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Found 796 results
  1. News Article
    Physical health and “hips, knees and eyes” still command the lion’s share of government money, despite persistent calls for fairer mental health funding, the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ departing president has told HSJ. Adrian James also said future leaders must tackle bed and workforce shortages, while upcoming inquiries into poor care must allow people to speak openly without fear. NHS England CEO Amanda Pritchard has called the minimum investment standard for mental health “non-negotiable”. However, in an interview with HSJ, Dr James said mental health services are often missing out while “big chunks” of government money are allocated to reduce waiting lists. He said: “The [covid] recovery plan that was negotiated with the government really was about your hips, knees and eyes, in spite of big voices – one of them mine – saying, ‘what about the mental health backlog’. At that point, we didn’t get any extra money.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 18 July 2023
  2. News Article
    Soon after her son Jaxson was born, Lauren Clarke spotted that his eyes were yellow and bloodshot. “We kept asking if he had jaundice, but each time we were told to keep feeding him and just put Jaxson in front of a window,” she says. It was only when Clarke was readmitted six days later with an infection that Jaxson’s jaundice was detected by a midwife. By this time, his levels were becoming dangerously high. “We spent a further five days in hospital for Jaxson to be treated with light therapy and antibiotics. If I hadn’t had to go back to hospital, he could have died or had serious long-term health conditions,” she says. This week, the NHS race and health observatory will announce new funding for research into the efficacy of jaundice screening in black, Asian and minority ethnic newborns on the back of a recent report showing that tests to assess newborn babies’ health are not effective for non-white children. The research cannot come too soon. Jaxson’s aunt, Gemma Poole, a midwife from Nottingham, created her company, the Essential Baby Company, to develop resources and training about the specific needs of women and babies with black and brown skins, after Jaxson’s jaundice was initially missed by clinicians. Poole believes the trauma her nephew, brother and sister-in-law had to go through could have been avoided if health professionals had known better ways to spot jaundice in non-white babies. “The colour of gums, the soles of the feet and hands, the whites of eyes, how many wet and dirty nappies and if the baby is waking for feeds and alert could be more reliable indicators if a black or brown baby has jaundice,” she says. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 16 July 2023
  3. News Article
    Black women in the Americas bear a heavier burden of maternal mortality than their peers, but according to a report released Wednesday by the United Nations, the gap between who lives and who dies is especially wide in the world’s richest nation — the United States. Of the region’s 35 countries, only four publish comparable maternal mortality data by race, according to the report, which analyzed the maternal health of women and girls of African descent in the Americas: Brazil, Colombia, Suriname and the United States. And while the United States had the lowest overall maternal mortality rate among those four nations, the report said Black women and girls were three times more likely than their U.S. peers to die while giving birth or in the six weeks afterward. “The risk factor is racism,” said Joia Crear-Perry, an OB/GYN and founder of the National Birth Equity Collaborative, a nonprofit group dedicated to eliminating racial inequities in birth outcomes and one of the report’s co-sponsors. “This report drives this home over and over. When your pain is ignored, when your blood pressure is ignored, you die, and that happens across the Americas.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Washington Post, 12 July 2023
  4. News Article
    A growing number of disadvantaged and vulnerable women living in one of the poorest parts of England are dying prematurely because public services are not meeting their needs, according to a report. Research published on Monday calculates that in 2021, a woman in the north-east of England was 1.7 times more likely to die early as a result of suicide, addiction or domestic murder than women living in England and Wales as a whole. Laura McIntyre, the head of women and children’s services at Changing Lives, described the report as shocking. “But I’m more saddened,” she said. “To not reach your 40th birthday is just not right.” The report says the reasons for early and avoidable deaths are complicated, involving a patchwork of unaddressed issues including domestic abuse, debt, poverty, mental and physical ill-health, alcohol and substance misuse, and housing problems. But the conclusions are striking. “Put plainly, women living in the north-east are more likely to live shorter lives, to spend a larger proportion of time living in poor health and to die prematurely from preventable diseases,” the report states. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 10 July 2023
  5. News Article
    Maternal mortality rates have doubled in the US over the last two decades - with deaths highest among black mothers, a new study suggests. American Indian and Alaska Native women saw the greatest increase, the study in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) said. Southern states had the highest maternal death rates across all race and ethnicity groups, the study found. In 1999, there were an estimated 12.7 deaths per 100,000 live births and in 2019 that figure rose to 32.2 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2019, according to the research, which did not study data from the pandemic years. Unlike other studies, this one examined disparities within states instead of measuring rates at the national level, and it monitored five racial and ethnic groups. Dr Allison Bryant, one of the study's authors, said the findings were a call to action "to understand that some of it is about health care and access to health care, but a lot of it is about structural racism". She said some current policies and procedures "may keep people from being healthy". Read full story Source: BBC News, 4 July 2023
