The gap between male and female life expectancy is closing and men could catch up by 2030 according to research at the Office for National Statistics.Prof Les Mayhew said the difference between the sexes peaked at nearly six years in the 1970s.

Life expectancy is going up all round, but the rates for men are increasing faster. Plummeting smoking rates in men are thought to explain a lot of the change.

Prof Mayhew, a professor of statistics at Cass Business School, analysed life expectancy data in England and Wales. He was working out how long 30-year-olds could expect to live.

His findings show men laguishing far behind for decades, but now starting to get closer to women. If current trends continue, Prof Mayhew predicts, both sexes could, on average, be living to the age of 87 in 2030.

He said: “What’s interesting at the moment is that in the last 20 years or so, male life expectancy at 30 has jumped by about six years and if it jumps by the same amount in the next 20 years it will converge with female life expectancy.”

The reason could be down to men living a healthier lifestyle. “One of the main reasons, I think, is the trend in the prevalence of smoking. Smoking took off after 1920 in the male population and at its high about 80% of males smoked.

“This was reflected in more divergence in the life expectancy, so by the time you get to about 1970 it was at its peak – the difference in life expectancy was about 5.7 years.”

Other factors are thought to be safer, more office-based, jobs. Millions of men used to work in hazardous occupations such as coal mining. Healthcare has meant more men live longer as well. People with heart disease, which is more common in men, can expect to live much longer than they did a few decades ago.

By contrast, women started smoking later than men. Rates of lung cancer are still increasing in women, but are falling fast in men.

A boy and a girl born on the same day will still not have the same life expectancies, as the study looked only at people who had already reached 30. Boys are more likely to die in their first year of life and are more likely to take up dangerous sports or be involved in fatal accidents.

An investigation has started after figures emerged suggesting that a number of NHS hospital patients in England have been discharged overnight to free up beds.The Times newspaper discovered, via Freedom of Information requests, that 100 NHS trusts sent 239,233 patients home last year between 23:00 and 06:00.

NHS medical director Prof Sir Bruce Keogh said people should be sent home only when it was appropriate and safe.

The paper had contacted 170 NHS trusts in England but only 100 responded.

However, the rates of those discharged varied widely between different hospitals.

The paper reported that some 3.5% of all hospital discharges took place between those hours and this rate had steadily held for the past five years.

On the face of it, it seems shocking that any patients are being discharged at night. The data obtained by The Times suggests this may be happening in 3.5% of cases.

But that needs putting into context. It seems some hospitals are including patients who have died in their figures, while some patients, such as women who have had a baby, may choose to leave at night.

Nonetheless, it is clear there are also many cases of inappropriate discharges.

This reflects the pressure hospitals are under. Admissions to A&E units have been rising for years – and if more people are coming in, more have to leave.

The problem is compounded by the fact hospitals have very little wriggle room. They are supposed to operate at only 85% capacity, but all too often they are closer to 100%.

It means when there is a surge in patients, there is no leeway in the system – and something has to give.

If the remaining 70 trusts discharged their patients at similar rates, this would add up to 400,000 such discharges a year and almost 8,000 a week, the paper added.

Derby Hospitals Foundation Trust sent 8.7% of its patients home overnight but the trust told the Times there may have been a problem with its records.

Others with rates above 7% include the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust in Birmingham and Countess of Chester and University Hospitals of Leicester trusts.

Newcastle Hospitals Foundation Trust and Southend University Hospital Foundation Trust both said they did not discharge patients during the night.

The Times does state that the data is variable and while some hospitals admitted to keeping detailed records, others said they could not guarantee the accuracy of the figures as details were not necessarily recorded accurately.

The paper also adds that some hospitals categorise deaths as “discharges” while others do not.

Research finds that patients are more likely to die if they are admitted to hospital at the weekend.The study Weekend hospitalization and additional risk of death: An analysis of inpatient data was published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, found that patients were 16% more likely to die if they were admitted on a Sunday than mid-week.

The review looked at all admissions to NHS hospitals in England in one year.

The NHS medical director has called for weekend services to be extended.

The research was carried out at University College London and the universities of Birmingham and East Anglia, and covered more than 14 million hospital admissions – both emergency and planned.

The study looked at more than 187,300 patients who died within 30 days of being admitted to hospital during 2009-10.

The researchers found higher death rates if patients went in at the weekend, but a slightly lower death rate if people were already in hospital at the weekend.

