People with dementia spend almost £15bn of their own money waiting for Government care reforms, Alzheimer's Society reveals

Since the promise of the Green Paper on social care reform in March 2017, the dementia care crisis has reached absolute breaking point, says the Alzheimer’s Society. New analysis published by Alzheimer’s Society reveals people living with dementia have had to spend almost £15bn of their own money on social care since Government reforms were first promised in March 2017. Read news piece here

Budget 2018: £1bn real terms cut to wider health budget

The Health Foundation yesterday released analysis following the budget, which included calculations of what the budgets will be in the coming years for NHS England and the wider Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). Read report here

NMC response to budget 2018

Click here for NMC response

Budget 2018: Mental health and social care in the spotlight

In her Conference speech last month, the Prime Minister declared an “end to austerity” but at the high table of Budget giveaways, today was not an all-you-can-eat buffet. Click here to read NHS Confederation article

Older, Poor Adults at Greater Risk of Dementia

Older adults living in poverty have an increased risk of developing dementia, according to a new U.K. study published in JAMA Psychiatry. Read PsycheCentral blog here

'Breathing space' victory for those struggling with debt while in hospital for their mental health

Thousands of people who are in mental health crisis and struggling with serious debt will be given breathing space from further interest, charges and enforcement action following a campaign victory by the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute. Read MoneySavingExpert article here

Health care education funding for postgraduate, dental hygiene and dental therapy students

Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) -
From August 2018 new postgraduate pre-registration nursing, midwifery, allied health professional, and most new dental hygiene and dental therapy students will access loans from the Student Loans Company. New DHSC guidance explains the changes in further detail.
Access the guidance at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/healthcare-education-funding-for-postgraduate-and-dental-students/healthcare-education-funding-for-postgraduate-and-dental-students

Refreshing NHS plans for 2018/19

This guidance from NHS England, and published jointly with NHS Improvement, sets out the plans for the NHS in light of the November 2017 budget announcements. It outlines how the additional funding will impact on emergency and urgent care, elective surgery and other core frontline services such as mental health and primary care. It is accompanied by revised CCG allocations for the financial year 2018/19.

PFI and PF2

This briefing from the National Audit Office looks at the rationale, costs and benefits of the Private Finance Initiative; the use of and impact of PFI, and ability to make savings from operational contracts; and the introduction of PF2.

Changes to the DHSC group accounting manual 2018 to 2019

This DHSC consultation seeks views on the guidance for financial reporting and preparing annual reports and accounts for the department and related bodies (non-Foundation Trusts). The consultation document outlines the proposed changes for the next financial year and feedback will be accepted until 23 February 2018.

Sustainability and transformation in the NHS

This report from the National Audit Office finds that additional funding, aimed to help the NHS get on a financially sustainable footing, has instead been spent on coping with existing pressures.

The report makes a number of recommendations to the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and NHS Improvement, which includes moving further and faster towards aligning nationwide incentives, regulation and processes, as well as reassessing how best to allocate the sustainability and transformation funding.

Revealed: NHS Improvement abandons consultancy turnaround programme

A financial turnaround project where management consultants are sent to work with NHS trusts has been shelved by NHS Improvement, HSJ has learned.

The third wave of the financial improvement programme was due to start in early 2018 but sources involved told HSJ an “in-house” team will now work with the most troubled providers instead.


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New Health Foundation programme selects 12 projects to improve analytical capability in health and care services

The Health Foundation has selected 12 projects from across the UK to take part in the first round of its new £1.2 million Advancing Applied Analytics programme.

The programme aims to improve analytical capability in support of health and care services. It supports analysts who are working on local innovative and ambitious projects, to help them demonstrate improvements to analytical capability in health and care services and provide lessons for the wider care system.

HEE launches supported return to training strategy

Health Education England has launched a strategy and investment plan which details ten commitments to ensure that trainees are supported on their return to training pathway.

There are more than 50,000 doctors undertaking postgraduate training in England. At least 10 per cent of these will need to take time out of their programme for a variety of reasons such as parental leave, sickness or bereavement, to gain additional experience or training outside of the postgraduate training programme, to conduct academic research, or to take a career break.

Service redesign training for finance professionals

NHS Improvement is offering a quality, service and redesign practitioner programme specifically for finance staff in collaboration with Healthcare Financial Management Association and Future Focused Finance.

This five day programme (over five months) is free of charge to NHS finance professionals attending with a clinical or service management colleague with whom they're working on an improvement project.

NHS England consults on freeing up 136 million to boost frontline NHS care by curbing prescription costs

NHS England has launched a public consultation on proposals to rein in prescriptions for some ‘over the counter’ products such as dandruff shampoo and drops for tired eyes, freeing-up up to £136 million to expand other treatments for major conditions such as cancer and mental health problems.

Does Money Buy Happiness? Not Necessarily

How much people earn is associated with how they experience happiness, according to a new study. Click here for PsychCentral article

Guidance on overseas visitors hospital charging regulations

Guidance, from the Department of Health, for NHS bodies who need to make and recover hospital charges from overseas visitors.

See also Overseas patient upfront tariff 2017/18.

College response to the NHS Providers survey of CCG Mental Health spend

Sir Simon Wessely, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists said:
“There is now overwhelming evidence that too many Clinical Commissioning groups are failing people with mental illness. This research shows that they aren’t passing on money meant for mental health services, but we also know that many are missing targets to ensure that people can access treatment and failing to implement essential changes to secure the mental health workforce for the future. This amounts to a betrayal of the promise that people with mental illness would get the same treatment as those with physical illnesses; we call on NHS England and NHS Improvement to take urgent action to hold CCG’s to account.” Click here for RCPsych blog

Is Surgical Clip Placement Necessary in all Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy, and Could This Have Financial Implications for Local Trusts?

International Journal of Surgery , Volume 47 , S20 

Several studies have reported the benefits of surgical clip placement for all breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). The clips allow tumour localisation and maximise potential for breast-conserving surgery. We audited our data to determine if this approach is clinically necssary, and whether avoiding non-essential clips led to financial savings.

UHCW Research: S. Chambers, E. Griffin, L. Jenkins, S. Ayaani, H. Al-Omishy, S. Robertson, M. Sreenivas, A. Tomlins and K. McEvoy