News South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLSTG) has launched a £300,000 plan to help ease winter pressures on emergency care. The project involves basing more mental health nurses in St George’s Hospital emergency department and organising quicker discharges from mental health wards to free up space during busy periods. Director of operations at SWLSTG Dawn Chamberlain said: ‘We work closely with acute hospitals and this project demonstrates the strength of our commitment to keep patient care effective.’ The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has updated its clinical guidance on head injury. The advice stresses the importance of early detection and prompt treatment. Director of the centre for clinical practice at NICE Mark Baker said: ‘This guidance will ensure the NHS can diagnose and treat head injuries in a timely manner.’ The guidelines are available at tinyurl.com/n9gsmph Advanced practitioner at the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust Paula Jeffery (right) was runner up in the nursing innovation category of the RCN Wales Nurse of the Year awards last year. Ms Jeffery has educated emergency crews on the dangers of sepsis and led the development of a pre-hospital sepsis recognition bundle. Many of the 158 nurses made redundant by NHS Direct may struggle to find new jobs because they can work only from home, the RCN has warned. Slightly more than half of the nurses, who worked across England, have caring responsibilities or health needs that make working elsewhere difficult. The nurses were sent redundancy letters last month and will lose their jobs at the end of March. 6
February 2014 | Volume 21 | Number 9
Hospitals will release figures on numbers of people who self-harm ANNUAL FIGURES on the number of people who attend emergency departments after harming themselves should be published. The recommendation is set out in the first annual report on England’s suicide prevention strategy, which was published last month. It also recommends that hospitals release figures on people who have received psychological assessments after they have self-harmed. The strategy highlights the importance of responsive and high quality care for people who self-harm, and includes a joint statement on better sharing of information between organisations and families. RCN general secretary Peter Carter said: ‘Helping people at risk of suicide is a huge and profound challenge. This strategy aims to ensure those most at risk receive the appropriate care.
Migrants and visitors may have to pay for their emergency care THE NHS will be able to recoup the cost of emergency care provided to visitors and migrants, according to government plans. No one will be turned away in an emergency, the Department of Health has stated, but the NHS will be allowed to recoup costs and a consistent charging system will be created across the NHS. Health minister Lord Howe said: ‘Having a universal health service free at the point of use rightly makes us the envy of the world, but we must make sure the system is fair to the hardworking British taxpayers who fund it.’ However, the British Medical Association has warned that the plans could cause confusion. Council chair Mark Porter said: ‘It is important that anyone accessing NHS services is entitled to do so, especially as the health service is under intense pressure from a combination of rising patient demand and falling resources. ‘But the government’s current proposals are likely to create a complex patchwork of charging and access entitlements.
‘We need to ensure that we have enough staff with the right level of training to give the intensive support needed. Our members have said that many patients cannot access crisis services due to recent changes in the level of provision, leaving them unsupported at their most vulnerable moments. This situation needs to be changed urgently.’ Getty Images
In brief
Staff need specific training to support people who self-harm
Find out more Preventing Suicide in England: One Year On can be accessed at tinyurl.com/nnz8kgx
Some services, such as GP appointments, will remain free, while others, including A&E visits and GP services such as physiotherapy, will be chargeable.’
Regulator investigates low staffing levels in Bradford infirmary HEALTH SECTOR regulator Monitor has launched an investigation into how health services at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are run. The investigation will cover whether issues concerning staffing levels at the Bradford Royal Infirmary emergency department are symptomatic of a deeper problem at the trust. Meanwhile, Monitor has closed its investigation into South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust after the trust took action to reduce waiting times in emergency care services there. The regulator launched its investigation in June 2013 after the trust failed to meet the four-hour waiting times target in five out of eight financial quarters. EMERGENCY NURSE
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February 2014 | Volume 21 | Number 9
Hospitals will release figures on numbers of people who self-harm ANNUAL FIGURES on the number of people who attend emergency departments after harming themselves should be published. The recommendation is set out in the first annual report on England’s suicide prevention strategy, which was published last month. It also recommends that hospitals release figures on people who have received psychological assessments after they have self-harmed. The strategy highlights the importance of responsive and high quality care for people who self-harm, and includes a joint statement on better sharing of information between organisations and families. RCN general secretary Peter Carter said: ‘Helping people at risk of suicide is a huge and profound challenge. This strategy aims to ensure those most at risk receive the appropriate care.
Migrants and visitors may have to pay for their emergency care THE NHS will be able to recoup the cost of emergency care provided to visitors and migrants, according to government plans. No one will be turned away in an emergency, the Department of Health has stated, but the NHS will be allowed to recoup costs and a consistent charging system will be created across the NHS. Health minister Lord Howe said: ‘Having a universal health service free at the point of use rightly makes us the envy of the world, but we must make sure the system is fair to the hardworking British taxpayers who fund it.’ However, the British Medical Association has warned that the plans could cause confusion. Council chair Mark Porter said: ‘It is important that anyone accessing NHS services is entitled to do so, especially as the health service is under intense pressure from a combination of rising patient demand and falling resources. ‘But the government’s current proposals are likely to create a complex patchwork of charging and access entitlements.
‘We need to ensure that we have enough staff with the right level of training to give the intensive support needed. Our members have said that many patients cannot access crisis services due to recent changes in the level of provision, leaving them unsupported at their most vulnerable moments. This situation needs to be changed urgently.’ Getty Images
In brief
Staff need specific training to support people who self-harm
Find out more Preventing Suicide in England: One Year On can be accessed at tinyurl.com/nnz8kgx
Some services, such as GP appointments, will remain free, while others, including A&E visits and GP services such as physiotherapy, will be chargeable.’
Regulator investigates low staffing levels in Bradford infirmary HEALTH SECTOR regulator Monitor has launched an investigation into how health services at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are run. The investigation will cover whether issues concerning staffing levels at the Bradford Royal Infirmary emergency department are symptomatic of a deeper problem at the trust. Meanwhile, Monitor has closed its investigation into South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust after the trust took action to reduce waiting times in emergency care services there. The regulator launched its investigation in June 2013 after the trust failed to meet the four-hour waiting times target in five out of eight financial quarters. EMERGENCY NURSE
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 27, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
