National Health Service

[SteveH]

Posted by: DVT
? on: Today at 11:27:34 am ?Insert Quote
It does seem that the media make it the big thing that the various unions are pressing for more money, which is not totally the case as per above.  Yes, many do deserve more money but the amounts demanded are probably impractical and will only serve to increase everyone's cost of living as price of goods and services will increase..

My brother-in-law works for the railway and the big issue there is not the money, but the conditions and the management are planning a 5% reduction in maintenance, with work normally carried out every 3 months now going to be every 6 months, so halving much of the work and a percentage of the employees, as well as increasing safety risks.  Also doing away with guardsmen, leaving the driver to look after everyone on board.

The media should report facts correctly, not sensationalise things.

Whats the answer ?

North Wales' health board has postponed all non-urgent procedures after declaring another internal critical incident. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) has postponed all but the most urgent procedures and appointments in hospitals on Tuesday, January 3, to try and cope with the unrelenting demand.

The health board was forced to take similar measures last month, when services were hit by unprecedented winter pressures. However, despite already putting hundreds of appointments and procedures on hold in December, the health board says it is still struggling to cope with "prolonged, unprecedented demand across the health and social care system."

The health board has apologised for the disruption and said those affected will be contacted to reschedule as soon as possible. Patients with appointments from January 4 onwards have been told to assume they are still going ahead, unless they are contacted directly by the health board.

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/north-wales-hospitals-declare-another-25877271

[SteveH]

Ministers are under mounting pressure to respond to "intolerable and unsustainable" pressure facing the NHS.

Senior doctors described the NHS as on a knife edge, with some A&Es in a "complete state of crisis".

Labour criticised the government's management of the health service, while the Liberal Democrats called for Parliament to be recalled early.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said he recognised staff were under "tremendous pressure".

But he said the government had offered more resources to the NHS and social care to help services cope.

Hospitals are experiencing soaring demand, which experts believe is in part driven by winter illnesses like flu and Covid.

Some 13% of hospital beds in England are filled with people with Covid or flu, NHS England figures showed.

In some places, like Shropshire and Gloucestershire, people are being advised to only visit A&E in extreme circumstances.

In recent days, a number of hospitals have declared critical incidents suggesting they cannot function as usual due to extraordinary pressure.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64148967

[SteveH]

I agree with their views, I find the Ambulance programme very informative, and it would go a long way to help our understanding of their work.

BBC One's Ambulance a 'TV show everyone should be made to watch' as many viewers make same point about NHS
'Everyone should be made to watch Ambulance so people have a small insight into what the ambulance service do'

"Everyone should be made to watch ambulance so people have a small insight into what the ambulance service do and how many time wasters there are!
cont https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/tv/bbc-ones-ambulance-tv-show-25897932?IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589


'Pay carers more to ease NHS crisis in North Wales'
Mary Wimbury, the chief executive of Care Forum Wales, says sector can help relieve the pressure on hospitals

This week the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board said that 15% of current patients are medically fit for discharge but can?t be sent home due to gaps in social care. This means that hundreds of patients are well enough to go home but lack of resources in the community mean they are unable to do so.
cont  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/pay-carers-more-ease-nhs-25897919


Disabled parking at a North Wales hospital has been branded "abysmal". There are around 20 disabled parking spaces on the near side of the car park opposite the entrance to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan.
cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/disabled-parking-situation-north-wales-25891498


GP Surgeries across North Wales are 'under significant pressure' says Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board.
On Monday, January 2, Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board declared a critical incident due to prolonged and unprecedented demand.

The North Wales health board has said that it has a ?very high volume? of patients with flu, COVID and other respiratory viruses, which had led to increased pressure.

Dr Jim McGuigan, GP and Deputy Director of Primary Care at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said:  ?GP surgeries across North Wales are currently working under significant pressures and experiencing high levels of demand for appointments due to a combination of winter viruses, concerns over Strep A and other conditions.
cont https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/23229777.gp-surgeries-across-north-wales-experiencing-high-level-demand/

[SteveH]

NHS Wales: Patients can be sent home without care package
Senior NHS staff have been advised by the Welsh government to discharge people who are well enough to leave, even without a package of care.

But one GP called the announcement "terrifying" and warned that patients could deteriorate and end up back in hospital.

