National Health Service

[SteveH]

A scheme to develop two new helicopter landing pads at a North Wales hospital - prompted by a surge in summer tourism has been given the green light. Cyngor Gwynedd's planning committee unanimously agreed to a proposal to remove an existing helicopter landing site (HLS) and to construct two new landing pads at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, when it met today, Monday September 11.

It comes after an assessment of the existing service by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. It had reported "the need to upgrade and improve the provision for landing helicopters" at the Penrhosgarnedd site in Gwynedd.

The "existing service has been very busy, particularly taking into account the fact that the county's population doubles during the summer months, as well as the presence of Eryri National Park in the area."

A planning document had stated from December 1, 2020 to November 30, 2021, the 444 bed hospital had accepted 158 patients via Wales Air Ambulance / Bristow Search and Rescue: "Of this total, approximately 60% were HEMS / Air Ambulance tasks whilst the remaining 40% were SAR aircraft operations."

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/north-wales-hospital-two-new-27694688

[SteveH]

NHS leaders and ministers will meet in Downing Street on Wednesday to discuss planning for winter.

The summit will involve the prime minister, health secretary and NHS England boss Amanda Pritchard.

The focus will be on what else the NHS needs to help it through the winter.

With a record number of people on the hospital waiting list, the threat of continued strikes by doctors and long waits for emergency care, concern is growing over how the NHS will cope.

The event comes after the launch of the winter flu and Covid vaccination campaign earlier this week.

An extra 5,000 hospital beds are already in the process of being opened - increasing capacity by about 5%.

And there will be at least 10,000 "virtual" hospital beds, where doctors provide remote monitoring of patients - who would otherwise have to be admitted to hospital - in their homes.

These have been used in recent years for patients with conditions such as respiratory infections and heart problems.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-66790618

[SteveH]

Frustrated Denbighshire councillors were told there was no time scale for the re-development of Rhyl?s Royal Alexander Hospital. Whilst the business case was agreed back in March 2021, the project has remained frozen and awaiting Welsh Government approval and the allocation of funds.

At a partnerships scrutiny committee meeting on Thursday, councillors had the chance to question Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board director Alyson Constantine about the delay. Mrs Constantine explained that the health board were now awaiting a decision from Welsh Government on whether the plans would be taken forward.

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/frustration-over-delays-multi-million-27716545

[SteveH]

Some time ago, my medication was changed, which left me with a good supply of my old ones, when I returned them to the chemist, I was advised they could not be reused, and would be destroyed despite being well in date and totally sealed, I was also aware how expensive these meds were, ridiculous waste money......... 

The public in Northern Ireland disposes of an estimated 165 tonnes of unused medicines through community pharmacies, the Department of Health has said.
Most of these medicines were prescribed for patients.

The Department of Health has previously estimated that medicines wasted in Northern Ireland are valued at ?18m annually.

This is compounded by a further cost of ?650,000 to safely dispose of these unused medicines.

The figures have been released in a drive to reduce the amount of money that is spent unnecessarily on prescribed medicines across health and social care.

The department said Northern Ireland uses more of almost every type of medicine than in other parts of the UK and the number of prescriptions written for patients is rising each year.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66838617

[SteveH]

Police conclude North Wales health board review
North Wales Police say they are now preparing a 'final report' after being asked to probe financial irregularities

It followed accountancy firm Ernst & Young writing a scathing report over financial dealings at Betsi Cadwaladr, including deliberately incorrect entries into their own accounts as well as finding "systematic cultural failings" in the organisation's finance team.

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/police-conclude-north-wales-health-27792130

[SteveH]

Student loans in England should be written off for certain health staff once they have completed 10 years of NHS service, experts say.

The Nuffield Trust said the financial incentive was needed to stop a "dropout crisis" among nurses, midwives and other front-line staff.

It warned huge numbers were failing to finish training, or leave the NHS soon after starting.

But ministers rejected the idea, saying support was already in place.

The report by the Nuffield Trust is the most comprehensive look at what is happening to those who start training and begin their careers in the NHS.

It looked at a host of different groups from doctors and nurses to midwives and allied health professionals, including physios, occupational therapists and radiographers, who carry out scans.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-66939864

[SteveH]

Multi-million pound plans to redevelop Llandudno Hospital backed
Two new operating theatres are set to be built, while a ward will be refurbished

Plans for the multi-million pound redevelopment of a hospital have been backed by health bosses. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board backed a business case to redevelop Llandudno Hospital during a board meeting on Thursday.

