Wednesday, 20 January 2016
Ambulance crews to be relieved from Northamptonshire hospitals to save on overtime
Ambulance crews to be relieved from Northamptonshire hospitals to save on overtime Paramedics who face extended shifts while waiting with A&E patients could be allowed to hand over to another crew at Northamptonshire hospitals. Northampton Chronicle and Echo
New dementia report: Alzheimer's drugs prescriptions six times higher than a decade ago
New dementia report: Alzheimer's drugs prescriptions six times higher than a decade ago The number of prescriptions dispensed in England for approved medicines to treat Alzheimer's increased from 502,000 in 2004 to 3.0 million in 2014. The cost to the NHS of prescriptions for Alzheimer's disease medicines dispensed in primary care stood at £45.7m in 2014. This was up from £42.8m in 2004, but down from the high point it reached in 2011 of £110.8m. Health and Social Care Information Centre
Medical register gets a revamp to include more information.
Medical register gets a revamp to include more information. New information about doctors has been added to the General Medical Council’s (GMC) register, making it more useful for its millions of users.
Junior doctors' strike suspended
Junior doctors' strike suspended A junior doctors' strike in England set for 26-28 January is suspended by the BMA, as talks with the government continue. BBC News
See also:
See also:
- BMA suspends next week's planned industrial action British Medical Association
- Junior doctors strike action suspended NHS Employers
- Next week's junior doctors' strike is SUSPENDED as talks continue over new contracts The Daily Mail
- Junior doctors strike suspended, BMA leaders announce GP Online
- Junior doctors' strike suspended as talks to end contract row continue The Guardian
- Second junior doctors strike called off after talks between the BMA and the Government The Independent
- Next week’s junior doctors’ strike suspended OnMedica
Air pollution is now a global 'public health emergency', according to the World Health Organisation
Air pollution is now a global 'public health emergency', according to the World Health Organisation The head of public health at the WHO believes air pollution could have untold effects on future generations. The Independent
Cancer Drugs Fund puts thousands at risk claim rationing body NICE
Cancer Drugs Fund puts thousands at risk claim rationing body NICE From April, the medicines rationing body NICE will have the final say over which cancer treatments can be offered and doctors and campaigners warn this will restrict access to life-saving drugs. The Daily Mail
Online communities can help the NHS, so why does it ignore them?
Online communities can help the NHS, so why does it ignore them? People with conditions such as diabetes increasingly seek support on forums and social media, but the NHS overlooks them
Social media has changed most aspects of life – including how people gather information about their health. While online forums for those with particular conditions, such as diabetes, are rapidly growing in popularity, the NHS is continuing to ignore them, even though they have the potential to save large sums of money. It is a frustrating blind spot.
My own experience of co-founding and running Diabetes.co.uk – the largest online community for people living with the condition – suggests these kind of forums have almost no contact with the NHS, despite our estimation that we could be saving it more than £7m a year by educating people about their condition and helping them manage it so they can avoid costly ambulance call-outs and hospital admissions. Continue reading... The Guardian
See also:
Social media has changed most aspects of life – including how people gather information about their health. While online forums for those with particular conditions, such as diabetes, are rapidly growing in popularity, the NHS is continuing to ignore them, even though they have the potential to save large sums of money. It is a frustrating blind spot.
My own experience of co-founding and running Diabetes.co.uk – the largest online community for people living with the condition – suggests these kind of forums have almost no contact with the NHS, despite our estimation that we could be saving it more than £7m a year by educating people about their condition and helping them manage it so they can avoid costly ambulance call-outs and hospital admissions. Continue reading... The Guardian
See also:
NHS has the west's most stressed GPs, survey reveals
NHS has the west's most stressed GPs, survey reveals UK’s family doctors have the highest stress levels and shortest consultation times out of 11 industrialised countries – and almost 30% are planning to quit
The NHS has the most stressed GPs by western standards, as a result of relentless workloads, endless bureaucracy and the shortest amount of time spent with patients, new research by the world’s most influential health thinktank reveals. Continue reading... The Guardian
See also:
The NHS has the most stressed GPs by western standards, as a result of relentless workloads, endless bureaucracy and the shortest amount of time spent with patients, new research by the world’s most influential health thinktank reveals. Continue reading... The Guardian
See also:
- RCGP response to Commonwealth Fund GP survey Royal College of General Practitioners
The NHS needs to stop repeating the same mistakes - here’s how
The NHS needs to stop repeating the same mistakes - here’s how Centralised control is back in fashion despite not having achieving the desired results before. A new website will help policymakers avoid the pitfalls of the past.
