NHS Bolton Library Presents… Primary Care News, Research and Opinion: Week Ending 11th March 2012

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

Commissioning

• Commissioning for Outcomes: A Resource Guide for Commissioners of Health and Social Care
• Basic healthcare needs of care home residents are being neglected by commissioners | BMJ
• Be wary of signing deals for telehealth technologies, conference hears
• commissioning board says CSSs ‘on the cusp of failing’

Public Health

• Briefing papers: Obesity and alcohol
• Sustainability of the whole-community project ’10,000 Steps’: a longitudinal study
• Is there a role for acute hospitals in tackling public health?
• Ice cream ‘as addictive as cocaine’ say paper

Primary Care

• Learn from AIDS and invest in dementia care now to save money later, conference hears | BMJ
• Mothers and babies benefit from smoking ban
• Alzheimer’s patients ‘should stay on drugs for longer’
• New end of life guidance for acutes

Health & Social Care Bill Updates

• Health and Social Care Bill 2011: a legal basis for charging and providing fewer health services to people in England
• NHS risk register: Ministers lose Freedom of Information appeal
• DH chief defends early implementation of NHS reforms | News | Health Service Journal
• Health Bill: Government limits FTs and private income
• Government action on health ‘brave’, says Cameron

Public Health to Local Authority Transfer Toolkit

Health, adult social care and ageing | Local Government Association.

Introduction

The transfer of the public health function from the NHS to local government is now well underway, with the pace of change set to accelerate.The purpose of this resource is to assist local authorities and public health to develop a local public health system that is designed to have the greatest potential for improving health, not just in councils but with all local partners. The focus is on transformation, showing how councils and public health are going beyond the practical steps of transition to develop a local vision public health, supported by new models for implementation. The resource complements other information focused on transactional issues such as HR and finance; it incorporates guidance issued up to the start of February 2012.

Public Health England – sub-national offices

Source: HPA – Local Health Protection Units. (via David Stewart)

The recent paper on the likely configuration of Public Health England stated that at sub-national level there would be around 25 offices, based on the offices of the current Health Protection Agency.

 

In the NW that would mean 3 offices – the locations are the current HPA offices, though it’s not clear if these might move:

 

• Greater Manchester – in Salford
• Cheshire & Merseyside – in Liverpool
• Cumbria and Lancashire – in Chorley

 

NHS risk register: Ministers lose Freedom of Information appeal

Ministers have been ordered to publish a risk assessment of the NHS shake-up under Freedom of Information laws.

via BBC News – NHS risk register: Ministers lose Freedom of Information appeal.

Familial factors and child characteristics as predictors of injuries in toddlers: a prospective cohort study

Familial factors and child characteristics as predictors of injuries in toddlers: a prospective cohort study — Myhre et al. 2 (2) — BMJ Open.

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

Abstract

Objective To identify family and child characteristics that put toddlers at risk of injuries.

Design A prospective cohort study.

Learn from AIDS and invest in dementia care now to save money later, conference hears | BMJ

via Learn from AIDS and invest in dementia care now to save money later, conference hears | BMJ.

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

The World Health Organization has been urged to recognise dementia as a global health priority, alongside cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease, and diabetes.

 

Coke and Pepsi alter recipe to avoid cancer warning

Coca-Cola and Pepsi are changing the recipes for their drinks to avoid being legally obliged to put a cancer warning label on the bottle.

via BBC News – Coke and Pepsi alter recipe to avoid cancer warning.

Health and Social Care Bill 2011: a legal basis for charging and providing fewer health services to people in England

via Health and Social Care Bill 2011: a legal basis for charging and providing fewer health services to people in England | BMJ.

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

Entitlement to free health services in England will be curtailed by the Health and Social Care Bill currently before parliament.1 The bill sets out a new statutory framework that would abolish the duty of primary care trusts (PCTs) to secure health services for everyone living in a defined geographical area. New clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will arrange provision of fewer government funded health services and determine the scope of these services independently of the secretary of state for health.

Basic healthcare needs of care home residents are being neglected by commissioners | BMJ

Basic healthcare needs of care home residents are being neglected by commissioners | BMJ.

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

More than half of care home residents are being denied prompt access to the basic healthcare they require, data collected by the healthcare regulator, the Care Quality Commission, show.

Demanding dignity, and competence, in older people’s care : The Lancet

via Demanding dignity, and competence, in older people’s care : The Lancet.

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

Picture a typical children’s hospital in the UK: the walls are brightly painted; cheerful assistants are employed simply to entertain; a blood sample is skilfully extracted by two nurses in a choreographed procedure designed to distress the patient as little as possible. In other words, the focus is the patient and his or her needs as a child.

 

Doctors renew call for “obstinate government” to abandon health bill

via Doctors renew call for “obstinate government” to abandon health bill | BMJ.

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

Doctors at the BMA’s annual conference for hospital consultants on 7 March renewed their call for the government to abandon the Health and Social Care Bill, which their leader described as “447 pages of unintelligible red tape.”

 

Be wary of signing deals for telehealth technologies, conference hears

via Be wary of signing deals for telehealth technologies, conference hears | BMJ.

