England

• Guidance
• Clinical scenarios

CCG funding allocations 2014/15 and 2015/16

CCG funding allocations 2014/15 and 2015/16 These documents outline the funding allocations that CCGs will receive over the next two years (2014/15 and 2015/16). The allocations reflect the new funding formula which has been adopted for local health commissioners that will more accurately reflect population changes and include a specific deprivation measure. NHS England

• Allocation data
• Supporting note
• Press release

See also:

• CCGs expected to stump up more for ailing mental health services OnMedica

Tackle loneliness to 'shield' A&E

Tackle loneliness to 'shield' AE NHS leaders warn loneliness could cause a major spike in emergency admissions. BBC News

Researchers: your guide to hitting the headlines

Researchers: your guide to hitting the headlines Boffins, are you having trouble communicating the fruits of your labour to a wider audience?

Have you spent five thankless years going through stool samples in an attempt to find new treatments for giardiasis only to have your work written up as a single paragraph on page 34 of the Rochdale Observer?

Well, worry no more. Drawing on decades of journalistic experience, the Behind the Headlines team has drawn up the definitive guide to getting your work featured prominently on News at Ten. Simply follow the 10 tips below and before you know it you’ll be talking p-values with Phil and Holly on ITV's This Morning. Continue reading... NHS Choices

Exclusive: Huge variation in GP-patient ratio across England revealed

Exclusive: Huge variation in GP-patient ratio across England revealed GPs in parts of England are dealing with twice as many patients as their counterparts in other areas, an analysis of official data by GP magazine reveals. GP Online

Tory Francis Maude says NHS reforms hinge on inclusion of private firms

Tory Francis Maude says NHS reforms hinge on inclusion of private firms Maude wants private firms to get health service work under £5.3bn Better Care Fund aiming to knit health and social care.

A senior minister has criticised the government’s £5.3bn central policy to save the NHS and claimed it will only work if private firms are given a much bigger role. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Francis Maude: give private firms a bigger role in NHS to combat 'endless process and bureaucracy'; video The Guardian

Children under six being prescribed behavioural drugs against medical guidelines

Children under six being prescribed behavioural drugs against medical guidelines Children under six are being prescribed behavioural drugs against medical guidelines as mental health professionals struggle to cope with a lack of funding and short staffing. The Independent

See also:

• ADHD and preschool children in the news British Psychological Society
• ADHD drugs increasingly prescribed to treat hyperactivity in pre-schoolers The Guardian

Corby one of the winners as whole county gets health funding boost

Corby one of the winners as whole county gets health funding boost The body in charge of healthcare in Corby has been handed one of the biggest funding increases in England. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Paramedics being offered support service to help reduce high levels of work-related stress

Paramedics being offered support service to help reduce high levels of work-related stress Paramedics working for East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) are beng encouraged to join a ‘peer support’ project to help reduce the high levels of work related stress. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• Rise in paramedic stress sick leave BBC Northamptonshire

Statutory guidance: The forward view into action: planning for 2015/16

Statutory guidance: The forward view into action: planning for 2015/16 This planning guidance published by Monitor, NHS England, the NHS Trust Development Authority, the Care Quality Commission, Public Health England and Health Education England sets out the steps that foundation trusts and others in the health sector should take during 2015/16 to start delivering the NHS Five Year Forward View.

 See also:

• Health leaders set out new year plan for a sustainable NHS NHS England

Department of Health mid-year report 2014-15

Department of Health mid-year report 2014-15 This document reports on progress made against the Department of Health’s objectives, financial performance, people and major projects from April to September 2014.

