global burden of disease

The rate of people dying from strokes decreased by 55% in a decade, according to a study published in the BMJ (British Medical Journal).

Researchers from the University of Oxford analysed data from almost 800,000 adults in England admitted to hospital between 2001 and 2010.

The authors said: "Our findings show that most of the reduction in stroke mortality is a result of improved survival of patients with stroke.

"However, acute and long-term management of such patients is expensive, and the NHS is already spending about 5% of its budget on stroke care.

"By focusing on prevention and reducing the occurrence of stroke, major resources can be conserved."

The study found that death rates from strokes decreased across all age groups. In men, overall death rates dropped from 140 per 100,000 people in 2001, to 74 per 100,000 people in 2010, and in women, from 128 per 100,000 to 72 per 100,000.

People with mental health issues are three-and-a-half times more likely to be in problem debt than those without such conditions, analysis suggests.

This link was even stronger for certain conditions such as bipolar disorder and depression, the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute said.

It said those with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) were six times more likely to have serious money troubles.

It is leading calls for greater protection for those in this situation.

The institute analysed data from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, which had responses from 7,500 people in England.

This revealed an estimated 1.5 million people were struggling with mental health and debt issues at the same time.

But on other measures, diet has not improved, the report, from the Food Standards Agency and Public Health England, says.

Fruit and vegetable consumption remains largely unchanged and is still under the recommended five-a-day level.
Fibre intake has fallen slightly, while vitamin and mineral consumption is down.

And there has been little change in oily fish intake.

But Nigel Edwards, the influential chief executive of the Nuffield Trust think tank, believes a "significant unpicking" of Mr Lansley's reforms are on the cards and in time they will be judged as "one of the most major public policy failures" of all time.

If that is the case, it begs the question: why did the government go to all the trouble of pushing ahead with them in the first place?

Theresa May’s boast that extra funding won’t involve tax rises should set alarm bells ringing [...] Stevens knows that £20.5bn is a lot, yet not enough. It repairs some of the damage inflicted by austerity – a problem denied for years by ministers who insisted the NHS budget was ring-fenced. That was true in a narrow technical sense. But rising costs and a displaced burden from deep cuts elsewhere imposed an unbearable strain on hospitals and GPs. [...] Phased in over five years, the £20.5bn uplift temporarily restores health spending to something like its pre-austerity trajectory. But it is unclear where the next £20.5bn comes from. Or the £20.5bn after that. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that budgets should rise by 3.3% over 15 years to keep services at their current level. If the ambition is to make them better, the annual increase would be more like 5%, taking health spending to around 10% of national income. That is the level maintained by countries like the Netherlands and Sweden. May has no plan to keep Britain in that league. [...] The dishonest part is making it sound like a self-sustaining process when it is a one-off event.

MISTAKE. PREVENTION SHOULD BE ON TOP OF THE BUDGET, NOT TAKEN AWAY FROM THE BUDGET. That after the conservatives cut prevention (Public Health)
The government and NHS England are publishing the long-waited 10-year plan for healthcare later today. From what we know so far, it aims to reduce reliance on hospitals, giving them a smaller cut of the overall budget, and puts a greater emphasis on preventing ill health. Ahead of the publication, NHS England confirmed that a third of the extra £20bn a year the NHS will receive by 2023 will be spent on GPs, community care and mental health. Its chief executive, Simon Stevens, called the plan a "practical, costed and phased route map". However, senior doctors have complained that hospitals are facing a "near-on impossible" task over the next few years.
__ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-46783621 - Will NHS long-term plan deliver the goods?
++ https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-long-term-plan/
&!
Document demands repeal of 2012 legislation on automatic tendering of care contracts https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/07/nhs-chiefs-tell-theresa-may-time-to-curb-privatisation-automatic-tendering-care-contract
&! NHS considers scrapping four-hour A&E waiting time targets Hospitals are unlikely to recover previous performance levels, health leaders believe https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/07/nhs-waiting-time-targets-minor-ailments
&! Despite extra funding, central idea of plan for NHS England is to do more with less https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/07/what-is-the-nhs-long-term-plan-and-can-it-achieve-its-aims
& Key commitments at a glance, from reducing stillbirths to diagnosing cancers earlier
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/07/what-will-the-nhs-long-term-plan-mean-for-patients
& NHS long-term plan: Are there enough staff to make it happen?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-46782159

via Complex http://www.complex.com/all

Ageing population and hospital deficits will take up much of new funds, thinktank says
report by the IPPR thinktank and former senior NHS staff says.

via BBC News - Scotland https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

via BabyDotDot https://babydotdot.com

RT @angilocatelli: Looking to talk to mums of #premature #babies who had bad experiences with (or just have an opinion on!) the curren…

via Media Writing Premature Obituaries for the Democratic Left https://fair.org