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

NHS organisations should be wary of bulk buying telehealth technologies and getting locked into unsuitable and costly deals, says a leading campaigner for patients’ interests.

 

Mothers and babies benefit from smoking ban

via Mothers and babies benefit from smoking ban | BMJ.

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

Premature births and smoking among pregnant women have both fallen substantially in Scotland since a ban was introduced on tobacco use in public places almost six years ago.

 

Consumer response to healthy eating, physical activity and weight-related recommendations: a systematic review

Consumer response to healthy eating, physical activity and weight-related recommendations: a systematic review – Boylan – 2012 – Obesity Reviews – Wiley Online Library.

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

Summary

Strong evidence linking poor diet and lack of physical activity to risk of obesity and related chronic disease has supported the development and promotion of guidelines to improve population health.

Exploring bikeability in a metropolitan setting: stimulating and hindering factors in commuting route environments

BMC Public Health | Abstract | Exploring bikeability in a metropolitan setting: stimulating and hindering factors in commuting route environments.

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

 

Abstract (provisional)

Background

Route environments may influence people’s active commuting positively and thereby contribute to public health. Assessments of route environments are, however, needed in order to better understand the possible relationship between active commuting and the route environment. The aim of this study was, therefore, to assess the potential associations between perceptions of whether the route environment on the whole hinders or stimulates bicycle commuting and perceptions of environmental factors.

Fruit and veg ‘give healthy glow’

Even a few weeks of eating fruit and vegetables could improve your skin colour, it is claimed.

via BBC News – Fruit and veg ‘give healthy glow’.

Is there a role for acute hospitals in tackling public health?

Is there a role for acute hospitals in tackling public health? | BMJ.

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

 

Hospitals have never been reluctant to extend their reach. When primary care trusts in England were ordered to find new homes for their community services, some people thought they might all become social enterprises. A minority did—but nearly three times as many fell into the arms of acute trusts, which acquired 27% of the sector, a share worth £2.3bn (€2.7bn; $3.6bn) a year.

Perspectives of patients with type 1 or insulin-treated type 2 diabetes on self-monitoring of blood glucose: a qualitative study

BMC Public Health | Abstract | Perspectives of patients with type 1 or insulin-treated type 2 diabetes on self-monitoring of blood glucose: a qualitative study.

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

 

Abstract (provisional)

 

Background

 

Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG), including self-regulation, is an important tool to achieve good glycemic control. However, many patients measure their glucose concentrations less often than is recommended. This study investigates patients’ perspectives of SMBG and all relevant aspects influencing SMBG in patients with type 1 and insulin-treated type 2 diabetes.

commissioning board says CSSs ‘on the cusp of failing’

via Exclusive: commissioning board says CSSs ‘on the cusp of failing’ | News | Health Service Journal.

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

“Too many” of the support services vital to the success of the new NHS clinical commissioning system are “on the cusp of failing”, according to leaked NHS Commissioning Board papers

 

Telehealth cost-effectiveness questioned by researchers

via Telehealth cost-effectiveness questioned by researchers | 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 cost effectiveness of a key part of the government’s innovation strategy has been called into question in an official evaluation.

 

Monitor to publish annual reconfiguration ‘blacklist’

via Monitor to publish annual reconfiguration ‘blacklist’ | News | Health Service Journal.

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

Monitor is set to publish an annual “blacklist” of health services which must be reconfigured.

 

Alzheimer’s patients ‘should stay on drugs for longer’

Thousands of patients with advanced Alzheimer’s disease could benefit from drugs, research suggests.

via BBC News – Alzheimer’s patients ‘should stay on drugs for longer’.

Briefing papers: Obesity and alcohol

Briefing papers :: National Obesity Observatory.

This paper aims to provide a brief overview of current understanding of the key issues related to obesity and alcohol in the following areas:

• Alcohol consumption and energy intake
• Patterns and levels of drinking
• Alcohol, obesity and liver cirrhosis
• Alcohol dependency and obesity
• Obesity, alcohol and gender.

Hypertension Analysis of stress Reduction using Mindfulness meditatiON and Yoga (The HARMONY Study): study protocol of a randomised control trial

Hypertension Analysis of stress Reduction using Mindfulness meditatiON and Yoga (The HARMONY Study): study protocol of a randomised control trial — Blom et al. 2 (2) — BMJ Open.

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

 

 

Abstract

DH chief defends early implementation of NHS reforms | News | Health Service Journal

via DH chief defends early implementation of NHS reforms | 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’s most senior civil servant has defended work to implement the government’s NHS reforms before its Health Bill has been passed, in evidence to a tribunal.

 

New end of life guidance for acutes

via New end of life guidance for acutes | News | Health Service Journal.

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

Hospital managers and directors are to get new guidance on improving end of life care.

The document is entitled Transforming End of Life Care in Acute Hospitals: the route to success ‘how to’ guide.

 

The identification of job opportunities for severely disabled sick-listed employees.

BMC Public Health | Abstract | The identification of job opportunities for severely disabled sick-listed employees..

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

 

Abstract (provisional)