The seven health boards in Wales have nearly 1,800 patients medically well enough to leave hospital.
The Welsh government has called the NHS situation "unprecedented".

The message comes after one health leader said the NHS was on a "knife-edge" in terms of its ability to cope.

The letter from the chief nursing officer and the deputy chief medical officer to the health boards offered "support and advice to ensure patients are kept as safe as possible, and services are kept as effective as possible over the next period".
cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64160868


NHS Wales: Health boss apologises to patients for 'poor' experience
Wales' NHS chief executive has apologised to patients who suffered a poor experience as hospitals struggled with demand.

Judith Paget denied that the service had underprepared for the "unprecedented" pressure in the service.
Her comments come after a man spoke of having to carry his grandfather into A&E after he suffered a cardiac arrest.
Ms Paget apologised to him for the "hugely distressing" situation.

She said a controversial decision to support the discharge of people without a care package was taken to "try to improve things" for patients, their families and staff.

Meanwhile First Minister Mark Drakeford denied there was a lottery for emergency care.
cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64172367

[SteveH]

A day in the life with the Welsh Ambulance Service

"I've been spat at and shouted at, but I'm just trying to help people."

It seems that most emergency service workers have experienced some form of abuse while working, and for advanced paramedic practitioner (APP), Ema Geddes, it is no different.

Mum of two, Ema has been with WAST for 16 years but a paramedic for 12. Having started in the Welsh Ambulance Service control room, she was inspired to take up a career on the front line.

Now, she plays an important role in trying to reduce ambulance waits across Flintshire and Wrexham.
https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/23229853.day-life-welsh-ambulance-service-wrexham/

PM Rishi Sunak to hold crisis meeting over NHS pressures
The prime minister, health secretary and Treasury ministers are to meet health experts to help tackle crucial challenges facing the NHS in England.

Reports have emerged of patients spending days on trolleys because of shortages of beds in some hospitals.

Rishi Sunak has promised to cut long waiting times for routine operations within two years.

But Labour says patients deserve "more than a talking shop" and the Lib Dems say it is "too little too late".

Representatives from the public and private sectors are attending Saturday's forum at Downing Street, alongside chief executives and clinical leaders of NHS organisations, local areas and councils from across the country, plus medical and social care experts.

Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, and Sir Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, are also taking part in the meeting.

Senior doctors say the NHS is on a knife-edge, with long waits for emergency care, routine operations, GP appointments and care for patients when they are discharged from hospital.

High levels of flu and Covid, a wave of strike action and a cost-of-living crisis are also putting huge pressure on the health service.
cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-64189116

[SteveH]

NHS pay dispute: Health secretary hints at pay boost offer to unions

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has suggested health workers could get a bigger pay rise in April - if they agree to "efficiencies" in the NHS.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Barclay said he remains "ready to engage" with striking unions on how the government can "support the workforce".

The NHS has seen widespread strikes in a dispute over this year's pay offer.

Union leaders say ministers must act on the current dispute, and this month's walkouts will go ahead.

Meanwhile, shadow health minister Andrew Gwynne said a decade of underfunding by Tory governments had stretched the NHS.

It comes a day after health leaders held talks with the government about tackling the challenges faced by the NHS - which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described as "highly valuable".

On Monday, health unions have been invited to meet Mr Barclay to discuss pay for 2023-24 from April - and in his Telegraph opinion piece he argued "we should be moving forward and having constructive conversations about what is affordable this coming year, rather than going back retrospectively".

But speaking to the BBC's Today programme on Saturday, Royal College of Nursing General Secretary Pat Cullen said the pay increase nurses would receive in 2022-23 was "fundamental" to the ongoing dispute.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64201200

[SteveH]

Welsh ambulance workers to strike for two days this month
Unite the union members at the Welsh Ambulance Service will walk out on January 19 and 23 for 24 hours

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/welsh-ambulance-workers-strike-two-25915899?IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589


NHS to buy care beds to make space in hospitals
Thousands of NHS patients in England will be moved into care homes as part of the government's plan to ease unprecedented pressure on hospitals.

The NHS is being given ?250m to buy thousands of beds in care homes and upgrade hospitals amid a winter crisis.

The move aims to free up hospital beds so patients can be admitted more quickly from A&E to hospital wards.

Labour's shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, said the announcement was "another sticking plaster".