The proposals will see two new operating theatres built, while the hospital's Aberconwy Ward will be refurbished. The refurbishment will provide 19 beds for patients who need non-complex orthopaedic surgery who might need a short hospital stay ? if funding is successful.

The business case for the multi-million-pound centre of excellence will now be considered by Welsh Government later this year. If agreed, these theatres would be built outside the radiology department, allowing current Llandudno theatre activity to continue.

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/multi-million-pound-plans-redevelop-27806069?IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[SteveH]

Betsi chief not happy with waiting times and also gives update on Rhyl hospital
She announced that Rhyl Alex could be regenerated in stages

The interim chief executive of North Wales? health board has admitted hospital waiting times are not good enough but says things are improving. Interim chief executive Carol Shillabeer also said plans for the regeneration of Rhyl?s hospital might need to be scaled down or completed in stages.

Ms Shillabeer spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board?s AGM last week. When asked if she was happy with current waiting times, she said she was not.

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/betsi-chief-not-happy-waiting-27827723

[SteveH]

North Wales: ?Use public transport to cut hospital car parking?

THE chairman of North Wales? health board is encouraging staff and patients to car share and use public transport in a bid to solve problems at busy hospital car parks.

Speaking at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board?s AGM in Llandudno, chairman Dyfed Edwards said simply increasing the size of hospital car parks was not the right way forward.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked Mr Edwards what the health board was doing about people struggling to park ? specifically at Wrexham?s Maelor Hospital as well as Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor.

cont https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/23835072.north-wales-use-public-transport-cut-hospital-car-parking/?ref=rss&IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[SteveH]

The sickness timebomb set to hit Wales
A new report has laid bare the huge problems facing the Welsh NHS in the coming years.

During the next 15 years almost 20% of the population will be aged 70 and over with 22% more people expected to have diabetes. Meanwhile the number of people with four or more long-term conditions could double. These are among the huge problems facing the Welsh NHS in the coming years which are laid bare in a new report.

The Welsh NHS is already on its knees with huge waiting list backlogs and staffing shortages. WalesOnline recently published this special report into how both the UK and Welsh Governments had underfunded the health service.

cont https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/sickness-timebomb-set-hit-wales-27872232?IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[Hugo]

I have been with the same dentist practice for well over 20 years and last week my wife and I both received letters  The practice says that a high level of dental care within the NHS has been provided for me  and this has been made possible DUE TO my continued loyalty towards them and the trust I have placed in them as my dentist.
Then the crunch comes after a load of waffle.     From the 1st January 2024 the practice will no longer accept anyone for treatment on the NHS.    Instead if you want to continue using the same dentist you must register with them and then opt for an annual care or routine care package and complete a direct debit to cover the charges.
In other words they are going private like many before them have already done.
The way things are going I wouldn't be surprised if they introduced a nominal charge to see your GP

[Ian]

That's the way the Tories operate. We watched Caught Red Handed (BBC1) and were unsurprised by the problems directly caused by Tory policy.

[Helig]

In the south of Scotland you cannot get an NHS dentist anywhere. It isn't possible to register with one as a private patient either. Very many dentists have retired, or left. Those who remain have full patient lists and long waiting lists to become a patient. It has deteriorated significantly since I came up here 8 years ago.

[Hugo]

That's not a great situation to be in Helig but it's a sign of the decline of the NHS, certainly in dentistry.    Mrs H called at the surgery yesterday and found out that the surgery has 16,000  NHS  patients at the moment but from the 1st Jan 2024 they will only accept 6,000 private patients so I'll have to apply online asap

[SteveH]

The true picture of A&E waiting times in Wales has been seriously under-reported for a decade, the BBC can reveal.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has established thousands of hours are missed from monthly figures.

Senior A&E doctors have been raising the issue for months.

The Welsh government said it would ask health boards for assurances they were following the guidance "to ensure the data is absolutely transparent".

The RCEM said it could not measure "how bad" things were because thousands of patients subject to so-called "breach exemptions" were not included in the overall A&E waiting times.

The Welsh government initially disputed the RCEM's claim, but after seeing detailed figures - which were obtained through freedom of information (FOI) requests to health boards - it changed its position.

Wales' health minister has repeatedly claimed A&E waiting times in Wales have "bettered English performance".

But once the missing data is taken into account, it suggests the performance in Wales is worse.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-67056279