IN BRIEF A midwife has set up an e-petition calling for a 1 per cent cost-of-living pay rise for NHS staff. Natalie Carter is urging health secretary Jeremy Hunt to reverse his decision not to give all nurses and midwives a 1 per cent pay rise this year. The petition has been welcomed by the Royal College of Midwives. Go to tinyurl.com/mce3qpk A team of nurses working with children who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has developed a tool to help children manage the condition. The ‘attention star’, created at Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust, sets out eight core areas, such as focus and attention, friendships and learning, each of which is measured on a five-point scale. The RCN has published updated guidance on nursing children and young people with mental health problems. The guidance is aimed at non-specialists in mental health and provides information on how to understand, recognise and manage mental health problems in young people. Go to tinyurl.com/lfc7c9e Compensation totalling £595,861 was paid by health service providers to individuals who complained to the parliamentary and health service ombudsman in 2013/14. The ombudsman has announced plans to publish a service charter next April setting out how the office investigates and how long investigations might take. Email [email protected] to take part in the consultation. Healthcare professionals should focus on young people of south Asian origin in a bid to reduce their chance of developing type 2 diabetes. People from south Asian backgrounds are up to six times more likely than white Europeans to develop type 2 diabetes. A report from the South Asian Health Foundation said healthcare staff should offer advice on lifestyle changes, such as taking up exercise. Go to: tinyurl.com/nvuru3a A cross-party parliamentary group has called on the next government to appoint a minister for children to tackle childhood obesity. The all-party group on a fit and healthy childhood, chaired by Baroness Benjamin, has made several other recommendations to address the child obesity epidemic. Baroness Benjamin raised the issue in the House of Lords last week. Chefs at NHS Lothian have been named the first ever winners of the NHS Good Food Challenge. The catering competition, organised by NHS National Services Scotland, tests the skills and imagination of cooks in developing the best Scottish-themed meals. The team’s winning meal was a starter of smoked mackerel pate followed by a main course of pork with plum, fig and ginger sauce and steamed vegetables. ‘It is important that not only patients but also nurses and other staff get nutritious food,’ said a spokesperson for NHS National Services Scotland.

CAMPAIGN TO REDUCE AVOIDABLE STILLBIRTH The Royal College of Midwives has welcomed a drive to halve the number of stillbirths and brain injuries in newborns over the next five years. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) says around 500 babies a year in the UK die or are left with severe disabilities because of complications during labour. The college has established the Each Baby Counts project to collect data from hospitals in a bid to find out what avoidable factors can lead to stillbirths, early neonatal deaths and brain injuries. A review of cases will be used to draw up a national action plan to reduce avoidable harm in labour. Royal College of Midwives England director Jacque Gerrard said it is vital lessons are learned from such tragic events. ‘It is an enormous shock to lose a baby and is devastating for the wider family’, she added. RCOG vice-president for clinical quality Alan Cameron said it was unacceptable that all cases were viewed as ‘unavoidable tragedies’, and sharing data was an opportunity to improve care and save lives. Go to: tinyurl.com/phd8hll

Driving with diabetes: how to deal with hypoglycaemia risk Clinicians should support people with diabetes who drive, to reduce the risk of an accident if they experience a hypoglycaemic event behind the wheel, says a report. Around 45 serious road accidents a month and five fatal crashes a year in the UK involve hypoglycaemia. A report by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) said healthcare professionals should ensure patients are on the right medication to reduce the risk of a hypoglycaemic event while driving. Older diabetes medications such as sulphonylureas tablets and glinides might increase that risk. TRL chief scientist Andrew Parkes said: ‘Better management of hypoglycaemia could have significant benefits for patients and NHS resources.’ To read the report, go to tinyurl.com/n6gf8ac To comment on this story email letters@ rcnpublishing.co.uk

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