Not enough nurses and doctors are being trained in the UK to meet demand, the chief executive of NGH has said.
Northampton Chronicle
Thursday, 11 August 2016
‘Northampton General Hospital reliant on medical staff from EU and other countries’ says chief
‘Northampton General Hospital reliant on medical staff from EU and other countries’ says chief
Not enough nurses and doctors are being trained in the UK to meet demand, the chief executive of NGH has said.
Not enough nurses and doctors are being trained in the UK to meet demand, the chief executive of NGH has said.
Nuffield Trust picks over NHS finances
Nuffield Trust picks over NHS finances
The latest analysis of NHS finances by Nuffield Trust assesses the service’s prospects of making the £22bn savings agreed with government in order to balance its books.
The latest analysis of NHS finances by Nuffield Trust assesses the service’s prospects of making the £22bn savings agreed with government in order to balance its books.
NHS Networks
New framework for consistent learning disability care
New framework for consistent learning disability care
Find out about the new education and training framework for staff who work with people living with a learning disability.
Find out about the new education and training framework for staff who work with people living with a learning disability.
NHS Employers News
Latest patient-led assessments of healthcare premises also consider non-clinical aspects of care for patients with disabilities
Latest patient-led assessments of healthcare premises also consider non-clinical aspects of care for patients with disabilities
10 August 2016: Results are published today of annual patient-led assessments of non-clinical elements of care, such as catering services, cleanliness and waiting facilities.
10 August 2016: Results are published today of annual patient-led assessments of non-clinical elements of care, such as catering services, cleanliness and waiting facilities.
IC QOF
Mental health target being ignored
Mental health target being ignored
Some mental health patients in England are being denied timely treatment promised by the government, figures reveal.
Some mental health patients in England are being denied timely treatment promised by the government, figures reveal.
BBC News
Bullying in the NHS – what's your experience?
Bullying in the NHS – what's your experience?
Do you work in the NHS? Please take our survey and tell us whether bullying is a problem and how it affects your work
Bullying has long been a serious problem in the NHS.
Nearly a quarter (24%) of healthcare professionals working in the health service who responded to a 2014 staff survey said they had been bullied or harassed in the workplace.
Guardian
Continue reading...
Do you work in the NHS? Please take our survey and tell us whether bullying is a problem and how it affects your work
Bullying has long been a serious problem in the NHS.
Nearly a quarter (24%) of healthcare professionals working in the health service who responded to a 2014 staff survey said they had been bullied or harassed in the workplace.
Guardian
Continue reading...
'I crashed my car after a night shift and now have post-traumatic stress disorder'
'I crashed my car after a night shift and now have post-traumatic stress disorder'
Nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals recount their experiences of driving home after working at night
‘I fell asleep at the wheel’: the dangers of doctors driving home
Last month, the Guardian Healthcare Professionals Network published an article about the dangers of doctors driving home after working nights. Two in five UK doctors (41%) have fallen asleep at the wheel after a night shift, according to an online survey of 1,135 doctors fromDoctors.net.uk.
Within hours of publication, the network was flooded with emails, tweets and comments below the line and on Facebook from various healthcare professionals who wanted to share their thoughts and experiences. Here are some of them:
Guardian
Nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals recount their experiences of driving home after working at night
‘I fell asleep at the wheel’: the dangers of doctors driving home
Last month, the Guardian Healthcare Professionals Network published an article about the dangers of doctors driving home after working nights. Two in five UK doctors (41%) have fallen asleep at the wheel after a night shift, according to an online survey of 1,135 doctors fromDoctors.net.uk.
Within hours of publication, the network was flooded with emails, tweets and comments below the line and on Facebook from various healthcare professionals who wanted to share their thoughts and experiences. Here are some of them:
Guardian
More than a third of female students 'have mental health problems'
More than a third of female students 'have mental health problems'
A survey suggests one in three female students has a mental health problem.
A survey suggests one in three female students has a mental health problem.
BBC News
Community-based care: an elusive strategy?
Community-based care: an elusive strategy?
Does anyone remember a time when shifting the balance of care into community settings and away from hospitals was NOT a strategic goal for the NHS? A new report from the Fund on the state of district nursing – due to be published later this month – will throw some light on the success (or lack of success) in delivering this goal.
