Northampton General Hospital asks staff to park considerately after complaints from neighbours

Northampton General Hospital asks staff to park considerately after complaints from neighbours  Neighbours living near to NGH claim they are struggling to park outside their own houses some days as staff use their streets as "a free car park".  Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Family raises concern over new smoking ban for patients at Northampton mental health hospital

Family raises concern over new smoking ban for patients at Northampton mental health hospital A concerned woman, who tends to her brother in a Northampton mental health hospital, is appealing for the institution to revise their policy on a smoking ban for patients.  Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Exploring the case for seven-day services

Exploring the case for seven-day services  A new report from the NHS Confederation looks beyond the headlines to explore the evidence for and against the extension to seven-day services. NHS Employers

Maintaining and improving staff engagment in demanding times

Maintaining and improving staff engagment in demanding times Over the last four years the NHS has secured sustained improvement in staff engagement, our briefing provides different approaches and methods that will help to maintain this improvement in the current context. NHS Employers

Could weaker pound cost the NHS?

Could weaker pound cost the NHS? - BBC News Paul Briddock, policy director of the Health Care Financial Management Association, the professional association for NHS financial staff, tells me he expects there to be a cost to the NHS caused by the increasing costs of imports and imported raw materials.  BBC News

The NHS cannot afford to get another workforce initiative wrong

The NHS cannot afford to get another workforce initiative wrong Rushing through the new nursing associate role during a financial panic risks serious mistakes.
Ultimately, saving money in the NHS means cutting staff costs. The NHS in England spends roughly 40% of its £121bn budget on staff, and as local health economies try to stabilise their finances, options such as slashing agency spending and creating cheaper full-time roles are inevitably part of the mix.
Although clinical staff shortages are a global problem, the NHS exacerbates the difficulties of workforce planning by constant changes in policy. Nursing posts – currently numbering around 300,000 – have borne the brunt of this.  Continue reading...   The Guardian

‘Cyber-bullies, obesity and stress … this is a scary world’ says the new top GP

‘Cyber-bullies, obesity and stress … this is a scary world’ says the new top GP In her first interview as chair of the Royal College of GPs, Helen Stokes-Lampard tells of the challenges facing GPs

‘ This is a scary world,” says Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard, the new leader of the UK’s 49,439 GPs. She is not referring to soaring obesity, or the fact that dementia has replaced heart disease as the nation’s biggest killer, or the truth that everyone’s risk of getting cancer has recently gone from one in three to one in two. She’s talking about social media, its downsides and its contribution to ill-health – mental ill-health specifically – and how more and more of its victims are ending up in GPs’ consulting rooms.

“I wouldn’t want to be a teenager nowadays. The social media pressures are phenomenal. People have become more judgmental about appearance. If I was a chubby teenager, the only people who knew were those around me. But now strangers on the other side of the world have a view on how teenagers look. Can you imagine how awful that must be? Unless you’ve got incredible resilience then that puts you at real risk. It grinds people down. It’s the inexorable pressure to be perfect,” adds Stokes-Lampard, who became the new chair of the Royal College of GPs this weekend.

General practice is closer to the precipice than it’s ever been in living memory  Continue reading...  The Guardian

NHS transformation plans may be used as cover for cuts, says BMA

NHS transformation plans may be used as cover for cuts, says BMA Doctors’ union says 44 regional initiatives amount to £22bn in cuts by 2020-21, with potential to severely affect patient care.
Controversial plans put forward as a way of improving the health service in England and ensuring its sustainability risk being used as a cover for cuts and running down the NHS, the head of the British Medical Association (BMA) has said.
The doctors’ union says the 44 regional sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) amount to £22bn in cuts by 2020-21 to balance the books, which will have a severe impact on patient care.

Continue reading...  The Guardian

NHS trusts overshoot maximum annual deficit in just six months

NHS trusts overshoot maximum annual deficit in just six months Regulator says English trusts set for £648m first-half deficit after £580m was forecast as most that could be overspent this year


NHS trusts in England have overshot their maximum deficit permissible for the financial year after just six months despite a £900m emergency cash injection from the government.

NHS Improvement (NHSI) said financial performance information from providers show they are on track to record a year-to-date deficit of £648m in the first half of the year.

