New short breaks services for Northamptonshire children with special needs to be discussed by cabinet

New short breaks services for Northamptonshire children with special needs to be discussed by cabinet A proposed new model for short breaks services for children with disabilities and special educational needs will be discussed by Northamptonshire County Council’s Cabinet next Tuesday (January 16).

The council says the new model has been designed to better suit the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and/ or disabilities and reflects feedback received from families as part of the recent public consultation.

The short breaks contracts, which provide day, evening, overnight and weekend respite breaks for children with complex needs, is jointly funded by Northamptonshire County Council and both Nene and Corby Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), and delivered by Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust. Northamptonshire Telegraph

NHS winter pressures

NHS winter pressures The NHS is once again hitting the headlines, with many hospitals on ‘black alert’ and a large number of elective operations being postponed to reduce the extreme pressure on services over this winter period - referred to in the media as a ‘winter crisis’. Here The King's Fund brings together a range of our content examining the reasons for this.

Official Statistics: End of life care profiles: January 2018 update

Official Statistics: End of life care profiles: January 2018 update The end of life care profiles data update for January 2018 has been published by Public Health England (PHE).

This update contains new data for the financial year ending 31 March 2017 for:

• care home bed rate
• nursing home bed rate

These indicators are presented for clinical commissioning groups (CCG), sustainability and transformation partnerships (STP) and local authorities (upper and lower tier).

The profiles are designed to improve the availability and accessibility of information around end of life care. The data are presented in an interactive tool that allow users to view and analyse them in a user-friendly format.

The profiles provide a snapshot overview of end of life care at various geographies. They are intended to help local government and health services to improve care at the end of life. Public Health England

Accountable care organisations

Accountable care organisations This briefing paper looks at the introduction of Accountable Care Organisations (ACO) in the NHS in England, the development of the ACO policy, and comment on its potential impact. House of Commons Library

NHS efficiency map

NHS efficiency map The Healthcare Financial Management Association and NHS Improvement have worked in partnership to update and revise the NHS efficiency map. The map is a tool that promotes best practice in identifying, delivering and monitoring cost improvement programmes in the NHS. It contains links to a range of tools and guidance to help NHS bodies improve their efficiency.

Once-a-week pill for HIV 'ready for testing in people'

Once-a-week pill for HIV 'ready for testing in people' Human trials of a once-a-week oral pill for HIV could start, after successful tests in pigs, claim US scientists.

The slow-release tablet could free patients from having to take daily medication, they say.

It looks like a normal capsule, but on reaching the stomach its coating dissolves and a special structure packed inside unfolds.

This 4cm (1.5in) star-shaped scaffold stays in the stomach for seven days, steadily releasing its cargo of drugs.

More tests in other mammals, including monkeys, are recommended but the researchers say trails in people could begin within two years. BBC News

Jeremy Hunt has raised the stakes in how history will judge him

Jeremy Hunt has raised the stakes in how history will judge him | David Brindle As well as overseeing the NHS’s 70th birthday celebrations, the health and social care secretary will take charge of long-awaited reform.

So now it is the Department of Health and Social Care. There is no doubt that the new name is a much-needed symbolic boost for the battered cause of adult social care in England, but it is less clear how else Theresa May’s reshuffle – and Jeremy Hunt’s reported refusal to move from the department he continues to lead – will change things. Although we await further detail on how Hunt plans to address the social care challenge with new vigour, and what, if any, new powers he may have to do so, the early judgment must be: not a lot.

The much-anticipated green paper on social care for older people is set to be published by summer 2018 – although, having been promised before last year’s general election, there were hopes the paper would appear much sooner.  Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• My patients want an NHS that is fast and reliable – not Theresa May’s apologies | Zara Aziz The Guardian

Pfizer ends research for new Alzheimer's Parkinson's drugs

Pfizer ends research for new Alzheimer's Parkinson's drugs Despite investing heavily in trying to cure both diseases, the US drugs giant has now decided to redistribute funding to other areas it deems more likely to produce results. The Daily Mail

Britain faces an 'exceptional' outbreak of 'Aussie flu'

Britain faces an 'exceptional' outbreak of 'Aussie flu' UK faces a 'double-whammy' of 'Aussie flu' cases as kids head back to school and experts warn of an 'EXCEPTIONAL' outbreak as travellers return from flu-hit France.

The European country has been rocked by an 'exceptional' outbreak, with nearly 12,000 people having been left hospitalised and more than 30 dead.

