Northamptonshire council meets to vote on huge cuts

Northamptonshire council meets to vote on huge cuts Massive cuts to jobs and services are expected to be approved by councillors in Northamptonshire later.

The county council, which is facing a funding shortfall of £70m, will discuss an action plan on Thursday that would see budgets for services slashed.

Children's services, road maintenance and waste management are among the areas in line for "radical" cuts. BBC Northampton

See also:

• Tory MP breaks ranks on Northamptonshire council crisis The Guardian
• Cuts expected as cash-strapped Northamptonshire council attempts to tackle £70 million budget shortfall ITV News
• What is Northamptonshire County Council's former chief executive up to now? Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• What will be decided at key Northamptonshire County Council meeting on Thursday? Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Will a robot replace me as a GP?

Will a robot replace me as a GP? Rebecca Rosen gives a GP’s perspective on adapting to new technologies, and explains why the professional judgement of the doctor is still vital. Nuffield Trust

Issues surrounding the estimation of the opportunity cost of adopting a new health care technology: areas for further research

Issues surrounding the estimation of the opportunity cost of adopting a new health care technology: areas for further research This research paper sets out a research agenda proposing new approaches in three areas to improve understanding of supply side opportunity costs for the NHS. It explores improving efficiency, production functions and purchaser priorities. Office of Health Economics

The mentally ill 29-year-old helped to die by Dutch doctors

The mentally ill 29-year-old helped to die by Dutch doctors In January a young Dutch woman drank poison supplied by a doctor and lay down to die. Euthanasia is legal in Holland, so hers was a death sanctioned by the state. But Aurelia Brouwers was not terminally ill - she was allowed to end her life on account of her psychiatric illness. BBC News

Waits for non-urgent surgery in England rise sharply

Waits for non-urgent surgery in England rise sharply The number of patients waiting more than a year for non-urgent surgery in England has risen sharply to the highest level in more than six years.

The figure reached 3,517 in June - an increase of more than 400 from May - and the highest since April 2012. BBC News

HIV tests for sale on High Street for first time

HIV tests for sale on High Street for first time HIV self-testing kits are now available to buy on the High Street for the first time, a retailer has announced.

Superdrug said it is now selling the BioSURE test, which provides a result in 15 minutes, in all of its 200 pharmacy stores in the UK for £33.95.

It had previously been available to buy online after becoming the first legally approved self-testing kit in 2015.

An HIV charity welcomed the announcement but added that many people would be unable to afford the test. BBC News

QOF mental health indicators have no impact on suicide rates, says study

QOF mental health indicators have no impact on suicide rates, says study Incentivising GPs to improve care for patients with a mental illness through QOF has had no affect on suicide rates, according to new research.

The study from the University of Manchester and University of York investigated the relationship between severe mental illness (SMI) and depression QOF indicators and the suicide rates in England from 2006 to 2014.

The paper, published in The British Journal of Psychiatry, concluded that while 38,511 suicides were recorded in England during that time, there was no association between QOF indicator performance and local suicide rates. Pulse

More than 100,000 demand Richard Branson 'stop dragging NHS through courts'

More than 100,000 demand Richard Branson 'stop dragging NHS through courts' More than 100,000 people have backed a petition calling on Richard Branson’s Virgin Care to stop “dragging the NHS through the courts”.

Campaigners opposed to the privatisation of NHS services launched the campaign after it was revealed that the Virgin Grouphas accrued more than £2bn in health services contracts in the past five years.

In response to previous criticism, the billionaire said that he had not taken a dividend from Virgin Care’s activities. When it does turn a profit for him, he pledged to invest 100 per cent of it into the NHS. The Independent

New UK defibrillator map aims to save thousands more lives each year

New UK defibrillator map aims to save thousands more lives each year Project hopes to end patchy information about the location of lifesaving equipment

Bystanders who see someone going into cardiac arrest could soon become lifesavers thanks to a new project to map Britain’s public defibrillators.

Information about the availability of devices – which deliver a high-energy electric shock to the heart – is patchy and not all are known to ambulance services. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• How to use a defibrillator and save a life BBC News
• The BHF joins forces with Microsoft and the NHS to save thousands more lives from cardiac arrests British Heart Foundation

Record-breaking heatwave pushing hospitals into emergency measures

Record-breaking heatwave pushing hospitals into emergency measures Unprecedented “summer crisis” leaves ambulances queuing outside hospitals

Hospitals are having to adopt winter-style emergency measures, including turning away patients through being busy, as the NHS struggles to cope with illnesses caused by the heatwave in the UK.

Patients are being treated in corridors, and queues of ambulances are building up outside A&E units in what hospital bosses say are unprecedented scenes for the summer which is usually the quietest time of year for the NHS. Continue reading... The Guardian

Nurse set fire to himself after being unfairly dismissed, probe finds

Nurse set fire to himself after being unfairly dismissed, probe finds An NHS nurse who set himself alight after being sacked was “treated unfairly” and wrongly accused of dishonesty, an independent review has found.

