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Hospital
Conscious under Anaesthesia?
From Science: “We’ve known since the 1930s that brain activity changes dramatically with increasing doses of anesthetic,” says the study’s corresponding author, anesthesiologist Patrick Purdon of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “But monitoring a patient’s brain with EEG has never become routine practice.” … The researchers… found a pattern unique to the transition period. During … Continue reading
Consolidating Hospitals
From the BBC: Dr Lee believes a hospital near the M4 could serve 650,000 patients in south Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and south Oxfordshire. He said: “It’s challenging the perception of what a hospital is for. It’s very emotive and there is a certain sentimentality people feel towards their local hospitals. “It challenges the make-do-and-mend which has … Continue reading
Squeezing Medical Pay & Conditions
From the Guardian: Moves to force hospitals to provide routine surgery and scans over weekends are expected to accelerate this week when NHS medical chiefs outline policies to ensure more seven-day cover. GPs will also be expected to open surgeries for appointments rather than leaving patients to wait or use out-of-hours services. Moves towards 24/7 … Continue reading
Full Hospitals
From the BBC: Hospitals should run at about 85% capacity to give them room to cope with surges in demand, and figures show the NHS average hovering around that mark. According to the analysis, if only midweek figures are taken into account, the average capacity figure for 2011-12 was 88%. It rose to 90% if … Continue reading
Attacked by patients
From The Telegraph: Overall assaults on NHS staff in England reached almost 60,000 last year, an increase of more than three per cent on the previous year. The steepest rise was seen in assaults by patients who were undergoing treatment and whose condition contributed to the attack. This means that a criminal conviction is unlikely, … Continue reading
Pay for Performance
From The Telegraph: The £4.8 million pay-for-performance scheme in north west England led to 890 lives being saved across 24 hospitals providing emergency care, over an 18-month period. University researchers found a “significant” fall in mortality rates for pneumonia, heart failure and heart attacks… In the ‘Advancing Quality’ scheme in north west England, it was … Continue reading
Private healthcare on the NHS
From the BBC: The data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre revealed that private providers treated 345,200 non-emergency NHS patients in 2011-12, a 32,900 rise on the previous year. These were for planned care, such as knee and cataract operations. The figure represents 4.3% of all the routine NHS treatments. The rise is … Continue reading
A return to a longer doctor’s week?
From The Telegraph: Dr Andrew Goddard, director of the [Royal College of Physicians’] medical workforce unit, explained the [European Working Time] Directive limited doctors to a 48-hour working week, averaged over 26 weeks. Staff can opt out. But he said the New Deal put a straitjacket on that, effectively limiting paid work to 48 hours … Continue reading
(Inter)National Health Service?
From the BBC: High-profile NHS hospitals in England are to be encouraged by the government to set up profit-making branches abroad to help fund services in the UK. An agency will aim to link hospitals such as Great Ormond Street with foreign governments that want access to British-run health services. Investment would have to be … Continue reading
The GP Practice of the future?
From The Guardian: The health reforms, tougher challenges facing social care and efficiency savings have pushed visions for integrated services to the forefront of the NHS. By 2020 will general practices across the county see minor surgery units, more diagnostics, extended opening hours and a range of rehabilitation services all on one site and helping … Continue reading
