Andrew Lansley pledges a million more people will have access to an NHS dentist - Daily Mail

Andrew Lansley pledges a million more people will have access to an NHS dentist - Daily Mail:

Andrew Lansley pledges a million more people will have access to an NHS dentist Daily Mail By James Chapman NHS dentists are to treat an extra million patients following a shake-up in funding. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley will today pledge that everyone who lost their NHS dentist since 2006 will now have access to one.

Saving lives by responding first

Saving lives by responding first: Setting up an emergency first responder team in a south Northamptonshire village. BBC Northampton News

Northampton General Hospital denies late rush to hit A&E target

Northampton General Hospital denies late rush to hit A&E target:

TREATMENT for more than 8,000 A&E patients was pushed through just before they would have breached the waiting time target at Northampton General Hospital, figures show. Northampton Chronicle

Personal health budgets and NHS Continuing Healthcare

Personal health budgets and NHS Continuing Healthcare:

The Department has published a discussion paper which explores personal health budgets for people receiving NHS Continuing Healthcare. This is aimed towards healthcare professionals who will have a specific role in this initiative or are considering the future implementation of personal health budgets. Personal health budgets and NHS Continuing Healthcare is the first of a number of informative documents on the subject.

Personal health budgets are currently being piloted in the NHS in England, with over 2,700 participants across 20 sites. A number of sites are piloting personal health budgets with people eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare. In October 2011, the Secretary of State for Health announced that subject to the evaluation, by April 2014 everyone in receipt of NHS Continuing Healthcare will have a right to ask for a personal health budget, including a direct payment. This will form part of a broader rollout of personal health budgets to people with long term health conditions.

A personal health budget is an amount of money that is allocated to an individual to allow them to meet their health and well-being needs in a way that best suits them. At the heart of a personal health budget is a care plan which sets out the individual’s health (and social care) needs and includes the desired outcomes, the amount of money in the budget and how this will be spent. The care plan has to be agreed between the individual and the professional, before being checked and signed off by the NHS.

Personal health budgets potentially offer greater integration of health and social care for both individuals who need care and their carers, and better partnership working between the NHS and local authorities. Personal health budgets and NHS Continuing Healthcare provides more information about the recent Government announcement and how these budgets are relevant to people receiving NHS Continuing Healthcare and how personal health budgets change the NHS Continuing Healthcare pathway. Department of Health

Developing the NHS Commissioning Board

Developing the NHS Commissioning Board:

These documents have been produced for patients, clinicians, staff and the public. They set out the initial thinking on how the new commissioning system could work and the NHS Commissioning Board’s role within that system.

Developing the NHS Commissioning Board (published July 2011)

Developing the NHS Commissioning Board: Update (published October 2011)

Prostate drug too costly for NHS

Prostate drug too costly for NHS: A drug which could extend the life of prostate cancer patients is too expensive to be used on the NHS in England and Wales, a health watchdog says. BBC News

DH expect 25-35 CSOs in England

DH expect 25-35 CSOs in England: The Department of Health has estimated that there will be between 25 and 35 commissioning support organisations in the reorganised NHS in England - equivalent to one for every two primary care trust clusters. EHI News

EMIS unveils new patient.co.uk

EMIS unveils new patient.co.uk: EMIS has re-launched its patient information website with a new look and plans for a a series of apps; including one that will let patients book an appointment from their smartphone. EHI News

Behaviour change among overweight and socially disadvantaged adults: A longitudinal study of the NHS Health Trainer Service

Behaviour change among overweight and socially disadvantaged adults: A longitudinal study of the NHS Health Trainer Service: This article examines the findings of a study which looked at the potential for the NHS Health Trainer Service (HTS) to improve population health and reduce health inequalities through behaviour change interventions.

