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Asylum seekers with disabilities ‘abandoned’ in former Essex care home

The Home Office has been accused of abandoning 55 asylum seekers with a range of severe disabilities and life-limiting conditions at a former care home in an Essex seaside town.

The asylum seekers, who fled various conflict zones including Sudan and Afghanistan, are struggling with a range of health conditions they have suffered from since childhood or life-changing injuries suffered in war zones.

One told the Guardian: “Everybody is suffering in this place. It used to be a care home but now there is no care. We are free to come and go but to me, this place feels like an open prison. We have just been left here and abandoned.”

Those living in the former care home are struggling with health conditions including loss of limbs, blindness, deafness and mobility issues requiring a wheelchair – although not all have been able to access one. At least eight are paraplegic.

They were placed in the former care home, which opened in November, by Home Office officials. It is staffed like a standard Home Office asylum seeker hotel with security guards and reception staff but does not have trained care workers or nurses there as part of the contract.

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Source: The Guardian, 23 June 2023

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Maternity unit shut for four days after generator fails

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust temporarily suspended admissions to the women’s and children’s centre at Princess Royal Hospital – which houses the provider’s consultant-led maternity services – earlier this week due to an issue with a generator.

HSJ understands a power cut occurred and estates chiefs were concerned about running solely on battery power, hence suspending admissions while the problem was fixed.

Five inductions of labour were diverted to neighbouring trusts, while fewer than five caesarean sections were rescheduled during the outage.

Meanwhile, 56 patients accessing the trust’s telephone triage service were advised by medical chiefs to attend nearby hospitals.

Following the incident, a learning review is taking place, and HSJ understands this will investigate whether any women came to harm. HSJ has also been told the generator has been fixed “as good as permanently”.

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Source: HSJ, 23 June 2023

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‘Longest ever strike’ announced by junior doctors for next month

Junior doctors will take part in what is “thought to be the longest single period of industrial action in the history of the health service” for five days next month.

The British Medical Association junior doctor committee announced this morning there would be a walkout from 7am on Thursday 13 July and 7am on Tuesday 18 July in its ongoing pay dispute with government.

It comes amid growing expectation that a Royal College of Nursing ballot on further strike action over the Agenda for Change pay award, which ends this week, is likely to fail to secure a mandate.

But junior doctors’ strikes are continuing to hit elective recovery, and strain relationships, with workload on other groups increased as they are asked to provide cover. 

Junior doctors have allowed no “derogations” (exemptions) from the action, as they say other staff groups can cover emergency care, and one move to call them in to a busy hospital in the south west, in an earlier round, was abandoned. 

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Source: HSJ, 23 June 2023

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Vaccine for pneumonia infection could ease strain on NHS

A vaccine that promises to protect infants and the over-75s from a lung infection which adds to pressure on the NHS each winter has been backed by government advisers.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of pneumonia in the very young and elderly. It typically causes between 22,000 and 30,000 hospital admissions of small children a year.

RSV’s impact on the elderly is less well understood but important, and experts believe that an effective vaccine could significantly lessen winter pressures on the health service.

After 60 years of research, vaccines for older adults from Britain’s GSK and its US rivals Pfizer and Moderna are in the final stages of development.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) believes that they could be licensed this year or early next year and trial data suggest that they work well.

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Source: The Times, 23 June 2023

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AI to be deployed more widely across the NHS as new funding announced

Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to be rolled out more widely across the NHS in a bid to diagnose diseases and treat patients faster.

The Government has announced a £21 million funding pot that NHS trusts can apply for to implement AI tools for the likes of medical imaging and decision support.

This includes tools that analyse chest X-rays in suspected cases of lung cancer.

AI technology that can diagnose strokes will also be available to all stroke networks by the end of 2023 – up from 86% – and could help patients get treated faster and lead to better health outcomes.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the technology could help cut NHS waiting lists ahead of winter.

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Source: The Independent, 23 June 2023

 

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More than 1.3bn adults will have diabetes by 2050, study predicts

The number of adults living with diabetes worldwide will more than double by 2050, according to research that blames rapidly rising obesity levels and widening health inequalities.

New estimates predict the number will rise from 529 million in 2021 to more than 1.3 billion in 2050. No country is expected to see a decline in its diabetes rate over the next 30 years. The findings were published in The Lancet and The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journals.

Experts described the data as alarming, saying diabetes was outpacing most diseases globally, presenting a significant threat to people and health systems.

