via Competition improves health services, think tank says | BMJ.
An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full.
Competition can improve health services and reduce costs, the pressure group Reform has concluded.
A new report by the market oriented think tank provides examples of healthcare systems around the world to show that, far from fragmenting services, as critics of the government’s healthcare reforms claim, competition and reconfiguration can integrate and improve them.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has insisted that the government’s plans to overhaul the NHS will not mean a “market free-for-all” in healthcare.
via BBC News – NHS changes ‘won’t be a market free-for-all’.
via Hospitals need to change to ensure older people are treated with dignity, says commission | BMJ.
An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full.
An independent commission has called for fundamental changes so that hospitals and care homes ensure that all patients and residents are treated with dignity and respect.
via NHS will soon have to specify what care is and what isn’t freely available, GPs say | BMJ.
An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full.
The NHS needs to think carefully about what will and what won’t be funded as budgets contract, the Nuffield Trust concludes in a new report. It rules out producing a national list of treatments and procedures as too challenging a task and one that, even if successful, would inhibit local autonomy and be vulnerable to political lobbying.
via CCG calls for Health Bill to be scrapped | News | Health Service Journal.
This article is solely the work of the HSJ. For a full copy of the article please contact the library.
Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group has written to the prime minister calling on him to withdraw the Health Bill.
Foreign nationals are to be offered free treatment for HIV on the NHS under plans backed by the government.
via BBC News – Free HIV treatment on NHS for foreign nationals.
via Conflicts of interest Health Bill amendments agreed | News | Health Service Journal.
This article is solely the work of the HSJ. For a full copy of the article please contact the library.
Cross-party pressure in the House of Lords on strengthening clinical commissioning group governance will be reflected in further amendments to the Health Bill.
The teen pregnancy rate in England and Wales has reached its lowest since 1969, new data shows. You can view the data by clicking here
This article is available freely via Open Access. Please click on the above link to view it fully.
Objective To assess the effectiveness of self monitoring blood glucose levels in people with non-insulin treated type 2 diabetes compared with clinical management without self monitoring, and to explore the effects in specific patient groups.
via Lords win tweaks to Health Bill on competition | News | Health Service Journal.
This article is solely the work of the HSJ. For a full copy of the article please contact the library.
The government looks set to accept a series of further changes to its Health Bill in the face of persisting political and professional concern.
via Further operational guidance for public health teams | News | Health Service Journal.
This article is solely the work of the HSJ. For a full copy of the article please contact the library.
Public health specialists in local authorities should spend roughly 40 per cent of their resources advising new healthcare commissioners, according to draft guidance launched this week.
via Lib Dems seek further Health Bill amendments | News | Health Service Journal.
This article is solely the work of the HSJ. For a full copy of the article please contact the library.
Ministers will attempt to fight off further controversy over the government’s troubled NHS reforms as the Health and Social Care Bill resumes its passage through the House of Lords today.
Please find below a selection of the most relevant and interesting news stories of the past week. Including:
Commissioning
Primary Care
Public Health
Health and Social Care Bill
a href=”http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000543.short?rss=1″>Comparing media and family predictors of alcohol use: a cohort study of US adolescents — Stoolmiller et al. 2 (1) — BMJ Open.
This article is available freely via Open Access. Please click on the above link to view it fully.
Objective To compare media/marketing exposures and family factors in predicting adolescent alcohol use.
Design Cohort study.
An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full.
We systematically reviewed school-based skills building behavioural interventions for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections. References were sought from 15 electronic resources, bibliographies of systematic reviews/included studies and experts. Continue reading
An estimated 1.3 million diabetes patients are missing out on vital and potentially life-saving health checks, the BBC has learned.
via BBC News – More than 1.3 million diabetes patients not offered vital tests.
UK alcohol deaths predicted to rise – Health News- NHS Choices.
