Latest news with #IntegratedCareBoard
BBC News
2 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
IVF cycles funded by the NHS could be reduced in South Yorkshire
The number of IVF cycles funded by the NHS in South Yorkshire could be cut from two to fertility treatment is funded by the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) but it is reviewing whether providing two rounds on the NHS is too 200 people a year in South Yorkshire access IVF services and about 20-30% of couples progress to a second South Yorkshire spent nearly £900,000 proving the treatment in 2021-22 but health chiefs said they need to "balance the books and focus resources on the services that matter to communities the most". An ICB report said: "We know that infertility is a very difficult issue for those affected by it. "We are faced with difficult decisions, including considering whether IVF services should continue to be funded as they currently are."Maintaining the current level of provision would mean we would need to consider our investments in other areas of healthcare to ensure we are using our resources efficiently."The NHS has been asked to prioritise access to care, such as GP appointments, elective treatment in hospitals and to improve waiting times for urgent and emergency care, such as the length of time waiting in an accident and emergency department."The NHS has a duty to break even each year and secure the best investment for the funds to provide high quality care for local people." 'Value for money' The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends offering up to three full cycles of IVF to eligible women under 40 and one full cycle for eligible women aged England, the number of NHS funded IVF cycles varies significantly - 67% of health boards only offer one cycle, 19% offer two and 10% offer three. The regions neighbouring South Yorkshire all offer report added: "A reduction to one cycle of IVF would bring us in line with most other parts of England and would be the best way to ensure value for money whilst maintaining a service that we know is important to people who are affected by it."The ICB will meet on Wednesday 23 July to discuss the proposals ahead of a five-week consultation. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Social and economic factors having negative influences on health in North East
A doctor's prescription pad can be 'useless' when it comes to combating social and economic contributions to ill health, councillors have been told. Councillors from across seven regional local authorities gathered at Gateshead Civic Centre on Monday for a presentation on the state of the region's health and economic disparities. Previous reporting has highlighted alarming statistics on life expectancies and the average weekly earnings per council area. According to the NHS's presentation, not one council area in the LA7 (Gateshead, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland, Durham, Newcastle) matched the national average weekly earnings of £566. In addition, only Northumberland matched the national average life expectancy for women, 83.3 years. All council areas fell below the national life expectancies for men. READ MORE: Gateshead supported housing scheme to help those at risk of homelessness READ MORE: New kind of bacteria found in Gateshead park that could help clean up rivers and treat disease Councillors were informed that health can be influenced by wider social issues, including environment, employment and economic success. Medical director at North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), Dr Robin Hudson said: 'I trained at Newcastle University medical school a long time ago, and one of the things I realised over the last ten to fifteen years, is my medical qualifications are useless when it comes to poor housing, pollution, diet. Our ChronicleLive Daily newsletter is free. You can sign up to receive it here. It will keep you up to date with all the latest breaking news and top stories from the North East. 'With lifestyle we can have a bit of influence with smoking and healthy weights, but actually the tools in my tool box are very limited. If you look at health outcomes, only about 20% of the time it is related directly to the quality of care people receive at hospital or GPs. 30% is to do with lifestyle, so alcohol, smoking and healthy weights. '50% is to do with wider social determinants, like employment. Good employment. All those things which we know make people happy and feel involved in their communities.' However, Dr Robin went on to say the work of social prescribers can often help patients where a strictly medical response is not appropriate. Such prescribers can offer help and advice on societal influences on people's health and wellbeing. Dr Hudson continued: "Social prescribing has been really popular over the last eight-nine years, they work in GP practices. So when I have a prescription pad that is useless, because I don't know anything about debt management, a social prescriber does.' The presentation also went on to highlight the work of the Voluntary Organisations' Network North East, in helping to combat wider inequalities that affect patients' health in the region.
