Proposals to develop new health and social care models will need to demonstrate meaningful clinical and patient involvement to get NHS England support, says Samantha Jones, plus the rest of today’s news and comment
5.50pm The Huffington Post reports that UKIP MP Douglas Carswell has backed more funding for the NHS despite | Nigel Farage backing cuts.
4.20pm Internet access for NHS staff went down earlier today when the N3 internet gateway crashed.
A spokesperson for the Health and Social Care Information Centre said: “Earlier today there was an issue with the N3 internet gateway, causing some users to experience problems when accessing external websites. The remainder of the N3 network and the clinical systems running over it were unaffected by this incident and service has now resumed.
“The issue was a dealt with as a matter of urgency. All health organisations who subscribe to email and SMS incident updates were communicated to regarding the incident. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
He writes that “scepticism should be the default setting when considering plans hatched by governments and national agencies – most fail to achieve all their goals”.
“However, the idea the centre should not use democratic legitimacy, a cross-system view and unequalled access to expertise to paint a picture of a better tomorrow and speed the service’s journey towards it would be a dereliction of duty, damaging to the NHS’s fortunes.”
2.40pm Spire Healthcare is expecting a revenue of £850m-£855m at the end of the financial year and has a net debt of £425m, according to financial details published today.
This includes a revenue contribution of approximately £19m from the recently acquired St Anthony’s Hospital.
It expects an EBITDA of £157-£160m.
Its revenues from services provided to the NHS have grown ahead of private revenues and it expects NHS revenues to account for approximately 29 per cent of total revenues in 2014, up from 25 per cent in 2013.
The planning application for a major new cancer radiotherapy centre next to the Baddow Hospital at the Essex Healthcare Park in Chelmsford, was submitted on 12 December 2014. The centre will comprise a radiotherapy facility, housing two state-of-the-art linear accelerators, a wide-bore CT scanner, consultant rooms and an eight bay chemotherapy suite. Assuming the application is approved, work is expected to begin on site in May 2015, with completion expected before the end of 2015.
2.35pm The Guardian reports that fluoride should be added to water supplies across England to stem the increasing number of children being admitted to hospital with tooth decay, dental surgeons say.
Almost 26,000 such children between five and nine were admitted in 2013-14, making it the number one reason for admission in the age group and representing a 14 per cent rise in three years.
Under the changes, eight drugs will cease to be available through the fund under any circumstances, while a further eight have had the range of indications - conditions for which they can be prescribed - reduced.
Four new treatments have been added to the list, including Panitumumab, a treatment for bowel cancer.
The changes were widely expected after NHS England began evaluating the cost effectiveness of medicines available through the fund last autumn in a bid to bring down its spiralling cost.
In its evidence to the NHS pay review bodies NHS Employers outlines proposals to axe medical consultants’ right to opt out of non-emergency evening and weekend work, and automatic pay progression.
It also includes plans to cut the amount paid to non-medical staff for working evenings and weekends, which NHS Employers estimated costs the health service around £1.4bn, excluding payments for on-call and ambulance staff which bring the total to £1.8bn.
12.35pm Hunt says the government does want to implement the recommendations of the NHS England Urgent and Care review.
12.35pm Hunt says NHS maangers have a responsiblity to be “sensible with their own pay”. He says at a time when NHS staff have been told they won’t receive a 1% pay rise managers “should set an example”.
12.30pm Hunt says it is the top priority that there will be a “smooth transition” as Circle pulls out of Hinchingbrooke.
12.30pm Hunt says there has been some problems with the Ombudsman and a lack of expertise.
12.25pm Labour MP Jamie Reed is asking about Hinchingbrooke. He asks when Hunt was first told about the problems and why the trust was only put into special measures last week.
Hunt says the government has improved the CQC inspection process compared to the last government.
12.20pm Labour MP Liz Kendall has just referenced HSJ’s story into the Public Health England alert into a fall in life expectancy in the North.
12.15pm One Lib Dem MP says that patients have been asked “are you conscious?” by NHS 111 call handlers.
12.10pm Burnham said that East of England ambulance service downgraded “thousands of 999 calls”. 57 of these patients died. He calls for an investigation.
