NHS Bolton Library Presents… Primary Care News, Opinions & Research for the week ending 15th January 2012

Please find below a selection of the most relevant and interesting news stories of the past week. Including:

Commissioning

• only half of CCGs will be ready – GP commissioning champion
• NHS Commissioning Board needs targets for integrated care to become a reality, conference hears
• Biggest health and social care link-up set to win approval
• Future Forum: all commissioners should consider NHS and social care shared budgets

Primary care

• GPs back withdrawal of health reform bill
• Most senior leaders failing to create ‘strong work climates’
• Ministers back call to quiz patients on lifestyles
• Doctors are told to “make every contact count” to reduce costs of poor lifestyles

Public Health

• Unevenly distributed: A systematic review of the health literature about socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity in the United Kingdom
• DH advertises for future leader of Public Health England
• Commercialisation is bad for public health
• Confusion regarding cervical cancer screening and chlamydia screening among sexually active young women

 

The Lancet via NHS Athens!

You can now access The Lancet via your NHS Athens password.

The easiest way to do this is to log in via www.library.nhs.uk and access it through ‘My Journals’, selecting the ‘Elsevier’ option. From here select the log-in option and choose ‘Athens’ .  The 1st time you use it – you will need to ‘register’.

For further information please contact the library

Burnham urges medical colleges to demand bill is dropped

via Burnham urges medical colleges to demand bill is dropped | News | Health Service Journal.

This article is solely the work of the HSJ. For a full copy of the article please contact the library.

Representatives from the main royal medical colleges have met shadow health secretary Andy Burnham to discuss the possibility of a issuing a joint call for the Health Bill to be dropped.

 

Charities criticise London ‘failing’ HIV prevention programme

Charities have criticised the way HIV services in London are commissioned following the release of a report which highlights “significant management failings” and a “lack of strategy”.

via BBC News – Charities criticise London ‘failing’ HIV prevention programme.

Speech services cuts ‘leave children struggling’

Front-line cuts are leaving parents of children with speech and language problems struggling to get assistance, England’s departing communication tsar has said.

via BBC News – Speech services cuts ‘leave children struggling’.

Building the bypass—implications of improved access to sexual healthcare: evidence from surveys of patients attending contrasting genitourinary medicine clinics across England in 2004/2005 and 2009

Building the bypass—implications of improved access to sexual healthcare: evidence from surveys of patients attending contrasting genitourinary medicine clinics across England in 2004/2005 and 2009 — Mercer et al. 88 (1): 9 — Sexually Transmitted Infections.

An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full.

 

Abstract

Objective The objective of this study was to examine changes in patient routes into genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics since policy changes in England sought to improve access to sexual healthcare.

Methods Cross-sectional patient surveys at contrasting GUM clinics in England in 2004/2005 (seven clinics, 4600 patients) and 2009 (four clinics, 1504 patients). Patients completed a short pen-and-paper questionnaire that was then linked to an extract of their clinical data.

Results Symptoms remained the most common reason patients cited for attending GUM (46% in both surveys), yet the proportion of patients having sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnosis/es declined between 2004/2005 and 2009: 38%–29% of men and 28%–17% of women. Patients in 2009 waited less time before seeking care: median 7 days (2004/2005) versus 3 days (2009), in line with shorter GUM waiting times (median 7 vs 0 days, respectively). Fewer GUM patients in 2009 first sought care elsewhere (23% vs 39% in 2004/2005), largely from general practice, extending their time to attending GUM by a median of 2 days in 2009 (vs 5 days in 2004/2005). Patients with symptoms in 2009 were less likely than patients in 2004/2005 to report sex since recognising a need to seek care, but this was still reported by 25% of men and 38% of women (vs 44% and 58%, respectively, in 2004/2005).

Conclusions Patient routes to GUM shortened between 2004/2005 and 2009. While GUM patients in 2009 were less likely overall to have STIs diagnosed, perhaps reflecting lower risk behaviour, there remains a substantial proportion of high-risk individuals requiring comprehensive care. Behavioural surveillance across all STI services is therefore essential to monitor and maximise their public health impact.

Confusion regarding cervical cancer screening and chlamydia screening among sexually active young women

Confusion regarding cervical cancer screening and chlamydia screening among sexually active young women — Ogbechie et al. 88 (1): 35 — Sexually Transmitted Infections.

An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full.

 

Abstract

Objective The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recently recommended that cervical cancer screening begin at 21 years of age and occur biennially for low-risk women younger than 30 years. Earlier studies suggested that women may have limited understanding of the differences between cervical cancer screening and chlamydia screening. This study assessed the knowledge of chlamydia and cervical cancer screening tests and schedules in younger women.

Methods A survey regarding knowledge of chlamydia and cervical cancer screening was administered to 60 younger women aged 18–25 years in an obstetrics and gynaecology clinic at an urban community health centre.

Results The majority of respondents recalled having had a Pap smear (93.3%) or chlamydia test (75.0%). Although many respondents understood that a Pap smear checks for cervical cancer (88.3%) and human papillomavirus (68.3%), 71.7% mistakenly believed that a Pap smear screens for chlamydia. No respondent correctly identified the revised cervical cancer screening schedule, and 83.3% selected annual screening. Few respondents (23.3%) identified the annual chlamydia screening schedule and 26.7% were unsure.

