Displaying items by tag: NHS

The following is based on a Passion for the Nation post: ‘God desires this nation to be healthy in body, mind and spirit. We can pray for a new season of health to come upon this land and for lifestyles to be changed and negative patterns broken, irrespective of background or wealth. May a fresh wisdom and desire for healthy living rest upon individuals, families and communities, supported and encouraged by all related industries in production and marketing. We pray that in this season Government, NHS trusts, managers and medical staff will work together, co-operating and stewarding resources well; that new medical and financial strategies will be found, facilitating God’s purpose and priority. In the Name of Jesus, we come in agreement with Proverbs 16:24: “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet and delightful to the soul and healing to the body”. We pray for a new thankfulness for the NHS to be released within our nation.’

The following is based on prayers originally written in 2011, as part of a visual prayer resource on the UK National Health Service. It is time to pray for our NHS, particularly concerns over the future of the service due to budget cuts and reforms, reports of insufficient funding, accommodation and care and respect for elderly and increasing hospital admissions resulting from alcohol-related illnesses. Pray for more recognition and support to be given to the huge numbers of health professionals making life-changing decisions for the sick and vulnerable who come into their care daily. Pray for God to give His wisdom to our government, health professionals, and advisers as they seek the right reforms. Ask that our health service managers may prosper our doctors and nurses to care, to excel, and to bring healing. May our nation understand, thank, and honour those who seek to bring us health.

The Competition and Market Authority found some care homes applied large upfront costs, and charged families for weeks after their relatives had died. The watchdog also highlighted how those paying for themselves were charged an average of 40% more than council-funded residents - effectively paying a multi-million pound subsidy every year to keep the ailing £16bn sector afloat. It said another £1bn of government money was needed to create a fair and properly-funded system. Also highlighted were an inadequate complaints system, making it difficult for families to raise concerns; unclear terms and conditions; fees being raised after residents moved in; insufficient support at a national level to help families navigate their way round the system; and people being unfairly banned from visiting.

Today's culture is seeing the denial of God-given sex and gender. The NHS options for children and young people with suspected gender dysphoria include family therapy, child psychotherapy, parental support/counselling, group work for young people and their parents and regular reviews to monitor gender identity development. Treatment with a multi-disciplinary team includes mental health professionals as most treatments offered are psychological, rather than medical or surgical. This is because say the NHS, ‘the majority of children with suspected gender dysphoria don't have the condition once they reach puberty’.

Poor mental health costs £99bn and causes 300,000 people to leave work each year. NHS antidepressant drug prescriptions more than doubled in ten years, and mental health provision is in crisis. Christians struggle to know how to engage with this growing problem. Our silence has compounded the sense of isolation by those with poor mental health; alternatively, our easy answers or immediate spiritualising of the issues leaves people feeling misunderstood or stigmatised. Experts agree that relationships and community are important for our mental health. Therefore churches can play a significant role as they seek to be communities of authentic relationships where people don’t have to hide their struggles but appropriate boundaries are also respected. Nonetheless we struggle to find a framework out of which to form our response.

A pilot scheme in Essex, called CareRooms, would have patients waiting for discharge from hospital staying with local residents who have a spare room. Increasingly, hospitals are full of patients who have nowhere to go. NHS figures show that last year 2.2 million hospital ‘bed days’ in England were lost due to delayed transfers of care. NHS bodies and local authorities are in preliminary discussions on the project. Chief Medical Officer Dr Harry Thirkettle said that such patients would be transferred to residential homes because they either live alone, don’t have support, or have mobility issues. So someone with a leg fracture and unable to go up and down their stairs until that fracture is healed, could come and stay in ground-floor accommodation. Hosts would be paid for this service; they could earn up to £1,000 a month.

Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth has been given a formal warning by the Care Quality Commission over its very poor care standards. Staff were seen secretly feeding antibiotics to patients by hiding the medication in their ice-cream. Two others had medicines secretly mixed with their meals, with no records to support the practice, which is against medical guidelines. Inspectors had to intervene and help a choking patient when two staff members failed to act. The CQC raised concerns about two babies being sent home despite having ‘bruising of unknown origin’. Inspectors learned of two mental health patients absconding from a unit which treated vulnerable teenagers alongside suicidal adults. Patient Jenny White said she witnessed an elderly lady being ‘torn off a strip’ for wetting her bed after being told no commode was available.

Campaigners claim that disabled people are being ‘increasingly marginalised and shut out of society’ as they bear the brunt of Government spending cuts, most notably in their right to independent living. There are calls for the UK to take the human rights of disabled people more seriously, as officials prepare for an examination on the issue at the UN. The UN's Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities had previously commented that the UK’s welfare reforms led to ‘grave and systematic violations’ of disabled people's rights. The Government strongly disagreed, saying that the UK is a world leader in disability rights and spends billions of pounds to support those with disabilities and health conditions every year.

Alcohol deaths are at their highest level since the peak of the recession. Health boards that have slashed funding for problem drinking are the worst hit. Six of the seven Scottish health boards cut spending on Alcohol and Drug Partnerships by around £700,000 last year, causing a surge in the number of people dying as a result of alcohol abuse. NHS Lanarkshire, which cut funding by 10% in 2016/17 experienced a 14% year-on-year increase in alcohol-related deaths, the highest number in the region for a decade. The statistics, produced by the National Records of Scotland, exclude suicides and accidental deaths where alcohol may have played a part. Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell said, ‘I will be refreshing our Alcohol Strategy later this year’ and promised to consider taking steps to tackle alcohol-related harm.

Adult mental health hospitals in Northern Ireland currently have a target of discharging patients within 7 days of their being declared medically fit. However, one mental health patient spent 1,235 days stranded in an acute unit awaiting discharge in the Southern Health and Social Care Trust. Over the past two years, 16 patients waited more than 100 days for discharge and five were delayed for more than a year. Discharged mental health patients are often placed in supported accommodation and a lack of these facilities can lead to delays. A spokesperson said, ‘Trust policy ensures community-based care and treatment is put in place as soon as possible for patients who can be safely discharged. But they can only be safely discharged when appropriate accommodation is available’.