29/05/2012
Statistics on NHS staff show an overall workforce of 131,172 - a reduction of 102 or 0.1 per cent - on the previous quarter. There are 56,467 nursing and midwifery staff
in post – an increase of 229 - and 24,297 administrative posts – a reduction of
204 from December 31 to March 31. The numbers of consultants, psychologists and
allied health professionals have increased during this period. The report also
highlight the use of agency nurses in the NHS has decreased by 10 per cent over
the last year while the use of the nursing bank has increased by 3 per cent.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “We know that the NHS doesn't stand
still, the way that services are delivered is constantly changing. “Over three
quarters of all surgery is now done on a day case basis, and hospital stays are
shorter than ever before. We have to make sure that size and shape of the NHS
workforce changes to reflect this – with moves to see more staff being based in
our communities underway. “Using the nurse bank has saved the NHS over £22
million on agency spend since it was created – but the important thing is that
our bank nurses are better trained, ensuring high quality, safe and effective
care for our patients.”
Stats are available at via Information Services Division Scotland
The drink-drive limit in Scotland will be lowered "as a priority", the Scottish government has said. Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said plans to lower the limit from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg will be brought forward later this year. He said it was intended the change would take effect as soon as possible. The power to change the limit was handed to Holyrood under the 2012 Scotland Act, which recently received royal assent. Last week, Scotland became the first part of the UK to introduce a minimum price for a unit of alcohol. Mr MacAskill said: "The Scottish government has long called for a reduction in the drink-driving limit to 50mg. "We strongly believe that reducing the drink-driving limit will save lives, and evidence from across Europe shows that alcohol-related road deaths drop dramatically where the limit has been reduced
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-18226813
The health secretary has asked NHS Lothian to explain a contract it says its former
chief executive placed with a management consultancy firm. The contract, for
£75,000, was placed with HD Partners. The public sector union, Unison, said a source has told it that Prof James Barbour has now accepted a position with HD Partners. Prof Barbour recently retired after presiding over a waiting time scandal at NHS Lothian, in which patients were taken off the waiting list when they refused to attend appointments in English hospitals at short notice.
HD Partners were employed to find spare capacity in the private sector to treat NHS
patients and that the contract was questioned after another private healthcare
company asked NHS Lothian why it was using a 'middle-man', claiming it would be
cheaper to go direct to the private hospitals involved.
HD Partners has not responded to e-mails from the BBC. When the BBC called the telephone number listed on its website for its UK office in Berkeley Square, London,
we were told nobody had heard of the company.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-18245235
More than 70 doctors at NHS Lothian were being paid twice for treating NHS patients. The health board, which is mired in controversy over waiting lists, farmed out work to Murrayfield Hospital to hit targets. But Spire Healthcare, which owns the private hospital, used many of the same consultants as NHS Lothian to carry out the work. The Scottish Liberal Democrats are now calling for Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon to make a statement before parliament on the matter. An internal audit by NHS Lothian found a number of concerns about Spire. It said there were potential “conflicts of interest where consultants and other staff employed by NHS Lothian benefit from treating NHS Lothian patients privately.” NHS Lothian paid Spire Healthcare £3.2 million a year, in a three-year contract starting in 2008.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/top-stories/doctors-paid-twice-to-treat-nhs-patients-1-2308366
New guidance from the health watchdog NICE says morphine and other strong opioids should be more widely used as many patients with advanced cancer and other chronic conditions are suffering unnecessary pain. Daniel Hopkins was told six weeks ago that he has advanced lung cancer. The 85-year-old from Leeds knows his time left is limited, but he has also had to cope with terrible pain from the cancer, which had spread to his spine. Treatment with morphine has changed that. He is delighted with his care at St Gemma's Hospice in Leeds, and hoping to go home
soon. “I didn't realise it was possible that medicines existed which could relieve that level of pain. They have turned my life around.” He told me: "On a scale of one to ten, the pain was off the top -it was excruciating. Now, I don't have any pain at all. It's marvellous."