12.05pm Hunt says East Kent University Hospitals Foundation Trust is making good progress since it was put in special measures.
12.00pm Mark Reckless asks if emergency doctors should be paid more.
Hunt says the contract needs to be looked at. He says that doctors don’t want more money, but better holidays.
11.47am Burnham says recently 17,000 category A patients waited longer than 19 minutes for an ambulance.
Hunt says “we are backing the NHS with more nurses and doctors” and Labour should “stop trying to weaponise the NHS”.
11.45am Hunt admits the way ambulance targets are set up means it is possible to hit the targets while not delivering a “satisfactory service” to rural areas.
He says that because it is a “challenging winter” now is not the time to deal with this.
11.42am Labour MP Bridget Phillipson is asking about the pressure on the ambulance service.
Jeremy Hunt says that more money is on the front line which means the NHS is “better equipped” to deal with pressures than ever before.
11.40am Health questions in the Commons has started. Conservative MP Maria Miller says GPs need to be better at identifying post-natal depression in mothers.
11.25am The Guardian reports that Pauline Cafferky, the nurse who was infected with the Ebola virus while treating patients in Sierra Leone, is improving and no longer critically ill, the Royal Free Hospital in London has said.
The move comes in order to give the region’s health leaders time to carry out an engagement exercise with local stakeholders ahead of a new contract being signed in April 2017.
The CCG had last year announced its intention to recommission its community health and social care service for an unprecedentedly long contract of up to seven years.
10.50am The Health and Social Care Information Centre has appointed a previous director from South West Commissioning Support Unit, Andy Kinnear, to its provider support directorate.
He will join the organisation next month on secondment and provide advice on local delivery of integrated care.
His role will involve advising on health and social care integration solutions, as well as mapping progress of health and social care integrations.
Mr Kinnear is the director of business intelligence and informatics at South West Commissioning Support Unit.
Samantha Jones, who was appointed last week as NHS England’s director of new care models, said she hoped her new team would also be able to work with local health economies to remove obstacles preventing changes from being implemented across the country.
She said this could include NHS England “working together with local areas as a team” to tackle barriers such as the way the national tariff rewards activity and information technology problems.
10.25am Also in The Times, David Cameron accused Ed Miliband of “wriggling like an eel” over whether the Labour leader told the BBC that he wanted to “weaponise” the NHS.
Mr Miliband was asked seven times on The Andrew Marr Show whether he used the phrase when talking to Nick Robinson, the BBC’s political editor.
He said: “I don’t recall exactly what I said.”
10.00am The Times reports that a longstanding pledge to prioritise teenage mental health has been called into question after figures revealed cuts have been made to services every year since the coalition came to power.
Spending has fallen from £766m in 2010 to £717m in 2012-13, the latest year for which figures are available, according to information released in a series of parliamentary questions.
9.50am Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons this morning will focus on health. There is likely to be questions over the performance of A&E departments after major incidents were declared across the country last week.
We will be covering it live from 11.30.
9.35am The Telegraph reports that Ed Miliband’s strategy to “weaponise” the NHS is “toxic”, a senior accident and emergency doctor has warned.
Dr Clifford Mann, president of the College of the Emergency Medicine, said the Labour leader was treating the NHS like a “political football” and should focus on “practical solutions” instead.
He insisted it was “disingenuous” for Mr Miliband to claim the NHS’s problems would “disappear” if “you simply change politicians”.
9.30am The Telegraph reports that 8,000 patients are likely to have their lives cut short after a decision to withdraw NHS funding for 25 treatments.
Medication that offers a last chance to patients with cancer - including those with breast, prostate and bowel disease - will no longer be funded by the NHS, under plans to scale back spending from April.
Experts said about two thirds of those who seek NHS treatment for advanced bowel cancer are likely to face an earlier death because of the decision.
7.00am Good morning and welcome to HSJ Live. The misattribution of budget for specialised services can be avoided through careful analysis of data, says Paul Fitzsimmons, director of sales and marketing at healthcare intelligence provider CHKS, plus the rest of today’s news and comment.
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