The plans will be included in an emergency package to be unveiled by Health Secretary Steve Barclay.

Later in the day, Mr Barclay will outline a series of measures to address pressures on the NHS, including long waits for emergency care and delays to discharging patients who are medically fit to leave hospital.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-64204367

[SteveH]

With all the bad news at the moment, nice to see something positive for a change, I wish them success, and hope their training methods spread to others...........

Llandudno care home staff experience being in residents' shoes

STAFF members at a care home experienced first-hand what it might feel like to be a resident.

The team at RMBI Home Queen Elizabeth Court, in Llandudno, were presented with various challenges such as wearing a wet incontinence pad [as part of a training session] and were tasked to assist each other with personal hygiene - washing face and neck.

The activities were carried out twice to demonstrate good and poor practices.

The aim of the training programme Experiential Learning, was to help staff develop a better understanding of how residents should be cared for, and develop a greater sense of empathy.

Queen Elizabeth Court?s Training Manager, said: ?All staff at our Home, at every level, have been through this training. It?s part of our induction process. We feel it makes such a difference when we get to experience being in the residents? shoes, rather than to read or hear about it.

"It really emphasises people?s understanding of each individuals? needs.?

Staff members also took part in a variety of scenarios, such as being pushed in a wheelchair with artificially impaired vision; Being supported to eat a meal by another trainee; Being left on their own in an empty room whilst unable to move from their chair.

The programme was first launched in 2014 and has been refined and expanded with different scenarios in recent years.

Louise Bateman, Group Human Resources Director at RMBI Care Co, says: ?Learning through experience can be very powerful; this programme has become a vital tool in supporting new staff members to empathise with residents and to care with compassion. We want to ensure that we recruit individuals not solely upon their technical skills or abilities, but on the basis of their values and attitudes to care.?

Home Manager, Michelle Beer, said: ?This training emphasises the importance of being in someone else?s shoes and treating others the way you want them to treat you.?

cont https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/23237153.llandudno-care-home-staff-experience-residents-shoes/?ref=rss&IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[SteveH]

North Wales residents told to get flu vaccine as cases still on rise

BETSI Cadwaladr has called on residents in North Wales to get their 'crucial' flu vaccines this winter.

Children and eligible adults will be able to get a free flu vaccine at one of the health board's mass vaccination centres from Monday.

The health board says flu is circulating in North Wales, with hundreds of patients admitted to hospital in recent weeks.

From Monday, January 16, everyone eligible for a flu vaccine will be able to walk into a vaccination clinic without an appointment. Many GP surgeries and community pharmacies will also continue to offer the vaccine.


The vaccine can prevent you from getting the flu, reduce your chances of passing it on, and can lessen the severity of symptoms if you do catch the virus.

All school-age children have been offered the flu vaccine at clinics in school during the autumn term, but it is not too late to catch up.

Betsi Cadwaladr immunisations coordinator Leigh Pusey said: ?If you are in a priority group then getting your flu vaccine is crucial, and it?s so important to protect our children too.

?Please help to keep yourself and your loved ones well by making sure you take up the opportunity to get the flu vaccine ? at your GP surgery, your local community pharmacist or at one of the health board?s vaccination centres.?

[SteveH]

'Absolute nightmare' as another North Wales care home announces closure
Karen Jones says the Bay Court Care Home in Kinmel Bay was hit by a triple whammy of staff shortages, inadequate fees and red tape

A distraught care home director has spoken movingly about the heartbreak of having to close and the elderly residents with dementia having to move out. Karen Jones, who has run the 16-bed Bay Court Care Home in Kinmel Bay for the past seven years, says the home was hit by a triple whammy of staff shortages, inadequate fees and red tape.

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/absolute-nightmare-another-north-wales-26003434

[SteveH]

Not local, but it could happen here...............

Welsh Government?s Health Minister Eluned Morgan........

The Minister has come under fire after the Welsh Government told health boards that some patients may need to be sent home from hospital without care packages in place as demand for bed space soared.

In response to intense pressure, which has resulted in ambulances sitting outside of A&E for hours and incredibly low morale among staff, she announced that the Welsh Government has secured an additional 500 community beds for step-down care.

In a speech on the floor of the Senedd, Llyr Gruffydd criticised the Welsh Government for closing community hospitals in Flint, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Prestatyn, and Llangollen and argued that it was now trying to ?recreate and rebuild? capacity that it had lost.