  6. News Article
    Thousands of young people are living with post-traumatic stress disorder, with most cases going untreated, a Channel 4 documentary has revealed. About 311,000 16- to 24-year-olds in England and Wales have PTSD, with most cases linked to personal assault and violence, according to figures estimated for the show. Low awareness of the symptoms and the difficulty of diagnosing PTSD means that 70% of cases go untreated. If the NHS offered more early intervention therapy, it could save £2.4bn in taxpayer money, according to Channel 4’s analysis of research by King’s College London and Office for National Statistics data. “When untreated, PTSD – it becomes a chronic condition. It becomes highly disabling. People’s lives can be fundamentally changed,” said Dr Michael Duffy, a psychological trauma specialist at Queen’s University Belfast, who features on the show. He added that it could be more common in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 4 July 2023
  7. News Article
    The government has rejected calls to set a target and strategy to end ‘appalling’ disparities in maternal deaths. In response to a Commons women and equalities committee report, published on Friday, ministers said a “concrete target does not necessarily focus resource and attention through the best mechanisms”. The response added: “We do not believe a target and strategy is the best approach towards progress.” The government said disparities will be monitored through local maternity and neonatal systems, which are partnerships comprising commissioners, providers and local authorities. A recommendation to increase the annual budget for maternity services to up to £350m per year, backed by the now chancellor Jeremy Hunt, and maternity investigator Donna Ockenden, was also rejected. Read full story Source: HSJ, 3 July 2023
  8. News Article
    Recently Minneapolis-based Allina Health was highlighted by The New York Times for pulling back from its policy of denying nonemergency care to some indebted patients. However, a recent investigation showed it is not the only health system to allegedly have engaged in the practice. According to KFF Health News, about 20% of US nationwide hospitals in a random sample pursued similar policies of care denial. The Lown Institute went further, naming major health systems including Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic, St. Louis-based Ascension, Indianapolis-based Indiana University Health, Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health and Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai as operating facilities where the practice is followed. IU Health, Ascension, Trinity Health and Cedars-Sinai denied they have such practices. "We do not restrict medically necessary non-emergency care for patients with unpaid bills," an Ascension spokesperson said. Read full story Source: Becker Hospital Review, 26 June 2023
  9. News Article
    The gap between the areas with the best and worst records on the early detection of cancer has remained almost unchanged over the past five years, new NHS England data indicates. The proportion of cancers detected at stages one and two – when they are more curable – has improved by 2.7 percentage points to 58.1% nationally, but this masks significant regional variation. In the 12 months to February 2019, the percentage point difference between the top performing cancer alliance – Thames Valley (63.1%t) – and the worst performing – Lancashire and South Cumbria (51.6%) – was 11.5. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 27 June 2023
  10. News Article
    Black patients at trusts most affected by 2016’s junior doctors’ strike suffered significantly more than their white or Asian counterparts, a new analysis has suggested. Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies analysed 30-day readmission rates after the 48-hour junior doctors’ strike in April 2016. The co-authors of the research, George Stoye and Max Warner, said: “We find that patients treated in hospitals that were more exposed to the strike did not, on average, experience worse outcomes.” However, they added that black patients were “more negatively affected by exposure to the strikes than white patients in the same hospitals”. The April 2016 strike affected both elective and emergency care and was the last before the dispute ended. The current junior doctors’ strike has been ongoing since March. It also affects emergency and elective care but stoppages have been longer, with a five-day strike planned in July. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 27 June 2023
  11. News Article
    A senior NHS leader has warned of a “life-threatening” situation in which clinically vulnerable people are being admitted to hospital after having their energy supplies disconnected. Sam Allen, chief executive of North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), has written to Ofgem today to raise “serious concerns” that vulnerable people have seen their electricity or gas services disconnected as a result of non-payment. In the letter, which the ICB has published on its website, Ms Allen said the impact of energy supplies being cut off “will be life threatening for some people” and place additional demand on already stretched health and social care services. She wrote: “It has come to light that we are starting to see examples where clinically vulnerable people have been disconnected from their home energy supply which has then led to a hospital admission. “This is impacting on people who live independently at home, with the support from our community health services team and are reliant on using electric devices for survival. “An example of this is oxygen; and there will be many other examples. There is also a similar concern for clinically vulnerable people with mental health needs who may find themselves without energy supply. “Put simply, the impact of having their energy supply terminated will be life threatening for some people as well as placing additional demands on already stretched health and social care services.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 5 September 2022
