More than 75 different types of organisation are involved in a confusing health and care complaints system, plus the rest of today’s news and comment
6.00pm End Game this week enjoys one last joke with departing NHS England chief executive Sir David Nicholson, the winner of its unofficial best ever person on social media award, who has promised to keep tweeting about the NHS after he retires on Monday.
5.45pm There are many faults in Lord Carter’s recommendations for pathology and we should consider other options, argues Warwick Davis, principal biomedical scientist at East Sussex Healthcare Trust.
5.30pm Exaro News reports that Jeremy Hunt has asked the Department of Health to investigate senior NHS officials avoiding tax by being paid ‘off-payroll’.
The health secretary was asked to order the investigation by Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury, “to ensure that all employers are taking adequate action to prevent possible tax avoidance”.
5.15pm In The Independent, a heavily pregnant immigrant thought whose unborn child was thought to be dead, was too afraid to seek medical help, thinking she would have to pay the NHS under ‘health tourism’ rules, the High Court has heard.
5.00pm The Daily Mail has published the last photograph of a teenager dying from cervical cancer, who had previously been refused a smear test after complaining of crippling stomach pains in February.
4.45pm A mother was told could not breastfeed her newborn in a waiting room at Hospital of St Cross, Rugby, Warwickshire, The Daily Mail reports.
Gemma Murphy, 37, told the paper she was reduced to tears by the experience, in which she was put in a private room by nurses to avoid offending other patients.
She said: “The NHS encourages breastfeeding particularly in a baby’s early weeks. I certainly didn’t expect to be told in a hospital that I couldn’t breastfeed.”
4.30pm More from The Daily Mail, breast cancer deaths could be cut by a fifth by routine radiotherapy, according to an Oxford University study.
4.15pmThe Daily Mail reports on a ‘wonder drug’ that wipes out symptoms of cancer overnight be tested on British patients.
Patients at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth Devon are the first in the world to try the drug.
4.00pm In The Daily Mail, a mother has criticised NHS for refusing to fund surgery that could enable her two-year-old daughter to walk.
The paper contrasts the case with the NHS funding breast reductions, gastric bypass surgery and sex change surgery.
3.45pm The Guardian reports that hospitals will end the financial year in the red for the first time in eight years, with 25-loss making trusts reporting a combined deficit of £456.8m.
The losses of £456.8m were recorded by 26 of the 102 trusts that have not achieved foundation trust status. After surpluses at foundation trusts, the hospital sector overall will end the financial year £112m in the red, the first loss recorded since 2006.
3.30pm In The Daily Telegraph, a paramedic has admitted he failed follow protocol by not continuing to give a CPR to a girl, seven, after she suffered a fatal asthma attack, an inquest has heard.
3.20pm Responding to NHS England figures showing rising operation waiting lists, shadow health minister Jamie Reed said: “These figures reveal waiting lists spiralling upwards at precisely the time of year they should be falling. It’s a worrying sign of what lies ahead for patients as NHS lists reach their longest in years.
“David Cameron’s £3 billion reorganisation placed enormous strain on hospitals. While the chaos in A&Es led to thousands of operations being cancelled and patients rejoining waiting lists.
“This is further proof David Cameron cannot be trusted with the NHS. He must get a grip of these problems and stop putting patients through unnecessary anguish.”
3.15pm More from The Times, vulnerable people with dementia or other disabilities in care homes have the same human right to “physical liberty” as other people, Lady Hale, deputy president of the Supreme Court said yesterday.
3.00pm More from today’s papers, The Times reports on the NHS taking down 18,000 patient reviews from its website after some were found to have been posted by its own staff who did not declare an interest.
2.45pm The former practice manager of Newnham Surgery in Newnham, Gloucestershire, currently in prison, has been ordered to pay back most of the money she defrauded from the practice within six months.
Sharon Head was found to have had paid herself overtime of between £500 and £1000 a month and awarded herself a pay rise every year, without authorization, since May 2006.
She was jailed for two years and nine months following a joint fraud investigation by Gloucestershire’s NHS Local Counter Fraud Service and Gloucestershire Constabulary.
Ms Head initially denied any wrongdoing, but later pleaded guilty to 9 out of 11 counts of fraud, admitting a total criminal benefit of £95,422.32.
