Posts by Tim Readman
North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Groups back World Antibiotics Awareness Week campaign
NHS Hambleton Richmondshire and Whitby, NHS Harrogate and Rural District and NHS Scarborough and Ryedale Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are backing a national campaign which aims to increase awareness of antibiotic resistance.
The campaign known as ‘World Antibiotics Awareness Week’ will run from 18 to 22 November targeting the general public, health workers and policy makers to improve awareness and understanding of antibiotic resistance through effective communications, education and training.
Speaking on behalf of the three clinical commissioning groups in North Yorkshire, Dr Tim Rider, GP Prescribing Lead, said: “Taking antibiotics inappropriately encourages harmful bacteria that live inside you to become resistant. That means that antibiotics may not work when you really need them. This puts you and your family at risk of a more severe or longer illness.
“If you or a family member has a cold or flu, antibiotics probably aren’t the answer, ask your pharmacist to recommend medicines to help with the symptoms or pain, they are experts in minor illnesses.
“Antibiotics are needed for serious bacterial infections such as sepsis, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, meningococcal meningitis and sexually transmitted diseases. If you are worried you may have something more serious than a cold or flu, speak to your doctor who will be able to advise you on the best treatment option.”
With no new antibiotics developed in the last 30 years patients are encouraged only to take them if they need to. Taking them unnecessarily could make them less effective when fighting serious infections.
Without the effectiveness of antibiotics, routine operations like hip replacements, organ transplants and caesarean sections or chemotherapy treatments will become increasingly dangerous or impossible.
Patients can support the campaign by becoming an ‘Antibiotic Guardian’ at: https://antibioticguardian.com/
More information on the campaign can be found on the World Health Organisation website: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-antibiotic-awareness-week
Read MoreNew programme launched to prevent abusive head trauma injuries to babies
The ICON programme has been initially funded by the four North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and delivers four simple messages before the birth and in the first few months of a baby’s life which will be communicated by Midwifery and Health Visitor services :
I – Infant crying is normal;
C –Comforting methods can help;
O – It’s OK to walk away;
N – Never, ever shake a baby.
These ICON messages have been demonstrated to help parents and carers manage the stresses which can be caused by normal infant crying. Midwives, Health Visitors and other professionals across the region have developed ICON expertise to help give parents and carers the tools they need to help keep their babies safe. They have also produced an information graphic around infant crying which can be found here.
Merger approved for three North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Groups
NHS England has approved the merger of three North Yorkshire clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The three CCGs – NHS Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby CCG, NHS Harrogate and Rural District CCG and NHS Scarborough and Ryedale CCG – will become the North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group on 1 April 2020.
We welcome NHS England’s decision and the benefits it will bring to the people of North Yorkshire.
As a single organisation we will be able to:
- Eliminate unnecessary duplication and bureaucratic boundaries to work more efficiently together and with our partners.
- Ensure consistency of decision making for the people of North Yorkshire.
- Develop a unified approach to relationships with the new North Yorkshire Primary Care Networks.
- Provide a more agile and responsive service which maintains a local focus but enables us to obtain better value for money by commissioning at scale.
- Reduce administrative costs to enable more investment in front line health services.
- Share good practice and adopt the best from each of the three existing CCGs.
- Speak as a unified commissioning voice for the benefit of our local population.
- Work more strategically on a larger footprint with our local and regional partners.
This merger follows reviews carried out by each of the three North Yorkshire CCGs last year and builds on work already started to improve the way that the CCGs work together and deliver for local people. A single leadership team has already been appointed, following decisions by each CCG’s governing body in summer 2018, and we have already begun to look at how best to structure the new organisation.
Charles Parker, GP and Chair Designate of the North Yorkshire CCG said: “The North Yorkshire CCG will retain the existing commitment to strong clinical leadership and focus on the needs of local people, drawing in best practice from learning across North Yorkshire. The governance model we have developed will still allow there to be strong local leadership and patient engagement, ensuring each area of North Yorkshire will continue to have a strong clinical voice and patients’ views are represented.”
Amanda Bloor, Accountable Officer for the three North Yorkshire CCGs said: “A single commissioning voice will make it easier to reduce some of the health inequalities we see across the county and respond consistently to the needs our population. The merger also will enable us to work more efficiently and at scale freeing up resources to invest in front line health services.”
