The NHS is at war, claims the Daily Mail, with warnings that the Department of Health and NHS England are pulling the service in different directions.
The two were likened to ‘warring parents’ and were warned by Foundation Trust Network chief executive Chris Hopkins to ‘get their act together’ - although he added he felt confident that they would. He said: ‘Sometimes those of us in the NHS look up and think - this is warring parents who ought to get their act together so we can do what we need to do in the NHS.’
The number of reported ‘never events’ nearly doubled in the NHS in just twelve months, reports the Telegraph. They said this included potentially fatal errors like operations on the wrong side of the body or medical instruments left behind inside the body after surgery.
They are classed as ‘never events’ because they are so bad they should never happen, but official NHS statistics showed a rise from 163 to 299 such events in 2012/13.
A group of MPs wants the English NHS to set up a special fund to pay for expensive drugs for rare conditions, the BBC reports.
The Parliamentary Group for Muscular Dystrophy - a disease which affects an estimated 70,000 in the UK - warned those with rare diseases may be denied access to treatments unless there was a special fund in England similar to what exists in Scotland.
Finally, nurses in the NHS are warned to quit being too fashion-conscious, after 60% of nursing students polled reported instances of nail extensions and varnish being used.
Official guidance says nails should be kept short and varnish free not to jeopardise infection control, the BBC news piece says.