This report follows others that have looked at the core building blocks of care outside the acute sector, including in general practice and mental health. Once you move out of the acute sector there are a number of common themes across all these areas, including a relative lack of data and oversight on the workforce, service capacity and quality of care. Most of these services also fall outside the iconic performance targets that apply in A&E, referral-to-treatment, diagnostics or cancer care. Even the post-Francis focus on quality of care has been framed to date mostly around the quality of inpatient services and all that entails – whether it’s debates about nurse staffing ratios or the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection regime. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that of the 63 providers picked out by NHS Improvement as having excessive paybill growth (however controversial the measure), only four were community or mental health service providers.
We seem to have a two-speed NHS. On one hand, acute providers who have been (and still are) performance-managed to within an inch of their lives on A&E and other access standards, while simultaneously trying to meet quality standards and satisfy the CQC. On the other hand, we have the rest of the NHS, so far largely free of aggressive national performance management and able to make more significant changes to services – which has often meant shrinking them in order to remain within budget constraints. Despite the fact that money has been re-directed towards the acute sector – whether proactively, or reactively by picking up the bill for deficits – this ‘freedom’ has allowed community and mental health providers as a group to remain relatively healthy in financial terms (or at least to avoid substantial deficits themselves), even if it has left general practice in the middle of crisis.
However, the impact on patients and staff of the relative operational neglect of these non-acute services has not been so positive. In recognition of widespread problems this has now prompted national bodies to try – perhaps rather late in the day – to re-balance the ship. In 2016 we have seen both mental health and general practice get their own Five year forward views packed full of commitments, not least on money. Although community services as yet remain outside this new drive, the sustainability and transformation plan (STP) process itself may ultimately help to focus attention on services outside the acute sector. Of course this is only an opportunity for the future, as the challenge for 2016/17 remains resolutely one of restoring acute sector finances and getting the old acute sector targets back on trajectory. As a result, £1.6 billion of the £1.8 billion transformation funding available this year has been ring-fenced for acute sector providers. In addition, lost in the annexes of the recent NHS reset on finance, it was interesting to see a number of non-acute providers refusing their control totals despite being in surplus. One wonders whether they are resisting pressure to run even larger underspends, intended of course to offsetdeficits in the acute sector. It would certainly be ironic if commissioners managed to increase spending on mental health and community services, only for those providers to hand the money back to the centre in order to offset acute sector deficits.
Assuming that 2016/17 does see the end of the net provider deficit (a rather big assumption), does this mean all the promises made on mental health and general practice will be delivered and that STPs deliver a step-change in community-based services? While NHS England has made some brave commitments, it remains the case that national targets and monitoring systems remain broadly the same. A&E and referral-to-treatment commitments remain at the heart of the NHS Constitution: staffing ratios are really about inpatient services, and basic data on the workforce and service quality remain poor outside of acute services – even if there are signs of action in mental health. If we look at NHS Improvement’s proposal on oversight for NHS providers this is still apparent: there are 16 indicators of quality of care specifically for acute providers, eight for mental health and four for community health services. Even more striking is that there are five indicators on operational performance for acute services. There are none on community health services.
Remembering that after 2016/17 the growth in NHS funding will dry up, perhaps we should not be surprised that a system that effectively treats the acute sector as the first call on resources (however uncomfortable that feels for all concerned, not least those actually working in acute hospitals), is not one that will easily deliver a strategic shift into non-acute services.
Kings Fund
Our Integrated Care Summit on 11 October will look at improving local population health and delivering integrated care.
Does anyone remember a time when shifting the balance of care into community settings and away from hospitals was NOT a strategic goal for the NHS? A new report from the Fund on the state of district nursing – due to be published later this month – will throw some light on the success (or lack of success) in delivering this goal.
This report follows others that have looked at the core building blocks of care outside the acute sector, including in general practice and mental health. Once you move out of the acute sector there are a number of common themes across all these areas, including a relative lack of data and oversight on the workforce, service capacity and quality of care. Most of these services also fall outside the iconic performance targets that apply in A&E, referral-to-treatment, diagnostics or cancer care. Even the post-Francis focus on quality of care has been framed to date mostly around the quality of inpatient services and all that entails – whether it’s debates about nurse staffing ratios or the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection regime. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that of the 63 providers picked out by NHS Improvement as having excessive paybill growth (however controversial the measure), only four were community or mental health service providers.
