STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

Strength in Numbers dedicated to my late mother Kay

05/08/2015 • 7:50 am 0

NHS patients may face widescale charges, warns financial thinktank

Health budget must rise, or patient fees increase and services diminish, public finance institute warns ministers in bleak assessment of ‘short-term’ pledges

Ministers will have to consider charging patients for seeing a GP, attending A&E, and using the food, power and water of hospitals, unless better long-term solutions for funding the NHS can be found, public finance experts have warned. Contributions towards the cost of treatments and patients taking out health insurance are among other options that must be on the table if the comprehensive spending review in November fails to address the issue, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance (Cipfa) says in a briefing.

The document says that the hope of NHS leaders to save £22bn over five years to 2020-21 is optimistic and does not take account of David Cameron’s pledge to increase seven-day services nor of the introduction of the new national living wage.  Other general aspirations, such as making the UK a “world leader” in tackling cancer and dementia and raising spending on mental health, have not been explicitly costed either, Cipfa says.

Click on the link to read more

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/05/nhs-patients-may-face-widescale-charges-warns-financial-thinktank

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Filed under: A&E, GP's, Hospital, NHS, ,

02/03/2015 • 8:05 am 0

NHS bosses to be criticised in Morecambe Bay mother and baby deaths report

Health watchdogs set up to protect NHS patients when things go wrong face damning criticism in a report into the scandal of dozens of mothers and babies who died at a hospital following a catalogue of poor care. As many as 30 mothers and babies died at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust as a result of substandard care made worse by professional rivalries, the independent inquiry is expected to conclude this week. Six midwives face disciplinary hearings in front of the Nursing and Midwifery Council later this year, but to date no nurses, midwives or doctors have been permanently struck off. The investigation has heard how midwives neglected to alert doctors about patient complications in time because of a ‘turf war’ between the two professions. Midwives appeared not to have been on speaking terms with doctors, and claimed they were made to feel irrelevant when doctors were called in to help with difficult cases.

But the report, commissioned by Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, is also expected to criticise the Care Quality Commission, along with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Click on link to read more

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11442029/NHS-bosses-to-be-criticised-in-Morecambe-Bay-mother-and-baby-deaths-report.html

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Joshua Titcombe was one of the babies who died at Furness general Hospital 

A baby died an avoidable death’: one family’s fight for justice. 

http://blogs.channel4.com/victoria-macdonald-on-health-and-social-c‘A baby died an avoidable death’: one family’s fight for justiceare/a-baby-died-avoidable-death-familys-fight-justice-daughters-death/2847?

Filed under: Hospital, NHS, NHS Blunders, Whistleblowing, , , ,

16/02/2015 • 8:54 am 1

NHS patients ‘ignored and sidelined’, says report by The Patients Association

Click on the link   Why our NHS should listen and be human  to download The Patients Association report

The Patients Association report identified a number of failings in how the health system interacts with patients

Patients feel “ignored and sidelined” by the NHS and too many vulnerable people experience unacceptable standards of care within the health system, according to a report commissioned by the Patients Association. The report, called “Why our NHS should listen and be human”, lambasted the lack of compassion and information many patients experienced when dealing with health professionals.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: “Too often patients and their families are treated without compassion, are uninformed about treatment and next steps and feel ignored and side-lined when they raise concerns or complaints.  “The NHS is failing many of the most vulnerable members of society and patients and the public have told us about inconsistencies in the provision of care, poor standards of care and compassion, and a lack of openness and transparency in communication between healthcare staff, patients and their families,” she added. The report found that patients were scared to report problems because of “fear of recriminations,” despite the fact that the majority of people who raise concerns are motivated by a desire to improve conditions for other patients, not to get staff in trouble. It is especially important for patients to be kept informed about how their treatment will progress, but many felt that they were either left in the dark or not listened to.

Click on the link to read more

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/nhs-patients-ignored-and-sidelined-says-report-10047105.html

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Filed under: NHS, Uncategorized, , , ,

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