Review of Sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act

Review of Sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act This report finds that the use of police powers under the Mental Health Act is a major concern for service users, family carers and professionals alike. It concludes that the use of police powers under the Mental Health Act has to change. In most cases, change could be achieved through better use of existing powers. In all cases, heeding the voices of people who have been detained under these sections is vital to ensure any changes to police powers or their application improve people's experiences. Centre for Mental Health

See also:

• Sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983: literature review Department of Health

Ambulance targets plan revealed

Ambulance targets plan revealed Target times for ambulances to reach some seriously ill patients could be lengthened, a document leaked to the BBC shows. BBC News

See also:

• Controversial plan to delay dispatch of ambulances put on hold after backlash The Guardian
• Ambulances target times for some patients could be lengthened The Guardian

NHS to start era of DNA-medicine

NHS to start era of DNA-medicine The NHS will set up 11 centres to unlock the secrets of DNA and usher in a new era of medicine. BBC News

See also:

• News story: Eleven new centres to lead genomics project Department of Health
• NHS set to deliver world-leading genomics project in fight against cancer and rare diseases NHS England
• NHS England names 100K genome centres E-Health Insider
• £300m bid to find new cancer cures by mapping our DNA: Unlocking genetic code could lead to faster and more accurate diagnosis  The Daily Mail

First UK reservists join Ebola fight

First UK reservists join Ebola fight The first British army reservists along with 100 regular soldiers head to Sierra Leone to help the battle against Ebola in the West African state. BBC News

See also:

• Press release: PHE scientists receive Ebola treatment research funding Public Health England
• Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone's guardian of the dead is at work again The Independent
• NHS Ebola staff ‘insulted’ by UK travel ban The Guardian

The NHS’s chaotic IT systems show no sign of recovery

The NHS’s chaotic IT systems show no sign of recovery Paperless patient records are a necessity, but a new, US–made system at Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge is a chronic misreading of patient needs.

When you walk into my GP’s surgery, the first thing you see is a screen on the receptionist’s counter. Displayed on it are the words (all in capitals) “TOUCH THE SCREEN TO ARRIVE FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT”. Being pedantic, the first time I saw it I pointed out to the receptionist that I had arrived for my appointment. She grimaced. I then asked if the medical implications of asking every patient to use the same touchscreen during, say, a flu epidemic had been considered. Another grimace. It was, she explained, “a new system”.

This system was provided by Epic Systems, a US corporation based in Wisconsin, which may explain why its software designers seem unfamiliar with the verb “to arrive”. It’s one of eight major vendors of healthcare information systems, all of which are based in the US, and it got its foot in the NHS door quite a long time ago. My doctor’s surgery has been using it for a while. At the beginning, the system’s user-interface was abysmal and dysfunctional. Now, several years on, it’s merely ugly. But at least it works. Continue reading... The Guardian

NHS staff threaten new year strikes as pay dispute escalates

NHS staff threaten new year strikes as pay dispute escalates Doctors and health leaders say services ‘running just to stand still’ as they struggle to cope with winter spike in patient numbers.

NHS leaders in England say the problems caused by the funding squeeze are greater than ever, with hospitals struggling to cope with record levels of emergency admissions and unions threatening fresh strike action in the new year over pay curbs.

There were more than 111,000 emergency admissions to hospitals in the last week and A&E departments saw 440,428 patients, up more than 24,000 on the same week last year, despite relatively low levels of flu and winter vomiting. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• NHS staff to strike in new year BBC News
• NHS and ambulance staff to strike The Daily Telegraph
• Health unions announce new round of industrial action early next year OnMedica

'The more research active an organisation is, the better the outcomes for patients' - video

'The more research active an organisation is, the better the outcomes for patients' - video Greta Westwood, deputy director of research at Portsmouth hospitals NHS trust, which won the Health Services Journal award for clinical research impact, explains how staff are supported to develop their own research and how the culture benefits patients. The Guardian

Decent care is a fundamental human right

Decent care is a fundamental human right Telegraph View: Fresh evidence suggests that some care homes are not up to scratch. Britain's ageing population deserves much better. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Bullying care worker jailed after attacking dementia patients The Daily Telegraph
• Dozens of carers in two months but no one knew whether mum liked tea or coffee The Daily Telegraph