Those views are echoed by another patient with advanced cancer who is also planning to return home this week. Anne Jarvis has head and neck cancer and has had her voice-box removed. She is treated with a slow-release opioid patch. "My pain was totally debilitating and it made it impossible to think straight." Both are cancer patients but opioids are equally needed to help patients with a range
of other debilitating conditions such as heart failure, kidney and respiratory
illness and neurodegenerative disorders.
New guidance from the health watchdog NICE makes it clear that pain is being hugely under-treated. It wants doctors to prescribe opioids, like morphine, more often.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18169840
ULTIMO boss Michelle Mone has called for all sunbeds to be banned after her cancer scare. The bra tycoon, who found a mole on her shoulder six weeks ago, is currently anxiously waiting for her test results following an operation to remove it. The experience has made Michelle more determined than ever to spread the word about the dangers of the sun. Michelle said: “When I was younger I used to love the sunbeds. - I would even hire them and have them delivered to my home. "Discovering the mole six weeks ago was really scary. I had it removed on Saturday and I’m waiting to find out the results. “I really want to urge people to get moles checked out as it can spread so fast. I kept putting it off. Mine was at stage three which is catchable. But it was scary stuff.
http://www.theglaswegian.co.uk/glasgow-news/news/2012/05/23/ultimo-boss-michelle-mone-calls-for-sunbed-ban-after-cancer-scare-102692-23870556/
I paid my first ever visit to a Macmillan Benefit Service Office at Stobhill Hospital to ask if I could leave some flyers to attract lung cancer sufferers to our support club. It took a number of visits before I eventually met Phyllis Miller (Welfare Rights Officer). The lovely Phyllis immediately apologized for all and any inconvenience she had caused me. On the contrary, I commended her for giving people so much time, twice I had sat waiting for over an hour, but had to eventually leave. Rather than be annoyed, I thought how wonderful that someone could spend so much unrestricted time with people. Oh, how I wish that I had access to that kind of service when I went through my lung cancer diagnoses and treatments in 1993 and 2007. No matter how long you have to wait, it will be time well spent, don’t get uptight, understand and appreciate that the Macmillan officer will also accord you the very same dedicated attention and spend all the time it takes to thoroughly assist you.
Robert Lowe
Stobhill Lung Cancer Club
http://stobhilllungcancersupportgroup.weebly.com/index.html
Older, current and former heavy smokers should receive annual, low-dose CT screening, according to revised guidelines published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Sunday. The revised guidelines follow, and in the JAMA paper are accompanied by, a systematic review of evidence on the role of CT screening for individuals at higher risk of lung
cancer.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/245701.php
Sandwell and West Birmingham hospitals trust to extend unpaid work experience scheme after successful pilot hospital trust is planning to extend a scheme under which dozens of unpaid jobseekers help deliver patient care in its wards. After a
pilot involving six unemployed people working unpaid for eight weeks to help feed patients and clean wards, Sandwell and West Birmingham hospitals trust said it was aiming to extend the government work experience programme to all three of its hospitals. The trust said all participants in the initial pilot were CRB-checked and received two weeks of training at Sandwell College before carrying out their tasks in hospital wards, involving "general tidying, welcoming visitors, serving drinks to patients, running errands, reading to patients and assisting with feeding patients". Union representatives confirmed they had been consulted , and had initially consented to, plans that meant unemployed people could gain experience
of work at the hospital.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/may/21/unpaid-jobseekers-deliver-patient-care
Model Gemma Garrett has called for more information about the risks of cosmetic surgery after her PIP implants ruptured. The former Miss Great Britain had her breast implants removed last year and pieces of silicone tweezed from her body. About 50,000 British women have had PIP implants, which were banned in 2010 for containing industrial grade silicone. About 50,000 women in Britain have had PIP implants. Women who are concerned can now get their implants removed and replaced on the NHS. Newsbeat spoke to Gemma after she made a documentary for BBC Three.
Why was it important for you to make this documentary?
"I'd had my implants removed and it was a very traumatic year for me. "When they asked me to do this documentary I was nervous and anxious but I wanted to do it because at the end of day there were still 50,000 British women out there left stranded with no answers." Why did you have implants? "I think it's just so easy to have it done and I got caught up in that. "I obviously didn't research enough. I didn't even know all the risks. I didn't realise that by signing up for breast implants you're really signing up for an operation every 10 years.
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