Alcohol abuse ‘to kill 200000 people in 20 years’ – but deaths are preventable. Metro, February 20 2012
Health experts predict high rate of alcohol-related deaths. BBC news, February 20 2012
210000 people face alcohol death risk, warn doctors. BBC news, February 20 2012
Drinking will kill 210,000 in next 20 years unless we outlaw cheap booze, senior doctors warn. Daily Mail, February 20 2012
210000 people could die from alcohol abuse in next 20 years. Daily Mirror, February 20 2012
Sheron N, Gilmore I, Parsons C et al. Projections of alcohol-related deaths in England and Wales—tragic toll or potential prize?. The Lancet, Early Online Publication, February 20 2012
<!– heading
end heading –>Office for National Statistics: Alcohol-related deaths in the United Kingdom, 2010. January 26 2012
NHS Information Centre: Statistics on Alcohol: England 2011. May 26 2011
via The NHS outcomes framework 2012-3 | BMJ.
An NHS Athens account may be required to view this in full.
The NHS outcomes framework forms a central part of the English NHS reforms. It is planned to be part of the system of accountability between the secretary of state for health and the new NHS Commissioning Board…
Patients ratings of hospital care quality are accurate – Health News – NHS Choices.
This observational research suggests that reviews left on websites such as NHS Choices can be useful and may correlate with some, but not all, objective hospital data on infection rates, mortality and re-admissions. As the Mirror reported, these results suggest online hospital ratings are “not just an online moaning shop”.
Continue reading
Water ‘helps you lose weight’ – Health News – NHS Choices.
This was an appropriately designed study for looking at the effect on weight of switching to non-calorific drinks. However, it does have some limitations, including that:
Continue reading
The Health and Social Care Bill is now in its Report Stage in the House of Lords. The Bill is a crucial part of the Government’s vision to modernise the NHS so that it is built around patients, led by health professionals and focused on delivering world-class healthcare outcomes.
via Health and Social Care Bill explained | Department of Health.
More women in the north of England smoke while pregnant compared with the south, official figures for the last three months of 2011 have shown.
via BBC News – More pregnant women in northern England smoke.
via Marmot demands focus on inequality as cuts bite | News | Health Service Journal.
This article is solely the work of the HSJ. For a full copy of the article please contact the library.
Renowned epidemiologist Sir Michael Marmot has criticised the government for its lack of action on health inequalities – and called for the health impact of economic policies to be considered
Prime Minister David Cameron has called for bars, supermarkets and the drinks industry in England to do more to help ensure responsible drinking.
via BBC News – David Cameron vows to tackle binge drinking ‘scandal’.
The HSJ has also covered this story. That can eb viewed by clicking here. This article is solely the work of the HSJ. For a full copy of the article please contact the library.
via Commissioning support services to get private sector guidance | News | Health Service Journal.
This article is solely the work of the HSJ. For a full copy of the article please contact the library.
The Department of Health has invited private sector consultancies to brief NHS commissioning support services at a series of regular national “learning network” events, HSJ has learned.
via Standardised GP contract by 2015 is ‘naive’ | News | Health Service Journal.
This article is solely the work of the HSJ. For a full copy of the article please contact the library.
GP practices will agree and move to a new standard national contract within “two to three years”, the NHS Commissioning Board is estimating. The timescale has provoked warnings from leading GPs that the plan is “naive”.
This article is available freely via Open Access. Please click on the above link to view it fully.
Objective To explore the feasibility of producing small-area geospatial maps of chronic disease risk for use by clinical commissioning groups and public health teams.
Teenagers in England are eating less fatty food and more vegetables than previous generations – but some are skipping meals to lose weight, according to research.
via BBC News – ‘Fewer crisps for healthy teenagers but some skip meals’.
via Lansley remains defiant as pressure grows over competition | News | Health Service Journal.
This article is solely the work of the HSJ. For a full copy of the article please contact the library.
An embattled Andrew Lansley makes a staunch defence of the importance of greater competition in the NHS this week, as Liberal Democrat peers pressed to further reduce its importance in the Health Bill
Children are still exposed to the same level of junk food advertising despite tighter regulations, research suggests
via BBC News – Children ‘watch same level’ of junk food ads despite TV rules.
