Healthcare news: this week on the health pages

In the news this week - the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found that nearly a quarter of NHS services were failing to meet 'essential standards' in England and Wales.


Areas of particular concern centred on things including staffing levels, 'compromised' management of medicines, and record keeping.


The chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing is quoted as saying: 

It is shocking that more than one in four locations inspected in this report have failed to meet even essential standards of quality and safety… this presents a long overdue wake-up call for the Government. Those locations in question must be brought up to standard as a matter of urgency

The news of this research will no doubt be seized upon by the opposition, while providing the coalition plenty to think about when it comes to making improvements to the service. The health minister has responded to the CQC report saying that the government is "determined to drive up standards for everyone".


There is a good précis of the report's main points here. 


In other healthcare news, this time from a private health insurance perspective, HI magazine reports that "waiting times, patient experience and availability of drugs and treatments all set to worsen". The article says that these factors could see an uptick in demand for PMI - while the majority of  NHS bosses surveyed believe that waiting times will increase as financial pressure on the system continue.

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Health costs and obesity

Given the amount of space devoted to obesity as a topic within the health and wellness media, you'd maybe think that obesity was a major strain on NHS resources.

But according to the findings of a recent study, it looks as though this may not be the case. Research was carried out by the UK's Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), who believe that ...

argument in favour of fat taxes could be on the grounds of the obese imposing a disproportionate burden on the British National Health Service. However, against this there is some evidence that the obese have shorter life expectancies and therefore are less likely to require the even greater long term costs of geriatric care.

You can read this very interesting (and thought provoking) article in full here.

It's difficult to say whether a fat tax would have much efficacy - especially in light of the fact that we're not in a situation of talking from experience - only informed conjecture as to what might happen. 

And while it may be the case that obese people have shorter life expectancies - it would still be a reflection on the nation's health as a whole if the status quo were to go unchanged and people die younger due to being overweight to this degree.

So, though there may be a link between obesity and the NHS - the onus will still be on government to ensure as many as possible live as healthy as possible regardless of whether that means the individual require geriatric care later on.

the question is whether a 'fat tax' would have a slimming effect on the nation. What do you think?

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Potential Low Turnout For GP Strike

Thursdays intended GP’s strike looks set to involve an underwhelming number of participants, with only a quarter of practices in the country informing their primary care trust that they intend to strike. This is the first time in nearly 40 years that doctors have taken industrial action. 

Of the 20 primary care organisations polled, 281 of 1,265 practices have informed the NHS management that they intend to strike. It is thought that up to 100,000 doctors with BMA membership would strike against the pension reforms proposed by the government.

Pulse magazine had reported that NHS managers notified hundreds of GP surgeries to inform them of the possibility of compensation claims being lodged if they were found to be in breach of contract.

The Royal College of Midwives has urged its members to continue working as normal on Thursday, so as not to undermine the strike action. 

Andrew Lansley, the British health secretary, believes the strike could result in as many as 30,000 operations being cancelled, the postponement of up to 58,000 diagnostic tests and the rescheduling of around 200,000 outpatient appointments. The disruption to GP appointments could be far greater, with an estimated 1.25 million being delayed as a result of the strike.

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Top NHS hospitals face cash problems

Glancing through The Telegraph today, I couldn't help but notice this article on the financial problems of 21 leading NHS hospitals - which may cause problems with waiting lists and A&E waiting times.

Apparently around 16 of these hospitals fear they might fail to meet their targets on patient treatment times, and limits on waiting times in accident and emergency are said to be at risk too.

And that's not the only financial pressure in the NHS - according to this report, more than 50% of Primary Care Trusts aren't keeping up with the government set savings target of £20billion by 2015.

Now regulators are warning NHS hospitals that patient care should not be reduced as they struggle to make savings.

Complaints about waiting list times are nothing new, but if things look set to worsen we could well see and increase of take-up on private medical insurance policies amongst those who can afford it. What do you think about this report on the financial state of NHS hospitals?