Health policy goes round in circles. In the words of ex-health secretary Stephen Dorrell, “there is nothing new under the sun in terms of the issues which health secretaries have to deal with.”That we are on such a policy hamster wheel may seem futile and depressing. But the silver lining is that such circularity provides a rich tapestry for politicians and policymakers to learn from when seeking to solve current NHS problems.
With this in mind, the Health Foundation, an independent charity working to improve the quality of healthcare in the UK, has created the Policy Navigator website as a tool to be used by policymakers and enthusiasts to see how our current policy landscape has developed and to provide insight from the past. The Navigator website seeks to build an accessible repository of health policy developments grouped by theme, including provider landscape, adult social care and integration, choice and competition and commissioning. Continue reading... The Guardian
Health policy goes round in circles. In the words of ex-health secretary Stephen Dorrell, “there is nothing new under the sun in terms of the issues which health secretaries have to deal with.”That we are on such a policy hamster wheel may seem futile and depressing. But the silver lining is that such circularity provides a rich tapestry for politicians and policymakers to learn from when seeking to solve current NHS problems.
With this in mind, the Health Foundation, an independent charity working to improve the quality of healthcare in the UK, has created the Policy Navigator website as a tool to be used by policymakers and enthusiasts to see how our current policy landscape has developed and to provide insight from the past. The Navigator website seeks to build an accessible repository of health policy developments grouped by theme, including provider landscape, adult social care and integration, choice and competition and commissioning. Continue reading... The Guardian
Tuesday, 19 January 2016
School nurse text service 'ChatHealth' rolled out in Northants
School nurse text service 'ChatHealth' rolled out in Northants A new text-based school nurse service that is designed to make it easier for Northants youngsters to access medical advice has been launched this week by Northamptonshire Healthcare. Northants Herald and Post
See also:
See also:
- New School Nurse text based health service Northamptonshire Healthcare
KGH staff pick up awards for outstanding service
KGH staff pick up awards for outstanding service A consultant and an administrator at Kettering General Hospital have won awards for the outstanding service they have provided to medical students who are training to become the next generation of NHS doctors. Northamptonshire Telegraph
NHS planning guidance: an opportunity for collaboration across places?
NHS planning guidance: an opportunity for collaboration across places? The new NHS planning guidance arrived just in time for Christmas. As well as asking NHS organisations to produce their own operational plans for the coming year, it also asks them to work together to make joint plans for their local health and care services – a ‘sustainability and transformation plan’. The focus for NHS policy-makers is shifting from organisations to places. But how will sustainability and transformation plans work in practice? The King's Fund
Fix dementia care hospitals
Fix dementia care hospitals This report into the quality and variation in hospital care for people with dementia has found that too many people with dementia are falling while in hospital, being discharged at night or being marooned in hospital despite their medical treatment having finished. The report launches a campaign to introduce annual statements of dementia care from each hospital, including feedback from patients with dementia, helping to raise standards of care across the country. It also calls for regulators such as Monitor and Care Quality Commission to include standards of dementia care in their assessments. Alzheimer's Society
Hidden voices of maternity: parents with learning disabilities speak out
Hidden voices of maternity: parents with learning disabilities speak out This research aims to capture the experience of a seldom-heard group and it offers recommendations for service improvements to support care to become more person- and family-centred. It found that support group and buddy schemes, community midwifery services and advocacy services were identified as positive aspects of service provision. However, the respondents identified staff attitudes, conflicting information and lack of support for breast feeding and when babies are taken away were the key negative experiences for parents with learning disabilities. Picker Institute Europe
Why hasn't the mystery of Gulf War Syndrome been solved?
