East Midlands Ambulance Service has busiest 48 hours

East Midlands Ambulance Service has busiest 48 hours An ambulance service has its busiest ever 48 hours, taking 1,000 more calls on New Year's Day than normal. BBC Northampton

Patients no more at risk of death on weekends than during week

Patients no more at risk of death on weekends than during week Patients are not a greater risk of dying on weekends than at any other times, a British academic argued.

Professor Dr Nick Black warned politicians needed “to avoid unjustified claims about an increased risk of death among patients” because of the so-called weekend effect.

This was the justification used by Jeremy Hunt to implement a seven day a week NHS and impose new contracts on junior doctors leading to the first ever strike when they refused to provide emergency cover.

The Professor of Health Services Research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said past studies had incorrectly estimated mortality at up to a sixth higher for weekend admissions. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Do women make better doctors?

Do women make better doctors? A US study claims that female physicians kill fewer patients than their male counterparts - study author Dr Ashish Jha and surgeon Dr Scarlett McNally discuss. BBC News

NHS faces 'the worst January' in scramble for beds

NHS faces 'the worst January' in scramble for beds The NHS faces "potentially the worst January" ever as it struggles to cope with the backlog of patients taking up beds over Christmas, with a leading doctor warning it is like a "credit card bill from hell".

Dr Mark Holland, president of the Society for Acute Medicine (SAM), said hospitals had already seen "record numbers" of elderly patients over the Christmas period, and that the health service is on the brink of a major crisis. ITV News

See also:

• NHS could face its worst January as it struggles with festive backlog, warns doctor The Guardian

Children eat half of daily sugar intake before 9am

Children eat half of daily sugar intake before 9am Sugar-laden breakfasts mean that the nation's children are consuming half of their daily sugar allowance before they even start school, health officials have warned.

The average English child eats the equivalent of three cubes of sugar (11g) every morning for breakfast, Public Health England (PHE) said.

Sugary cereals, fruit juice and some spreads are to blame, according to the health body's new Change4Life campaign.

By the end of the day, children are consuming three times more than their recommended daily allowance of sugar, according to information gathered from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey. The Independent

One in four UK babies miss out on health visitor checks

One in four UK babies miss out on health visitor checks The Social Mobility Commission raises concern over figures, and Labour accuses Tories of failing to invest in early years support

One in four babies born in the UK are not receiving mandatory checkups from health visitors during the first two years of their life.

A fifth of babies do not receive the recommended reviews after they turn one, and one in four miss out at the age of two, according to the government’s commission on social mobility. Continue reading... The Guardian

Serious mistakes in NHS patient care are on the rise, figures reveal

Serious mistakes in NHS patient care are on the rise, figures reveal Fears grow that unprecedented strain on hospitals is causing increase in surgical, diagnostic and care errors

Serious mistakes by hospital staff that put patients at risk are on the rise, despite the government’s drive since the Mid Staffs scandal to make care safer, official NHS figures reveal.

The last few years have seen more cases of delayed diagnosis, staff failure to act on patients’ test results, poor care of seriously ill patients and blunders during surgery. Continue reading... The Guardian

Seven-day NHS plan puts weekday surgeries at risk, warns top GP

Seven-day NHS plan puts weekday surgeries at risk, warns top GP Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard says government’s pledge to guarantee access to family doctors at weekends is unrealistic

Britain’s top GP has said surgeries will have to stop seeing patients during the week unless ministers abandon their drive to guarantee access to family doctors at weekends.

Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard condemned the policy, a key Conservative pledge, as unrealistic and said it was ignoring the lack of demand among patients to see GPs at weekends and a serious shortage of family doctors. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Seven day GP service could not be achieved without 'serious impact' on weekday services, says RCGP Royal College of General Practitioners
• Jeremy Hunt accused of compromising weekday hospital care The Guardian
• Lengthy waits to see GPs may pose serious risk to patients, says top doctor The Guardian
• Seven-day working for GPs costs more and doesn’t get results | Zara Aziz The Guardian

Cut out the cake culture at work, say top dentists

Cut out the cake culture at work, say top dentists Eating biscuits and cakes in the office is contributing to the nation's obesity epidemic and poor oral health, according to the British Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS). The Daily Mail

'Jet-in' carers fly from Benidorm to Britain amid 'massive' care crisis

'Jet-in' carers fly from Benidorm to Britain amid 'massive' care crisis Builders, barmaids and bankrupt businessmen are flying into Britain from Spanish holiday spots to earn lucrative sums as care workers for the elderly, amid a spiralling crisis in social care.