We seem to have a two-speed NHS. On one hand, acute providers who have been (and still are) performance-managed to within an inch of their lives on A&E and other access standards, while simultaneously trying to meet quality standards and satisfy the CQC. On the other hand, we have the rest of the NHS, so far largely free of aggressive national performance management and able to make more significant changes to services – which has often meant shrinking them in order to remain within budget constraints. Despite the fact that money has been re-directed towards the acute sector – whether proactively, or reactively by picking up the bill for deficits – this ‘freedom’ has allowed community and mental health providers as a group to remain relatively healthy in financial terms (or at least to avoid substantial deficits themselves), even if it has left general practice in the middle of crisis.
However, the impact on patients and staff of the relative operational neglect of these non-acute services has not been so positive. In recognition of widespread problems this has now prompted national bodies to try – perhaps rather late in the day – to re-balance the ship. In 2016 we have seen both mental health and general practice get their own Five year forward views packed full of commitments, not least on money. Although community services as yet remain outside this new drive, the sustainability and transformation plan (STP) process itself may ultimately help to focus attention on services outside the acute sector. Of course this is only an opportunity for the future, as the challenge for 2016/17 remains resolutely one of restoring acute sector finances and getting the old acute sector targets back on trajectory. As a result, £1.6 billion of the £1.8 billion transformation funding available this year has been ring-fenced for acute sector providers. In addition, lost in the annexes of the recent NHS reset on finance, it was interesting to see a number of non-acute providers refusing their control totals despite being in surplus. One wonders whether they are resisting pressure to run even larger underspends, intended of course to offsetdeficits in the acute sector. It would certainly be ironic if commissioners managed to increase spending on mental health and community services, only for those providers to hand the money back to the centre in order to offset acute sector deficits.
Assuming that 2016/17 does see the end of the net provider deficit (a rather big assumption), does this mean all the promises made on mental health and general practice will be delivered and that STPs deliver a step-change in community-based services? While NHS England has made some brave commitments, it remains the case that national targets and monitoring systems remain broadly the same. A&E and referral-to-treatment commitments remain at the heart of the NHS Constitution: staffing ratios are really about inpatient services, and basic data on the workforce and service quality remain poor outside of acute services – even if there are signs of action in mental health. If we look at NHS Improvement’s proposal on oversight for NHS providers this is still apparent: there are 16 indicators of quality of care specifically for acute providers, eight for mental health and four for community health services. Even more striking is that there are five indicators on operational performance for acute services. There are none on community health services.
Remembering that after 2016/17 the growth in NHS funding will dry up, perhaps we should not be surprised that a system that effectively treats the acute sector as the first call on resources (however uncomfortable that feels for all concerned, not least those actually working in acute hospitals), is not one that will easily deliver a strategic shift into non-acute services.
Kings Fund
Our Integrated Care Summit on 11 October will look at improving local population health and delivering integrated care.
Wednesday, 10 August 2016
NHS group proposes non-vital operations ban
NHS group proposes non-vital operations ban
An NHS commissioning group considers putting a temporary ban on non-vital operations and some IVF services in a bid to save money.
An NHS commissioning group considers putting a temporary ban on non-vital operations and some IVF services in a bid to save money.
BBC News
Feeling the crunch: NHS finances to 2020
Feeling the crunch: NHS finances to 2020
As recognised by the NHS five year forward view, by 2020 the NHS will need to find savings of around £22 billion in order to balance its books. But there has been no clear articulation of how that gap is expected to be closed. The options for doing so include NHS providers becoming more efficient; NHS commissioners reducing the pace at which NHS activity is increasing each year, either through reducing demand or limiting access to care; more funding for the NHS; or some combination of these. This analysis examines different scenarios to determine exactly what it would take to close the gap.
