Many children receive no discharge plan after admission for severe asthma

Click for article

Children admitted to hospital with severe asthma attacks generally receive “very effective and efficient” treatment and care, but more attention must be given to asthma education and review at discharge to help prevent future attacks and readmission, says a national audit by the British Thoracic Society.

The society’s National Paediatric Asthma Audit, published on 29 November, reviewed data on more than 5500 children over the age of 1 admitted with severe asthma attacks to 153 UK hospitals in November 2015 and found that most aspects of discharge from hospital were less than optimal.

Interruption to ICT services Wed/Thur, 16/17 November between 2200 and 1000

Please note, due to essential maintenance work on the trust’s IT systems, library computers will be unavailable at these times. See the message below for further details.

‘In order to progress the server 2003 replacement project, Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit IT Services will be carrying out essential maintenance work overnight on Wednesday 16^th November from 22:00 until 10:00 on Thursday 17^th November.

This will mean that between 10pm on Wednesday 16^th November and 10am on Thursday 17^th November, ALL of the trust’s IT systems will not be available and you will not have access to any IT systems during this time.  This will affect ALL clinical and administrative applications including Extramed Cris, Pathology, Radiology, PAS and shared drives.’

Please contact Lynda Cotterill, Library Services Manager, on 01625 663923 if you have any questions about library computers.

Library and Knowledge Service unstaffed for Bank Holiday

Please note that the Library and Knowledge Service will not be staffed over this Bank Holiday weekend. You are still welcome to use the books, computers, self-service machine and other resources Saturday to Monday, using your staff badge to swipe into the building out of hours, but there will be no members of staff available for enquiries.

We will be available once again from 8.30am on Tuesday 1st September. We hope you have a good Bank Holiday!

Welcome to new inductees – including international nurses

Click here for survey

We’d like to welcome 25 new people to East Cheshire who attended Corporate Induction yesterday, many of whom registered with the library. This included 5 new international nurses.

The Library and Knowledge Service is free and available to all of you to use: you can borrow books, use computers, ask for help with finding information for work, do e-learning, ask for training, or just come up and talk to us over a cup of coffee! If you haven’t already registered with us, you can do so any time you’re free!

GMC proposes single test for all doctors wishing to work in UK

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All doctors who wish to work in the United Kingdom will have to sit a standard test to determine whether they are fit to practise, the General Medical Council has announced.

The test, called the UK medical licensing assessment (UKMLA), would replace the current Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) test taken by overseas medical graduates. However, UK trained graduates would also be expected to sit the test to gain a place on the medical register.

2015 Heatwave Plan for England

The 2015 Heatwave Plan for England has now taken effect, and the Met Office will be issuing Heatwave Alerts from 1 June to 15 September 2015.

Click image for article

The Heatwave plan for England remains a central part of the Department of Health’s support to the NHS, social care and local authorities, providing guidance on how to prepare for and respond to a heatwave which can affect everybody’s health, but particularly the most vulnerable people in society.

Self-service soon to be available in the Library and Knowledge service!

Macclesfield’s Library and Knowledge Service has taken delivery of a new self-service machine. Once it is installed in about two weeks, library users will be able to use it to borrow, return and renew books, pay fines and check their accounts.

Why not contact the library for more information? Email ecn-tr.stafflibrary@nhs.net or phone 01625 661362, or drop in to see the machine for yourself!

Learning at Work Week: 18-25th May 2015

The Library and Knowledge Service is taking part in Learning at Work week next month, with a variety of free training available!

• All through May at lunchtime you can request training on basic computer skills from Amanda Gardner, our E-Resources Librarian
• You can learn how to register for an NHS Athens account and how to perform basic searches with Carole Keeling, our Outreach Librarian
• You can learn how to use social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others with Steve Collman, our Community Outreach Librarian, on 15^th and 18^th May, 12-1pm.

Why not ask us for more information in any of these and other areas? Call 01625 661362 or email ecn-tr.stafflibrary@nhs.net today and find out what you could learn!

Financial incentives help people change health behaviours, review shows

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Personal financial incentives help people to change health behaviours, but these effects are lost within three months of the payments stopping, says a study of the overall effect of payments across various health related behaviours.

Researchers analysed 34 studies including 10 585 adults that assessed the effect of financial incentives on a range of health behaviours, including smoking cessation and healthier eating, measured for at least six months from baseline.

Doctors are urged to encourage patients to be more active to reduce chronic ill health

Doctors in the United Kingdom have been urged to encourage patients to take small amounts of regular exercise and told that they have a leading role to play in reversing the growing contribution of sedentary lifestyles to chronic ill health.

More than 40% of adults do not reach the minimum recommended level of 30 minutes of moderately intense exercise five times a week, figures reviewed in the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges’ report showed.