Please contact your local health library to obtain the full-text of this article: http://www.hlisd.org/AtoZBrowse.aspx?browsetype=library

Consultation on Commissioning Outcomes Framework indicators

Consultation on Commissioning Outcomes Framework indicators

As part of the process to develop a Commissioning Outcomes Framework (COF) stakeholders have the opportunity to comment on potential new indicators, which have been mapped against the five domains of the NHS Outcomes Framework, encompassing the three dimensions of quality (effectiveness, patient experience and safety). The consultation will close at 5pm on Wednesday 29 February 2012; please see the link below for further information. NICE

National review of asthma-related deaths and launch of online test to identify patients' risk

National review of asthma-related deaths and launch of online test to identify patients' risk
BBC Health has reported on a new online test launched by Asthma UK that helps people with asthma to determine their risk of an asthma attack. Following the result, users will be given advice on how to help avoid having an attack and also what to do if they do have an attack. The online test - 'Triple A: Avoid Asthma Attacks' - is available at the link below.

At the same time, the Royal College of Physicians is launching a national review of asthma-related deaths in the UK, which will collect details of all asthma deaths from hospitals, GPs and families to try to identify how to improve care and reduce deaths in the future. BBC Health

NICE consults on a new treatment for prostate cancer

NICE consults on a new treatment for prostate cancer: NICE, the healthcare guidance body, has issued new draft guidance not recommending the use of abiraterone (Zytiga, Janssen) in combination with prednisone or prednisolone for the treatment of castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer that has progressed on or after docetaxel-containing therapy.

Northumbria trust wins bid to run two hospitals

Northumbria trust wins bid to run two hospitals:

NHS foundation trust to take over Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and the West Cumberland hospital in Whitehaven

Northumbria Healthcare NHS foundation trust has been named as the preferred bidder to take over the running of two hospitals – Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and the West Cumberland hospital in Whitehaven, in Cumbria. North Cumbria university hospitals trust announced plans to accept takeover bids in June 2011 after it realised it would not be able to meet new government targets, which require all NHS trusts to become foundation trusts by 2014.

The winning bid was decided after considering detailed proposals and responses to additional financial questions submitted to interested foundation trusts. It also took into consideration the views from a panel of patients, the public, hospital clinicians and staff, GPs and other key groups. NHS North of England, the region's strategic health authority, local health commissioners, and Northumbria trust will now start negotiations on the final financial arrangements. There will also be further assessments by regulators and a final recommendation by health secretary Andrew Lansley later this year.

Newcastle upon Tyne hospitals foundation trust and Cumbria partnership foundation trust had also put in a joint bid to take over the hospitals' services. Mike Little, chair of North Cumbria university hospitals trust, said: "We were very pleased with the way both organisations have engaged in the process and by their enthusiasm, professionalism and commitment to this opportunity. Our evaluation started in June 2011 and has been a lengthy, detailed and competitive process."

But Stephen Dalton, chief executive of Cumbria partnership foundation trust, said turning down their joint bid was a missed opportunity for "genuinely integrated healthcare." "We are surprised and disappointed that the opportunity for a genuinely integrated healthcare solution has been missed. However, we remain the only major county-wide provider of healthcare and as such we are eager to now see a very public discussion about plans for Cumbria's hospitals in the north and west. I hope that the staff of North Cumbria university hospitals trust finally get the stability and support they deserve."

The decision comes as London's St George's healthcare trust pulled out of its bid to merge with St Helier and Sutton hospitals. In a statement, St George's said that while a merger would be an "excellent strategic opportunity", the current terms of the agreement prevented it from being able to proceed further. Guardian Professional.

Health Bill: 137 changes made to win over House of Lords

Health Bill: 137 changes made to win over House of Lords: The Government has made 137 late amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill in an effort to ease the concerns of worried peers. Telegraph

Private firm vows to breathe new life into struggling NHS hospital

Private firm vows to breathe new life into struggling NHS hospital:

The chief executive of the first private company to take over a failing NHS trust announced a "massive war on waste" yesterday to eliminate its debts and secure its future. Independent

New central resource for Joint Strategic Needs Assessments - including revised core data set - now available from NHS Information Centre

New central resource for Joint Strategic Needs Assessments - including revised core data set - now available from NHS Information Centre: A new, free resource to support organisations in producing an effective Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) is now available from The NHS Informat...