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Whiplash and insurance

Well, however you look at it, the first year of the coalition government has been nothing if not controversial. This week the health noise surrounding the government has been mainly around Nick Clegg and David Cameron's reported disagreements over the future of the NHS.

While the coalition government was always going to have its 'moments' - few would have believed the galactic smiles of the first days would last - nobody knew when or where the dread schism would appear. There's no indication yet that this schism has appeared. Depsite, of course, some media headlines loudly shouting about open warfare between the once happy pair. As the article linked to points out, "policy consensus may yet occur".

On another NHS related note - Insurance Daily reports today that an incredible 1 person out of every 140 claims for whiplash injuries each year, at great cost to insurers - with the stats showing UK has more whiplash than anywhere else in Europe. Or does it? As someone from the ABI states in the article, whiplash is easy to fake or exaggerate, but difficult to diagnose. Hmm.

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Healthcare in the headlines again

Story in the Mirror Online today, headlined NHS told to cut tonsil, wisdom teeth and other "low value" ops to cut costs.

Well, I think we all knew that something like this would eventually happen - as hospitals are likely get more and more desperate for their share of money to carry out their business, the types of operation mentioned in the article (tonsillitis, cataract ops, hip replacements, knee joint repairs, ­treatments for wisdom teeth and varicose veins) would be subject to some form of *ahem* priority rethink.

Where could this leave ordinary folk like us though? I mean, I know plenty people who've had the wisdom tooth thing done- (I will spare you the graphic details except to say that one story in particular still makes go a bit queasy even though it was told to me over a decade ago!) - and believe me, if that's going on in your jaw, your brain will most certainly NOT be sending 'low priority' signals to the brain's pain centres.

While on the short term this could definitely be a time of fractious transition, in the longer term it might mean who knows what? We'll have to wait and see. In terms of people seeking affordable health insurance, there will almost certainly be an increase in uptake.

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National health service - latest

The latest NHS news doesn't make for a chirpy read:

Guardian headline: The NHS funding grenade has exploded in David Cameron's face

Independent headline: A manifesto for NHS civil war

Telegraph headline: Patients denied treatment as NHS makes cutbacks

It certainly looks like a rough time ahead not only for people working in the NHS but for service users as well.

The Telegraph quotes Dr Mark Porter, Chairman of the British Medical Association’s Consultants Committee, who says that [threatened services] "are by and large not being axed for clinical reasons, but as an inevitable consequence of the massive cost savings that have been imposed on the NHS.

It is far from clear at the moment what the UK is going to look like in 2011, but what with the changes in NHS and higher education, one thing is clear: we are entering a time that's going to be very different from what went before.

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Will private healthcare benefit from NHS cuts?

The talk of cuts in the NHS is naturally worrying for some - there are bound to be a few bureaucrats concerned about their future - but also good news for others, eg companies who carry out healthcare in the private sector.

While private healthcare in the UK is set to grow in the coming years, it isn't necessarily at the expense of the NHS. In a lot of cases private healthcare actually reduces the burden on the NHS, for instance if I went private for a minor operation it would be the NHS who would benefit as I would still have paid my taxes towards the NHS.

So, it's not as simple as one set of professionals taking work off another. But as the new NHS takes shape durung the coming years, a clearer picture will emerge of what the balance of services is liekly to be.

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National Health Service complaints rise

Reported across a number of media today is the news that the NHS's complaints level has risen at a record rate over the last year.

A staggering 42% of the complaints were made against medical professionals.

It's not easy to see how the government will navigate their way through a situation with this level of dissatisfaction on the one hand, and the "reshaping" of the organisation on the other. I put the word "reshaping" into quote marks there, as I'm unsure what shape it can eventually be under the circumstances, except 'cheaper shaped'.

As an occasional service user, I've (thankfully) had little reason to complain, but things have definitely been less than perfect. Definitely time to think about getting a health insurance quote - makes sense now more than ever.

But it's not all doom and gloom, and after the birth of his new baby yesterday, PM David Cameron was all smiles.

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NHS - no crystal ball as yet

Some worried noises coming from Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Andy Burnham, over at The Mirror.