  12. News Article
    Responding to the Ofgem announcement on the energy price cap, Jo Bibby, Director of Health at the Health Foundation said: 'Today’s announcement confirms the mounting financial pressures facing people this winter. 'Cold, damp homes make people ill. When people are having to make a choice between heating and eating, their health is going to suffer. Many will face the stress of managing debt and, in the long run, the price will be paid in poorer health, more pressure on the NHS, and fewer people in work. 'The cost-of-living crisis should be a spur for action for the new government – bringing forward the Health Disparities White Paper. In particular, it must deliver significant emergency support in the autumn, targeted at lower-income families who are most at risk of poorer health. Without the speed and scale of action we saw through the pandemic, there is a risk the cost-of-living crisis becomes another health crisis.' Read full story Source: The Health Foundation, 26 August 2022
  13. News Article
    A 60-year-old woman in England’s poorest areas typically has the same level of illness as a woman 16 years older in the richest areas, a study into health inequalities has found. The Health Foundation found a similarly stark, though less wide, gap in men’s health. At 60 a man living in the most deprived 10% of the country typically has the burden of ill-health experienced by a counterpart in the wealthiest 10% at the age of 70. The thinktank’s analysis of NHS data also shows that women in England’s poorest places are diagnosed with a long-term illness at the age of 40 on average, whereas that does not happen to those in the most prosperous places until 48. The findings underline Britain’s wide and entrenched socio-economic inequalities in health, which the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted. Ministers have promised to make tackling them a priority as part of the commitment to levelling up, but a promised white paper on that has been delayed. Researchers led by Toby Watt said their findings were likely to be the most accurate published so far because they were based on data detailing patients’ interactions with primary care and hospital services, and unlike previous studies did not rely on people’s self-reported health. “In human terms, these stark disparities show that at the age of 40, the average woman living in the poorest areas in England is already being treated for her first long-term illness. This condition means discomfort, a worse quality of life and additional visits to the GP, medication or hospital, depending on what it is. At the other end of the spectrum, the average 40-year-old woman will live a further eight years – about 10% of her life – without diminished quality of life through illness,” Watt said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 17 August 2022
  14. News Article
    Action rather than reports is needed to tackle healthcare inequalities faced by black people in Birmingham, a charity says. It follows a report which found people from black communities continued to face racism and discrimination when accessing treatment. The city's director of public health said he was "horrified" by the finding. Dr Justin Varney said the system must be adapted to meet the needs of all. Charity The First Class Foundation wants to see implementation of changes and says among the healthcare problems in need of tackling are "microaggressions" faced by communities. The publication of the Birmingham and Lewisham African Health Inequalities Review followed an 18-month study commissioned by the areas' local authorities. It found disadvantages among the communities in housing, pollution and availability of green space had "all contributed to worse health". The report additionally highlighted how the communities were "exposed to structural racism and discrimination which leads to... chronic stress and trauma". Read full story Source: BBC News, 10 August 2022
  15. News Article
    One in 25 people who die of a heart attack in the north-east of England could have survived if the average cardiologist effectiveness was raised to the London level, research shows. The research, undertaken by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), looked at the record of over 500,000 NHS patients in the UK, over 13 years. It highlights the stark “postcode lottery” of how people living in some parts of the country have access to lower quality healthcare. The results found that while cardiologists treating patients in London and the south-east had the best survival rates among heart attack patients, patients being treated in the north-east and east of England had the worst. Among 100 otherwise identical patients, an additional six patients living in the north-east and east of England would have survived for at least a year if they had instead been treated by a similar doctor in London. Furthermore, if the effectiveness of doctors treating heart attacks in these areas of the country were just as effective as the cardiologists in London, an additional 80 people a year in each region would survive a heart attack. The research also revealed a divide between rural and urban areas of England, with patients living in the former typically receiving treatment from less effective doctors compared with those in more urban areas. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 August 2022
  16. News Article
    "Bolder government action" is needed to address inequalities in dementia risk, the charity Alzheimer's Research UK has warned this week. The comments come in response to findings from four new studies presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) which link socio-economic deprivation with increased risk of dementia and cognitive decline. Dr Susan Mitchell, head of policy at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: "These findings are a stark reminder of the health gap between the most and least deprived in society, with the most deprived at a higher risk of developing dementia. "Ultimately, these inequalities are profoundly unfair, but they are also avoidable. The Government has a key role in addressing inequalities through a range of measures to improve poverty, employment, housing and education." She added: "We urge Government to make dementia prevention a key priority in its aim to level up healthcare across the country, and hope the forthcoming health disparities white paper lays the foundation for a fairer, healthier nation." Read full story Source: Medscape, 5 August 2022
