Nurse posed ‘significant risk to public’ after KGH incident

Nurse posed ‘significant risk to public’ after KGH incident A nurse who gave a patient at Kettering General Hospital prescriptions without the relevant qualifications has been struck off.

 Andrew Richardson has had his name taken off the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register after a hearing in London.

A previous hearing heard how Mr Richardson, an acute oncology nurse, was working at the hospital when it was on ‘black alert’ in 2015.

Concerns were raised about Mr Richardson not having followed the correct procedures. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Emergency cuts could be made to services if Northamptonshire County Council fails to sell HQ, finance chief warns

Emergency cuts could be made to services if Northamptonshire County Council fails to sell HQ, finance chief warns Extra and immediate cuts to County Hall's already severe budget plan would need to be made... if its One Angel Square headquarters is not sold come April. The warning comes in chief finance officer Mark McLaughlin's no-holds-barred comment on councillors' final budget plans.

He said if a buyer for the new £52 million building were not to be found and the deal not pushed this financial year "rapid and difficult reductions in non-statutory services would be unavoidable."

Mr McLaughlin added that even if the sale took place and the price could not bridge the gap in funds "the only recourse at that point will be the elimination of non-statutory spending and this would almost certainly involve, again, a further set of difficult decisions." Northamptonshire Telegraph

Nursing student numbers: should we panic yet?

Nursing student numbers: should we panic yet? Last year, the government scrapped the bursary available to new nursing students, arguing that this would create more training places by allowing universities to set their own fees and generate more income from nursing courses. However, more training places do not necessarily mean more trainees and critics suggested that scrapping the bursary would exacerbate the current shortage of nurses by deterring prospective applicants. Recently released UCAS data can help us assess the effect of withdrawing the bursary on student numbers. The King's Fund

Guidance: Falls prevention: cost-effective commissioning

Guidance: Falls prevention: cost-effective commissioning The return on investment tool pulls together evidence on the effectiveness and associated costs for interventions aimed at preventing falls in older people living in the community. The flexible Excel sheet allows for results to be tailored to the local situation based on the knowledge of the user. All interventions are aimed at those aged 65 and over.

The tool comes with an accompanying report, which details how the tool was constructed and presents the main results.

The second report summarises the findings from a literature review carried out to identify cost-effective interventions.

Local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) can use results from the tool to protect and improve the health of their local populations when making commissioning decisions. Public Health England

Top epidemic-prone diseases without sufficient counter measures

Top epidemic-prone diseases without sufficient counter measures For the purposes of the R&D Blueprint, WHO has developed a special tool for determining which diseases and pathogens to prioritize for research and development in public health emergency contexts. This tool seeks to identify those diseases that pose a public health risk because of their epidemic potential and for which there are no, or insufficient, countermeasures. The diseases identified through this process are the focus of the work of R& D Blueprint. This is not an exhaustive list, nor does it indicate the most likely causes of the next epidemic. World Health Organization

See also:

• World Health chiefs draw up list of 10 viruses The Daily Mail

General practice lost more than 700 GP partners in 2017

General practice lost more than 700 GP partners in 2017 Numbers of full-time equivalent (FTE) GP partners in England fell by 708 in 2017 - 3.4% of the total at the start of the year, according to official NHS data published on Thursday. GPonline

See also:

• General and Personal Medical Services, England As at 31 December 2017 NHS Digital
• Latest GP workforce figures are 'very disappointing', says College Royal College of General Practitioners
• Hundreds of doctors are quitting due to work pressure The Daily Mail
• Number of GPs fall as doctors walk away from primary care iNews

Top women doctors lose out in NHS pay stakes

Top women doctors lose out in NHS pay stakes Senior NHS female doctors are earning less than their male counterparts, a BBC investigation shows.

Of the top 100 earning consultants in England, just five are women, despite more than a third of the workforce being female.

The top-paid man earned nearly £740,000 - two-and-a-half times that of the top woman.

On average, full-time women consultants earned nearly £14,000 a year less than men - a pay gap of 12%. BBC News

NHS winter data shows 150,000 waited half an hour outside A&E

NHS winter data shows 150,000 waited half an hour outside A&E Patients stuck in ambulances for at least 30 minutes despite target of maximum 15-minute wait

Almost 150,000 patients in England have waited more than 30 minutes before being admitted to A&E this winter, NHS figures show.

Data from the end of November to 11 February revealed the number of people waiting half an hour or longer was 149,214, while a further 35,535 people waited more than an hour. Continue reading... The Guardian

Stop rushing women in labour, WHO says, with new advice to reduce caesarean section rates

Stop rushing women in labour, WHO says, with new advice to reduce caesarean section rates Women should be given more time to give birth, the World Health Organisation has said as it changes its advice, warning that too many are being pushed into caesarean sections.

Its experts said mothers-to-be were being subjected to too many medical interventions, and should have more say over how and whether they gave birth.

The new advice rejects previous suggestions about the speed of a normal labour, saying the idea that a cervix should dilate at 1cm per hour was “unrealistic” and led to too many women having needless caesareans. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Individualized, supportive care key to positive childbirth experience World Health Organization

Winter vomiting bug continues to wreak havoc on NHS

Winter vomiting bug continues to wreak havoc on NHS Cases of the winter vomiting bug rocketed by 27 per cent last week across NHS hospitals, official figures reveal.

Some 5,718 beds were closed because of norovirus or diarrhoea and vomiting - an average of 817 each day.

In contrast, just 640 beds were shut off each day, on average, in the previous week, according to the NHS England statistics.