Continue reading...  The Guardian

Two thirds of doctors not consulted on NHS plans to cut A&Es and beds

Two thirds of doctors not consulted on NHS plans to cut A Two in three doctors have not been consulted over NHS plans which could see bed cuts and closures of Accident & Emergency departments, a survey by the British Medical Association has found.
It comes as research shows the proposals, being drawn up across the NHS, will mean at least £22bn in cuts.
The union's head, Dr Mark Porter, said there is a danger the plans are being "used as a cover for delivering cuts, starving services of resource and patients of vital care". The Telegraph

Northampton care home closure is not a done deal claims county council

Northampton care home closure is not a done deal claims county council Relatives of elderly people who attend a Northampton day centre under threat of closure fear the decision has already been made to shut its doors - though the county council claims it’s not a done deal yet. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

A record-breaking start for NHS staff flu vaccinations in 2016

A record-breaking start for NHS staff flu vaccinations in 2016 Official statistics published today (17 November 2016) reveal record levels of NHS staff have been coming forward to get vaccinated at the start of the flu season. NHS Employers

2016 international health policy survey of adults

2016 international health policy survey of adults This survey of eleven countries compares patients' experiences with their country's health care system - comparing access to care, quality and affordability - as well as their self-reported health and wellbeing. The study compared patients from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Commonwealth Fund

The digital patient: transforming primary care?

The digital patient: transforming primary care? This report argues that digital technology for patients and staff in primary care holds great potential for the NHS but that the impact of this new digital capability is far from certain. It reviews the evidence on digital technology and its impact on patients and finds that patient-facing technology is already showing promise, particularly for people with long-term conditions. The report warns that policy-makers and politicians should avoid assuming that self-care enabling technology will produce significant savings, at least in the short term. Nuffield Trust

Choice in the presence of experts: the role of general practitioners in patients' hospital care

Choice in the presence of experts: the role of general practitioners in patients' hospital care This paper presents an analysis of patients' hospital choice for elective medical procedures when their choice set is pre-selected by a GP. The study found that patients defer to GPs when assessing hospital quality and tangible attributes such as hospital amenities and that GPs, in turn, as patients' agents present choice options based on quality, but as agents of health authorities also consider their financial implications. Institute for Fiscal Studies

Best practice for perinatal mental health care: the economic case

Best practice for perinatal mental health care: the economic case This report examines the economic case for investing in early interventions that reflect best practice in England. Funded by the Nursing Division under the Nursing Directorate at NHS England, the study included a comparison of the potential costs and consequences associated with such interventions compared with one or more alternative course of action (operationally defined as current practice, and sometimes referred to in studies as the ‘do nothing’ option). Personal Social Services Research Unit

Patients 'will suffer unless NHS budget rises'

Patients 'will suffer unless NHS budget rises' Patients in England will see rising waiting times, rationing and cuts in the number of staff unless the NHS gets more money, health bosses say.

A five-year plan to increase the budget by £8bn a year by 2020 was only set out last year, but now hospital bosses have warned that is not enough.

Chris Hopson, of NHS Providers, said the settlement needed to be redrawn.

However, the Department of Health said "tough economic decisions" had allowed it "to invest in our NHS".

It comes ahead of the Autumn Statement next Wednesday when ministers will set out their spending plans. BBC News

See also:

• NHS is fighting a losing battle without extra funding for neglected areas NHS Providers
• Autumn Statement submission NHS Providers
• Promised £8bn extra for NHS is not enough, says hospitals boss The Guardian

Alcohol-related cancer to kill 135,000 in England by 2035 – study

Alcohol-related cancer to kill 135,000 in England by 2035 – study Cancer Research UK calls for 50p minimum unit price to help reduced alcohol-related deaths and cut healthcare costs by £1.3bn

Alcohol-related cancers will cause about 135,000 deaths and cost the NHS £2bn over the next 20 years in England, unless concerted action is taken to highlight the dangers of drinking, health campaigners have warned.

Cancer Research UK, which commissioned Sheffield University to come up with the figures, said the government urgently needed to counter public ignorance about the link between drinking and cancer and introduce minimum unit pricing (MUP) to prevent the number of deaths reaching 7,100 a year by 2035. Continue reading... The Guardian

My colleague's suicide showed how vulnerable medical professionals can be

My colleague's suicide showed how vulnerable medical professionals can be I knew afterwards that my days working as a nurse in the emergency department were numbered

I stood in front of the ambulance bay door. My badge clutched in my hand, knuckles white, jaw clenched. I questioned my attempt at returning to work on this day. I stood in front of the doors grappling with a burning feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew then, right there, that my career in the emergency department was over.

A quiet swollen presence of pain ran down every corridor. The night before, we lost a colleague to suicide. Some of us found the body. Some of us carried out the post mortem care. Some of us stood there as family filed in to the room. Some of us made the calls alerting fellow staff. Some of us, all of us, changed forever that night. Continue reading... The Guardian

Inadequate mental health provision is a 'stain on our country', former Health Secretaries warn

Inadequate mental health provision is a 'stain on our country', former Health Secretaries warn Inadequate mental health provision is a "stain on our country", every former Health Secretary from last 20 years has said in an open letter attacking Government's failure to support patients.

The letter has urged Ministers to honour a pledge made by the former Prime Minister David Cameron, to ensure the NHS treats mental and physical health equally.

The signatories said they were "encouraged" by earlier Government statements, but added that they were alarmed to see the same "enduring injustice" continue. The Daily Telegraph