People who arrive at A&E experiencing a mental health crisis will receive emergency care within one hour under NHS pilot schemes aimed at improving care and saving more lives. The new standard, a significant step towards parity of esteem for mental health, is among a raft of proposed clinical improvements that aim to deliver rapid […]

Every major hospital will provide urgent same day services to improve care for patients and cut unnecessary admissions by next winter, NHS National Medical Director Professor Stephen Powis said today. Many hospitals are already providing comprehensive care without admitting patients who come to A&E with conditions such as pneumonia or other breathing difficulties through same […]

NHS chief Simon Stevens has today challenged vehicle manufacturers to help “blue lights go green” and cut air pollution by developing more environmentally friendly ambulances. With polluted air causing cancer, lung disease and heart problems and contributing to around 40,000 deaths each year, the NHS England chief executive pledged that the health service will step […]

Teenagers accounted for more than 1,000 admissions to hospital as a result of assaults with a knife or sharp object last year, NHS figures show. Admissions for all injuries caused by an assault with knife or other sharp objects have gone up by almost a third since 2012-13, from 3,849 to 4,986 last year. However, […]

NHS England will help fund so-called ‘drunk tanks’ to take the pressure off hospital and 999 services over Christmas and New Year, chief executive Simon Stevens announced today. Supervised areas where revellers who have over-indulged can be checked over and even sleep it off, rather than being taken to casualty or monitored by the police, […]

Thousands of Londoners experiencing a mental health crisis will be sent a specialist nurse and a paramedic in a car on blue lights. By responding together, the specialist ambulance crew is expected to reduce mental health hospital admissions from 58,000 to 30,000 per year once it is rolled out across the capital. The London Ambulance […]

20,000 people every day are now getting urgent health advice from a doctor, nurse, paramedic or other clinical professional over the phone, according to latest NHS data. Over half of all calls to the NHS 111 phone service received expert assessment from a clinical professional in July this year – the highest proportion since the […]

The NHS in England has saved an additional 1,600 patients with severe injuries since major trauma centres were established in 2012. New findings show the creation of major traumas centres has led to the survival of more than 1,600 patients who have suffered some of the most severe and complicated injuries thanks to top teams […]

A resource Patient Safety Alert has been issued to support safer provision of bowel care for patients at risk of autonomic dysreflexia. Patient Safety Alert – Resources to support safer bowel care for patients at risk of autonomic dysreflexia Patients with spinal cord injury or neurological conditions may have neurogenic bowel dysfunction, which often means […]

Innovative ‘red bags’ that help care home residents admitted to hospital be discharged quicker are being rolled out across the country. The bags, which contain key paperwork, medication and personal items like glasses, slippers and dentures, are handed to ambulance crews by carers and travel with patients to hospital where they are then handed to […]