“Diabetes remains one of the biggest public health threats of our time and is set to grow aggressively over the coming three decades in every country, age group and sex, posing a serious challenge to healthcare systems worldwide,” said Dr Shivani Agarwal, of the Montefiore Health System and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

The research authors wrote: “Type 2 diabetes, which makes up the bulk of diabetes cases, is largely preventable and, in some cases, potentially reversible if identified and managed early in the disease course. However, all evidence indicates that diabetes prevalence is increasing worldwide, primarily due to a rise in obesity caused by multiple factors.”

Structural racism experienced by minority ethnic groups and “geographic inequity” were accelerating rates of diabetes, disease, illness and death around the world, the authors said.

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Source: The Guardian, 22 June 2023

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Revealed: The specialties with rocketing litigation costs

Litigation costs for specialties including intensive care, oncology and emergency medicine have rocketed by up to five times as much as they were before the pandemic, internal data obtained by HSJ reveals.

HSJ's data reveal costs for claims relating to intensive care, oncology, neurology, ambulances, ophthalmology and emergency care have increased – both for damages and legal costs – by significantly more than average.

The steepest cost rise was in intensive care, which saw the bill increase fivefold from £4.3m in 2019-20 to £23.7m in 2021-22.

Other specialisms which reported higher than average percentage increases were oncology, a 159% increase from £15m to £38.9m, and neurology, a 95% uplift from £18.4m to £36m.

Key findings from these reports included missed or delayed diagnosis, missing signs of deterioration, failure to recognise the significance of patients re-attending accident and emergency multiple times with the same problem, and communication issues.

Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “I’m extremely worried about the amount of money we’re spending on litigation… There’s a good reason we must not normalise an abnormal situation and we need to invest in an emergency care system which avoids these huge costs.”

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Source: HSJ, 23 June 2023

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Cardiff: Women 'treated differently' due to ethnicity at hospital

There is evidence of black, Asian and minority ethnic women being treated differently at the University Hospital of Wales, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) has said.

HIW completed an inspection of UHW's maternity services in November 2022 and served an urgent improvement notice.

A follow up inspection in March found continuing issues with patient safety.

The inspectorate said in November that it identified issues which meant that patients were not consistently receiving an "acceptable standard of timely, safe, and effective care".

Although "some improvements had been made in many areas... there remained significant challenges, and overall, the improvements were not progressing at the pace required", it said.

The report added: "We found low morale amongst staff that we spoke to, and similar comments were received following a staff survey.

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Source: BBC News, 22 June 2023

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Survey shows high levels of abuse of UK doctors by patients

More than half of UK doctors have seen or experienced abuse by patients or their relatives in the last year, including incidents in which they have been spat at and threatened.

Doctors have variously had their hair ripped out, been backed up against a wall and been racially abused, a survey and dossier of testimonies collated by a medical organisation has revealed.

Long delays for care and staff shortages are cited as the main triggers for what NHS leaders say is an increased readiness by the public to be aggressive towards frontline staff.

The research by the Medical Protection Society (MPS) found that 56% of the doctors questioned had experienced or witnessed a situation involving verbal or physical abuse over the last year.

Almost half said incidents had occurred because of a lack of staff, while 45% blamed it on patients’ frustration at having to wait a long time to be treated.

One doctor told the MPS how a “patient’s partner threatened to kill me as he felt his wife had waited too long to be seen”, while another said: “I had a handful of my hair ripped out despite the patient being in handcuffs and with the police.”

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Source: The Guardian, 22 June 2023

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Health bosses warn of heart disease emergency in England

England is engulfed in a cardiovascular disease emergency, health bosses have said, as stark figures reveal there have been almost 100,000 excess deaths since the start of the Covid pandemic.

Analysis of official government data suggests that more than 500 people a week are dying needlessly from heart disease, heart attacks or strokes. There have been 96,540 extra cardiovascular-related deaths since March 2020, according to the report by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

The BHF said other factors were likely to be driving the continued increase in excess deaths involving cardiovascular disease, including severe and ongoing disruption to NHS heart services.

“Covid-19 no longer fully explains the significant numbers of excess deaths involving cardiovascular disease,” said Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, a consultant cardiologist and associate medical director at the BHF. “Other major factors are likely contributing, including the extreme and unrelenting pressure on the NHS over the last few years.

“Long waits for heart care are dangerous – they put someone at increased risk of avoidable hospital admission, disability due to heart failure and premature death. Yet people are struggling to get potentially lifesaving heart treatment when they need it due to a lack of NHS staff and space, despite cardiovascular disease affecting record numbers of people.”

