News
Nigel Acheson, Regional Medical Director, celebrates innovation in maternity services
Last week NHS England announced the winning projects for the latest round of the Maternity Challenge Fund – all set to receive £50,000 to explore pioneering ways to use women’s and their partners’ feedback to drive improvement in maternity services. Back in November 2016, maternity services across England were invited to put forward ground-breaking proposals […]
Improving health on NHS Sustainability Day
23rd March is NHS Sustainability Day and this year NHS England and health partners across the South are focusing on sustainable travel. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that more than nine out of ten people across the globe live in areas where its air quality guideline levels are not met. Concern is growing as […]
More than a quarter of a million Kent and Medway GP patients benefiting from the online revolution
Two hundred and eighty five thousand Kent and Medway GP patients are benefiting from the online revolution. In just nine months and with the click of a button they have booked and cancelled 241,000 appointments. GP online services allow people to book a doctor’s appointments or request a repeat prescription over the internet or on […]
Inside a sexual assault referral centre (SARC)
Behind a discreet door at Crawley Hospital, staff from the Sussex Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) offer help and support to people who have been raped or sexually assaulted. The centre is called Saturn and the number of people walking through its door is increasing each year. In 2015/2016 the team of specially trained doctors, […]
Learning from the experts: People with learning disabilities run easy read training
Emily Prior, Communications and Engagement Manager at NHS England (South), blogs about the importance of communicating accessibly. I recently hosted a training day for health and social care colleagues from Transforming Care Partnerships across the south of England. We came together to master the art of producing easy read material – created specifically to help people with […]
Roll out of the world’s first national review of deaths of people with learning disabilities
Last week health and social care professionals, and families and carers of individuals with a learning disability, flocked to the NHSE South Learning Disabilities Morality Review (LeDeR) programme Share & Learn Event in Reading. The LeDeR programme is all about reducing premature deaths of people with learning disabilities. It does this by supporting local reviews of deaths […]
World Cancer Day 2017 – much to celebrate with improvements and innovation in cancer care across the South
Nigel Acheson, Regional Medical Director and Chair of the Cancer Priority Programme Board, NHS England South Saturday 2 February marked World Cancer Day 2017, an opportunity to unite against cancer, raising awareness of the disease and promote prevention activity. In my capacity as the chair of NHS England South’s Cancer priority programme board, it is […]
Thames Valley Strategic Clinical Network publishes findings of audit to improve early diagnosis of cancer
Thames Valley Strategic Clinical Network (TV SCN) today published the results of a Thames Valley-wide audit of patients diagnosed with cancer after going to hospital following an emergency presentation. The audit also reviewed the entire patient journey for a selected number of these patients. This significant research project was commissioned by the Thames Valley Strategic Clinical […]
Eleven years old and caring for a brother with a severe learning disability, epilepsy and autism
Today we celebrate Young Carers Awareness Day (YCAD) – a day to remember the huge amount of care provided by 700,000 incredible young people across the UK. Thousands of young people have the huge responsibility of caring for a loved one, often helping out in practical ways by directly supporting a sibling for example, or […]
A call to action – Cervical Cancer Prevention Week
Before starting my role as NHS England’s South Regional Medical Director I spent my career working as a gynaecologist. I fully support and endorse Cervical Cancer Prevention Week (January 22-28). Cervical cancer treatment has been revolutionised since I started my career and we are now able to save many more lives than in the past. […]