Showing posts from June 2014

Mental health services 'a car crash'

Mental health services in England are "a car crash" and the health secretary is not taking the problems seriously, according to the outgoing president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Prof Sue Bailey told BBC News mental health services were "in crisis".

She said Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt had a basic understanding of mental health, but had not made it a priority.

Mr Hunt rejected this, saying he had made it a priority and that he visited the front line of the NHS most weeks.

To read more, please click here.

Routes Healthcare Team receive nominations for Dignity in Care Best Practise Award!!

Three members of the Routes Healthcare Rochdale Team have been nominated by an external source for a Dignity in Care Best Practice award.  Well done Florence Parkinson, Sally Guidon and Lesley Burns!

The 3 nominees have been invited to the Dignity in Care presentation afternoon which is taking place at Albion Church, Stamford Street, Ashton-under-Lyne on Thursday 26th June 2014 (1 - 3pm) to receive their certificates.

Presentations will also be made to services that have undertaken and completed the Daisy Accreditation and Re-Accreditation.

Nurses' anger over 'unfair' pay deal

There is a "real sense of anger" among nurses in England about an "unfair" pay offer, nurse leaders are warning.

Royal College of Nursing general secretary Peter Carter said a government decision to block an across-the-board 1% rise could dominate the union's annual conference this week.

He even said he could not rule out calls for industrial action.

In March, the Department of Health said staff entitled to progression-in-the-job increases would not get the rise.

The automatic increases are designed to reward professional development. They are given to half of all NHS staff and are worth more than 3% on average.

But the government rejected recommendations from the independent pay review body for the across-the-board rise to be given to all staff in 2014-15.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said implementing the pay body's recommendations would be "unaffordable and would risk the quality of patient care" as nursing jobs would have to be cut if everyone in the NHS got the 1% rise.

In contrast, the Scottish Government has accepted the 1% recommendation. Talks are on-going in Wales and Northern Ireland.

So far the RCN has not called for industrial action, unlike Unison and Unite which have both balloted members.

But Mr Carter said he could not rule out emergency motions at the four-day conference which gets under way in Liverpool later.

He told the BBC pay would be a "topic of hot discussion".

He said the anger was fuelled by what appeared to be a growing pay bill for senior NHS managers.

To read the full article please click here.

Poor tracheostomy care warning

Gaps in training may put patients with tracheostomies in life-threatening situations, the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is warned.

The tubes are fitted to allow patients to breathe and are being used more frequently in hospitals.

The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) report called for improvement.

The Intensive Care Society said care was sometimes "below what is safe and reasonable".

A tracheostomy is used to help wean patients off ventilators and get them out of critical care beds and on to general wards.

To read the full article please click here.

Autism costs '£32bn per year' in UK

The economic cost of supporting someone with autism over a lifetime is much higher than previously thought, research suggests.

It amounts to £1.5m in the UK and $2.4m in the US for individuals with the highest needs, say UK and US experts.

Autism cost the UK more than heart disease, stroke and cancer combined, said an autism charity.

But only £6.60 per person is spent on autism research compared with £295 on cancer, according to Autistica.

The research looked at the costs to society of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in both the UK and US.