UK National Health Service In Crisis – A crisis that has implications for the debate over health care reform in the United States. Politico’s Helen Collis Details of the UK problem Explore possible solutions.
Signs of a crisis are many:
The return of the flu And other viral diseases, along with the toll of care lost during the pandemic, are killing more people now than in previous winter waves of Covid-19.
Waiting times out of control. In November alone, 37,800 patients waited more than 12 hours in emergency rooms, compared to 10,600 in November 2021 and 1,111 in November 2019. An increasing number of People are waiting Eight to 14 days to see a family doctor.
– The NHS chronic Understaffing. At the end of last September, the number of vacancies in England was 133,446. This is an increase of 29 percent compared to September 2021 and a jump of 52 percent Two years ago, according to NHS Digital figures.
The blows, the last one By paramedics, those problems were exacerbated.
What can the UK do?
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the NHS would move 2,500 medically fit patients from hospitals to care homes, use modular units to expand capacity in emergency rooms, and pause inspections in hospitals.
But emergency care professionals, hospitals and primary care, nurses and leaders of NHS facilities say more is needed, Collis says.
Their recommendations:
Pay more employees.
Miriam Deakin, director of policy at NHS Providers, which represents hospitals, ambulances, community services and mental health, called on the government and concerned unions to “get around the table immediately to talk specifically about wages”. She said last month’s strikes meant thousands of appointments had to be rescheduled.
– Reduce paperwork.
Camilla Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said many of the time-consuming administrative tasks required of NHS doctors “don’t really need to be done”. Assignments include paperwork for routine check-ups for chronically ill people, forms for insurance companies, letters about medication for trips, driving forms, and sick notes for schools for short-term illnesses.
Reducing the burden on ERs.
Accepting patients who need hospital care directly from the community.
Providing hospital beds.
One of the biggest bottlenecks in moving patients to the right ward is so-called bed blocking – older, medically fit patients who are unable to be discharged from the hospital due to a lack of community care. “A sustainable investment in social care is the obvious solution in the short term,” Deakin said.
This is where we explore the ideas and innovators that are shaping healthcare.
Mango madness, raucous lemon, peach dream. Health experts are criticizing marketing tactics used by New York’s fledgling legal cannabis industry, which they say may appeal to children.
As it is, New York Adult Use Act Marketing and advertising “designed in any way to attract children or other minors” is prohibited. bubble letter packaging, Rainbow colors and fox flavors On candy brands like “Stony Patch Kids” and “Banana Runtz” are under fire, according to the Associated Press.
The concern follows a years-long battle between states and vaping companies over marketing practices. Last year, e-cigarette company Juul agreed to pay $438.5 million investigation settlement In the company’s marketing of e-cigarette products to children.
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Pulse check
Peanut allergy can be treated …with peanuts? A new study suggests that giving children with peanut allergies small and increased doses of boiled peanuts may help.
Among the 70 participants, 80 percent successfully desensitized to peanuts, according to research published in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Allergy.
For three months, researchers at the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute in Australia gave children peanuts that had been boiled for 12 hours. Then they gave them boiled peanuts for 2 hours for 20 weeks, and finally roasted peanuts for 20 weeks. Then, the children were given 12 roasted peanuts daily to keep their allergies at bay.
Will this system make kids hate peanuts? Study does not say.
This approach is not without issues. Researchers reported adverse reactions in more than 60 percent of the children, although the study reports emergency epinephrine use by only three participants.
Peanut allergy affecting less than 3 percent of the US population, according to one estimate. However, allergic reactions can lead to an emergency room visit and, in extreme cases, death.
Texas Department of Agriculture He asks the state legislature for $500,000 annually to continue funding a suicide and crisis hotline for farmers as part of the state’s Farmer Mental Health and Suicide Prevention program.
The hotline was launched last February with funding from a one-time federal grant and is staffed by mental health professionals trained in the nuances of farming and ranching stressors like weather, crop prices and tariffs.
why does it matter: While the farming and mental health communities may seem like strange companions, the truth is that suicide rates are higher in rural areas than in urban areas, and within rural communities, farmers bear an especially high risk. Farmer suicide rate 3.5 times of the general population, according to the National Rural Health Association.
“The stress-related work in this job is no different than any other,” Reb Wine, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Agriculture, told Erin.
Wayne said the anonymous and discreet hotline is well-suited to farmers and ranchers who tend to value independence and self-reliance and might not otherwise seek help.
Measuring results: Wayne says it will take time to evaluate the Texas program. He said state officials are still trying to figure out what the best measure is. Programs like this usually take three to five years to see if you’re making progress.