Outreach Librarian will be at Eagle Bridge this Thursday!

If you work at Eagle Bridge Health and Wellbeing Centre in Crewe and you need help finding information for research, patient care or just to keep up to date, why not drop into the library on the second floor? Steve Collman, Community Outreach Librarian, will be available on the 12^th of February all day to give you help and advice.

Compassion in care campaign hits new milestone

NHS England’s Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) Jane Cummings has praised the “Hello My Name Is…” campaign started by terminally ill Dr Kate Granger.

 

The CNO spoke out as it was revealed that more than 100 NHS organisations have now signed up to the social media campaign launched by the 31-year-old hospital consultant.

Dr Granger started it as a way of encouraging healthcare professionals to introduce themselves while she has been treated for cancer.

She felt frustrated by staff who failed to tell her their names.

 

Students doing Sharepoint training in the library!

 

Welcome to the group of students in the library today, who were learning how to use Sharepoint and databases. The session was run by Elisa Dowey and Abe Ginourie of Chester University. Hopefully we’ll see some of you back soon for further library help and support!

New academy web portal for NHS staff

Extract from The Guardian – Healthcare Professionals Network

A new organisation that aims to improve training for NHS staff is to be launched on Thursday. The employer-led National Skills Academy for Health (NSA Health) will support NHS trusts and organisations in providing training across a wide range of job fields.

One of its key goals will be to tackle the skills gap in the health service. Although not providing education itself, the academy will direct trusts and other employers to education providers in their own areas and offer some opportunities for e-learning.

Candace Miller, its director, said: “We were hearing real concerns from employers about the availability of good training and educational support for healthcare assistants and other groups in their areas. The creation of the NSA Health will attempt to address this gap.”

Latest modules from BMJ Learning: communication skills

Extract from BMJ Learning

Many symptoms of cancer are non-specific, which makes diagnosis difficult. Cancers in childhood are rare and there are also potential barriers to communication during consultations. These are just some of the problems in this field – this module will help you overcome them. It highlights the potential difficulties with diagnosing children and young people with osteosarcomas and brain tumours, outlines red flag symptoms, and suggests approaches to addressing potential barriers to communication. See the link below.

Diagnosing osteosarcomas and brain tumours in children: communication skills – in association with the Department of Health

Also in this week’s edition are some modules on ENT disorders. They give an important update on a range of common dilemmas.

Ear discharge: diagnosis and treatment

Hoarseness: diagnostic picture tests

Nasal symptoms: diagnostic picture tests

The tympanic membrane: diagnostic picture tests

Neck lumps: diagnostic picture tests

NHS staff and a new era of education and training

Press release: New era of education and training for NHS staff

Extract from DoH

Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter has today announced a wide ranging series of measures to improve the training, values and education of all NHS staff over the next two years and beyond.

The measures have been published in the government’s mandate to Health Education England, a new arms-length body set up to give NHS training and education unprecedented focus and importance. It will be backed by £5 billion and will be accountable to ministers for delivering the goals set out in today’s document.

Read the full article at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-era-of-education-and-training-for-nhs-staff

 

Introduction of tariffs for education and training

The details for the implementation of tariffs for education and training have been announced. By moving to a tariff based system for education and training, the Department of Health aim to enable a national approach to the funding of all clinical placements (both medical and non medical) and postgraduate medical programmes to support a level playing field between providers. Following this impact assessment, it has been agreed that the following will be implemented: tariffs for non medical placements and undergraduate medical placements in secondary care from 1 April 2013; tariffs for postgraduate medical training in secondary care from 1 April 2014.

• Impact assessment
• Department of Health – news

Is educating community nurses about end-of-life care a waste of resources?

Brian Nyatanga, British Journal of Community Nursing, Vol. 18,
                          Iss. 2, 01 Feb 2013, pp 77

The health system-and palliative care in particular-are facing difficult financial times due to spending cuts. It seems that when times are this hard one of the first things to go is staff education, which is disturbing considering that it takes years to train community palliative care nurses to function at specialist level.

Click here to read the article – requires login details

Heathcote, JA, Nyholm E; Journal of Family Planning & Reproductive Health Care, 2013

Foundations for the future: preparing tomorrow’s medical educators today

JA Heathcote, E Nyholm – Journal of Family Planning and .., 2013 – jfprhc.bmj.com

Good teachers have a major influence on the quality and safety of medical care delivered to patients. As the area of sexual and reproductive health care (SRH) has evolved there has always been a strong commitment to supporting the development of sexual …

Health Matters: 5 February 2013

The next Health Matters public lecture will be held on Tuesday 5 February 2013, from 7-8pm, in the Lecture Theatre, Education & Training. The talk will be presented by Dr Rubina Japanwala, Consultant Orthogeriatrician, and is entitled “Bone Health Matters, or does it?”

