Top health stories
05.03.10                                                                                 How can you help the PA? Click here

Welcome to all of our new members and E-members

 This week...

1.    Report on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery

2.    Consultation on GP practice boundaries

3.    Safety concerns in Oxford and Milton Keynes

4.    NICE says no to bone disease drug in England and Wales

5.    Campaign for Fairtrade medical instruments in the NHS

1. Report on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery

 
On Wednesday the Prime Minister’s Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery published its final report calling for nurses to be put at the centre of care for patients,  calling for the professions to sign up to a pledge to restate their commitment to patient care.

Among the reports other recommendations are protecting the title of ‘nurse’ by restricting it to only those registered with the NMC, better regulation of healthcare assistants responsible for tasks such as blood pressure tests, tougher assessments of the skills of specialist nurses who currently do not have to provide proof of specialisation and experience.

The commission also recommends that the status of ward sisters should be boosted with their pay being reviewed to emphasise the importance of their roles. Alongside that is a need for senior nurses from ward to Board level to take responsiblity for the quality of care for the teams they supervise.

Support was given to the announcement made last year that within four years, prospective nurses will need degree level qualifications.

Patients Association Director Katherine Murphy said: “whilst we welcome the pledge, it’s a sad indictment that there is a need to restate the commitment of nurses and midwives, the caring profession, to high quality patient care. Patients expect compassion from all healthcare professionals, but rightly or wrongly, especially from nurses. And whilst the pledge is a good first step, ensuring every nurse and midwife lives up to it is the only outcome patients are interested in.

"Whilst the vast majority do a great job a minority have been allowed to continue bringing down the reputation of the professions. We also welcome the aim to strengthen the ward Sister. They set the tone for the ward and are accountable for the care it provides. This is about giving back nurses the power to ensure they can be the "visible guardians" for patients, though this will lead to nothing if hospital trusts continue to have cultures that put finances, targets and bureaucracy ahead of patients. The same misguided focus also means nurses and midwives don't get the time they need to deliver care, this is also something that should change as the commission recognises.
 
We also welcome the recommendations to introduce some form of regulation for healthcare assistants and to make the titles and role of those providing nursing and midwifery care much clearer. We agree that this is an urgent need. We also welcome the recommendation to make the title nurse a protected title.
 
We continue to be sceptical about the move to degree only nursing. Yes better educated nurses may well have the potential to provide high quality care, but there are also many other nurses who aren't academically gifted who can still deliver first class nursing care. I think the reference to making sure current nurses without a degree continue to be respected is too little too late. Nurses are being sent a confusing message about their value without a degree if they are being told ideally everyone should have one."

The report is available on the Commission's website and can be accessed by clicking on the link below and selecting "Download the Report": http://cnm.independent.gov.uk/the-report/

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2. Consultation on GP practice boundaries

In a major overhaul of GP services, patients may soon be able to register with whichever GP surgery they choose to regardless of where they live.

A consultation launched by the Department of Health has proposed abolition of catchment areas and GP boundaries. The change would mean that patients who move house would not have to change to a GP near their new home and instead will be able to stay registered with their old doctor and people who would like to register with a GP close to where they work rather than their home will be able to do so.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham said “I want the best to be available to everyone, not according to where they live. Too often, people’s choice of GP practise is unnecessarily limited by practice boundaries”.

The move has prompted fears that ‘better’ surgeries would be swamped by an influx of new patients but surgeries would still be able to turn away patients if their lists were full as they do at present. As well as this, funding would follow patients meaning that practices with more patients would receive more money than those with fewer.

The consultation is considering a number of proposals, including keeping practice boundaries but allowing people who live outside these to register with the surgery on the condition that our of hours care will be provided by someone else.

The consultation document, however, warns of a possible strain on A&E services by people who live too far away for their GP to make home visits but have an illness or injury which would make it difficult for them to travel to the surgery. These patients would then end up going to A&E if it was closer than the GP.

PA Policy Director Kieran Mullan said "We support the principle of improving choice in primary care and this consultation is an important first step. But we are also aware that there is no simplye solution and encourage any members of the public who take part to give some real thought to all the implications and what they think is a priority for them. All the stakeholders must work togethor to make sure they come up with a solution that benefits all patients."

The consultation is open until the 28th of May and can be accessed by clicking the link below:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Liveconsultations/DH_113437  

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3. Safety concerns in Oxford and Milton Keynes

Paediatric heart surgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford has been suspended following the revelation that four children who were being treated for serious heart conditions have died. It has been reported that they were all operated on by the same doctor. 

The Trust did stress that there was no suggestion at this stage that they were due to errors by the surgeon and that the four children were very complex cases, all being born with serious heart conditions. Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: “obviously the hospital have done the right thing by acting quickly to suspend further surgery. I think the important thing to say is this is very high-risk surgery. It’s often dealing with some very poorly children indeed. I think parents should be reassured by the fact that the hospital have been reviewing their data and have acted quickly. The pattern may be explained by other reasons, I don’t know. The right thing here is not to pre-judge that investigation.”

PA Policy Director Kieran Mullan said "The local community may understandably be concerned but it seems like the Trust are taking all the right steps. What is needed now is a thorough and independent minded investigation that will hopefully be able to alleviate any concerns."

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4. NICE says no to bone disease drug in England and Wales

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has ruled against recommending azacitidine or Viazda on the NHS because of cost concerns.

The drugs are used to treat Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a debilitating bone marrow disease which affects around four in 100,000 people in the UK in which the bone marrow does not produce enough of one or more types of blood cell.

While azacitidine is not a cure, it can extend for up to nine months the lives of those suffering with a condition whose usual survival rate is around 20 months.

Azacitidine costs around £45,000 per patient but David Hall, an MDS patient and chairman of the MDS UK Patient Support Group, said “a total of only 700 patients a year in England in Wales would require treatment with azacitidine so we do not believe that providing this life-extending treatment would make a huge impact on the NHS budget”, calling the decision a huge blow.

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5. Campaign for Fairtrade medical instruments in the NHS

The British Medical Association has launched a new campaign to increase the proportion of medical instruments and equipment that is ethically sources.

Currently more than a fifth of surgical instruments come from northern Pakistan, an area rife with child labour and where workers endure dangerous sweatshop conditions.

In a BMA survey of 383 doctors, 80% were supportive of the NHS acquiring ethically sources equipment despite only 10% being aware that it existed.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: “we welcome the BMA’s initiative to raise awareness of ethical trade issues across the medical profession. We are working hard with procurers to make sure they seek assurance and evidence that international labour standards are being maintained.”

A new website for the campaign can be viewed by clicking on the link below.

http://www.fairmedtrade.org.uk/

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