He told Senedd members that the Welsh Government had been ?warned? that it would ?regret? closing the hospitals, and asked if the Minister accepted that doing so was a ?mistake?.

The closures, which were part of a shake up by Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board, were fiercely protested by local communities at the time.

cont https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/23264066.concerns-community-hospital-closures-north-wales/

[Hugo]

Ex-Tory health minister says patients should be charged for GP and A&E visits Sajid Javid pointed towards models in Ireland and Sweden as he says current model is 'unsustainable'

I'll say this for the Tory Government, they are doing their best to privatise the NHS

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/ex-tory-health-minister-says-26037795

[SteveH]

Nearly 350m needed to bring North Wales health board's hospitals up to scratch
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board report reveals only 62% of the estate is considered to be operationally safe

Over 348m needs to be spent to bring NHS buildings in North Wales up to an acceptable standard.

A report to be considered this week by the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board reveals that only 62% of the estate is considered to be operationally safe, the all-Wales average being 72% and the national target 90%.

The Board occupies 238 properties across the region with an annual running cost of ?73m. The oldest property is Denbigh Infirmary which was built in 1813. The estate strategy for the next 10 years show that the maintenance backlog costs have risen from 142m in 2019 to 348m.

Approximately 73% of the costs relate to the three acute hospitals, Ysbyty Gwynedd, Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and Wrexham Maelor Hospital, with Abergele Hospital, Rhyl?s Royal Alexandra Hospital and Bryn y Neuadd Hospital in Llanfairfechan also requiring millions spent on them.

cont  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/nearly-350m-needed-bring-north-26044323

That figure rings a bell........... _

[SteveH]

THE Welsh Ambulance Service will host its bi-monthly board meeting this week.

The public can join on Zoom to hear senior leaders discuss the recent industrial action by ambulance workers, as well as performance and plans for the future.

There will also be an opportunity for the public to pose a question to the board.

?The board meeting will be an opportunity to hear more about this, as well as our plans to improve the way we deliver services to patients and improve the workplace for our people.?

People can go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vz36_QliQcOTuxQaY5e5bg to watch the Board meeting.

It will be held on Thursday, January 26 from 9.30am.

To pre-submit a question, people should email AMB_AskUs@wales.nhs.uk by no later than close of play on Wednesday, January 25.

The meeting will also be streamed live to the Welsh Ambulance Trust?s Facebook page, and an agenda will be available on the trust?s website in the coming days.

full article https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/23271770.welsh-ambulance-service-set-hold-latest-board-meeting/

[SteveH]

Three stories this morning, mostly good news for a change............

New North Wales medical school set to train hundreds of country's future doctors
The Welsh Government will fund up to 140 medical student placements each year at the new school

Training will begin in 2024, with student numbers increasing until reaching capacity from 2029. A gradual increase in students will allow time to assess and evaluate the quality of tuition and student experience at the new school.

"Our new north Wales medical school will help us train the medical staff we need for the future. I?m proud so many students will be able to study in north Wales and I hope they stay to work in those communities following their studies.
cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/new-north-wales-medical-school-26072800


ADVANCED Paramedics Practitioners (APP) across Wales are helping to treat more people in the community and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.
Data from the Welsh Ambulance Service shows that up to 70 per cent fewer people needed to be taken to emergency departments when responded to by an Advanced Paramedic Practitioner, compared to traditional crews.

Providing a link between primary and secondary care, APPs are paramedics who also care for patients in a primary care setting through a rotational working model and are based in General Practitioner surgeries, community care centres and on the road in Rapid Response Vehicles in the community. They have undertaken additional education to respond to 999 calls, make advanced clinical decisions, undertake medicine reviews and in some cases prescribe medication.
cont https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/23277180.advanced-paramedics-reducing-hospital-admissions-north-wales/


Welsh Ambulance Service facing up to ?15m in cuts
Union says the service is 'on its knees' and that further cuts would be 'catastrophic' as Welsh Government blames Westminster

?Health boards and trusts across the UK have now received their budgets for the year 2023-24 and they have not been increased in line with inflation, so that means the budgets are immediately in deficit,? the union boss said. ?So they?re all being told they?ve got to make millions of pounds? worth of efficiency savings.
cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/welsh-ambulance-service-facing-up-26074613