Category Archives: hospital

Nurses to train in basic care, ministers to say

26 March 2013 Last updated at 01:23

Nurses to train in basic care, ministers to say

By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

 The public inquiry focused on regulation and supervision

Nurses will have to spend time as healthcare assistants doing basic tasks such as washing and dressing before completing their degree training, ministers are proposing.

The move is part of a package of measures to be unveiled in response to the Stafford hospital inquiry.

Ministers will concede later a change of culture is needed across the system.

It comes after the inquiry claimed the public had been betrayed over the way the scandal was handled.

Previous reports have documented harrowing neglect and abuse at the hospital between 2005 to 2008.

Statistics at the time showed there were between 400 and 1,200 more deaths than would be expected.

NHS 111 phone number sparks concern

NHS 111 phone number sparks concern

By Michelle Roberts Health editor, BBC News online

Doctors are questioning the safety of a new non-emergency NHS telephone advice line launching in England.

The 111 service, replacing NHS Direct, is being piloted in many regions but has proved problematic, with some callers left on hold for hours.

Dr Laurence Buckman, the British Medical Association’s GP committee chair, says wider rollout should be stalled.

The Department of Health says it is giving some areas extra time.

It has already sanctioned an extension of up to six months of the original 1 April 2013 deadline for regions struggling to set up the new service.

Proposed changes to mental health services in Norfolk and Suffolk

Proposed Trust Service Strategy

Trust Service Strategy – how you can have your say
Clinicians in Norfolk and Suffolk have been proposing changes to mental health services for the next four years. The proposals were sparked by budget challenges facing the whole of the NHS – NSFT is facing a 20% reduction in its spend in four years’ time compared with today.

But rather than just make cuts, our clinicians are seeing this as an opportunity to redesign services which are fit for the future and offer real alternatives to hospital care and the care we currently provide. Everything has to fit within our new budgets, but of more importance is the need to make sure all services provide good and safe outcomes for service users and their family carers.