NHS

What was it, they are going to cut down the number of A&Es to 40+. But obviously MPs in Middlesex do not want it to be their hospitals. Apparently there's also only one area in England where GPs are not over stressed. That's Beverley and Haltemprice, for anyone who wants to move there.

www.pulsetoday.co.uk/political/political-news/nhs-confederation-health-service-cant-afford-brexit-vote/20032081.article

NHS Confederation spokesperson is Stephen Dorrell.

Yes I read that. And so on and in it goes.

www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jun/15/mps-round-on-jeremy-hunt-over-situation-at-north-middlesex-hospital

I'm afraid I do think you're being simplistic. I confess this is from a personal perspective. I never did Domestic Science in school (girls' grammar school) and my mother was an appalling cook, but somehow I learnt to cook reasonably well, healthily and cheaply. I did learn about basic nutrition in biology. There are three macro-nutrients: protein, fat and carbohydrates. Anybody eating food from a variety of sources will not be short of micro-nutrients. We don't actually need to eat carbohydrates (especially sugar), because the body will convert fat and protein to glucose as necessary, but carbohydrates are cheap and (let's face it) taste good.

There is so much information available now for free on the internet for people who really want to know about nutrition and have accepted that they are responsible for what goes in their mouths. Unfortunately, there's TOO MUCH information and thousands of snake oil nutrition salespeople promise magic wands. The basics of good nutrition isn't really that hard to grasp, but that doesn't take into account the psychology of eating, which I think is much of the problem.

If you're not overweight, you've probably got your food balance right. If you're overweight, you need to cut down your calorie intake. You need to be honest with yourself about what you're actually eating (especially portion sizes) and cut down. It makes sense to cut down on empty calories - the ones which are only providing energy (calories) without additional nutrition, so read food labels. Simple!

Obesity is a national issue and concern. Having said that, I get a bit fed up with being 'blamed' for an illness labelled as preventable. I was diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic in my mid thirties without ever having been anything more than slightly overweight and having been reasonably active. There's something going on in my metabolism which isn't accounted for in the usual explanations of diabetes.

Lifestyle factors are costing the NHS, but they're not the major reason for queues in A & E, etc. I don't think health education should be the responsibility of the NHS.

I haven't managed to read this thread for some time but have read all the posts to catch up. I agree with bags about food we are eating etc and looking at packets to see the composition of the food but I rarely buy any of that sort of food. I don't buy all healthy stuff as I admit to a bag of crisps from time to time and the odd bar of chocolate but I do cook from basic ingredients almost all the time - basically simple meals but I confess to making sauces so I have lately being trying very hard to address portion sizes - just a slow process when it comes down to actually losing the weight!
I wonder if the lack of what was termed Domestic Science lessons in school has anything to do with it. In the early fifties we were taught the real basics of cooking and this has stood me in good stead. My mother cooked everything and of course in the forties and fifties you could not get much pre prepared stuff. We don't need to teach youngsters to be cordon bleu cooks but just have an idea of the basics and how to interpret a recipe book.
Am I just being simplistic in thinking this might just help to turn the tide?

GPs are selling their practice buildings to companies, then leasing them back, because GPs no longer want to have to take out mortgages to own the buildings.

www.pulsetoday.co.uk/your-practice/practice-topics/premises/gp-partners-offload-premises-as-property-firm-expands-practice-portfolio-by-20/20032008.article

Assura is the company owned by Virgin,, which directs its profits offshore to the Virgin Islands. NHS money not paid tax on.

The JR is a brilliant hospital. DD had her first baby there, DH had a hernia operation there, and my mother had excellent treatment admittedly years ago for heart and other related problems. However, we are also getting equally good treatment at the hospital DH attends for prostate cancer treatment, so for us the NHS has a big gold star all round.

Argh - your not you're! Predictive text problem.

Great to hear Alea. Too often we hear the negatives. Hope you're DH has the treatment he needs soon.

Nothing to do with GP surgeries, but a sincere bouquet to the NHS .
Broken?
Who says?
DH was showing all the symptoms of low Hb last weekend, fatigue, breathlessness, weakness, etc plus running a bit of a temperature, but nothing dramatic. As he was due for a heart procedure at the John Radcliffe on Wednesday, I was concerned
I rang the Planned Care Unit at our local hospital first thing on Monday (where he has a weekly blood test every Thursday, followed by 2 units of blood the next day if it has dropped as low as 8,) and explaining the circumstances, asked if they could fit him in for a blood test. No problem. The results came back a little over an hour later, his Hb was 8.4 so not really low enough for a transfusion, but with the heart procedure in mind, arranged for him to have his 2 units on Tuesday - that takes about 5 hours.
He was in the JR for 3 days and I cannot praise them highly enough.
Attentive, conscientious and friendly staff," centre of excellence" cutting edge technology, beautiful facilities, clean, peaceful comfortable accommodation, excellent communications and joined-up thinking especially as the procedure had to be aborted for a variety of reasons, not least DH's welfare under the anaesthetic.
So both at our local general hospital which provided an understanding and sympathetic response and was prepared to be flexible and at a centre of excellence we could not have asked for better. NHS!

www.pulsetoday.co.uk/hot-topics/stop-practice-closures/four-practices-set-to-close-leaving-10000-patients-displaced/20032017.article

This is in Brighton and Hove.