Why hasn't the mystery of Gulf War Syndrome been solved? The Royal British Legion is urging the UK government to fund more research into Gulf War Syndrome, a condition reported to have affected thousands of British and US veterans. But why has no one ever properly explained it? BBC News
EU nurses face English language checks
EU nurses face English language checks Nurses and midwives coming to Britain from the EU will now need to prove they are fluent in English under new rules. BBC News
Breast surgeon charged with wounding
Breast surgeon charged with wounding A breast surgeon appears in court charged with unlawfully and maliciously wounding 11 patients. BBC News
Junior doctors hit out at column blaming the 'feminisation' of NHS for causing out-of-hours crisis
Junior doctors hit out at column blaming the 'feminisation' of NHS for causing out-of-hours crisis Hundreds of female and male doctors criticised Dominic Lawson's column in the Sunday Times saying women were too obsessed with their families to work long hours. The Independent
NHS chief demands political consensus on funding elderly and social care
NHS chief demands political consensus on funding elderly and social care Simon Stevens says key to tackling the challenge of paying for care of ageing population is ‘intergenerational fairness’
Britain urgently needs a new political consensus on paying for elderly and social care, and the funding debate should consider the value of pensions and homes, the boss of the NHS has said.
Simon Stevens said one of the main questions in tackling the huge challenge of how to pay for and look after an ageing population was “intergenerational fairness”.Continue reading... The Guardian
Britain urgently needs a new political consensus on paying for elderly and social care, and the funding debate should consider the value of pensions and homes, the boss of the NHS has said.
Simon Stevens said one of the main questions in tackling the huge challenge of how to pay for and look after an ageing population was “intergenerational fairness”.Continue reading... The Guardian
Will Self: the NHS is a power that can jolt even the most despairing back to life
Will Self: the NHS is a power that can jolt even the most despairing back to life My Christmas night in A&E accompanying someone on a vodka bender brought home the reality of what we ask of our guardian angel health service.
I spent much of Christmas night in A&E at St Thomas’ hospital in London, right opposite the Houses of Parliament. It was a fitting end to the year – it would be a fitting end to any year. Hell, it would – and most probably will be – a fitting end to my life. One of my sons was born in St Tom’s; my wife had cancer surgery there. That it stands in the nexus of buildings where the nation’s powers, spiritual and temporal, are arraigned seems only just − for what is free-at-the-point-of-demand healthcare in contemporary Britain if not the alpha and omega of our civil society?
We don’t simply revere the NHS − we worship it. Why wouldn’t we, given it’s a nationwide public institution with branch offices in every town and hamlet; and a mechanism for the redistribution of the most precious resource known to us: the preservation of life itself? It goes further, though, because the NHS is for many of us what takes religion’s place when it comes to contemplating our end – for, if there’s one thing we devoutly wish, it’s to cease upon the midnight hour cosseted and with no pain whatsoever. The terminal is of the essence when it comes to healthcare anyway, given the vast majority of spending on any individual takes place in the last six weeks of their life.
We’re suckers for medical science’s promise of yet more heroic − nay, Frankensteinian − interventions Continue reading... The Guardian
I spent much of Christmas night in A&E at St Thomas’ hospital in London, right opposite the Houses of Parliament. It was a fitting end to the year – it would be a fitting end to any year. Hell, it would – and most probably will be – a fitting end to my life. One of my sons was born in St Tom’s; my wife had cancer surgery there. That it stands in the nexus of buildings where the nation’s powers, spiritual and temporal, are arraigned seems only just − for what is free-at-the-point-of-demand healthcare in contemporary Britain if not the alpha and omega of our civil society?
We don’t simply revere the NHS − we worship it. Why wouldn’t we, given it’s a nationwide public institution with branch offices in every town and hamlet; and a mechanism for the redistribution of the most precious resource known to us: the preservation of life itself? It goes further, though, because the NHS is for many of us what takes religion’s place when it comes to contemplating our end – for, if there’s one thing we devoutly wish, it’s to cease upon the midnight hour cosseted and with no pain whatsoever. The terminal is of the essence when it comes to healthcare anyway, given the vast majority of spending on any individual takes place in the last six weeks of their life.
We’re suckers for medical science’s promise of yet more heroic − nay, Frankensteinian − interventions Continue reading... The Guardian
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