  17. News Article
    The NHS and the Treasury need to make a renewed commitment to increasing the number of patients who benefit from thrombectomy, the Stroke Association has said, as it revealed the service was dependent on just 106 doctors in England. New analysis due to be published by the charity later this week – and shared with HSJ – also found only a quarter of thrombectomy units are open 24 hours, seven days a week, with 42% only operating during office hours and Monday to Friday. Despite an NHS long-term plan target of treating 10% of strokes with a thrombectomy by this year, only 2.8% were benefitting in December 2021 – a smaller proportion than in the US or some other Western European nations. It means nearly 6,000 people who could benefit from thrombectomy are missing out, the charity has calculated. The Stroke Association’s report also highlighted large apparent regional variation in the share of stroke patients receiving the treatment — with London patients several times more likely to receive the treatment than elsewhere. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 27 July 2022
  18. News Article
    Long NHS waiting times appear to be pushing people into paying thousands of pounds for private treatment. There were 69,000 self-funded treatments in the UK in the final three months of last year - a 39% rise on the same period before the pandemic. Experts said it was a sign of how desperate people had become. The BBC has seen evidence of people taking out loans and resorting to crowdfunding to pay for private treatment. The figures from the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) do not include those who have private insurance - instead they are the people paying the full cost of treatment themselves, leaving them liable for huge bills. Patient groups warned there was a risk of a two-tier system being created, with the poorest losing out because they were the least likely to be able to afford to pay for treatment. Patient watchdog Healthwatch England said waits for treatment were one of the most common concerns flagged by patients, and warned the situation risked "widening health inequalities". Chief executive Louise Ansari said for most people going private "simply isn't an option", especially with the cost-of-living crisis. "People on the lowest incomes are the most likely to wait the longest for NHS treatment. This leads to a worse impact on their physical health, mental health and ability to work and care for loved ones." Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 July 2022
  19. News Article
    NHS England will ask GP practices to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for patients with a learning disability or autism such as giving them ‘priority appointments’. They could also be asked to provide ‘easy-read appointment letters’ to the group, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said yesterday in a new strategy on strengthening support for autistic people and those with a learning disability. It said the measures aim to support Government plans to reduce reliance on mental health inpatient care, with a target to reduce the number of those with a learning disability or autism in specialist inpatient care by 50% by March 2024 compared with March 2015. The policy paper said: ‘We know that people experience challenges accessing reasonably adjusted support which may prevent them from having their needs met.’ It added: ‘To make it easier for people with a learning disability and autistic people to use health services, there is work underway in NHS England to make sure that staff in health settings know if they need to make reasonable adjustments for people." NHS England is also developing a ‘reasonable adjustments digital flag’ that will signal that a patient may need reasonable adjustments on their health record, it said. It plans to make this flag, which is currently being tested, available across all NHS services, it added. Read full story Source: Pulse 15 July 2022
  20. News Article
    More men are dying from melanoma skin cancer than women in the UK, Cancer Research UK is warning as the country's heatwave continues. Rates of the cancer, which can develop in sun-damaged skin, have been rising in both men and women in recent years. Late diagnosis may be part of the reason why men are faring worse. Melanoma is treatable if it is diagnosed early - the charity is urging people to take care in the sun and get any unusual skin changes checked. Melanoma death rates have improved for women in the last 10 years, but not for men. Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research, says the figures "drive home the importance of sun safety". "We all need to take steps to protect ourselves from the sun's harmful UV rays. Getting sunburnt just once every two years can triple your risk of skin cancer," she adds. Read full story Source: BBC News, 15 July 2022
  21. News Article
    Women working in healthcare earn on average 24% less than their male peers and face a larger gender pay gap than in other economic sectors, a joint report by the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization has found. The analysis, which looked at data from 54 countries across all geographic and income regions, found a raw gender pay gap of around 20%, which jumped to 24% when factors such as age, education, and working time were considered. Gender pay gaps also tended to be wider in higher pay categories, where men were over-represented, while women were over-represented in the lower pay categories. The authors said the findings highlighted that women, who accounted for 67% of the global health and care workforce in 2020, were underpaid and undervalued. Read full story (paywalled) Source: BMJ, 13 July 2022