For every 100 deaths following admissions on a Wednesday, 116 occurred for admissions on a Sunday – a “significant increased risk”, the researchers said.

These results confirm previous reports of increased 30-day mortality risk for patients admitted to hospital with emergency conditions at the weekend”

Prof Domenico Pagano University Hospital Birmingham Foundation Trust

They added: “We identified a significantly higher risk of subsequent in-hospital death during the 30-day follow-up period associated with admission during the weekend (Saturday or Sunday), compared to mid-week days.

“Admission on Tuesday through Friday was associated with the lowest risk of in-hospital death, while admission on Sunday was associated with the highest risk.

“Admission on Saturday was associated with a marked increased mortality (death) risk and admission on Monday was associated with a less, but statistically significant, increased risk.”

Researchers said the results were consistent with data from 254 not-for-profit hospitals in the United States, which they also analysed.

Lead researcher Professor Domenico Pagano, from the University Hospital Birmingham Foundation Trust, said the results offered conclusive evidence.

Prof Pagano also said reduced staffing and fewer senior doctors on duty, as well as poor access to diagnostic tests at weekends, could have an effect.

His team said seven-day access to “all aspects of care” could improve the outcomes for higher-risk patients currently admitted at weekends.

The medical conditions resulting in the biggest number of in-hospital deaths included pneumonia, congestive heart failure, heart attack, septicaemia, acute renal failure, urinary tract infection and neck or hip fracture.

“We’ve tried to take account of the severity of illness and we’re not clear yet whether it’s the severity of illness or the way we deliver services that are the key thing.”

He also said he thought the research added weight to the argument to extend NHS services through the weekend.

“It’s about our NHS catching up with other service industries and offering a routine six- or seven-day week where people can see consultants or experts on a Saturday and maybe even a Sunday, where people can have routine operations over the weekend – more at their convenience than the convenience of the service – and also people who are worried on a Friday have access to expert advice – and that’ll put the compassion back into the NHS.”

The number of patients who contracted life threatening infections in NHS hospitals has almost doubled in two years to a record level, official figures have shown.Recorded cases of patients with a “nosocomial condition” – any infection acquired in hospital or a medical environment – also rose by more than a third last year compared with the year before.

A large proportion of the patients involved were aged over 75, the figures from the NHS Information Centre show. Illnesses related to such infections led to average stays in hospital last year of 31.1 days.

Experts blamed poor hygiene for the dramatic rise in infections, including superbugs MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C. diff) as well as norovirus and E.coli.

But the Department of Health dismissed the “misleading” figures, published online, saying that officials have “got better and better at tackling hospital infections”.

According to the new figures, supplied by NHS hospitals, the number of patients found by consultants to have hospital acquired infections rose last year reached a record 42,712.

That figure increased from the 31,447 recorded in the previous year and almost double the 22,448 documented in 2008/09.

Last year’s figures were the highest levels recorded in the 13 years in which the records have been publicly available. In 1998/99 there were just 335 such cases. The Centre did not provide a breakdown of illnesses.

It came as the Health Protection Agency said that there were 46 suspected outbreaks of norovirus in hospitals over the past two weeks, with more than half leading to ward closures or admissions restrictions.

The agency said the levels were within seasonal norms.

Commenting on the overall infection levels Joyce Robins, co-director of Patient Concern, said the figures were a “terrifying prospect for vulnerable elderly people who think they are going into hospital to get better”.

“It contrasts sharply with the happy propaganda that has been telling us that infection rates had dropped sharply,” she said.

A DoH spokesman said: “The NHS has got better and better at tackling hospital infections, demonstrated by the record lows we have seen this year.

“Because we are not complacent, we have introduced mandatory reporting of more hospital infections. That means that we have shone a light on the problems previously swept under the carpet.  But patients should be confident that the measures we have taken will continue the downward trend in hospital infections.”

The number of people being admitted to hospital after drinking too much alcohol has more than doubled in less than a decade, new research show.Some 1,173,386 people in England were admitted to casualty for injuries or illnesses caused by drinking in 2010/11, compared with just 510,780 in 2002/3, according to the research.

The figures for last year represent an 11 per cent increase on the previous 12 months, when alcohol-related admissions stood at 1,056,962.

Separate information published by Anne Milton, the public health minister, showed that since January an estimated 7,074 under-18s have been admitted to hospital due to alcohol abuse.