Amin Abdullah, 41, died on February 9, 2016, close to Kensington Palace in London, weeks after being dismissed from Charing Cross Hospital.

The review criticises the trust's handling of disciplinary procedures which occurred after the nurse signed a petition backing a colleague who had received a complaint from a patient. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Amin Abdullah: Nurse who set himself on fire 'unfairly dismissed' BBC London
• Amin Abdullah: Man who set himself on fire outside Kensington Palace was nurse sacked from London hospital The Independent
• Nurse who set himself on fire outside Kensington Palace after losing job was 'treated unfairly', report finds The Independent

NHS needs thousands of overseas doctors to plug GP shortage

NHS needs thousands of overseas doctors to plug GP shortage Thousands of foreign medics must be fast-tracked to plug GP vacancies, amid a “haemorrhaging” of existing staff, the leader of Britain’s family doctors has said.

Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard warned that waiting times for GP appointments were already at a “an all-time high” with new data today expected to show a further deterioration in many parts of the country.

The chairman of the Royal College of GPs urged health officials to lift barriers slowing down recruitment from overseas. The Daily Telegraph

Guidance: Evaluation in health and well being: overview

Guidance: Evaluation in health and well being: overview Guide to evaluation and the different types and methods available, to help healthcare professionals choose the most appropriate option. Public Health England

Social prescribing schemes to receive funding from the Health and Wellbeing Fund: 2018

Social prescribing schemes to receive funding from the Health and Wellbeing Fund: 2018 This guidance sets out the details of the 23 social prescribing schemes across England which will receive funding from the Health and Wellbeing Fund. Department of Health and Social Care

Publication of trainee nursing associates evaluation

Publication of trainee nursing associates evaluation An independent evaluation of the first cohort of trainee nursing associate (TNA) pilot sites has been published.

Commissioned by Health Education England, the evaluation report is primarily focused on evaluating the training and development of TNAs. It provides insights into challenges and benefits of the new role, emerging impacts of the TNA training, and reflections on the approaches to academic and work-based learning settings. It also provides recommendations about how to support TNAs while in training. NHS Employers

'I saved my teenage son's life with a defibrillator'

'I saved my teenage son's life with a defibrillator' When 15-year-old Ethan Askew started to feel ill in a sports class, he went to tell his teacher and collapsed into his arms - he'd stopped breathing. And it was his Dad who used the school's newly installed defibrillator to help save his life. BBC News

ADHD treatment may be needed by hundreds of thousands more children, experts suggest

ADHD treatment may be needed by hundreds of thousands more children, experts suggest Hundreds of thousands more schoolchildren should be treated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), say leading experts.

A major study led by University of Oxford academics suggests ADHD is seriously underdiagnosed and says more children should be given medication such as Ritalin, which it found is highly effective.

Concerns have been raised about the number of youngsters overmedicated for the disorder – but the evidence suggests just 10 per cent of those with ADHD are on any form of medication. The Independent

See also:

• Comparative efficacy and tolerability of medications for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, adolescents, and adults: a systematic review and network meta-analysis (open access) Lancet Psychiatry 
• ADHD experts say more children with condition should be given drugs as only one in ten currently are The Daily Mail

No-deal Brexit could see EU patients miss out on cancer medication, says drugs firm AstraZeneca

No-deal Brexit could see EU patients miss out on cancer medication, says drugs firm AstraZeneca A no-deal Brexit could mean patients in the EU will not be able to receive medicines from the UK, a pharmaceutical giant has said.

AstraZeneca warned patients might miss out on drugs if the company does not “prepare well” for the possibility of a no deal.

The company, which has its research headquarters in Cambridge, manufactures medicines for treating cancer, heart and lung problems. The Independent

Women need more realistic data on egg-freezing success, say experts

Women need more realistic data on egg-freezing success, say experts Clinics should release information on pregnancy rates based on age, says the RCOG

Women who opt to freeze their eggs need to be made aware of how realistic their chances of pregnancy are, experts have warned, as more turn to the procedure.

Egg freezing in the UK is funded by the NHS for girls and women for medical reasons, such as undergoing cancer treatments. However, women can elect to freeze their eggs privately for non-medical reasons. Currently the standard for elected freezing is that eggs can be stored for a maximum of 10 years. Continue reading... The Guardian

Patients may walk away from NHS because of long GP waits, Britain's leading family doctor warns

Patients may walk away from NHS because of long GP waits, Britain's leading family doctor warns Patients could increasingly walk away from the NHS because of long waiting times to see a family doctor, Britain's leading GP has warned.

Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard said she was fearful that people would seek alternatives to the health service, because they could not face waits of up to four weeks to get help.

The chairman of the Royal College of GPs said family doctors were “really struggling” to cope with escalating demands on them, fuelling ever longer waiting times. The Daily Telegraph