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Source: The Guardian, 22 June 2023

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One in 10 health workers in England had suicidal thoughts during pandemic

One in 10 health workers in England had suicidal thoughts during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to research that highlights the scale of its mental impact.

The risk of infection or death, moral distress, staff shortages, burnout and the emotional toll of battling the biggest public health crisis in a century significantly affected the mental wellbeing of health workers worldwide.

A study involving almost 20,000 responses to two surveys reveals the full extent of the mental health impact on workers at the height of the pandemic.

Research led by the University of Bristol analysed results from two surveys undertaken at 18 NHS trusts across England. The first was carried out between April 2020 and January 2021 and completed by 12,514 workers. The second – covering October 2020 to August 2021 – was completed by 7,160.

The first survey found that 10.8% of workers reported having suicidal thoughts in the preceding two months, while 2.1% attempted to take their own life in the same period. Some 11.3% of workers who did not report suicidal thoughts in the first survey reported them six months later, with 3.9% – about one in 25 – saying they had attempted to take their own life for the first time.

Responses showed that a lack of confidence in raising safety concerns, feeling unsupported by managers, and having to provide a lower standard of care were among the factors contributing to staff distress.

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Source: The Guardian, 21 June 2023

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Swedish appeals court ups surgeon's sentence for 'harm' during experimental windpipe transplants

 

A Swedish appeals court on Wednesday increased a prison sentence for an Italian surgeon over experimental stem cell windpipe transplants on three patients who died.

Dr Paolo Macchiarini made headlines in 2011 for carrying out the world’s first stem cell windpipe transplants at Sweden’s leading hospital and had been sentenced to no prison time by a lower court.

But the Svea Court of Appeal concluded that there were no emergency situations among two of the three patients who later died, while the procedure on the third could not be justified. The appeals court sentenced the Italian scientist to 2 1/2 years in jail for causing the death of three people between 2011 and 2014.

“The patients have been caused bodily harm and suffering,” the appeals court said of the two men and one woman. The patients, it concluded, “could have lived for a not insignificant amount of time without the interventions.”

Macchiarini denied any criminal wrongdoing. Once considered a leading figure in regenerative medicine, Macchiarini has been credited with creating the world’s first windpipe partially made from a patient’s own stem cells.

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Source: ABC News, 21 June 2023

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Mesh surgery women not given accurate advice, says report

Women who underwent mesh surgery were not given accurate information before the life-altering procedure, a case review has found.

The study also said poor communication between patients and doctors led, in some cases, to mistrust.

Medical notes were often misleading or did not detail the surgery that had occurred or its outcomes.

The review spent two years looking at the cases of 18 women who received transvaginal mesh implants.

It has now called for a comprehensive register to be set up to keep track of women who have had operations to remove mesh in Scotland, abroad and privately.

The Transvaginal Mesh Case Record Review by Glasgow Caledonian University makes a series of other recommendations, including:

  • Better aftercare following surgery
  • Clear language so patients understand exactly what surgery is going to achieve.

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Source: BBC News, 21 June 2023

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UK Covid deaths among worst of big European economies

The UK had one of the worst increases in death rates of major European economies during the Covid pandemic, BBC analysis has found.

Death rates in the UK were more than 5% higher on average each year of the pandemic than in the years just before it, largely driven by a huge death toll in the first year.

That was above the increase seen in France, Spain or Germany, but below Italy and significantly lower than the US.

It would take many inquiries to tease apart the effect of all the possible reasons behind every nation's pandemic outcomes: preparedness, population health, lockdown timing and severity, social support, vaccine rollout and health care provision and others.

But some argue that there are lessons for the UK that need to be learned even before we think about future pandemics.

The UK's heavy pandemic death toll "built on a decade of lacklustre performance on life expectancy" says Veena Raleigh, of the King's Fund, a health think tank. She argues that government action to improve population health and turn that around has "never been more urgent.

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Source: BBC News, 22 June 2023

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"Infected blood killed my dad - I want compensation now"'

The family of a man who died after being given infected blood have called on the UK government to pay their compensation immediately.

Randolph Peter Gordon-Smith, who had haemophilia, learned in 1994 that he had been infected with hepatitis C.

His daughter said the family were "abandoned" to care for him without support before his death in 2018.

The chairman of the UK infected blood inquiry has said parents and children of victims should receive compensation.

