NHIS News

Belfast researchers create a wonder drug to treat lung injury

20/05/2013 12:52:19

20/05/13

A group of researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have come up with a new drug to treat Acute Lung Injury (ALI) which has been called a “magic bullet”.

There are approximately 15,000 cases of ALI every year in the UK, a condition which affects one in five patients in intensive care.

Once clinically tested and evaluated it could become the first cost-effective treatment for the condition – but the clinical evaluation could take up to three years.

The drug has been the work of a joint collaboration between the School of Pharmacy and Centre of Infection and Immunity at Queen’s.

The new drug us a nanoparticle which means that patients can inhale it, treating the exact area in the lungs it’s needed.

Professor Chris Scott, who is leading the research, spoke to the BBC:

"Nanoparticles are perhaps one of the most exciting new approaches to drug development.

"Most research in the area focuses on how the delivery of drugs to the disease site can be improved in these minute carriers.

"Our own research in this area focuses on how nanoparticles interact with cells and how this can be exploited to produce therapeutic effects both in respiratory disease and cancer."

Cardiff researchers warn of the diabetes risk in under-40s

20/05/2013 12:02:15

20/05/2013

Obesity has been hailed as the main reason why there has been a sharp rise in the number of people under 40 who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Research carried out at Cardiff University found that the number of under-40s who have type 2 diabetes have risen ten-fold between 1991 and 2010. This age group now count for 12% of newly diagnosed cases, an increase of 7% in 19 years.

Research leader Professor Craig Currie told the BBC:

"Essentially we are a nation of lazy porkers.

"As a consequence at a very young age we are getting a disease that later will lead to a number of severe complications potentially.

"You have got to have lived on Mars if you don't realise that being fat is going to cause you a few problems."

Professor Currie warned of the significant cost to the NHS which as a result of this, along with a reduced lifespan.

He added that a large proportion of people developing type 2 diabetes are now young children and adolescents due to poor diet, obesity and a lack of exercise.

National director of Diabetes UK Cymru Dai Willaims said that the “obesity crisis” is what has caused a disease which usually affects pensioners to become a major issue for those much younger.

"At the moment diabetes is costing the NHS in Wales over half a billion pounds a year - that's an astronomically large amount of money really."

Pressure on A&E departments increasing in Scotland

20/05/2013 11:46:11

20/05/13

A combination of newly qualified doctors being reluctant to work in casualty departments and a lack of beds is seriously increasing the pressure felt by accident and emergency departments across Scotland.

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (RCPSG) agreed, saying that the aging population and a lack of communication between primary and secondary care are exacerbating the situation.

This comes following a similar issue in England, where the A&E departments are being stretched to breaking point.

Figures have shown the attendances have increased by 70,000 between 2008/09 and 2011/12.

The RCPSG said:

“Reduced hospital bed numbers without question adds to the pressure on A&E departments, as do the challenges of discharging patients who need support in the community which is not available on a 24/7 basis.

“Many patients who are referred to, or present at, A&E departments do not need to bethere. All of the facets behind such visits require analysis and whatever support is needed, whether it be medical, nursing or in social care, should be provided.”

“We can also learn from the success within palliative care which provides all care at home or in a hospice at the end of life.

“Previously these patients were admitted through emergency departments because no alternative was available.”

Calls for Edwin Poots to resign

07/05/2013 11:47:59

07/05/13

Mike Nesbitt, Ulster Unionist Party leader has called for the health minister Edwin Poots to resign.

This comes after Mr Poots has done a U-turn after telling health trusts to drop their plans to shut care homes.

Mr Nesbitt says that the way he has handled the NHS care home closures isn’t good enough to reassure elderly people, and therefore he should step down from his post.

Mr Nesbitt said:

"Although he says he's fixed the implementation I don't believe he's gone far enough.

"No current resident has been given a guarantee that, medical advice and the rest permitting, they will not be forced out of their home."

"I think given the unnecessary stress he's caused, that is the least he owes those people and their families."

The Transforming Your Care policy stated that half of residential care homes in Northern Ireland were due to close within the next 5 years but in one week three trusts announced their closures at the same time.

After several days of uproar about the closures, Mr Poots said that he felt it was “unacceptable” that people were distressed over the plans, so he withdrew all power to implement the policy from the trusts, and agreed that the process would be centralised.