BBC News
07-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Redcar GP surgery with 'limited' services set to close
A doctor's surgery is set to shut under proposals to consolidate health services at two other Lagan Surgery, off Kirkleatham Street, Redcar, which is part of South Grange Medical Centre, is slated to close in February.A consultation over the plans has begun and aims to obtain views from patients and other local stakeholders. It will run until 15 for any closure will have to be received from the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board. South Grange Medical Centre is based on the Trunk Road at Eston, while GP and primary care services are also offered from the Coatham Surgery, in nearby Coatham Road, Redcar, as part of an administrative collaboration between the two practices.A briefing for members of Redcar and Cleveland Council's adults, wellbeing and health scrutiny committee said the Lagan Surgery premises were "limited" and not fit to deliver additional services as envisaged by the government's long-term plan for the said the move would bring services together at its other sites in order to "enhance clinical quality and practice resilience, to run more efficiently and to continue to deliver high quality of care to patients". Patient feedback The briefing said feedback received from the consultation would be analysed and any risks identified would be "mitigated" before the closure application was decisions would be made without taking full account of patient feedback, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Steve Kay expressed concern about the impact on securing appointments, although a practice representative said there would be no reduction and it was anticipated that by teams working closely together, there could in fact be an Grange Medical Centre has 15,500 registered patients, including 2,170 living in services currently provided at Lagan Surgery would continue both South Grange Medical Centre and Coatham Surgery have free on-site parking, including disabled parking bays, while Lagan Surgery does not offer patient parking on-site. Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
New services planned to reduce hospital pressures
More people needing medical attention in Oxfordshire will be treated at home or in a community setting, under new plans announced by health joint plan between Oxfordshire's health and social care services, called the Better Care Fund, will prioritise spending on treatment options closer to year's fund amounts to £80.6m, which is part of a wider annual shared health and social care fund of more than £500m. The fund, pooled between the local NHS and Oxfordshire County Council, previously focused on improving discharge rates from hospitals. Dan Leveson, director for places and communities for Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (ICB), said: "What we really want to do is get all the support in and around people, at home and in their communities, so that we can avoid people going in to the hospital in the first place."With health and social care partners reporting a 20% reduction in the average length of a hospital stay in Oxfordshire, money is now being prioritised to reduce the number of avoidable admissions into Leveson said: "There is a percentage of people at the moment who are admitted into hospital for non-urgent admissions, that if we had different care, if we had access to hospital at home, district nursing, social care and reablement, then they can stay home."Yearly NHS spending for Oxfordshire is estimated to be between £1.5bn to £2 include to further develop Oxfordshire's single point of access for community services, making it easier to access services like home nursing visits and intermediate care rather than going directly to region's urgent community response system will also be expanded to offer an alternative to paramedics taking people to hospital when they can be better cared for at neighbourhood teams will be broadened, with teams specialising in areas including physiotherapy and community nursing being able to provide hospital-level treatment at a more local level, alongside the already established Hospital at Home service. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Birmingham GP practice issues Mounjaro statement and the five boxes patients must tick
A Birmingham GP surgery has urged patients not to book appointments for weight loss drug Mounjaro after it was made available on the NHS. The medication was made available for weight loss prescription via GPs from this week. But Sutton Coldfield Group Practice, which includes a number of surgeries in the town, said it was not yet clear how it would be offered locally. READ MORE: Major update over Three Mobile compensation after network went down READ MORE: I live in 'UK's worst council house' in Birmingham - now the ceiling's falling in READ MORE: City station attacker who 'bit and clawed' police dies at bail hostel And it said it would initially only be available to those with a BMI of more than 40 and who had four weight-related health conditions. The full message, which the Practice issued on Facebook, read: "You may have heard that from June 23, 2025, GPs can prescribe Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) for weight loss. "However, the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board is still finalising how this will be provided. It is expected to be offered through local clinics, as there has been no planning from the ICB to provide it via individual GP practices. "Initially, the treatment will be available only to people with a BMI over 40 who also have four weight-related health conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnoea, heart disease, or type 2 diabetes. "Please do not book appointments specifically to request this medication at this time, as this service is not yet operational. "We will notify you as soon as the service is available. When it starts, eligible patients will be invited to participate. Doctors will review patient records to identify those who qualify." Around 220,000 people with the 'greatest need' are expected to receive Mounjaro through the NHS over the next three years. It is an antidiabetic drug which lowers blood sugar levels and and slows down how quickly food is digested. Patients previously needed to access the drugs through a special weight loss service. But leading family doctors said some GPs have expressed concern about the additional workload linked to the rollout. And pharmacy experts also said there could be pressure on supplies. Prof Kamila Hawthorne, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said: 'While we recognise the potential benefits of weight loss drugs, we know many GPs are concerned about the implications of the rollout of weight loss drugs into general practice, both in terms of workload and training to appropriately initiate and manage these treatments. 'The college shares these concerns, which is why we were pleased NHS England suggested a phased roll-out of Mounjaro as a treatment for weight loss. As and when this is escalated, appropriate resourcing for general practice – including access to 'wraparound' services – and training for GPs must follow. 'GPs and our teams are already working under intense workload and workforce pressures, and this must be factored into this rollout in order to guarantee it can be delivered safely. More widely, while weight loss medications have a lot of potential benefits for patients who are struggling to lose weight and who meet all the clinical criteria for a prescription, they must not be seen as a 'silver bullet' to aid weight loss. 'We also need to see a focus on prevention, stopping people becoming overweight in the first place so they don't require a medical intervention later.'