Nuffield Trust
As recognised by the NHS five year forward view, by 2020 the NHS will need to find savings of around £22 billion in order to balance its books. But there has been no clear articulation of how that gap is expected to be closed. The options for doing so include NHS providers becoming more efficient; NHS commissioners reducing the pace at which NHS activity is increasing each year, either through reducing demand or limiting access to care; more funding for the NHS; or some combination of these. This analysis examines different scenarios to determine exactly what it would take to close the gap.
Nuffield Trust
GPs should start health checks on the phone to boost uptake
GPs should start health checks on the phone to boost uptake
GPs should begin health checks with patients over the phone before inviting them in to the surgery to finish the appointment in order to boost uptake, Public Health England (PHE) has suggested.
GPs should begin health checks with patients over the phone before inviting them in to the surgery to finish the appointment in order to boost uptake, Public Health England (PHE) has suggested.
GP Online
Hospital A&E wards 'in crisis over shortage of emergency doctors'
Hospital A&E wards 'in crisis over shortage of emergency doctors'
Royal College of Emergency Medicine says workforce is not growing fast enough to keep pace with rising numbers of patients
Hospital accident and emergency wards are in crisis as the supply of doctors fails to keep pace with demand for them in A&E departments according to medics’ representatives.
The warning from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine came as an A&E in the east Midlands announced it may have to temporarily close its doors at night owing to a national shortage of emergency doctors.
Guardian
Continue reading...
Royal College of Emergency Medicine says workforce is not growing fast enough to keep pace with rising numbers of patients
Hospital accident and emergency wards are in crisis as the supply of doctors fails to keep pace with demand for them in A&E departments according to medics’ representatives.
The warning from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine came as an A&E in the east Midlands announced it may have to temporarily close its doors at night owing to a national shortage of emergency doctors.
Guardian
Continue reading...
This is amount of exercise you should be doing every day
This is amount of exercise you should be doing every day
Exceeding the current recommended minimum levels each week can significantly reduce the risk of disease, experts claim.
Independent
Exceeding the current recommended minimum levels each week can significantly reduce the risk of disease, experts claim.
Independent
A guide to volunteering in hospitals
A guide to volunteering in hospitals
The Helping in Hospitals programme backed by the Cabinet Office and the Department of Health worked with ten hospital trusts from 2014 to 2016 to help them build volunteering programmes.
The Helping in Hospitals programme backed by the Cabinet Office and the Department of Health worked with ten hospital trusts from 2014 to 2016 to help them build volunteering programmes.
NHS Networks
Tuesday, 9 August 2016
Interoperability and the NHS: are they incompatible?
Interoperability and the NHS: are they incompatible?
Do you remember what Jeremy Hunt’s New Year’s resolution was? On 1 January, he pledged that by the end of 2016 every patient in England would have access to their medical records online. Quite a bold claim, given that some hospitals are still using fax machines.
Therein lies the nuance: the Health Secretary was only promising access for patients, not for medical professionals. While much of the general public embraces the advances in information technology from our app-filled smartphones to our fitness-monitoring wristwatches, the NHS trails behind – often frustratingly so. If we’re ready to access our care records whenever and wherever we are, is the NHS ready to do the same?
The NHS has been wrestling with IT challenges for years; billions were largely wasted on the IT plans of the early 2000s, in 2012 the coalition government outlined plans for a new digital strategy, and then in 2014 the Department of Health put forward an updated digital plandesigned to work alongside the NHS five year forward view. One of its key topics is interoperability – the ability of the disparate and almost innumerable IT systems and software applications in use in health and care to communicate, exchange and interpret data, and otherwise work efficiently together. Many aspects feed into this, from standardised data entry to improving the way information moves across locations and computer programs. The NHS hopes to achieve full interoperability by 2020, but all medical records should be digitally accessible by medical professionals in acute settings by 2018.
The entire health and care sector has the opportunity to implement some long-term, efficient changes that could shake up how care is delivered: improved interoperability would allow the integration of health and social care records, greater ease of use for clinicians and reduced admin. Some providers have already made moves towards integrated and interoperable care records. In Bradford and Airedale, for example, service users are able to benefit from an integrated care record that is accessible across a range of devices and situations by care professionals. Other areas such as Leeds have created similar systems, and efforts are under way in Lambeth and Southwark, Bristol and Hampshire to follow suit.