Concerned experts have warned the spike is putting further pressure on already over-stretched hospitals, battling their worst winter ever. The Daily Mail

See also:

• UK flu levels remain high according to PHE statistics Public Health England

Almost 2,000 patients put on mixed-sex wards last month

Almost 2,000 patients put on mixed-sex wards last month Almost 2,000 patients were forced to endure the indignity of mixed-sex wards last month, official figures reveal.

The number is at its highest level since 2010, when the Government imposed a crackdown on the practice.

A total of 1,908 patients were placed in mixed-sex wards in January, almost twice as many as the same time last year.

Last month hospitals were temporarily allowed to put patients on the wards to help ease winter overcrowding. The Daily Mail

Corby pharmacies hire security guards after armed robberies

Corby pharmacies hire security guards after armed robberies Three pharmacies in Corby have been forced to take drastic measures after a series of armed incidents. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Hidden from the targets: how long are patients waiting for NHS care?

Hidden from the targets: how long are patients waiting for NHS care? The NHS is not short of waiting time targets. These targets may cover everything from ambulance services to psychological therapy, but they are all constructed in a broadly similar way – the aim is for the NHS to see a set proportion of patients in a set amount of time, and the target is either ‘hit’ or ‘missed’. For example, at least 95 per cent of patients should spend no more than four hours in A&E departments and at least 92 per cent of patients should wait no more than 18 weeks from referral by a GP to receiving routine consultant-led treatment such as hip or knee surgery. The King's Fund

Life expectancy gap between rich and poor widens

Life expectancy gap between rich and poor widens The life expectancy gap between England's richest and poorest neighbourhoods has widened since 2001, a report says.

On average, a boy born in one of the most affluent areas will outlive one born in one of the poorest by 8.4 years.

That was up from 7.2 years in 2001, the Longevity Science Panel (LSP) found.

The government said it was tackling the issue, and added cancer survival rates were "at an all-time high".

The LSP report said the results were concerning and required further investigation to understand the causes.

But its authors said income inequality was the biggest factor. BBC News

GMC confirms reflective entries could be used against doctors in court

GMC confirms reflective entries could be used against doctors in court GP leaders have demanded legal protection to stop reflective statements being used against doctors in court, as the GMC confirmed to MPs that no such protection currently exists. GPonline

UK employees back workplace wearables for mental health support

UK employees back workplace wearables for mental health support More than half of working adults in the UK would be would be prepared to wear devices designed to monitor their mental health and flag troubling symptoms, according to a new report.

The ‘AXA Health Tech & You State of the Nation survey’, conducted by YouGov, involved interviewing 2,000 adults about their attitudes towards mental health in the workplace.

It found that many workers feared raising mental wellbeing concerns because they were worried about being stigmatised by peers.

However, it revealed that workers are willing to adopt technology-driven strategies to help improve mental health in the workplace. Digital Health

Processed food, sugary cereals and sliced bread may contribute to cancer risk, study claims

Processed food, sugary cereals and sliced bread may contribute to cancer risk, study claims "Ultra-processed" foods including sugary breakfast cereals, chicken nuggets, pizza and pre-sliced bread may increase the risk of cancer, a study has claimed.

Fast foods and ready meals amount for 50 per cent of the average person’s diet in some developed countries and could be contributing to rising cancer levels, researchers working in Brazil and France found.

Teams from the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Sao Paulo found that a 10% increase in ultra-processed food intake was associated with a 12 per cent increased risk of overall cancer. The Independent

See also:

• Consumption of ultra-processed foods and cancer risk: results from NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort The BMJ
• Ultra-processed foods and cancer (editorial) The BMJ
• Ultra-processed foods 'linked to cancer' BBC News
• Cancer warning over processed foods which make up half of UK diet The Daily Telegraph

Woman who died in A&E after overdose had 'inadequate care'

Woman who died in A&E after overdose had 'inadequate care' Coroner criticises ‘overwhelmed’ hospital but rules Bethany Shipsey intended to kill herself

A 21-year-old woman who died in an exceptionally busy A&E ward after taking an overdoseof diet pills intended to kill herself but received inadequate care, a coroner has found.

Bethany Shipsey died in Worcestershire Royal hospital on 15 February last year, a day described by hospital staff as overwhelming. She had swallowed tablets she bought online from eastern Europe that contained the industrial substance DNP. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Coroner criticises hospital failings and busy A&E department over death of rape victim who overdosed on diet pills The Daily Telegraph

NHS trusts transferring staff into subsidiary companies to cut VAT

NHS trusts transferring staff into subsidiary companies to cut VAT Labour warns of impact on staff and standards of ‘back-door privatisation’

Nineteen trusts have transferred non-clinical NHS staff into subsidiary companies, via a process previously described as akin to “back door privatisation”, and another 16 have plans to do so, an investigation has found.

The Health Service Journal research, published on Wednesday, suggests that almost 3,000 estates and facilities staff are already employed by eight trust-owned subsidiaries, with the majority having transferred from the parent trust. Continue reading... The Guardian

'Opt-out' organ donations won't solve waiting lists deaths, says NHS chief

'Opt-out' organ donations won't solve waiting lists deaths, says NHS chief Theresa May’s plans for an “opt-out” organ transplant system will not solve Britain’s long waiting lists for donations, the NHS chief responsible for transplants has said.

Claire Williment said there was “no magic formula” to cutting down the tally of three people a day who currently die while waiting for a donor organ, and predicted switching to a system of presumed consent may only yield 100 extra donors each year.

The Head of Transplant Development at NHS Blood and Transplant, she said boosting donor rates required a combination of measures including more specialist nurses trained to seek families’ permission as loved-ones die. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Organ donations rising across the UK BBC News