Lee Sheridan, the Local Counter Fraud Specialist (LCFS) who led the fraud investigation on the NHS side, said: “Sharon Head shamelessly exploited a position of trust but this shows others like her that they risk being caught and losing everything if they try this in Gloucestershire.
“Recovering the stolen money should help the practice’s GPs, who are the innocent victims of this crime, to provide care to their NHS patients.”
2.20pm The Times reports on Labour MP Ann Clwyd calling for an investigation into University Hospital of Wales where she says her husband was left to die “like a battery hen”.
Ms Clwyd also warned that the NHS in Wales faced a crisis akin to the Mid Staffordshire scandal.
2.00pm Back to today’s papers, lung cancer cases have increased among women but declined among men, reports The Independent (paper only).
Cancer Research UK found that rates of the disease among women have risen by 73 per cent. In contrast, they have fallen by 47 per cent among men.
1.45pm The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) has begun consulting its members for views over the government’s decision to reject a recommended pay rise for NHS staff.
CSP intends to assess whether there is support for measures including industrial action, which would be taken in conjunction with other health unions.
The independent NHS Pay Review Body had recommended a one per cent rise for all staff, which was rejected by the government last week.
CSP assistant director Pete Finch said: “Our members are understandably angry at this decision and we will be asking them how they want to respond.
“The government has undermined the independence and integrity of the pay process and its decision represents a continuing attack on the living standards of NHS staff who have already endured three years of pay restraint.
“The PRB recognised the direct link between the morale of staff and the quality of patient care and it is deeply disappointing that the government ignored this.”
1.30pm Flicking through today’s papers this lunchtime, The Independent reports that telehealth is being hailed as a success by Dutch researchers who have analysed a website called ParkinsonNet which allows Parkinson sufferers to communicate with specialist doctors and nurses.
1.15pm The Care Quality Commission has found continued areas of concern at Tameside Hospital Foundation Trust, which has already been put in special measures.
The CQC carried out an unannounced visit of the hospital in January to monitor whether necessary improvements has been since its last inspection in May last year.
Inspectors found the trust was failing to meet eight of the 11 national standards reviewed.
Some of the main areas concern included:
- Some staff did not demonstrate an adequate understanding of the legal requirements of the Mental Health Act 1983 and Mental Capacity Act 2005 which meant, on occasion, consent to treatment had not been properly obtained on behalf of patients who lacked mental capacity. Inspectors also found one patient who had been detained unlawfully in the hospital for several days.
- Some patients experienced delays in getting seen in the outpatient department. One person told inspectors their appointment had been cancelled four times
- Some elective operations had been cancelled due to bed shortages. For example, staff on the Women’s Health Unit told inspectors that on one day, six patients had had their operations postponed due to bed shortages.
- In some areas, the planning and delivery of care did not meet patients’ individual needs, for example the support provided to patients with mental health conditions in the Emergency Department.
- There were not enough qualified staff to meet the needs of patients in the Medical Assessment and Admissions Unit (MAAU) and on some adult medical wards, which meant staff were rushing to complete tasks and some doctor assessments were delayed.
- In parts of the hospital, some staff did not adequately respect patients’ dignity when providing care and treatment.
However, inspectors did find that improvements in other areas, and noted that patients and their families spoke well of the friendly approach of the staff.
Malcolm Bower-Brown, CQC’s regional director for the North said: “Although we were pleased to find improvement in some areas since our last inspection, our inspectors found a number of serious shortfalls against national standards.
“We have told the trust where further improvements must be made to ensure patients and their families receive the service they are entitled to expect.
“We will return shortly to check that the necessary changes have been made and can be sustained for the future.
“As this Trust is currently in special measures and already subject to enforcement action by Monitor, we have also shared the findings of our inspection with Monitor and asked them to ensure the concerns we have identified are addressed as part of their overall improvement programme for the trust.”
You can read the full inspection report here.
1.00pm The transformation consultancy Moorhouse has commented on the impact of yesterday’s budget on the health and public sectors.
Josie Cluer, the consultancy’s principal, said: “Public sector leaders will be relieved that the budget didn’t contain any further immediate cuts to their budgets in the coming year, though they will watching the work of the Cabinet Office closely in coming months, which has been asked to set out “an ambitious new efficiency programme to deliver savings from 2016-17 and across the next Parliament”. The results of this work will be announced in the Autumn Statement 2014 later this year.