Mr Nesbitt has said that if he was health minister, he would have resigned.

Only half of NHS Wales’s staff happy with service

07/05/2013 11:22:18

07/05/13

An NHS survey has found that a huge 48% of NHS employees are not happy with the standard of care provided.

The survey asked staff if would be happy if a friend or family member needed to undergo treatment, and the results showed a mixed bag with only 52% being happy with the care provided.

On the other hand, 80% of staff would be willing to “go the extra mile” for the NHS in order to provide a good service.

Mark Drakeford, health minister, said that it painted a “mixed” picture of the NHS in Wales.

"It isn't satisfactory that just over half of people working in our NHS positively think that what they provide would be good for somebody in their family.

"It's a finding that's consistent with other parts of the NHS across the United Kingdom and I think it does reflect the sense of a service which it knows it is under pressure and not able to do a job that people would like to be done."

Mr Drakeford believes staff to be under strain, a sentiment echoed by the survey itself which showed that a third of workers have been off sick with stress in the last 12 months and almost half feel that they don’t have enough time to complete the work expected of them.

64% of staff feels satisfied with their current job, but less than half would recommend the NHS as a good place to work.

However, it is worth remembering that only 27% of the NHS workforce completed the survey – 22,392 staff members.

NHS to become 24/7 service?

22/04/2013 10:54:01

22/04/2013

Concerns over patients increased chances of death if admitted at weekends have led to senior doctors discussing implemented a 7-days-a-week NHS service.

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (RCPSG) are meeting in May to find out what the implementations of extending the NHS service, rather than just offering emergency cover at weekends and on public holidays.

President of the RCPSG, Dr Frank Dunn said:

"First of all, we could make sure that acute care is standardised throughout the working week; what specialties would need a consultant in more hours than at present or what radiology investigations would need to be available at the weekend.

"The next stage down the line would be to see if there is any merit moving towards elective work at the weekends.”

"Health workers, like everyone else, have commitments outwith their hospital and while they are all very willing to do emergency work, it would be a big step.

"So I think we should do this in stages; look first of all at the emergency situation, and then after that look at perhaps what we can do to look at weekend clinics and so on."

This potential change comes after a two year research study in Dumfries and Galloway showed that patients admitted on a public holiday were 48% more likely to die within a week, and 27% more likely to die within a month than if admitted on other days of the week.

Dr Chris Isles was part of that research study:

"Consultant physicians in Dumfries spend as much time on the admissions unit during public holiday as they do on normal days and weekends, but it is also true that fewer consultants and fewer junior doctors cover other medical wards during holiday periods.

"Therefore we might speculate that higher mortality among patients admitted on a public holiday reflects a cumulative lack of services and/or cumulative lack of doctors during these three to four-day periods."

Fears over privatisation in Northern Ireland

15/04/2013 12:14:31

15/04/2013

Two new health centres are to be built in Northern Ireland – in partnership with private businesses.

The two health centres are to be based in Lisburn and Newry and will house GPs and other community services.

The £40 million health centres are to be funded through Third Party Development, which involves a partnership arrangement with a private sector company.

Health Minister Edwin Poots said:

“A key element of ongoing healthcare reform is the need to move services away from hospitals except where it is absolutely necessary and to develop service provision in the community so that people can access treatment closer to their own homes or, where possible, at home.

“The provision of these new facilities will assist that process.”

However, some people are concerned over possible privatisation of the NHS as the private sector is so closely linked with this project.

SDLP Health Spokesperson Conall McDevitt said that the news confirmed:

"The worst fears of so many people that the Minister’s recent consultation on Transforming Your Care was an exercise in creeping privatisation of the NHS.

"The Minister seems determined to undermine the founding principles of the NHS as a service which was established to deliver free healthcare at the point of need."

"The SDLP are gravely concerned at the shift from patient centred care to profit driven care, which will undoubtedly accompany the Minister’s privatisation drive, and which could have a devastating impact on healthcare provision in this region.

"I am calling on the Minister to allay these concerns by introducing legislation which will ring fence the extent to which the private sector will have in the NHS going forward, and assuring the public that healthcare will remain publicly owned and publicly provided."