Sir Brian Langstaff wants to see a final compensation framework set up by the end of the year.

Ms Gordon-Smith, who lives in Edinburgh, says compensation would provide an acknowledgement of "what they did to our family" as his daughters cared for him when he was dying.

"I think the government needs to get their chequebook out, do the right thing and pay [the compensation]," she added. "Not when the inquiry rules, but now."

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Source: BBC News, 22 June 2023

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Legal right to visit patients proposed by government

The government has proposed new legislation to make patient visiting a legal right and also give the Care Quality Commission (CQC) fresh powers to enforce it.

The Department of Health and Social Care has launched a consultation to seek views from patients, care home residents, families, professionals and providers on the introduction of new legislation which will require health and care settings, including hospitals, to accommodate visitors in most circumstances. 

It said the new visiting laws will also provide the CQC with a “clearer basis for identifying where hospitals and care homes are not meeting the required standard”, and enable it to enforce the standards by issuing requirement or warning notices, imposing conditions, suspending a registration or cancelling a registration.

It said although the CQC currently has powers “to clamp down on unethical visiting restrictions”, the expected standard of visiting rules is not “specifically outlined in regulations”.

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Source: HSJ, 21 June 2023

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Warning of suicide risk side effect over common NHS antibiotic after doctor's death

A warning has been made over the possible side effects of a common NHS antibiotic by a coroner after a newly retired senior doctor died by suicide.

"Respected and experienced" consultant cardiologist Robert Stevenson had no history of depression or mental health problems before he started a course of ciprofloxacin.

But just over a week later, the 63-year-old went for a walk and messaged his wife to tell her he had left a note under his pillow.

He was later found dead in a nearby wood.

The note he had left was said to be "uncharacteristically confused and illogical" with "baseless concerns" that he might have AIDS after taking an online HIV tester kit, an inquest heard.

The hearing was told Dr Stevenson hadn't been told about a "potential rare link" to suicidal behaviour in patients who took the drug, as this wasn't in line with medical guidance.

Now, coroner Martin Fleming issued a warning to highlight the risk of taking the antibiotic, which is prescribed by the health service for serious conditions.

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Source: The Mirror, 20 June 2023

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Children to be given single HPV jab instead of two doses

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination given in schools – which is helping to virtually eliminate cervical cancer – will move to a single dose from September, it has been announced.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the change in England follows advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and World Health Organisation scientists that a single dose “delivers robust protection” against HPV when compared with the two doses given at present.

The HPV vaccine programme is offered to all children in school Year 8, when they are aged 12 to 13.

Dr Vanessa Saliba, immunisation consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA, said: “The HPV vaccination programme is one of the most successful in the world and has dramatically lowered the rates of cervical cancer and harmful infections in both women and men – preventing many cancers and saving lives.

“The latest evidence shows that one dose provides protection as robust as two doses. This is excellent news for young people."

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Source: The Independent, 20 June 2023

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More than 5,000 mental health patients sent over 62 miles for treatment

More than 5,000 mental health patients have been sent at least 62 miles from home for treatment in the two years since ministers pledged to banish the “dangerous” practice.

The disclosure prompted calls for the “scandal” of out of area placements in mental health care to end, with claims that it represents “another broken government promise on the NHS”.

Chronic shortages of mental health beds have for years forced the health service in England to send hundreds of patients a month to be admitted for care, sometimes a long way from their own area.

Mental health campaigners, psychiatrists and patients’ families have argued that being far from home can make already vulnerable patients feel isolated, deprive them of regular visits from relatives, increase the risk of self-harm and reduce their chances of making a recovery.

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Source: The Guardian, 21 June 2023

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Fresh review into ‘doctors being bullied with regulatory referrals’

Investigators have begun a further review of how a major trust handles disciplinary and professional standards cases, including allegations leaders had targeted some doctors with referrals to the medical regulator, HSJ has learned.

The claims were part of a raft of concerns raised about University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust over recent months, including BBC Newsnight reporting that a large number of General Medical Council referrals had led to no action; and claims of whistleblowing doctors “being bullied… by the threat of referrals to the GMC”.

One external review of UHB, whose report was published in March, already examined the issue, and said it had identified 17 cases which contradicted Newsnight’s claim, with two referrals resulting in criminal conviction and removal from the medical register.

It said there was “nothing exceptional” about the referral numbers or types at UHB, or their outcomes, but also noted that medical staff told the review about “dysfunctional processes for maintaining higher professional standards”, and “expressed a perception that there was a rather rapid process to escalate to a GMC referral”.