A recent report predicted that binge drinking will cost the NHS £3.8 billion by 2015, with 1.5 million A&E admissions a year.

Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, blamed Labour’s 24-hour drinking policy and accused the last government of “taking their eye of the ball” on the issue of binge drinking.

He said: “These figures are disturbing evidence that, despite total consumption of alcohol not increasing recently, we have serious problems with both binge-drinking and long-term excessive alcohol abuse in a minority of people.

“Our alcohol strategy, which we will set out in the new year, will outline what further steps we are taking to tackle this growing problem.”

Recent Local Alcohol Profiles for England figures also show that the number of hospital admissions for conditions attributable to alcohol are rising at a similar rate.

The number of admissions has more than doubled since 2002/03 and increased by nine per cent last year.

In 2002/03 there were 926 admissions per 100,000 people for conditions caused by alcohol, rising to 1,743 per 100,000 in 2009/10 and 1,898 last year.

The biggest increase over the past 12 months was in London, with a jump in admissions of 14 per cent, followed by the East of England with 10 per cent.

Health officials have issued a warning about the serious threat posed by the norovirus bug after an outbreak has seen cases jump by 20 per cent on this time last year.The winter diarrhoea and vomiting bug has affected 35 hospitals, with hundreds of beds unavailable after 27 wards were shut in the past two weeks to isolate infected patients and deep cleaned.

Overall confirmed individual cases across the country from July to mid-December are 19 per cent higher than during the same period last year.

Norovirus is extremely contagious and can be lethal to the elderly, very young or very sick patients.

People who have been ill are being asked not to visit friends and relatives in hospital until they are well.

Medical bosses at hospitals across the country are working to prevent the condition spreading and to reopen wards that were closed yesterday.

Nationally data from the Health Protection Agency released last week shows that norovirus rates remain below the level expected for this time of year, possibly reflecting the mild weather until now.

The HPA declares norovirus season has started when 4.8 per cent of calls to NHS Direct are about vomiting. Last week there were 4.2 per cent of calls about vomiting.

The first sign of Norovirus is usually a sudden sick feeling followed by forceful vomiting and watery diarrhoea. Other symptoms include a raised temperature, headaches, stomach cramps and aching limbs.

The data showed that last week the North East and South West were the worst affected.

Three hospitals reported that 124 beds are unavailable as a result of the ward closures. It is thought that the true number across all eight hospitals will be more than 200.

Wards were also closed to new patients at Montagu Hospital in South Yorkshire while 82 beds were closed on two wards at Northwick Park in Harrow, north London.

Croydon Health Services said it had one ward closed to new admissions.

Two wards were also closed at Warwick Hospital and the Richard Wells Ward was shut at Bedford hospital to contain a bout of gastroenteritis.

Director of nursing and patient services at Bedford hospital, Eiri Jones, warned visitors not to sit on hospital beds and not to visit at all if they had been ill in the preceding 72 hours.

Queens Hospital in Burton had one ward temporarily closed after a number of cases of diarrhoea and vomiting while the Countess of Chester Hospital had visiting restrictions in place at four wards to contain the outbreak.

A 14-bed ward at the University Hospital Southampton Trust was closed and County Durham and Darlington said it had seen isolated cases but had not had to close any wards.

Visitors to Northern Devon hospitals were warned only close relatives should visit patients and Mid Essex Hospital Trust said it had closed wards last weekend because of a similar outbreak.

The Royal College of GPs say the virus has not been a major problem so far this year – although outbreaks can occur very quickly, as the complaint is extremely infectious.

A statement from the Health Protection Agency said: “Norovirus is highly contagious and can be transmitted by contact with an infected person; by consuming contaminated food or water or by contact with contaminated surfaces or objects. The virus spreads rapidly in closed environments such as hospitals, schools, nursing and residential homes.

“Anyone who thinks they may have norovirus should not to go to their doctor’s surgery or A&E as this could spread the illness to vulnerable people and health care workers.”

Paramedics are to be told if a patient does not wish to be resuscitated or wants to die at home, under plans backed by ministers.Adults in Britain can legally refuse medical treatment, even if it leads to their death but doctors cannot undertake treatment to a patient if it clashes with any clinical judgment.

Patients should, however, be given an opportunity for a second opinion wherever possible.