Work will continue in the months ahead with the community, staff and partners to further develop the North Yorkshire CCG before it begins operations on 1 April 2020. This will include beginning operations in shadow form from the beginning of the new year and developing our operational plan for our first year as well as longer term strategies to guide the work of the new organisation.
Read MoreHealth and social care recruitment event planned at Coventry Univeristy (CU) Scarborough
Humber, Coast and Vale’s Excellence Centre is hosting a recruitment event aimed at people with aspirations of working in health and social care.
The event will be held at CU Scarborough on Thursday 7 November between 2pm and 6pm.
Attendees will be given the opportunity to find out more about the wide range of jobs and careers that are available in Scarborough and Ryedale and across the wider Humber, Coast and Vale region.
Local health and social care employers will be attending the event – supported by NHS Scarborough and Ryedale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) – to provide information on current vacancies and training programmes within their organisations.
Margaret Wilson, Project Manager at Humber Coast and Vale Excellence Centre, said: “I think this is a brilliant opportunity for people who want to work in health and social care but don’t know where to start.
“It is a chance to learn about the broad range of job opportunities across Humber, Coast and Vale including mental health services, learning disability services, community services, healthy lifestyle and addiction services as well as a number of apprenticeship opportunities.
“There are lots of different jobs in health and social care so there is sure to be something for everyone whether you want to work in a hospital or residential home or in the community.”
Working in health and social care, you could be supporting someone with a physical or learning disability, someone with a mental health condition or someone who is frail or elderly.
The event is open to everyone, whatever your level of experience. Visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/could-you-care-health-and-social-care-recruitment-event-tickets-76421598057 to book your place.
Read MoreLocal NHS Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups have partnered with CU Scarborough to introduce two new mental health nursing courses
Local mental health Trust, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) has worked with CU Scarborough – part of the Coventry University Group, York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Scarborough and Ryedale CCG to introduce a Registered Mental Health Nursing course and Nursing Associate course.
The first students on the Nursing Associate course will start in January 2020, while the Mental Health Nursing course began in September.
It is hoped that the new courses will bring a welcome boost to the number of people choosing to work in local NHS mental health services.
The three-year BSc degree programmes will allow students to practice nursing in a range of in-patient and community settings, leading them to achieve registered nursing status with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
There are 15 spaces available on the Nursing Associate course, and TEWV will be offering students on both courses a range of placements in its services, as well as offering apprenticeships on both programmes to a number of its existing staff.
The apprenticeships will allow Trust staff to obtain valuable skills, whilst remaining in employment throughout their studies, which in turn supports the Trust to retain valued staff.
Elizabeth Moody, Director of Nursing and Governance for TEWV, said: “The work was led by the Trust’s Professional Nursing and Education team, who already successfully work in partnership with a number of other Universities across the wider Trust area.
“We hope that the new partnership with CU Scarborough will bring a welcome boost to mental health nursing across the local area, with students choosing to continue their careers in the Trust once they have completed their studies.”
Emily Harrison, Course Lead for Nursing at CU Scarborough, said: “We were so pleased to welcome our first students onto our Mental Health Nursing course in September, and we’re also looking forward to the first students starting our Nursing Associate course in January.
“Mental health is such an important aspect of people’s wellbeing, and we need to make sure we have enough qualified nurses to take care of people who may be struggling. These courses will give students the skills they need to be able to do that.
“We are proud to be playing our part in training the next generation of mental health nurses to help patients in Scarborough and the wider area.”
Dr Peter Billingsley, Mental Health Lead for the three Clinical Commissioning Groups in North Yorkshire, said: “It is terrific that we now have general and mental health nurse training places available in Scarborough – it will go a long way towards addressing some of the recruitment challenges we face and is great news for the local economy.
“It’s important we support efforts to develop a local workforce with roots already in our community who will want to serve this area when they have completed their training.
“We are confident that many of the students who undertake this training will want to continue living and working in Scarborough and Ryedale, which is great news and will mean employers are not having to look further afield to fill vacancies.”
A programme for Learning Disability Nursing has also been approved and it is hoped that this will commence in the next academic year.
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