GPs to deliver out of hours care

15/04/2013 01:36:39

15/04/2013

The deputy chair of GPC Northern Ireland has spoken out, saying that GPs in Northern Ireland should opt back into commissioning out-of-hours services.

The 111 service in England has been used as an example of how not to run the system, with deputy chair Dr Alan Stout saying that’s what could happen if GPs didn’t take a hands-on approach to delivering the service.

He said that GPs should regain responsibility for organising the services and ensuring that there is adequate funding for them, but not to take a personal responsibility.

Leaders of the LMC backed a motion that said:

“The time is right for GPs to opt back into the organisation and commissioning of the delivery of GP out of hours.”

Dr Peter Beckett of Southern LMC said that GPs should not be distancing themselves from the out of hours services. He that that the motion was:

“Not about necessarily each principal having to go back and do out of hours; this is about commissioning, setting the specifications, getting the terms and conditions right, and getting a better quality of care for our patients.”

Measles outbreak in Swansea

08/04/2013 11:29:12

08/04/2013

There have been a confirmed 588 cases of measles in South Wales.

Public health figures have shown that 47 new cases were reported in just three days.

Health officials are now urging parents to take their children to get MMR vaccinations in a bit to halt the outbreak, but approximately 3,800 children have still not had the vaccination.

Officials have now warned that those not vaccinated are highly likely to catch measles and it is just a matter of time before a child is left with serious and permanent complications, or dies.

The majority of cases have been reported in the Swansea area, but other cases continue to be reported across Wales, and some of England.

Dr Marion Lyons, director of health protection for Public Health Wales said:

"We are really pleased to see that 586 people have proactively got the MMR vaccine over the past week, on top of those already scheduled to have it.

"Though this is a good start, there are still thousands of children who have not had both doses of the MMR jab and so are still at risk from becoming infected with the potentially fatal measles virus.

"It's great to see that more parents are trusting the vaccine and I would encourage others to follow their lead.

"Measles cannot be taken lightly because you can never tell who will go on to develop the more serious complications of pneumonia or encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). MMR vaccination offers the only protection against these complications."

Generic commissioning policies published

08/04/2013 11:17:15

08/04/13

NHS England has published several interim generic policies to ensure stability across the direct commissioning function.

There are fourteen policies which have been agreed by the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group. They are being used on an interim basis to allow NHS England to carry out further engagement with patients, carers and the public over the next 6-12 months before agreeing the final versions.

The policies cover things like specialised services, primary care, screening, military and offender health.

A steering group will be put together which will lead the development of the policies.

For more information about the commissioning policies, click here.

New waiting times scandal at NHS Lothian

08/04/2013 10:46:01

08/04/13

Health bosses at NHS Lothian have admitted that its board members had been receiving inaccurate information which had been manipulated to show that thousands of patients hadn’t waited longer than 12 weeks for treatments.

The mistake has only come to light after a member of the waiting times team went on holiday, and another colleague realised the issue.

NHS Lothian has now admitted that figures included in official monthly board papers since the summer had been painting a more positive imagine than the harsh reality.

Conservative MSP Jackson Carlow was shocked to find out:

“If there was one health board in Scotland you’d think would now be getting this right it’s NHS Lothian. But it seems the reverse is true, and the time is right for the Scottish Government to step in.

“If health boards are not presenting correct figures on waiting times, the whole process of monitoring and reporting them is rendered utterly useless.”

However, chief executive Tim Davison has said that NHS Lothian will learn from the mistake.

The figures were manipulated by showing “unadjusted waits” – when the patient had not be accounted for due to social or medical reasons.

This meant that in September, board members were told that 683 patients had been on waiting lists for six months or longer in August, when the real figure was 1331.

The mistake is understood to be a human error and not a deliberate attempt to mislead, though it has raised questions.

Labour Lothians MSP Sarah Boyack spoke out:

“This all looks like an embarrassing mess. We should be able to trust the ?waiting times information issued by the board, especially after the last figures were completely discredited. It’s vital that the board acts urgently on the true level of waiting times people have had to suffer.”

New health minister for Wales

19/03/2013 10:39:34

19/03/2013

Mark Drakeford has been appointed the new health minister in a reshuffle of the Labour cabinet, replacing Lesley Griffiths.