A Telegraph investigation reveals that thousands of expats are funding lifestyles in the sun by jetting in for fortnightly placements to take sole charge of the vulnerable, with, in many cases, just a few days’ training. The Daily Telegraph

NHS rationing: hip-replacement patients needlessly suffering in pain on operation waiting lists

NHS rationing: hip-replacement patients needlessly suffering in pain on operation waiting lists Hundreds of thousands of elderly people are needlessly suffering in pain while they wait for hip operations because care is being rationed by the NHS, leading doctors have warned.

The waiting list for hip, knee and other orthopaedic operations has risen by a quarter over the past eight years to more than half a million in 2016.

One in 10 people have to wait more than 18 weeks for surgery amid rising concern that NHS is deliberately delaying treatment because it is not seen as life threatening. The Daily Telegraph

Northampton General Hospital awarded funding for project to save babies' lives

Northampton General Hospital awarded funding for project to save babies' lives Northampton General Hospital has been awarded a share of £250,000 in government funding to invest in a project that will benefit mothers and their newborn babies. The announcement follows Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt inviting NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts to submit bids for a share of the Maternity Safety Innovation Fund back in October, as part of a major drive to improve safety on maternity wards across the country. Northampton General Hospital News

Barcode technology helping to improve patient safety

Barcode technology helping to improve patient safety Barcodes are being used to trace NHS patients and their treatments, manage medical supplies and monitor the effectiveness of equipment. NHS Networks

NHS England publishes updated guidance to country’s paediatric intensive care units

NHS England publishes updated guidance to country’s paediatric intensive care units NHS England has today published updated guidance for managing seasonal pressures in paediatric intensive care. The Paediatric Intensive Care Surge Standard Operating Procedure sets out instructions for managing unplanned peaks in demand for critical care beds, across the country’s 29 paediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Every year at around this time, the numbers of very sick children requiring treatment in PICUs increases, as levels of respiratory infection rise. The demand for critical care beds is exacerbated by wider pressures across the NHS system and social care, as winter starts to bite. NHS England

NHS hospitals break parking fees record

NHS hospitals break parking fees record - BBC News NHS hospitals appear to be making more money than ever from parking fees. A report from the Press Association says hospitals in England collected more than £120m last year - up by 5%. Many trusts defended the charges, saying the money was put back into patient care or maintaining car parks.  BBC News

Chief nurse: 'Cut hospital beds to increase care at home'

Chief nurse: 'Cut hospital beds to increase care at home' NHS England's chief nursing officer supports scrapping hospital beds and using the money on home-based care. BBC Health News

NHS part of £250m China health trade mission

NHS part of £250m China health trade mission British organisations including an NHS hospital trust have signed deals worth more than £250 million during the largest ever healthcare trade mission to China, the Department of Health has announced.
In Shanghai, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt witnessed the signing of 11 agreements on healthcare between UK and Chinese companies which will see benefits for health services in both nations. The Royal Liverpool University Hospital and a Shanghai company have signed a contract to bring the world’s first 100,000 crystal PET-CT scanner to the UK. The machine will be housed within the hospital's new Northern Imaging Foundation Centre to provide both research and clinical benefit to the NHS. OnMedica

NHS mental health services failing young people, say psychiatrists

NHS mental health services failing young people, say psychiatrists Seven in 10 psychiatrists deem Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services to be inadequate at best, Guardian survey finds. NHS services for the soaring numbers of children who have self-harmed, tried to end their life or are having a breakdown are woefully substandard and risk prolonging their suffering, according to their psychiatrists.
More than seven out of 10 (72%) consultant psychiatrists who specialise in treating children and adolescents say that NHS care for under-18s experiencing a crisis in their mental health is either inadequate (58%) or very inadequate (14%), according to a survey undertaken for the Guardian. Only 19% said NHS services were adequate and just 9% said they were good. Continue reading... Guardian

Ambulance services face paramedic shortage this winter, NHS data shows

Ambulance services face paramedic shortage this winter, NHS data shows Services in England are short of 873 paramedics, with some plugging gaps with recruits from Poland, Finland and Australia.
Ambulance services are facing serious shortages of paramedics just as 999 calls hit new peaks and hospitals gear up for a potential winter crisis, new official NHS figures reveal.
The 10 regional ambulance services in England are short of 873 paramedics, data shows, and some are recruiting paramedics from Poland, Finland and Australia to plug gaps in winter services. Continue reading...  Guardian

Labour calls for OBR-style watchdog to assess NHS finances

Labour calls for OBR-style watchdog to assess NHS finances Independent body would help ensure NHS receives proper funding and avoid political rows, says Jonathan Ashworth. A Labour government could boost the NHS by committing a specified proportion of national wealth to fund it and setting up a new independent body to ensure ministers give it the money it needs, the shadow health secretary has said.
Jonathan Ashworth said a watchdog modelled on the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) would help ensure the NHS received proper funding and avoid rows like the one over Theresa May’s claim that her administration is giving the NHS more money than it asked for. Continue reading...  Guardian