Knowledge @lert for Tuesday 15th April
How is the NHS performing? April 2014 – The King’s Fund
This is the eleventh in a series of quarterly monitoring reports which aims to provide a regular update on how the NHS is coping as it grapples with the evolving reform agenda and the more significant challenge of making radical improvements in productivity. It highlights that the NHS has had no real rise in spending between 2010/11 and 2013/14, yet despite this, in broad terms the NHS has continued to provide services to a growing population and to maintain the quality of those services. However, our survey finds that there is deepening pessimism about the ability of the NHS to make ends meet financially, particularly in 2015/16.
Pathology goes digital in Coventry and Warwickshire – Health Service Journal
A West Midlands trust has digitised its pathology processes, allowing its medical staff to view samples and slides in high resolution on computer screens from any location. The system has been introduced by University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Trust, in coordination with Coventry and Warwickshire Pathology services.
- Contact the Library & Knowledge Service to request this article or Phn. 01704 704202
Half of nurses fear another Mid Staffs, snapshot survey reveals – Nursing Times
Nearly half of all nurses believe their organisation is at risk of becoming the “next Mid Staffs” or heading that way already, reveals the latest large-scale survey on NHS staffing levels.The findings suggest many nursing teams are operating at danger point, with ongoing shortages damaging patient care, according to a Unison poll reported by the Nursing Times.
Patient Safety Alert: Residual anaesthetic drugs in cannulae and intravenous lines: Stage 1 Warning
Requires all hospitals and community services that undertake surgery or other investigations and procedures using anaesthesia by no later than 13th May 2014 to:
- Establish if local systems are adequate to prevent the risk of leaving residual anaesthetic drugs in cannulae or intravenous line post surgery or investigation/procedure requiring anaesthesia in your services and if similar incidents have occurred.
- Consider and document if immediate action needs to be taken locally and develop an action plan, if required, to reduce the risk of a similar incident occurring.
- Disseminate this Alert to all staff involved in caring for patients post anaesthesia
- Share any learning from local investigations or locally developed good practice resources by emailing: patientsafety.enquiries@nhs.net.
From Innovation To Adoption: Successfully Spreading Surgical Innovation: Royal College of Surgeons (RCS)
This report warns that failure to adopt new surgical techniques quickly into everyday clinical practice means NHS patients are missing out on ground-breaking new procedures. It sets out the factors that have helped and hindered the adoption of new surgical techniques in England and seeks to address how to progress the uptake of surgical innovations in a practical way, eradicating delay to ensure their benefits are realised by patients as quickly as possible.
Running On Empty: NHS Staff Stretched To The Limit – Unison
Highlights research that demonstrates the clear link between appropriate patient staff ratios and patient mortality and details results of a survey of almost 3,000 nurses from across the UK highlights the pressures staffing levels in the NHS. The survey reveals that 65% of staff said that they did not have enough time with patients and 55% reporting that as a result care was left undone.
Integrating funds across health and social care is not a panacea according to recent review
This review from the University of York’s Centre for Health Economics is certainly timely for commissioners in England, with plans for the Better Care Fund well underway and Simon Stevens, the new Chief Executive for NHS England, recently quoted as saying “no-one should pretend just combining two financially leaky buckets will magically create a watertight funding solution”
Policy paper: Plans to improve primary care
‘Transforming Primary Care’ sets out plans for more proactive, personalised and joined up care, including the Proactive Care Programme, providing the 800,000 patients with the most complex health and care needs with:
- a personal care and support plan
- a named accountable GP
- a professional to coordinate their care
- same-day telephone consultations
The plan builds on the role of primary care in keeping patients well and independent. It explains how professionals across the healthcare system can work together to transform care to become more proactive and tailored to patients’ individual need.
Just in – now available to borrow from the Library & Knowledge Service
- Applying nursing process : the foundation for clinical reasoning. Rosalinda Alfaro-LeFevre (2014)
- Evidence-based practice for nurses. Janet H. Barker (2013)
- Nursing : decision making for practice. Karen Holland (2013)
- Practice development in nursing. Brendan McCormack (2013)
- Reflective practice in nursing. Lioba Howatson-Jones (2013)
- Research skills for nurses and midwives. Dyson (2013)
- The study skills handbook. Stella Cottrell (2013)
- Communication skills for children’s nurses. Veronica Lambert (2012)
- Leadership in health care. Jill Barr (2012)
- Emotional intelligence in action : training and coaching activities for leaders, managers and teams. Marcia Hughes (2012)
Contact the Library & Knowledge Service or search the Library Catalog for further details.