First Minister Carwyn Jones has moved around his cabinet moving Ms Griffiths to local government minister.

The health portfolio is one of the biggest jobs in the welsh cabinet, with a budget of almost £6 billion.

Mr Drakeford was previously chairman of the assembly’s cross-party health and social care committee.

The British Medical Association has welcomed Mr Drakeford, saying that it comes at a “very challenging time” for the NHS.

Warning that people need educating on when to use the NHS in Scotland

19/03/2013 10:19:57

19/03/2013

GPs in Scotland are facing an “overwhelming” workload because people don’t know how to use the NHS properly.

The British Medical Association has told the health secretary Alex Neil that patients should be taught to use the NHS in a different way.

The problems have arisen because of the increased demands of a growing and aging populations.

Dr Dean Marshall, former chair of the BMA GPs committee in Scotland said:

“The demand from the public is rising and is unsustainable and not deliverable. No matter what resources you give us, we cannot deliver the amount of service that reaches demand.

“So, are you prepared to have that conversation with the public in Scotland and say it is not deliverable and they need to use the NHS in a different way?”

Current chair of the BMA’s GP Committee added:

“We have to find better ways of telling people how to best use the services. It is not about saying to people you can’t, but about saying this is when it is best to use the NHS.

“We want to make more use of internet information and that is already happening.”

“We do have to make sure if there are ways in which they could self-manage then they should and think twice, particularly out of hours, before contacting the NHS.”

Trust in Northern Ireland criticised for sending patients across the border

19/03/2013 10:09:03

19/03/2013

The Southern Health Trust has come under fire after it has been revealed that 240 people have been send across into the Republic of Ireland to a private hospital in Co Westmeath for private treatment.

Some patients are also being sent to two Dublin hospitals and several other ‘independent providers’ in Northern Ireland.

There are concerns about the cost of sending patients such distances for treatment as they are entitled to financial help with travel and accommodation, if necessary.

A spokesperson for the trust said:

“There are a small number of specialities where we do not have the treatment capacity to meet the needs of our population, and the Regional Board is working with the trust on these specialities where investment is needed. This work plans to reduce the need for this type of additionally in the future.

“In keeping with the regional access policy (IEAP) all patients are given two offers of treatment, one of which needs to be in Northern Ireland. Patients travelling outside Northern Ireland for treatment are entitled to financial assistance with travel, subsistence and accommodation should they and a carer need to stay overnight.

“All independent sector providers used by the trust are drawn from the Regional Board’s list of eligible providers of acute care.

“Along with contracts with two Dublin hospitals and a several other independent providers in Northern Ireland, the trust has made provision at St Francis Private Hospital in Mullingar for approximately 240 patients to receive inpatient and day case treatments.”

All CCGs authorised

19/03/2013 09:17:03

19/03/2013

Every CCG in England has now been authorised as the final wave is completed.

All 211 CCGs have now been given the green light to take up their responsibilities of taking over healthcare in their area, and taking control of the NHS budget – they will have £65 billion of the total NHS budget of £95 billion.

The NHS Commissioning Board has announced the final 48 CCGs were authorised earlier this month with all of them been granted authorisation, at various levels.

In total, just 43 of the 211 CCGs have been authorised with no conditions at all – meaning that they fulfilled all 119 criteria.

The majority of CCGs, 168, have been authorised with some conditions, which means they still have more work to do before they fully meet all criteria.

15 of those 168 have also been issued with legal directions which mean that they are not able to take over the running of local healthcare in that area – instead another CCG or the NHS Commissioning Board must take over until those CCGs are deemed ready. The neighbouring CCGs or NHS CB must provide more formal development support underpinned by legally-binding instructions.

NHS Basildon and Brentwood CCG, NHS Thurrock CCG and NHS Waltham Forest CCG have been the hardest hit, with threats that they may lose all commissioning powers.

Before the April deadline, all CCGs will be re-assessed to see how they are progressing since their authorisation wave.

Dame Barbara Hakin said:

“CCGs will have wide-ranging responsibilities with regard to patient safety and will manage very large budgets, so it is vital that they are robust and capable of making important decisions. The NHS Commissioning Board has a duty to ensure CCGs have made arrangements to deliver their responsibilities, and we take that duty very seriously.