There are common themes in the work of these providers: they all had buy-in from their clinicians early in the process and involved them throughout; they all aimed to use digital tech as an integral part of wider transformation plans, and made a positive case for the benefits to both patients and staff. But despite some success stories, not all organisations are ready to make changes; the results from NHS England’s digital maturity assessment survey show that many trusts are being left behind. Out of the 148 acute trusts surveyed, more than half disagreed with the statement that other local health care providers could access the patient information held by the trust. When asked about social care services’ access to their information, the situation was even worse with more than 70 per cent of acute trusts disagreeing that local care organisations could access the patient information they needed. The survey results are not all bad news, however. Care providers were more positive than acute trusts when it came to the potential influence of sustainability and transformation plans in delivering the government’s current digital vision, and most mental health trusts were more positive about their information-sharing capabilities than their acute counterparts.
Considering the health and care sector as a whole, it is no wonder that so many providers have found it difficult to achieve interoperability of their systems. Working across health and care organisations is a complex and difficult proposition; from the cultural challenges of aligning different parties to the IT problems of bringing together data from normally incompatible sources and investing time, money and training into new computer programs and systems. Doing so at one of the most financially challenging and pressured periods in the history of the NHS may be a near-impossible task for many regions.
The Department of Health and NHS England are making funding available for digital projects, but there’s been uncertainty around exactly how much this will be and whether or not it will all be protected. Capital-to-revenue transfers were a huge boost to the Department of Health’s financial position last year, and there will be the temptation to do the same again. However, if trusts and commissioners feel able to protect that money from other pressures then the long-term benefits could be huge, not just financially but also for creating better care pathway planning and giving patients safer and higher-quality care. Additionally, it presents local health economies with the chance to prove they can work well together in ways they haven’t done before – something NHS England seems to value greatly.
The health and care sector – and the NHS in particular – needs to act now: if interoperability is not embraced in the same way it is by the public, then one day you might have to bring your mobile device along to your appointment just to let your doctor borrow your integrated care record.
Kings Fund
Do you remember what Jeremy Hunt’s New Year’s resolution was? On 1 January, he pledged that by the end of 2016 every patient in England would have access to their medical records online. Quite a bold claim, given that some hospitals are still using fax machines.
Therein lies the nuance: the Health Secretary was only promising access for patients, not for medical professionals. While much of the general public embraces the advances in information technology from our app-filled smartphones to our fitness-monitoring wristwatches, the NHS trails behind – often frustratingly so. If we’re ready to access our care records whenever and wherever we are, is the NHS ready to do the same?
The NHS has been wrestling with IT challenges for years; billions were largely wasted on the IT plans of the early 2000s, in 2012 the coalition government outlined plans for a new digital strategy, and then in 2014 the Department of Health put forward an updated digital plandesigned to work alongside the NHS five year forward view. One of its key topics is interoperability – the ability of the disparate and almost innumerable IT systems and software applications in use in health and care to communicate, exchange and interpret data, and otherwise work efficiently together. Many aspects feed into this, from standardised data entry to improving the way information moves across locations and computer programs. The NHS hopes to achieve full interoperability by 2020, but all medical records should be digitally accessible by medical professionals in acute settings by 2018.
The entire health and care sector has the opportunity to implement some long-term, efficient changes that could shake up how care is delivered: improved interoperability would allow the integration of health and social care records, greater ease of use for clinicians and reduced admin. Some providers have already made moves towards integrated and interoperable care records. In Bradford and Airedale, for example, service users are able to benefit from an integrated care record that is accessible across a range of devices and situations by care professionals. Other areas such as Leeds have created similar systems, and efforts are under way in Lambeth and Southwark, Bristol and Hampshire to follow suit.
