The NHS productivity challenge

This report describes how six trusts have been grappling with the productivity challenge. It also suggests ways to divert the NHS and social care from their current trajectory, which is heading towards a major crisis.

EPRs should ‘include location data

A patient’s location history should be a key piece of data going into new electronic health records, a geographic health expert has said.

Panorama care homes investigation: Twitter response

BBC Panorama investigation into elderly care in Britain provoked a huge response on Twitter #BBCPanorama. A BBC Panorama programme broadcast on Wednesday investigated elderly care in Britain. It featured secret filming of residents of two homes being neglected and mistreated. Care workers have been suspended and others convicted of assault following the filming – revealing residents being neglected and mistreated.

•  Follow the responses #BBCPanorama

Can social media improve care across the NHS?

Putting Patients First, the NHS England business plan for 2014/15, makes it a priority for NHS organisations to obtain direct feedback from patients, their families and NHS staff – could social media be the medicine for better communication?

A Clinical and Economic Evaluation of Control of Hyperglycaemia in Paediatric Intensive Care: The CHiP Randomised Controlled Trial  Health Technology Assessment Volume: 18 Issue: 26

This study found no differences in the effectiveness of TGC compared with CM, according to the primary outcome measure, both overall and for prespecified subgroups. The secondary clinical outcomes were generally similar between the arms, but a lower proportion of the TGC arm had renal replacement therapy, and a higher proportion had hypoglycaemia. For the cardiac surgery subgroup, average costs at 12 months post randomisation were similar between arms, and TGC was unlikely to be cost-effective. For the subgroup not admitted for cardiac surgery, average costs at 12 months post randomisation were lower for the TGC than the CM arm. Therefore, TGC is likely to be cost-effective for patients not admitted for cardiac surgery.

Policy paper: Health Education England mandate: April 2014 to March 2015

The HEE mandate for financial year 2014 to 2015 reflects updated strategic objectives around:

• workforce planning
• health education
• training and development

It sets out HEE’s role in the government response to the Francis report and requirements to support NHS and public health service priorities, such as to improve health outcomes.

Modernising Medical Careers” to “Shape of Training” how soon we forget – BMJ 

Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) changed all aspects of medical training in the United Kingdom from its introduction in 2005. It shortened the duration of training, introduced “run-through training” (removing the need to reapply for higher specialty training places, but which some specialties subsequently reversed), and reduced flexibility. MMC got doctors protesting on the streets and led to questions being asked in parliament and to John Tooke’s independent report into its failings. The longest run-through programmes are just completing their first cycle. It would be useful to analyse the current state of training—and thus identify the sources of several problems. These include the shortfall in core medical trainees needed to fill specialist training in acute medicine and geriatrics; difficulties in appointing locums, with consequent disruption of training and service delivery; and falling numbers of specialist trainees dually accredited in general medicine, because limited training time is only just enough to train adequately as a specialist.

• Read the full article (log in with your NHS OpenAthens account) or Contact the Library & Knowledge Service to request this article or Phn. 01704 704202