Figures show the UK is heading the same way, with scientists concerned the flu causing havoc on the over-stretched NHS is 'unpredictable'.

And flocks of children heading back to school this week after enjoying the festive break could lead to a 'danger period', virologists fear. The Daily Mail

NGH arranging temporary care placements in care homes for patients fit for discharge

NGH arranging temporary care placements in care homes for patients fit for discharge Northampton General Hospital is working to arrange temporary placements in care homes for patients who are medically fit for discharge, but who are waiting for care in their own home or placement in a residential or nursing home. Northampton Chronicle & Echo

Chilly Willy Ride does it again - raising nearly £3,000 for Northamptonshire's air ambulance

Chilly Willy Ride does it again - raising nearly £3,000 for Northamptonshire's air ambulance An amazing £2,783.87 was raised for Warwickshire Northamptonshire Air Ambulance by Bikers and Scooters at the 5th Annual Chilly Willy Ride out 2018. Northampton Chronicle & Echo

Northamptonshire care village gets the go ahead

Northamptonshire care village gets the go ahead

Plans for a Northamptonshire care village which will create at least 300 jobs have been unveiled.
Developer Crown Care hope its Middlemore project in Daventry will become a blueprint for similar future developments, providing housing for elderly people through a variety of care options in a £60m scheme. Northampton Chronicle & Echo

What is 'Aussie' flu and should we be worried?

What is 'Aussie' flu and should we be worried?

The NHS is preparing itself for a bad flu season.

One of the strains circulating this year - H3N2 - has been dubbed Aussie flu because it is the same strain that recently caused big problems for Australia.

Australia's 2017 flu season was the worst the country had experienced in nearly a decade.

Experts are waiting to see if similar will happen in the UK, after a recent rise in cases. BBC News

See also:

• Vaccine warning as Australian ‘flu threat grows Northamptonshire Telegraph

Using rotational posts

Using rotational posts NHS Employers - 

This briefing explores how rotational posts can be an effective response to the challenges faced by employers in attracting and retaining staff. It provides examples from NHS organisations and outlines advice on how to implement rotational posts. King's Fund

Reform, ration, or return to first principles: the choices for the NHS - The Guardian

Reform, ration, or return to first principles: the choices for the NHS - The Guardian

As one of Sir Bruce Keogh’s predecessors, I have every sympathy with his desire to defend government policy, however dubious (Chief doctor denies NHS privatisation by stealth, 1 January). But solemn assurances that accountable care organisations (ACOs) are “simply about improving the quality of care the NHS offers” are a little limp, however eminent their source, given that similar claims are routinely made to justify every NHS reorganisation. The Guardian

Funding the NHS: Is it finally time for a new approach? - BBC News

Funding the NHS: Is it finally time for a new approach? - BBC News 

Even by the usual standards of New Year pressures, it has been a traumatic week for much of the NHS.

In England, an unprecedented call has gone out from NHS leaders that a month's worth of non-urgent operations and appointments should be postponed. That's been echoed in other parts of the UK. BBC News

Jeremy Hunt keeps Heath Secretary with added social care brief despite overseeing NHS 'winter crisis' - The Independent

Jeremy Hunt keeps Heath Secretary with added social care brief despite overseeing NHS 'winter crisis' - The Independent Jeremy Hunt has kept his job as Health Secretary, despite overseeing what is widely viewed as a winter crisis in the NHS.
However, Theresa May has added social care to his responsibilities, to signal her determination to sort out one of the biggest issues facing the country.Independent

See also:

• Social care added to Jeremy Hunt’s portfolio OnMedica
• College reaction to Cabinet reshuffle RCGP

BMA demands QOF suspension in England to ease winter pressure

BMA demands QOF suspension in England to ease winter pressure GP leaders in England have called for the suspension of QOF targets to ease winter pressure, as ministers in Wales agreed to freeze most of the framework for the second year running. GP Online

Digital lifelines: Why employees are turning to tech to improve their mental wellbeing - Information Age

Digital lifelines: Why employees are turning to tech to improve their mental wellbeing - Information Age How can employers tap into mental health technology to create a better, more happy working environment for their employees Information Age

NHS hospital bans sugar from its meals to tackle staff obesity

NHS hospital bans sugar from its meals to tackle staff obesity

A hospital in Manchester has become the first in Britain to ban sugar from its restaurant in an attempt to tackle growing concerns about obesity among NHSstaff. The Guardian

See also:

• Hospital becomes first to ban all sugary food and drink The Telegraph 
• Sugary drinks face NHS ban if action is not taken NHS Networks