There are common themes in the work of these providers: they all had buy-in from their clinicians early in the process and involved them throughout; they all aimed to use digital tech as an integral part of wider transformation plans, and made a positive case for the benefits to both patients and staff. But despite some success stories, not all organisations are ready to make changes; the results from NHS England’s digital maturity assessment survey show that many trusts are being left behind. Out of the 148 acute trusts surveyed, more than half disagreed with the statement that other local health care providers could access the patient information held by the trust. When asked about social care services’ access to their information, the situation was even worse with more than 70 per cent of acute trusts disagreeing that local care organisations could access the patient information they needed. The survey results are not all bad news, however. Care providers were more positive than acute trusts when it came to the potential influence of sustainability and transformation plans in delivering the government’s current digital vision, and most mental health trusts were more positive about their information-sharing capabilities than their acute counterparts.
Considering the health and care sector as a whole, it is no wonder that so many providers have found it difficult to achieve interoperability of their systems. Working across health and care organisations is a complex and difficult proposition; from the cultural challenges of aligning different parties to the IT problems of bringing together data from normally incompatible sources and investing time, money and training into new computer programs and systems. Doing so at one of the most financially challenging and pressured periods in the history of the NHS may be a near-impossible task for many regions.
The Department of Health and NHS England are making funding available for digital projects, but there’s been uncertainty around exactly how much this will be and whether or not it will all be protected. Capital-to-revenue transfers were a huge boost to the Department of Health’s financial position last year, and there will be the temptation to do the same again. However, if trusts and commissioners feel able to protect that money from other pressures then the long-term benefits could be huge, not just financially but also for creating better care pathway planning and giving patients safer and higher-quality care. Additionally, it presents local health economies with the chance to prove they can work well together in ways they haven’t done before – something NHS England seems to value greatly.
The health and care sector – and the NHS in particular – needs to act now: if interoperability is not embraced in the same way it is by the public, then one day you might have to bring your mobile device along to your appointment just to let your doctor borrow your integrated care record.
Kings Fund
Pop-up glaucoma screening clinic to tour UK
Pop-up glaucoma screening clinic to tour UK
A glaucoma screening pop-up clinic will tour the UK as part of new research to better identify those at risk, according to a report in Optometry Today.
A glaucoma screening pop-up clinic will tour the UK as part of new research to better identify those at risk, according to a report in Optometry Today.
NHS Networks
Dementia evidence toolkit
Dementia evidence toolkit
A comprehensive online database featuring the latest scientific evidence on what works in dementia care and treatment has been developed by the researchers at the Personal Social Services Research Unit, London School of Economics and Political Science (PSSRU at LSE).
Launched Wednesday 3 August, the toolkit devised by Adelina Comas-Herrera, David McDaid, Professor Martin Knapp and colleagues is the first of its kind globally. The Dementia Evidence Toolkit brings together more than 3,000 journal articles and 700 reviews of research studies in one place.
The Toolkit was developed as part of the MODEM (Modelling the Outcome and Cost Impacts of Interventions for Dementia) project, with additional funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The wider MODEM project is funded by both the ESRC and the NIHR as part of their Improving Dementia Care initiative.
The aim is to make all this information publicly available in a form that is clear and easy to understand for dementia patients, their families and unpaid carers as well as for staff working in health and social care. It will also benefit academics and those involved in decision-making both locally and nationally.
Dementia is the fastest growing major cause of health-related disability across the world, and the health, social and economic impacts are increasing because of an ageing population. There are around 850,000 people in the UK with the condition, a figure expected to rise to 2 million by 2051. There are currently no cures for dementia which is associated with ongoing cognitive decline such as memory loss, problems with judgement and often some behavioural issues. Instead, the focus for healthcare services is on slowing down dementia progression using different care approaches.
Professor Knapp, Director of the PSSRU at LSE, NIHR Senior Investigator and lead investigator for the MODEM project, says this new toolkit will help those involved in developing services and treatments for both people living with dementia and their carers. By searching the online database, they will be able to make informed decisions on which services and treatments are effective and how much they cost. It will enable them to check how strong the evidence is for a particular treatment or to identify how much more research is needed.
He said: "As the economic impact of dementia grows, it’s especially important to give commissioners and providers the information that helps them use public funds to the best effect. In that way we can perhaps improve the lives both of people with dementia and of their carers.
"Our toolkit draws evidence together in one place, showing which interventions work well and at what cost."