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Source: HSJ, 21 June 2023

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As a black man I wasn't included in cancer stats

What started as a shoulder ache led to a whirlwind diagnosis of stage four cancer and a rare genetic mutation for Spike Elliott.

But his journey also highlighted a worrying ethnicity data gap in our health system.

It comes as research by one charity shows just how few patient records include ethnicity information in Wales.

The Welsh government said it was working to improve the diversity of data collection and health research.

One oncologist said it meant assumptions were made about how patients will respond, despite there being "clear differences" in how certain cancers affect different racial groups.

"I was given a life expectancy of 6 to 12 months. That was statistically supported.

"But I was alarmed when I was made aware that the statistics don't include the BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) community.

"Because what was my outcome then?"

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Source: BBC News, 21 June 2023

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Sharp rise in teenage girls with eating disorders during Covid

GP records show a sharp rise in teenage girls in the UK developing eating disorders and self-harming during the Covid pandemic, a study has found.

The increases were greatest among girls living in the wealthiest areas, which could be due to better GP access.

Young women have told the BBC that the lack of control over their lives during lockdown was a behavioural trigger.

Eating disorders and self-harming have been rising among children and young people for a number of years but "increased substantially" between 2020 and 2022, the study found.

Over that period, around 2,700 diagnoses of eating disorders were anticipated among 13-16-year-olds, but 3,862 were actually observed - 42% more than the expected figure.

Dr Shruti Garg, from the University of Manchester - a child and adolescent psychiatrist and the study author - called it a "staggering rise" which highlighted an urgent need to improve early access to support.

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Source: BBC News, 21 June 2023

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Wheelchair waiting times England: disabled people ‘denied fundamental right’ as thousands wait months for NHS chairs

Thousands of disabled adults and children, including those with the highest and most complex needs, are having to wait more than four months for an NHS wheelchair, official health figures show.

In one part of the country more than two-thirds of patients referred to the wheelchair service face waits of more than 18 weeks, or roughly four months, to get the help they need. Besides preventing them from getting around independently, and the mental health problems that can come from the resulting social isolation, a leading disability charity says disabled people can also be left with physical pain if forced to use poorly fitting or unsuitable chairs while they wait for upgrades and adaptations.

Data published by NHS England shows 16.5% of patients – one in six –  were waiting longer than the NHS target time of 18 weeks for a wheelchair, equipment for a wheelchair, or wheelchair modifications between October and December last year. This represents more than 6,000 adults and almost 1,600 children, of which thousands were registered as having high or specialist needs. The figures include new patients as well as re-referred patients whose needs may have changed or whose current equipment needs adjusting or modified.

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Source: National World, 21 March 2023

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NHS England plans not compatible with current GP funding model, says primary care director

The current GP funding model ‘does not sit comfortably’ with NHS England’s plans for primary and community care integration, according to a senior NHS England director.

In a Lords Committee hearing today, NHS England’s national director of primary and community care services Dr Amanda Doyle said a ‘rethink’ was required with regards to the primary care estate, with Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) tasked to draw up local plans.

Asked whether the GP partnership model was compatible with integration, Dr Doyle told the committee that this was ‘one of the challenges’ they are facing.

She said: "One of the challenges that the current predominant ownership model in general practice gives us is that both investment and revenue flows support that model [of] an individual, practice-sized building.

"And lots of the things we want to do as we move forward into co-located primary care services and scaled-up primary care delivery drive the need for bigger premises with a wider range of capacity, and those two models don’t sit comfortably together."

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Source: Pulse, 19 June 2023

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GPs should lose ‘sole patient data controller’ role, says NHSE chief

The government should ‘relieve’ GP practices of being the sole controller for their patients’ data, a senior NHS England director has said. 

Tim Ferris, NHSE director of transformation, said it was a “challenge” that GP practices acted as the sole controllers of their patients’ data. 

Dr Ferris, whose background is as a primary care doctor in the US, was giving evidence to a Lords committee on integration of primary and community care today. He was asked whether it was time to revisit legislation on the control of GP patient data.

He said: “Thirty years ago when the law was created, it made more sense. But I think it might no longer be fit for purpose… The idea that if I were a GP in this country, if I had legal liability for the exchange of data, I would be worried about that.”

Dr Ferris agreed there would be merit to the committee recommending the government “relieve” GPs of the sole responsibility for data protection, and their data controller status.

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Source: HSJ, 20 June 2023

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