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Introduction
NHS Update
(Local) is a precis of current NHS changes and developments that may impact on
the business and activities of UK Pharmaceutical sales teams - at a local
level. Further reviews, along with other relevant intelligence and useful
feature articles, are available via our free newsletter: PharmaceuticalReview.
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contact: By
Duncan Alexander of Health Direction
England
The
Health Minister, Hazel Blears, announced on 8th May 2002 that ten London NHS
Trusts and PCTs will receive over £13 million as part of a programme to
modernise old-fashioned Nightingale wards. Priority within the programme is
being given to wards for older people. Trusts receiving funding are:
Barts
and The London NHS Trust
Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust
Hillingdon
Hospitals NHS Trust
Kings Healthcare NHS Trust
Mayday Healthcare NHS
Trust
Oxleas NHS Trust
Kensington and Chelsea PCT
St Mary's NHS
Trust
Richmond and Twickenham PCT
Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS
Trust
City and Hackney PCT
At the NHS Confederation conference, City and Hackney PCT were given
the award for best Health Improvement and Modernisation Plan. The Primary Care
Network and the University of Durham announced the unanimously selected trust
for the 2002 prize. Judges were impressed by the well integrated care systems
and evidence of strong partnerships throughout the local health and social care
network.
Designated Research Team Status
awarded to West Lincs PCT
West Lincolnshire PCT is one of only
three in the Trent region to have been awarded Research Team Status by Trent
Focus. Their bid identified four projects:
- Improving CHD prevention in
primary care
- Investigating the use of brief psychological interventions
for patients with anxiety and depression in primary care
- a patient and
practitioner perspective
- Determining educational needs of health and
social care workers for intermediate care services for the elderly
-
Looking at how effective protected learning time is on prescribing medication
for the prevention of osteoporosis in the elderly.
Essex StHA
National
and local experts have recommended that Essex should be the location for a
second specialist heart centre in the East of England. Currently, there is one
specialist centre at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge. Most heart patients in
Essex who need surgery go to St Bartholomew's Hospital (Barts) in the City of
London or the London Chest Hospital in Bethnal Green. An expert group has
recommended that Basildon and Thurrock General Hospitals NHS Trust should
provide the centre. A final decision is to be made by the end of July.
Scotland
Rural health projects win share of
over £1m
Forty-eight rural health projects will today benefit
from over £1 million, as winning bids in the second round of allocations
from the Remote and Rural Areas Resource Initiative (RARARI). The successful
projects, which range from a Shetland outreach service for people with mental
illness and alcohol problems, to a Dumfries and Galloway project aimed at
developing the skills of trained nurses in a rural community hospital, aim to
develop healthcare services and provide greater support for professional staff
in remote and rural parts of Scotland. The RARARI became operational in April
2000 and aims to develop healthcare services and support for professional staff
in remote and rural parts of Scotland. In the second round of bidding the
following were awarded:
Argyll & Clyde £44,440
Borders
£8,900
Dumfries & Galloway £25,800
Grampian
£132,300
Highland £284,508
Shetland £227,664
Western Isles £47,200
Cross Regions £293,837
Strathkelvin Local Health Care
Co-operative
Has become the first LHCC in Greater Glasgow to attain
prestigious Accreditation awards from the Royal College of General
Practitioners (RCGP) for all 11 of its practices. The national scheme, which
has been developed by the Royal College of General Practitioners (Scotland), is
delivered by the relevant NHS Trust which the practice is accountable to. It is
hoped that all practices will have participated in the scheme by 2004.
NHS Tayside
Said on the
16th May 2002 it was investing almost £1 million extra in psychiatry
services, but claimed there was a need for a separate "supra regional" facility
to deal with mentally disordered female offenders. The health authority was
responding to criticism from a Dundee sheriff who was concerned at a shortage
of psychiatric beds in secure Tayside hospitals.
Pharmacy Health Promotion in
Greater Glasgow
A project entitled 'Pharmacy led, community based
programme for head lice management in Greater Glasgow' has been given the UK
Clinical Pharmacy Association Unichem Award for 2002. The principal author was
Elizabeth Grant, Health Promotion Pharmacist, GGNHSB.
New wave of cancer investment
More than 200 additional staff will be recruited and new equipment
purchased under a new wave of investment in cancer services in Scotland, Health
Minister Malcolm Chisholm announced on 23 May 2002. This second tranche of
dedicated investment in Scotland's Cancer Strategy will see a total of
£25 million being spent on the fight against cancer this year, an
increase of £10 million on the original plan following an announcement in
February. The £25 million investment announced today breaks down to
£15 million of new investment and £10 million recurring from the
first year of investment. New investment is as follows, broken down by regional
cancer network: North (Grampian, Highland, Orkney, Shetland, Tayside and
Western Isles) - £3.5m South East (Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife
and Lothian) - £3.1m West (Argyll and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran, Forth
Valley, Glasgow and Lanarkshire) -£7.2m (including £2 million for
Beatson Oncology Centre). Total: £13.8 million. £500,000 will be
co-ordinated centrally for the Scottish Cancer Trials Network. The above
investments do not total £15million as £700,000 of the investment
for 2002-03 has been channelled into the full year effect of recurring
investments from 2001-02 (e.g. the first tranche, announced in October 2001,
provided investment for six months rather than a full year. The £700,000
will be used for the full year running costs of new equipment and staff costs).
Wales
Local Health Boards go live April
2003
Welsh Minister for Health and Social Services, Jane Hutt,
announced on 9th May 2002 the final Chairs of the new Local Health Boards. The
Chairs will formally be in place from 1 April 2003. "All of the appointments
have reflected a wide range of local and professional expertise and knowledge.
I am sure that those people appointed will help to provide the leadership we
need to take forward Local Health Boards and their agenda of health improvement
in Wales".
Audit Commission to review Diabetes
services in Wales
The Audit Commission is to carry out a review of
diabetes across Wales on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government. The review
will prepare for the implementation of the Diabetes National Framework, which
sets out standards of care for patients with diabetes. The review has just
started the results are expected to be available in December 2002.
Northern Ireland
Healthcare needs of people with a
learning disability - a top priority
The Minister for Health,
Social Services and Public Safety, Ms Bairbre de Brún MLA officially
launched on 23 May 2002 'A Fair Chance,' a report on an equality consultation
exercise with people with a learning disability, organised jointly by the
Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and LEAD, the Northern
Ireland Coalition on Learning Disability. "It is no secret that I see promoting
equality and tackling social exclusion as cornerstones to responsive and
effective health and social services. In this context, the needs of people with
a learning disability must be seen as a top priority."
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