Conclusion Many younger women in an urban community health centre believed that cervical cancer screening also screens for chlamydia and were confused about chlamydia screening schedules. As there is limited knowledge of the revised ACOG cervical cancer screening guidelines, there is a risk that currently low chlamydia screening rates may decrease further after these new guidelines are better known. Obstetrician gynaecologists and primary care providers should educate younger women about the differences between chlamydia and cervical cancer screening and encourage sexually active younger women to have annual chlamydia screening.

Trusts will not be able to exclude drugs approved by NICE from formularies, says Lansley

via Trusts will not be able to exclude drugs approved by NICE from formularies, says Lansley | BMJ.

An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full.

Patients should take legal action over “illegal” refusals by NHS healthcare providers to fund treatments approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the institute’s chairman, Sir Michael Rawlins, has suggested.

 

Stroke Horizon Scanning Volume 3 Issue 12

Stroke Horizon Scanning.

The latest edition of the X Horizon Scanning bulletin is out and available. Produced by NHS Libraries North West, Horizon Scanning is : “Bringing together best practice, innovation and future risks to support the commissioning process and service redesign.”

 

GPs back withdrawal of health reform bill

via GPs back withdrawal of health reform bill | BMJ.

An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full.

More than 98% of respondents to an online survey think that the Royal College of General Practitioners should call for the Health and Social Care Bill to be withdrawn, as part of a joint approach with other colleges.

 

Tipping point of too few carers for older people has been reached five years early, MPs hear

via Tipping point of too few carers for older people has been reached five years early, MPs hear | BMJ.

An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full.

Social care in the United Kingdom has reached a “tipping point” where there are too few carers available to support demand, senior charity figures have told MPs.

 

End of Life Care Horizon Scanning Volume 4 Issue 1

End of Life Care Horizon Scanning.

The latest edition of the XEnd of Life Care Horizon Scanning bulletin is out and available. Produced by NHS Libraries North West, Horizon Scanning is : “Bringing together best practice, innovation and future risks to support the commissioning process and service redesign.”

EU laws ‘putting patients at risk’

via EU laws ‘putting patients at risk’ | News | Health Service Journal.

This article is solely the work of the HSJ. For a full copy of the article please contact the library.

NHS patients are “at risk” because of European laws, the heads of two royal colleges have said

 

England’s health secretary orders three new inquiries into safety of cosmetic surgery and devices

via England’s health secretary orders three new inquiries into safety of cosmetic surgery and devices | BMJ.

An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full.

The UK private surgery firm that carried out the greatest number of implants made by the now discredited and bankrupt French company Poly Implant Prosthèse (PIP) has refused to pay for the removal and replacement of the implants, claiming that the fault lies with the government.

 

 

Unevenly distributed: A systematic review of the health literature about socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity in the United Kingdom

BMC Public Health | Abstract | Unevenly distributed: A systematic review of the health literature about socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity in the United Kingdom.

This article is available freely via Open Access. Please click on the above link to view it fully.

 

Abstract (provisional)

Background

There is a growing literature documenting socioeconomic inequalities in obesity risk among adults in the UK, with poorer groups suffering higher risk.

Methods

In this systematic review, we summarize and appraise the extant peer-reviewed literature about socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity risk in the UK published between 1980 and 2010. Only studies featuring empirical assessments of relations between socioeconomic indicators and measures of obesity among adults in the UK were included.

Results

A total of 35 articles met inclusion criteria, and were reviewed here.

Conclusion

Socioeconomic indicators of low socioeconomic position (SEP), including occupational social class of the head-of-household at birth and during childhood, earlier adulthood occupational social class, contemporaneous occupational social class, educational attainment, and area-level deprivation were generally inversely associated with adult obesity risk in the UK. Measures of SEP were more predictive of obesity among women than among men. We outline important methodological limitations to the literature and recommend avenues for future research.

Axing legal aid for clinical negligence claims will cost the NHS an extra £28.5m a year, says report

via Axing legal aid for clinical negligence claims will cost the NHS an extra £28.5m a year, says report | BMJ.

An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full

The UK government’s plans to scrap legal aid for clinical negligence claims in England and Wales will cost nearly three times as much as it saves and produce a net loss of £18m (€22m, $28m) a year, says an independent report from King’s College London.

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PFI scheme changes are inadequate, MPs say

 

Gov

via PFI scheme changes are inadequate, MPs say | BMJ.

An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full.

ernment plans to improve private finance initiative (PFI) schemes that help fund new hospitals are too weak and fail to deal with the danger of wasting public money, MPs have concluded.

 

Office workers ‘forget to stand’

Office workers need to get out of their chairs more and talk to people face-to-face instead of using email, according to researchers.

via BBC News – Office workers ‘forget to stand’.

Hospitals have no excuse for cutting services, says Nuffield Trust

via Hospitals have no excuse for cutting services, says Nuffield Trust | BMJ.

An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full.

A new report from the health policy think tank the Nuffield Trust says that cuts in services to patients in England are difficult to justify when many opportunities exist to improve hospitals’ efficiency.

 

 

Government distorted research on reforms to disability benefit, says campaign group

via Government distorted research on reforms to disability benefit, says campaign group | BMJ.

An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full.

As the Welfare Reform Bill reaches its final stages in the House of Lords, a campaign group has published a report that is strongly critical of the proposed changes to Disability Living Allowance in the bill.