  22. News Article
    Artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to UK health services that disadvantage women and ethnic minorities, scientists are warning. They are calling for biases in the systems to be rooted out before their use becomes commonplace in the NHS. They fear that without that preparation AI could dramatically deepen existing health inequalities in our society. A new study has found that AI models built to identify people at high risk of liver disease from blood tests are twice as likely to miss disease in women as in men. The researchers examined the state of the art approach to AI used by hospitals worldwide and found it had a 70% success rate in predicting liver disease from blood tests. But they uncovered a wide gender gap underneath – with 44% of cases in women missed, compared with 23% of cases among men. “AI algorithms are increasingly used in hospitals to assist doctors diagnosing patients. Our study shows that, unless they are investigated for bias, they may only help a subset of patients, leaving other groups with worse care,” said Isabel Straw, of University College London, who led the study. “We need to be really careful that medical AI doesn’t worsen existing inequalities.” Read full story Source: iNews, 9 July 2022
  23. News Article
    When Susan Sullivan died from Covid-19, her parents’ world fell quiet. But as John and Ida Sullivan battled the pain of losing their eldest, they were comforted by doctors’ assurance that they had done all they could. It was not until more than a year later, when they received her medical records, that the family made a crushing discovery. These suggested that, despite Susan being in good health and responding well to initial treatments, doctors at Barnet hospital had concluded she wouldn’t pull through. When Susan was first admitted on 27 March 2020, a doctor had written in her treatment plan: “ITU (Intensive therapy unit) review if not improving”, indicating he believed she might benefit from a higher level of care. But as her oxygen levels fell and her condition deteriorated, the 56-year-old was not admitted to the intensive unit. Instead she died in her bed on the ward without access to potentially life-saving treatment others received. In the hospital records, seen by the Observer, the reason Susan was excluded is spelled out: “ITU declined in view of Down’s syndrome and cardiac comorbidities.” A treatment plan stating she was not to be resuscitated also cites her disability. For John, 79, a retired builder, that realisation was “like Susan dying all over again”. “The reality is that doctors gave her a bed to die in because she had Down’s syndrome,” he said. “To me it couldn’t be clearer: they didn’t even try.” Susan is one of thousands of disabled people in Britain killed by Covid-19. Last year, a report by the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review Programme found that almost half those who died from Covid-19 did not receive good enough treatment, including problems accessing care. Of those who died from Covid-19, 81% had a do-not-resuscitate decision, compared with 72% of those who died from other causes. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 10 July 2022
  24. News Article
    Emma Hardy MP has secured a Westminster debate on gynaecological wait times. Gynaecology waiting lists across the UK have now reached a combined figure of more than 610,000 – a 69% increase on pre-pandemic levels. New analysis by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) shows that in England, gynaecology waiting lists have grown the most by percentage increase of all elective specialties. Emma is co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) for Surgical Mesh and Endometriosis - both come under the heading of ‘gynaecological conditions’ and both are being impacted by increased waiting times. Through her involvement with these APPGs, Emma has heard the testimony of so many women whose lives have been impacted by conditions that can be so painful and debilitating that they impact on every aspect of family, social and work life. Emma will ask the minister to launch an investigation into possible gender bias in the prioritisation of gynaecology services and ensure that elective recovery will address the unequal growth of gynaecology waiting lists compared to other specialties. Emma said: "It is completely unacceptable that 610,000 women are waiting for gynaecological care across the UK. The reality is that many of these women will be in excruciating pain awaiting treatment, unable to go about their day-to-day lives." Read full story Source: Hull Daily Mail, 5 July 2022
  25. News Article
    The number of knee replacement operations carried out has dropped in regions of England with restrictions on surgery for overweight patients, with people in more deprived areas worst affected, researchers have found. Patients needing surgery but unable to lose weight are being denied surgery that could ease pain and increase mobility, the team from the University of Bristol said. Health campaigners expressed alarm, claiming the policy was a “blunt tool” being used to replace conversations between doctors and patients and risked exacerbating health inequalities. Over the past decade, rules have been brought in by some clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) across England to restrict access to hip and knee replacement surgery for patients who are overweight or obese. The study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, suggests that regions that introduced policy changes for access to knee replacement surgery based on a patient’s weight or BMI have seen a decline in surgery. The lead author, Joanna McLaughlin, of the Bristol Medical School, said: “Our study raises the concern that these policies are linked with worsening health inequalities with fewer NHS operations for the least affluent groups. “We could see the rates of surgery dropped for those worst off but increased for those who are best off, which correlates with more private surgery going on in those areas.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 29 June 2022
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