I don't think that was Gillybob's point.

gillybob- your GP is a bit slow on the up-take really ;) We went metric 45 years ago, lol.

Not a very catchy phrase, is it, Lazigirl, sustainability and transformation plans?
Not sticky toffee puddings, as it said at the end of the link.

Thanks for keeping STPs in spotlight dj. It's very concerning that this secretive major NHS plan is going on unnoticed in shadow of EU campaign. Most people I speak to have never heard of it, and I hadn't before reading about it on here.

This is why you have problems seeing a GP.

www.pulsetoday.co.uk/your-practice/practice-topics/employment/gp-vacancy-rates-at-highest-recorded-with-one-in-eight-positions-unfilled/20031836.article

The NHS seems to have been forgotten about in the EU referendum debacle.
Perhaps that was the government's intention. This is what is going to happen from now on.

www.pulsetoday.co.uk/views/blogs/editors-blog/secret-plans-on-which-the-fate-of-the-nhs-rests/20031968.blog

www.nursingtimes.net/news/workforce/scale-of-nhs-staff-transfer-to-private-sector-revealed/7005029.article?blocktitle=Most-popular&contentID=-1

This has been well hidden.

"A GP and prominent political campaigner has called for the chief executive of Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust to resign after she suggested the NHS may have to start charging patients for its services.

Speaking on Radio Four last week, the trust’s CEO Susan Acott questioned the core NHS principle of universal healthcare free at the point of use after it was revealed the health service overspent its budget by a record £2.45 billion in 2015-16.

But Dr Paul Hobday, who has more than 30 years’ experience as a GP in Kent, said: “She should resign. We need managers who will whistleblow and stand up to the government.

“She is speaking out of line, when she is supposed to be managing the health service. Managers should be fighting for more resources from central taxation.” "

Anyone live in Kent?

This is funny. Apart from the serious bits. The bit that stood out for me was the fact that we now spend less than Greece on our health service, and we are expected to have even more efficiency savings.

nhap.org/the-friday-surgery-11/

Daphne,my husband died when he was 65, so he's not a drain on the NHS. However if we had lived a century earlier, I would not have met him as he would have died from type one diabetes.
Apparently in 1851 the test for diabetes was tasting the urine. I wonder how many people did that!

Sounds as if I did get mixed up, gillybob. Nothing new there!

The secretary of state for health is still being asked to make a statement about it in the commons. He hasn't yet, as of Thursday. Caroline Lucas keeps asking him to.

"System leadership is needed. Producing a STP is not just about writing a document, nor is
it a job that can be outsourced or delegated. Instead it involves five things: (i) local leaders
coming together as a team; (ii) developing a shared vision with the local community, which
also involves local government as appropriate; (iii) programming a coherent set of activities
to make it happen; (iv) execution against plan; and (v) learning and adapting. Where
collaborative and capable leadership can’t be found, NHS England and NHS Improvement
2
will need to help secure remedies through more joined-up and effective system oversight.
9.
Success also depends on having an open, engaging, and iterative process that harnesses
the energies of clinicians, patients, carers, citizens, and local community partners including
the independent and voluntary sectors, and local government through health and
wellbeing boards.
10.
As a truly place-based plan, the STPs must cover all areas of CCG and NHS England
commissioned activity including: (i) specialised services, where the planning will be led
from the 10 collaborative commissioning hubs; and (ii) primary medical care, and do so
from a local CCG perspective, irrespective of delegation arrangements. The STP must
also cover better integration with local authority services, including, but not limited to,
prevention and social care, reflecting local agreed health and wellbeing strategies."

This doesn't mention weight. It's the NHSE's complete reorganisation of the NHS as in the five year forward plan.
This is what the NHA is asking about whether it is legal or not.

As a matter of interest, is there anyone on here who knew about this new reorganisation? It says patients, carers and citizens should be involved.

I think maybe you got the wrong end of the stick thatbags (probably my very poor grammar). What I meant was that the front of the chart had higher weight/ height ratios and he had to turn it over to find mine. I am 5ft 6" and weigh 9 stone 10lb ( in old money) .