Northampton man launches petition to rescue funding for life-saving cancer medication

Northampton man launches petition to rescue funding for life-saving cancer medication A Northampton man who began a petition to stop his life-saving cancer medication being cut from the NHS is more than halfway to having the issue potentially debated heard in Parliament. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Progress in improving cancer services and outcomes in England report

Progress in improving cancer services and outcomes in England report The Department and NHS England have allowed a loss of momentum in the drive to improve cancer services according to the Public Accounts Committee's report

See also:

• MPs criticise England cancer services BBC News
• Britain's triple cancer failure revealed in string of reports The Daily Mail
• Cancer care slipping under coalition government, MPs warn GP Online

Major bid to prevent illness with launch of national diabetes prevention drive

Major bid to prevent illness with launch of national diabetes prevention drive The NHS and Public Health in England will today (Thursday) start a major national initiative to prevent illness by unveiling the first ever at-scale National NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme.

Simon Stevens, NHS England’s Chief Executive, will announce the move in a major speech at the Diabetes UK conference in London.

The programme, which is a joint initiative between NHS England, Public Health England (PHE) and Diabetes UK, aims to significantly reduce the four million people in England otherwise expected to have Type 2 diabetes by 2025.

It is estimated that a big proportion of Type 2 diabetes could be prevented, and England will be the first country to implement a national evidence-based diabetes prevention programme at scale, delivering on the commitment set out in the NHS Forward View and PHE’s Evidence into Action last year.

Well-designed randomised controlled trials in Finland, the USA, Japan, China and India show 30-60 per cent reductions in Type 2 diabetes incidence over three years in adults at high risk through intensive lifestyle change programme interventions.

If the national programme could replicate this success, it could save tens of thousands of lives in the future and millions of pounds for the NHS. NHS England

See also:

• Press release: National NHS Diabetes initiative launched in major bid to prevent illness Public Health England
• RCGP response to NHS England announcement on diabetes prevention Royal College of General Practitioners
• NHS to offer free cookery classes in war on obesity The Daily Telegraph
• Free slimming classes to be offered to overweight NHS staff  The Independent

Guidance: NHS foundation trust governors: representing the interests of members and the public

Guidance: NHS foundation trust governors: representing the interests of members and the public To get public engagement right, governors need to understand their role well. With understanding comes the confidence to engage with local communities, helping to improve our NHS for patients and staff.

This guide:

• gives the context for governors’ work
• gives examples of what governors could do to promote communication between foundation trusts, their members and the public
• includes case studies of the practical experiences of foundation trusts and governors

People who are involved in helping governors to fulfil their duties may find this guide useful. Chairs and other members of foundation trust boards, membership managers and trust secretaries may wish to refer to it.

Who produced the guide?

This guide has been developed jointly by Monitor and GovernWell in association with our partners the Care Quality Commission, the Department of Health, NHS Providers and the Independent Panel for Advising Governors.

Further information for governors

Monitor has published several further guidance documents for governors and members. TheGovernWell website also includes a resource library for governors.

Why not introduce more NHS charges?

Why not introduce more NHS charges? Why not introduce more NHS charges, asks BBC's Nick Triggle

VIDEO: Lucas questions NHS spending priorities

VIDEO: Lucas questions NHS spending priorities Caroline Lucas says NHS market structures cost more than £10bn a year and this could be better spent on patient care. BBC News

Nursing tech fund 2 awards announced

Nursing tech fund 2 awards announced Electronic observations and mobile access projects are the big winners from the second round of NHS England's Nursing Technology Fund, with 62 organisations splitting £35 million in funding. E-Health Insider

New GMC report highlights factors that affect progression of doctors in training

New GMC report highlights factors that affect progression of doctors in training New data reports for the first time on examination results and recruitment outcomes for different groups of doctors across the UK. The General Medical Council

See also:

• Interactive reports to investigate factors that affect progression of doctors in training (Briefing) The General Medical Council
• Black and minority ethnic doctors less likely to be offered GP training places GP Online

Exclusive: Health check target to be missed as uptake drops

Exclusive: Health check target to be missed as uptake drops Public Health England (PHE) is set to miss its target to increase uptake of the NHS health check to 66% this financial year, GP can reveal, as official figures show uptake may instead drop. GP Online

See also:

• Infographic: Is the £300m health check programme working? GP Online

MPs vote to introduce standardised cigarette packs

MPs vote to introduce standardised cigarette packs Plan is for standardised tobacco packaging to be introduced from 20th May 2016 OnMedica

See also:

• MPs back standardised cigarette packs BBC News
• Britain to become second country in the world to pass law on plain cigarette packets to deter a new generation of smokers The Daily Mail
• RCN responds to introduction of plain packaging for tobacco products Royal College of Nursing

Number of NHS patients waiting too long for crucial medical tests hits RECORD high

Number of NHS patients waiting too long for crucial medical tests hits RECORD high Some 18,740 patients had to wait longer than six weeks to take cancer and other tests in January – more than five times higher than in May 2010 when the Coalition took over. The Daily Mail

NHS agrees largest-ever privatisation deal to tackle backlog

NHS agrees largest-ever privatisation deal to tackle backlog Plan by NHS Supply Chain to deal with backlog of patients waiting for surgery and tests will see 11 companies paid £780m to diagnose and treat patients

The NHS has agreed the biggest-ever privatisation of its services in a deal worth up to £780m intended to help hospitals tackle the growing backlogs of patients waiting for surgery and tests.

The deal will see 11 private firms paid by the NHS to carry out heart, joint and other types of operations and perform scans, X-rays and other diagnostic tests on patients. Continue reading... The Guardian

'Homeopathy is no more effective than placebo for almost every illness,' says health council

'Homeopathy is no more effective than placebo for almost every illness,' says health council Homeopathic remedies are “no more effective than placebo” in treating health problems, new research shows. The Independent

See also:

• Homeopathy's lack of effectiveness is no surprise The Guardian