It's difficult to separate the rehtorical scariness from the genuine concern in this one, but the gist of Burnham's article seems to be that under Cameron, the NHS is facing its biggest threat in all its 62 years.

Here at Your private Healthcare Insurance Blog, we definitely agree that it looks as if the NHS is heading for its biggest period of change. The question is whether this change will be all bad or not.

With the deficit the government's priority, the NHS will surely not be allowed to spend as much as it used to. But not all the money it spent went on patients anyway. The NHS employs a lot of desk people and spends (I would imagine) a lot of money on things that large organisations spend money on - consultancy work (note: business consultancy work, I mean, not medical consultants), training courses, inhouse media etc.

But Burnham is right to subject the actions of the new government to scrutiny - that is his job. The question is whether and to what extent Cameron's NHS will improve health care or just change the nature of its management and provision. It's doubtful that the changes will be painless however. Watch this space...

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Quick update

Just spotted a very interesting news story in the Health pages of The Independent.

Apparently, recruiting a locum doctor for a district hospital is no HR cakewalk. Well, I'd kinda guessed that the medical profession would have its vicissitudes - all careers do. But this story would be funny if it wasn't so downright disappointing.

Around Christmas 2009 a medical staffing agency emailed offering "a fantastic doctor with very good UK experience". I booked him immediately. Four days later came another email: "He is not wanting to work in Scotland (too cold!!) – only wants to work in or around London." You win some, you lose some, I thought.

Read the full story here.

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Health Videos from NHS Choices

Pardon me for being a little late in pointing this out but if you head over to the NHS website there is a very handy library of videos on a huge variety of health topics. There are some particularly valuable videos featuring people discussing their 'real life' health experiences.

The full list of videos can be seen on this page.

Are there any other health video sites that we should be aware of?

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NHS "more efficient in England" than Scotland - Nuffield Report

The NHS in Scotland was dealt a blow today with the publication of a report from The Nuffield Trust into the state of the NHS in the UK post-devolution. It's principal finding is that despite having the highest spending levels, doctor numbers, nurses and gp's - the NHS in Scotland has highest levels of poor health and the lowest rate of health staff productivity.

Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Government health secretary has tried to counter the report by claiming that it is already out of date, telling Radi0 4:

"There's been a massive shift in the balance of care towards care in the community and the report takes no account of that whatsoever".

The health secretary has also claimed that Scotlands population dispersal and unique socio-economic factors (areas with long standing problems associated with poverty) render the report unfair.

Do you agree with this report?

You can read for yourself by downloading it from the Nuffield Trust website. There is also a Powerpoint presentation available with key facts and figures.

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Stafford Hospital Scandal - Symptomatic of a failing system?

We are sure that like us, you felt an immense degree of shock and anger over the reports reagdrding the extent of the emergency care failings at Stafford General Hospital. It is unbelieveable that in this day and age a hospital is allowed to decline so much that 400 'excess deaths' can occur.

This data came from a Healthcare Commission report into the hospital published this week - although it did caveat that the cause of these 'excess deaths' could not be directly attributed to bad care.

According to the report almost 'every stage' of Staffords emergency service department had major failings, with managers consistently pursuing target levels ahead of ordinary patient care.

It seems that this combined with low levels of staff, inadequate nursing, poor levels of equipment, no real leadership, lack of training and ineffective problem management systems contributed to the overall shambolic nature of this department.

The Prime Minister Gordon Brown has today publicly apologised for the failing hospital. He said:

"We do apologise to those people who have suffered as a result of the mistakes that have been made at Stafford Hospital."

He did not however place any blame upon the target based system of managing NHS hospitals, instead highlighting "low standards of management".

What is of particular worry to us here at YPHI is that we are not entirely confident that Stafford is the only NHS hospital that has suffered from such a devastating combination of failures. Are poor management practices and unrealistic target levels turning too many of our hospitals into Spreadsheet-run establishments with little regard paid to patient care? or is this entire sorry episode sympomatic of a system creaking under the weight of an ageing population and rising crime levels?

Let us know your opinions.

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