Showing posts tagged with: NHS

Failing NHS bosses will go

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned NHS managers cannot expect to keep their jobs if they preside over failings in care.

Mr Hunt, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, said "proper accountability" was needed in the health service.

He was writing ahead of a report into failings at Stafford Hospital, which is expected to be published within months.

There were hundreds more deaths than expected at the hospital between 2005 and 2009.

Some of those deaths were caused by the failings at the hospital.

A public inquiry has been looking at how the failures in care were allowed to happen by managers and regulators.

Ahead of its report, Mr Hunt called for "total openness and transparency when things go wrong", and a change of culture to give greater priority to compassion.

For the full article click here.

Latest life-extending cancer drug 'rationed by postcode': Dozens of hospitals refuse to hand out treatments

Hospitals are denying patients the latest  life-extending cancer drugs, a report reveals.

Dozens of trusts are failing to hand out  treatments for bowel, ovarian, lung and brain cancer that have been approved by  the NHS watchdog NICE.  Some of these drugs have been shown to boost  survival rates by a quarter while others have extended the lives of  terminally-ill patients by over a year.

The report - commissioned by the Department  of Health - also reveals that many hospitals are failing to prescribe the latest  treatments for heart attacks, asthma, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and Crohn’s  Disease.

In fact some of the drugs were approved for  use by NICE more than seven years ago.

Click here to read more.

Breast cancer drug tamoxifen recommended for 'high risk' women

Women in England and Wales with a strong family history of breast cancer could be offered medication on the NHS to try to prevent the disease.

The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence has launched a consultation on whether tamoxifen could be given for up to five years.

If approved later this year, the draft guidelines would be the first of their kind in the UK.

Charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer welcomed the "exciting, historic step".

To read the full article click here.

Childhood asthma 'admissions down' after smoking ban

There was a sharp fall in the number of children admitted to hospital with severe asthma after smoke-free legislation was introduced in England, say researchers.

A study showed a 12% drop in the first year after the law to stop smoking in enclosed public places came into force.

The authors say there is growing evidence that many people are opting for smoke-free homes as well.

Asthma UK says the findings are "encouraging".

Merge NHS and social care, says Labour

The NHS and social care budgets in England should be combined to create a super pot to meet the needs of the ageing population, Labour says.

The money - worth £119bn this year - could be used to provide more joined-up care across the hospital, mental health and care sectors, the party believes.

In a speech on Thursday, shadow health secretary Andy Burnham will say the current arrangements are outdated.

He will claim "dangerous" gaps between services put the vulnerable at risk.

The proposal could see councils get much more involved in making decisions about the NHS, while the biggest hospitals may end up expanding into the community, perhaps even running care homes.

To read the full article click here.