Category Archives: health
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
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.
Telehealth costs more than conventional treatment
Budget for NHS cost-cutting scheme to triple
A cost-cutting government scheme to monitor millions of NHS patients remotely in their homes is three times more expensive than expected, and is unlikely to save the predicted £1.2 billion a year, a study has found.
By Melanie Hall
One of the Coalition’s key health ambitions — to treat three million people with long-term conditions remotely — would cost £92,000 per patient, way above the £30,000 threshold set by the medical regulator, according to research published in the British Medical Journal.
The Department of Health has promoted the “telehealth” scheme, which would involve installing machines in patients’ homes to monitor their conditions and send results electronically to doctors, as a money-saving measure that also improves quality of life and reduces emergency hospital admissions, GP appointments and visits to accident and emergency departments.
However, a trial study of almost 1,000 patients already monitored in this way found that telehealth costs more than conventional treatment.
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