"There’s this perception that the cognitive decline associated with dementia is benign or even slightly humorous," says Professor Knapp. "The reality is people will often have behavioural issues and this impacts considerably on families - people talk of their loved one’s personality changing entirely. We hope the toolkit helps improve understanding of how people can continue to live well - and as well as possible - with dementia today."
NHS Evidence
A comprehensive online database featuring the latest scientific evidence on what works in dementia care and treatment has been developed by the researchers at the Personal Social Services Research Unit, London School of Economics and Political Science (PSSRU at LSE).
Launched Wednesday 3 August, the toolkit devised by Adelina Comas-Herrera, David McDaid, Professor Martin Knapp and colleagues is the first of its kind globally. The Dementia Evidence Toolkit brings together more than 3,000 journal articles and 700 reviews of research studies in one place.
The Toolkit was developed as part of the MODEM (Modelling the Outcome and Cost Impacts of Interventions for Dementia) project, with additional funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The wider MODEM project is funded by both the ESRC and the NIHR as part of their Improving Dementia Care initiative.
The aim is to make all this information publicly available in a form that is clear and easy to understand for dementia patients, their families and unpaid carers as well as for staff working in health and social care. It will also benefit academics and those involved in decision-making both locally and nationally.
Dementia is the fastest growing major cause of health-related disability across the world, and the health, social and economic impacts are increasing because of an ageing population. There are around 850,000 people in the UK with the condition, a figure expected to rise to 2 million by 2051. There are currently no cures for dementia which is associated with ongoing cognitive decline such as memory loss, problems with judgement and often some behavioural issues. Instead, the focus for healthcare services is on slowing down dementia progression using different care approaches.
Professor Knapp, Director of the PSSRU at LSE, NIHR Senior Investigator and lead investigator for the MODEM project, says this new toolkit will help those involved in developing services and treatments for both people living with dementia and their carers. By searching the online database, they will be able to make informed decisions on which services and treatments are effective and how much they cost. It will enable them to check how strong the evidence is for a particular treatment or to identify how much more research is needed.
He said: "As the economic impact of dementia grows, it’s especially important to give commissioners and providers the information that helps them use public funds to the best effect. In that way we can perhaps improve the lives both of people with dementia and of their carers.
"Our toolkit draws evidence together in one place, showing which interventions work well and at what cost."
"There’s this perception that the cognitive decline associated with dementia is benign or even slightly humorous," says Professor Knapp. "The reality is people will often have behavioural issues and this impacts considerably on families - people talk of their loved one’s personality changing entirely. We hope the toolkit helps improve understanding of how people can continue to live well - and as well as possible - with dementia today."
NHS Evidence
Counting calories: how under-reporting can explain the apparent fall in calorie intake
Counting calories: how under-reporting can explain the apparent fall in calorie intake
In the UK, official statistics show a decline in calorie consumption over the past 40 years, yet the population has continued to gain weight over this period. BIT decided to look more closely at how the official statistics on calorie intake are collected. This resulted in some surprising new findings, which are set out in this report. This report concludes that it is not plausible that large falls in calorie consumption, offset by even greater falls in physical activity, have caused the rise in obesity. Instead, it proposes that the apparent fall in consumption can be explained by an increase in underreporting of calorie intake in official statistics.
Behavioural Insights Team
Report
BIT publications
In the UK, official statistics show a decline in calorie consumption over the past 40 years, yet the population has continued to gain weight over this period. BIT decided to look more closely at how the official statistics on calorie intake are collected. This resulted in some surprising new findings, which are set out in this report. This report concludes that it is not plausible that large falls in calorie consumption, offset by even greater falls in physical activity, have caused the rise in obesity. Instead, it proposes that the apparent fall in consumption can be explained by an increase in underreporting of calorie intake in official statistics.
Behavioural Insights Team
Report
BIT publications
Pokemon Go health benefits monitored using NHS technology
Pokemon Go health benefits monitored using NHS technology
One example is Smart Specs, a visor created by Oxford University. It is used to improve eyesight, and can, for example, stencil outline around faces to make the image more pronounced. Mail Online
One example is Smart Specs, a visor created by Oxford University. It is used to improve eyesight, and can, for example, stencil outline around faces to make the image more pronounced. Mail Online
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