While the General Medical Council (GMC), the doctor’s watchdog, said last year there was no absolute obligation to prolong life, the medical profession does have a final say about whether resuscitation is in the patient’s best interest.

This has led to accusations from some critics who believe doctors are “playing God” and ignoring vulnerable patients’ right to life.

It has also prompted fears that as hospitals face deeper budget cuts, not resuscitating patients will become a cost-cutting option. It is thought that four in five people who die in hospital are the subject of “do not resuscitate”(DNR) orders.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) attempts to restore breathing or blood flow to those whose heart has stopped beating or who have stopped breathing.

It can include using electric shocks to try to correct the rhythm of the heart, repeatedly pushing down firmly on the patient’s chest and inflating the lungs with a mask or tube inserted into the windpipe.

While television medical dramas suggest it is often successful less than a fifth of those who have had such treatment actually go home, according to the British Medical Association (BMA). Inevitably, the young and fit are more likely to survive than the frail and elderly.

In 2007 the BMA, together with the Resuscitation Council (UK) and the Royal College of Nursing, issued joint guidelines on the issue in a 25 page document titled “decision relating to cardiopulmonary resuscitation”.

Legal experts say the “do not resuscitate” advice is essential where a “patient or their family disagree with doctors about whether a particular treatment is futile, a burden rather than a benefit, or inappropriate”.

Roger Goss, the co-director of Patient Concern, has raised concerns previously that “do not attempt resuscitation” orders are being misused.

“We are concerned that patients are having “do not resuscitate” written on their notes without they or their relatives knowing,’ he said earlier this month.

‘Bearing in mind NHS budget cuts over the next few years, it is not far-fetched to foresee that “do not resuscitate” orders will proliferate to the point where everyone over a certain age — perhaps 65 or 70 — gets one stuck on them.”

In England, Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, has stopped short of a national policy.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/Paramedic-patients-resuscitation-advice-focus-on-current-rules

NHS Hospitals are breaking the law by failing to report incidents that result in severe harm to patients a charity has warned.Peter Walsh, chief executive of the charity Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA), said many were failing to own up to such incidents despite a law that had been in force since April 2010, requiring them to do so.

He was commenting on National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) figures, showing an 8.5 per cent increase in the total number of reported incidents in the NHS in England, between April to September 2010 and October to March 2011.

The vast majority of such incidents result in “no harm” (69 per cent), “low harm” (24), or “moderate harm” (six).

However, one per cent result in “death or severe harm”. Since April 2010, health trusts have had to report these incidents.

Between the two most recent six-monthly periods for which data are available, the number of such reported incidents rose by 13 per cent – from 4,358 to 5,012.

While significant, Mr Walsh believed if all trusts were reporting as they should, the rise would be larger still.

He said: “Given that there was a new set of rules that came in, in April 2010, that made it a statutory requirement for trusts to report incidents that cause severe harm or death, we would have expected a bigger increase.

“So we think some trusts might be holding back on reporting incidents that caused severe harm.”

He added: “We think work is needed looking at why trusts do not seem to be reporting at a rate we would expect.”

Individual cases that were known through clinical negligence claims should be checked back, to see if trusts had reported them to the NPSA, he recommended.

A spokesman for the NPSA said that overall new figures reflected an improving culture of reporting incidents in NHS trusts.

Sarndrah Horsfall, chief executive of the NPSA, said: “Identifying patient safety incidents and ensuring they are reported and analysed is at the heart of reducing risk in healthcare.

“NHS organisations should use the data and review the tools, guidance and support available to them. This will ensure patient safety incidents continue to be reported and learned from, strengthening the patient safety culture across all levels of the NHS.”

From:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/Hospitals-failing-to-report-serious-safety-incidents

St John Ambulance, the charity, has been accused of abandoning its volunteers as it attempts a widespread restructuring project.The first aid organisation has announced plans to streamline its management amid financial woes.

It is set to embark on a major restructuring exercise to rebalance its books, which includes setting up eight regional boards and merging offices in 41 regions.

But the charity, which has recorded operating losses seven years in a row, is accused of “kicking volunteers in the teeth” by those who regularly help out.

They claim that disillusioned volunteers will no longer want to raise money if the cash goes in a central pot rather than helping local projects.

“All counties work in their own particular way according to their local people and in a way that can only be done by them,” one senior volunteer said.

“If the structure is changed … what incentive is there for local people to volunteer and raise money?”