The aim of the talk is to increase awareness to improve bone health and to prevent falls and fractures, and will give information about osteoporosis, falls, vitamin D, and fractures.
Dr Japanwala is also the Falls Lead for the Trust.

Members of staff are very welcome to attend this interesting talk.  If you would like to attend please contact the Communications & Engagement Team on ext 1560 (01625 661560) or email us at ecn-tr.YourVoice@nhs.net.

NB:
This article “Discrepancies in predicted fracture risk in elderly people” is published in the BMJ (Jan 2013) looks at calculators used to estimate fracture risk in elderly people which give widely different results. Mark Bolland and colleagues argue that treatment decisions should be based on calculators using 3-5 year estimates of risk.  Click for full article

NHS Employers News: Spending wisely

Ensuring education reform enhances patient outcome: providers’ planning and driving a workforce budget of £5bn 

This briefing looks at how the creation of Health Education England and Local Education and Training Boards provides the opportunity for employers to ensure that the £5 billion annual national investment in education and training delivers the best possible patient outcome.

• Briefing
• NHS Employers – news

NEWS system to provide a ‘step-change’ in patient safety

Extract courtesy of http://www.nationalhealthexecutive.com/

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has launched a new National Early Warning Score (NEWS), to recognise very sick patients

A report on NEWS was produced by a multidisciplinary working group and clinical observation charts and e-learning materials have been provided by the NEWS educational programme, funded by the RCP, Royal College of Nurses (RCN), National Outreach Forum and NHS Training for Innovation.

On each acute hospital bed, a chart records patients’ pulse rate, blood pressure and temperature, but different NHS trusts use different types of chart, leading to a lack of consistency in the detection and response to acutely ill patients.

The NEWS system allocates a score to six physiological measurements; respiratory rate, oxygen saturations, temperature, systolic blood pressure, pulse rate and level of consciousness.

The more measurements vary from what would be expected, the higher the resultant score. These six scores are then aggregated into one overall score which, if high, will alert the medical or nursing team of the need to escalate a patient’s care.

RCP believes this provides the basis for a unified approach to assessment and continuous tracking of patients’ clinical care, standardised training of all staff and standardised data on regional variations in illness severity.

NEWS also provides detailed recommendations on actions for each score, and the e-learning materials aim to help trusts with implementation. NEWS has been evaluated against existing systems and proved to be as good as, or better, with greater sensitivity when triggering alerts.

A recent study of 1,000 adults dying in acute hospitals in England estimated that around one in 20 deaths in hospital, or 11,859, were preventable by improved clinical monitoring, fewer diagnostic errors and good drug or fluid management. Professor Bryan Williams, chair of the working party, estimated that around 50% of these deaths, 6,000, could have been prevented by using NEWS.

He said: “This new National Early Warning Score has the potential to transform patient safety in our hospitals and improve patient outcomes, it is hugely important.”

Professor Derek Bell, chair of the NEWS educational subgroup, said adopting NEWS would be “one of the most significant developments in health care in the next decade”.

And RCN director of nursing and service delivery, Janet Davies said: “There is nothing nurses and doctors should prioritise more than patient safety, and this system, if implemented across the board, will be a great leap forward for patient care.

“I hope that every Trust will read this report and adopt this system as soon as possible, as countless lives could be saved in the future by adopting this simple process.”

www.rcplondon.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/national-early-warning-score-standardising-assessment-acute-illness-severity-nhs.pdf

Grand Round: 4 July 2012

 Dr M Nicol, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, will give a presentation entitled ‘NHS Information Strategy – what it could mean for our patients and for us as clinicians’.

Taking place in the Education and Training Centre, West Park.

End of life care qualifications

Skills for Care has developed end of life care qualifications in conjunction with a wide range of employers including Marie Curie Cancer Care, the UK Home Care Association and Barchester Care, in addition to a number of hospices.

The qualifications will help adult social care employers support the national end of life strategy. They also build on the work of common core competences and principles for end of life care.

http://www.networks.nhs.uk/news/end-of-life-care-qualifications

 

Health Education England

Health Education England is the new national leadership organisation – ensuring that education, training, and workforce development drive the highest quality public health and patient outcomes.

The purpose of the new organisation is to ensure that the health workforce has the right skills, behaviours and training, and is available in the right numbers, to support the delivery of excellent healthcare and health improvement.

A series of webinars, aimed at NHS staff, are planned in June to produce an initial range of indicators for the five domains in the Education Outcomes Framework. Webinars will take place as follows: ‘Excellent education’ – 25 June, 11.00-12.00 ‘Competent and … Read more →