NHS data security: protecting patient records – Parliament Street
Using Freedom of Information legislation, sixty-eight NHS trusts were asked for information on patient records which were reported ‘missing’ over the 2017-2018 financial year. This revealed that nearly 10,000 patient records were lost over this period.

Beyond social care: keeping later life positive – Which?
In the light of the forthcoming government green paper on adult social care in England, this report looks at how consumers engage with social care in practice. Around one in ten elderly people with care needs now face care costs of over £100,000. Yet only one in 10 adults aged 55 or over say they’ve put aside money to pay for care needs as they get older. The system must recognise that people are unlikely to plan for their care and should be designed to act quickly and effectively at times of crisis – when many people interact with the care system for the first time.

Changing the system: major trauma patients and their outcomes in the NHS (England) 2008–17 – The Lancet
This independent report, commissioned by NHS England and published in The Lancet open-access journal EClinicalMedicine, found that the creation of major traumas centres 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 of surgeons, doctors and clinical staff. Patients also spent fewer days in hospital and had improved quality of life after receiving critical care.

Maternal request caesarean – Birthrights
This report, the results of a nationwide Freedom of Information Act request, shows that the majority of NHS trusts in the UK make the process of requesting a caesarean lengthy, difficult or inconsistent adding anxiety and distress to women at a vulnerable time.

Demand and capacity high complexity model
NHS Improvement have updated the Demand and capacity high complexity model to help inform/ understand the demand and capacity needs of services with a complex pathway and inform decision making and planning, in supporting delivery of timely care to patients.

Half a billion pounds to be withheld from trusts over two years – Health Service Journal
More than half a billion pounds will be withheld from NHS providers during the next two financial years to pay for a new central procurement service, HSJ can reveal. (Contact the library for a free copy of this article)

Stop smoking options: guidance for conversations with patients
Public Health England has produced guidance to support conversations between clinicians and people who want to quit smoking on what method to choose.  The following options are covered in the guidance: unassisted quitting; self-managed quitting; quitting with expert support; temporarily quitting; and cutting down.

Flu season: Making the most of online appointments
NHS England Primary Care Digital Transformation have published this flu guide to support GP practice staff as well as Patient Participation Group (PPG) members so they can encourage their patients to register and book their flu clinic online.

National long-stays dashboard
NHS Improvement is encouraging commissioners to use the long-stays dashboard as part of its drive to reduce hospital stays of three weeks or more. Around a fifth of hospital beds are occupied by long-stay patients. National bodies want to see the figure cut by a quarter, which would make 4000 more beds available nationally. CCG staff can get hold of the dashboard by emailing nhsi.longstaysdashboard@nhs.net.

NICE Shared Learning

• Adopting Peristeen and other transanal irrigation systems for people with functional bowel disorders – Aintree University Hospital
• Best evidence for a better back (BE FABB) – A triage, assessment and education service for patients with low back pain with or without sciatica – Hillingdon Hospitals