“In the main, the impact of the budget on the public sector will be as the delivery engine for the eye-catching policies announced. With just over a year to go until the election, political leaders will want to see – and communicate - delivery progress. As a result of today, central government will have additional focus on areas like clamping down on tax avoidance and implementing changes to the tax and benefits system. Local government leaders will be focused on areas such as the house-building programme, taking action on potholes, and using additional funding (e.g. for troubled families) to drive better outcomes locally.
“Public sector HR managers will see that the recommendations from John Hutton have been accepted, which will see changes to employer contributions to pensions for the civil service, NHS workers, police and teachers. They will also be watching a pilot of pay delegations which have been given to two areas of government: the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Intellectual Property office will trial greater flexibility in how they spend their pay budget, with the overall pay budget being controlled for the organisation, rather than average pay awards. No doubt any HR leader employing specialists or with recruitment or retention challenges will be watching closely.”
12.30pm Maternity services are being given £10m worth of funding in a bid to improve care for women and their babies, the Department of Health has announced.
The funding will help pay for new equipment and more homely environments for expectant mothers before, during and after birth, said maternity minister Dan Poulter as he made the announcement at Kingston Hospital.
The physical act of actually ‘paying’ for a service should be the only difference explains Adele McCormack, engagement manager at the Service User Network.
12.00pm Commuters are most likely to take advantage of a new scheme that will allow patients to register at any doctor’s surgery, a study has suggested.
The initiative, which will let patients register with any GP practice outside of their area, is likely to be most popular among the young, commuters and people who have recently moved house.
The project, rolled out across England from October, will let families stay with their GP but register as an “out of area” patient - meaning families can register close to work or their children’s school.
11.45am In her leader column, HSJ deputy editor Emma Maier argues the NHS can be treated unfairly by the press, but there are plenty of areas the service can improve to repair public perceptions.
11.30am A Labour MP has written to Jeremy Hunt asking him to ensure the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman gives evidence to the investigation into the failings at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay.
The ombudsman has cited a “statutory bar” as preventing them from sharing information requested by the inquiry.
John Woodcock, MP for Barrow and Furness, sent a letter to the health secretary yesterday urging him to find a means to “allow the ombudsman to give evidence”.
The regulator will employ nearly 700 new staff, an increase of nearly 30 per cent, under its draft business plan for 2014-15 which was submitted to the regulator’s board yesterday.
11.00am Take a look at the “atlas” of the organisations and groups of people involved in the complaints system compiled by Healthwatch England and shared exclusively with HSJ.
10.45am More than 75 different types of organisation are involved in a confusing health and care complaints system which is discouraging people from raising concerns, according to work done by Healthwatch England exclusively shared with HSJ.
Healthwatch England chair Anna Bradley said the system was “incredibly complex” and got in the way of people making complaints about poor care.
10.30am The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has appointed Jon Billings as its director of strategy.
Mr Billing previously led work in a number of high profile areas such as developing and launching medical revalidation and introducing English language checks for European doctors from the General Medical Council.
He also held senior positions at the Audit Commission and Healthcare Commission.
In 2007 he became a director in Ireland’s healthcare and social care regulator.
Mr Billings said he is “delighted to be joining the NMC as it continues its programme of reform and modernisation.
“It goes without saying that nurses and midwives are pivotal in patients’ experience of healthcare, and effective regulation of the profession can play a vital role in protecting patients and promoting good practice.
“I look forward to working with the profession and the public among others to ensure the NMC is successful in doing this.”
10.15am HSJ reporters James Illman and Nick Renaud-Komiya are tweeting from the National Health IT Conference today.
Follow @Jamesillman and @NickRenKom on Twitter for regular updates throughout the day.
10.00am More from yesterday’s budget, plans to increase employer contributions to the NHS Pension Scheme are expected to increase costs by around £125m a year, HSJ can reveal.
The 2014 Budget Book, published by the Treasury yesterday afternoon, confirmed plans to raise employer contributions to the scheme from April 2015.
9:40am Yesterday’s budget revealed that the Department of Health was forecasting a zero underspend on its revenue budget for 2013-14, in what one expert said was a sign of how “finances are deteriorating very quickly across the NHS”.
7:00am Welcome to HSJ Live. We start the day with an interview with the new chief executive of the NHS Confederation, who said provider chief executives must be “system leaders” beyond their own organisations.
Rob Webster, who joined the confederation a month ago from Leeds Community Healthcare Trust, also highlighted the intense challenges senior figures now face.
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