“CCGs have made fantastic progress in a very short time. It has always been clear that some of the new organisations would be at different stages to others, often dependent on their previous commissioning activities. CCGs will continue to receive this focused support from the NHS Commissioning Board and we are confident that they will be able to further develop their capabilities within the coming months.”

Plans to change the NHS in North Wales has been referred to the government

11/03/2013 10:38:58

11/03/2013

Hospitals which are part of Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board are facing closure, leaving some people in the area facing a 60-mile round trip for treatment.

North Wales Community Health Council (CHC) has actually backed the idea of closing four community hospitals, leaving campaigners stunned. The local health boards are now reconsidering plans for how health services should be delivered.

The CHC has written to Health Minister Lesley Griffiths to voice their concerns over the changes. They voice their concerns saying that they think that some changes need to be made if they are to meet the standards required.

"Many people have urged us to make a formal objection to the plans for neonatal intensive care services.

"We have put every point raised with us directly to senior medical and managerial staff at the health board.

"And some of them - for example the effect of the plans on medical staff training and the loss of specialist services from north Wales - are included in our letter to the minister."

The North Wales Health Alliance, which was set up following a public meeting about the concerns, says that community hospitals which have been closed should be immediately re-opened to “maintain important community care.”

Government agree to change NHS competition rules

11/03/2013 10:00:42

11/03/2013

It has been agreed that the government will re-write the regulations on contracting out in the NHS.

Over one thousand documents wrote to the Daily Telegraph in just one week all saying that the new competition legislation means that “vertically every part” of the NHS would be open to private firms.

Health Minister Norman Lamb disagreed, saying that the new rules had just “inadvertently created confusion”, and they had only be re-written because of the changes to the NHS from 1st April 2013.

Mr Lamb spoke to the BBC:

He said that the issue was that the regulations had been badly written, rather than a deliberate attempt to increase private hospitals competing.

As expected, shadow health secretary Andy Burnham says that agreeing to such a hasty re-write represented a “humiliating retreat”

"In less than four weeks' time new GP commissioners take control and yet today there is complete confusion about the job they are being asked to do.

"Coalition policy on competition in the NHS is in utter chaos."

Warning to health trusts in Northern Ireland

11/03/2013 09:48:21

11/03/2013

The latest report by the auditor general in Northern Ireland has stressed the importance of maintaining care rather than just focusing on achieving targets.

As reported by the BBC, in the last two years, no trusts have met the 95% targets of a 4-hour-or-less wait in accident and emergency, and lots of patients have to wait unacceptable lengths of time for treatments – an increase of 38.4%.

An example of this is Belfast Health Trust, where people have been waiting over nine months for hip and knee operations.

The recommended solution for this was for trusts to produce a warning if there are any problems due to staying within their budget so that corrective action can be taken.

However, there was some good news for the trusts – they have all broken even and reduced management costs. The audit office did warn that they must be careful to consider more options for continuing within their budgets.

In Northern Ireland, the auditor general acts independently – looking at government departments and other public sector bodies to see how efficient and effective they are with their money.

£100m drug research contract in Scotland

15/02/2013 02:36:49

15/02/2013

Scottish scientists in Lanarkshire and Dundee have won a contract worth £100m to research new medicines – potentially the biggest investment of its kind in Scotland.

The deal was also to win funding for a new screening centre, £16.3m from the European Innovative Medicines Initiative and £3.5m from the Scottish Funding Council and Scottish Govrnment.

There is also £75m worth of proprietary drug compounds are being made available to project partners by participating pharmaceutical companies.

The screening centre will be set up at the BioCity facility in Newhouse, and will research into new treatments.

30 international scientists will work together to create new medicines.

Mr Salmond said:

"BioCity Scotland, SULSA and Dundee University have succeeded in bringing a huge and valuable piece of work to Scotland, against international competition.

"This provides enormous opportunities for Scotland's life sciences sector and is fantastic recognition of the talent and expertise of Scotland's life sciences community.

"In particular, this deal shows the combined strength of our universities and commercial experts.

Working together, they have been able to secure the biggest ever IMI contract of its kind in Scotland, putting Lanarkshire and Dundee at the forefront of drug discovery in Europe for many years to come."