A former chairman of a county division claimed the changes would lead to “financial ruin”.

“We are absolutely horrified because we feel that this restructure is doing away with the strong volunteer ethos of St John’s. It’s like kicking volunteers in the teeth” she said.

Under the plans eight regional directors will be created on salaries of £80,000 a year plus benefits to represent London, the south east, south west, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, North-West and North East.

Officials admitted that “financial” pressures were partly behind the new structure as well as “increasing regulation”. It denied it was in “imminent financial crisis”.

While the service claimed there would be no redundancies the charity admitted “some roles have been placed at risk and are therefore undergoing consultation”. It would not provide further details.

The charity, founded in 1877, currently employs about 1600 staff across the country and has more than 40,000 volunteers on its books.

It trains more than half a million people a year and has more than 1000 ambulances that provide support to NHS trusts. The Duke of Gloucester is the service’s Grand Prior of the Order.

In a letter sent to volunteers around the country, Rodney Green, the charity’s Prior and chairman of board of trustees, admitted the organisation faced a “number of difficult challenges in the years ahead”.

A briefing note sent to volunteers explaining the changes, said the organisation needed to increase its “charitable and community impact”.

“We need a greater consistency in our quality – so that we can meet more stringent regulatory requirements and also better support the front line,” stated the document, titled “Becoming ‘The Difference’: transforming St John Ambulance”.

“More urgently, we need to balance the books and achieve secure finances.  For seven years running, we have spent more than we earned and are set to make further losses this year. The charity cannot sustain this.”

Mr Green insisted the changes, signed off by the trustees last month following “rigorous analysis of the current structure”, would transform the organisation “so that we can save yet more lives”.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/St-John-Ambulance-abandoning-volunteers-over-restructure-project

Health Direct warns that as the bank holiday weekend approaches that the number of alcohol related hospital admissions in England has topped one million for the first time.
An NHS Information Centre report said admissions had increased by 12% between 2008-09 and 2009-10.

That includes liver disease and mental disorders due to alcohol abuse as well as some cancers, accidents and injuries.

The Department of Health will publish a new alcohol strategy later this year.

The number of admissions reached 1,057,000 in 2009-10 compared with 945,500 in 2008-09 and 510,800 in 2002-03.

Earlier this year the charity Alcohol Concern predicted the number of admissions would reach 1.5m a year by 2015. It estimated that would cost the NHS £3.7bn a year.

Tim Straughan, chief executive of the NHS Information Centre, said: “Today’s report shows the number of people admitted to hospital each year for alcohol related problems has topped 1m for the first time.

“The report also highlights the increasing cost of alcohol dependency to the NHS as the number of prescription items dispensed continues to rise.

“This report provides health professionals and policy makers with a useful picture of the health issues relating to alcohol use and misuse. It also highlights the importance of policy makers and health professionals in recognising and tackling alcohol misuse which in turn could lead to savings for the NHS.”

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, the chair of the UK Alcohol Health Alliance, said: “This confirms doctors’ impressions that the health harm from alcohol continues to rise.”

“While total alcohol consumption has fallen in recent years it is likely that the number of abstainers in England is increasing, but those who do drink continue to do so in a harmful and destructive way.”

The body which represents drinks manufacturers in the UK, the Portman Group, expressed surprise that admissions had increased at the same time as alcohol consumption had decreased.

David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group, said: “If the hospital admissions data are robust, they clearly put paid to the argument that measures to reduce overall alcohol consumption are effective in reducing harm.

“The report shows that the proportion of people misusing alcohol is falling. We just need to find a way of persuading and educating this hard core of misusers who account for these admissions to drink responsibly.”

Alcohol Concern said the latest set of figures were alarming but that early detection of alcoholism contributed to the increase.

Its director of policy and communications, Nicolay Sorensen, said: “More people than ever before are drinking in a way that is harming their health and it’s a serious public health problem. It’s one of the biggest public health problems facing the country.

“In addition, the NHS has been doing some great work to identify people that have alcohol problems and so some of the increase is due to better identification and better referral.”

Public Health Minister Anne Milton said: “These statistics show that the old ways of tackling public health problems have not always yielded the necessary improvements.

“We are already taking action to tackle problem drinking, including plans to stop supermarkets selling below cost alcohol and working to introduce a tougher licensing regime.

“We will also be publishing a new alcohol strategy later this year.”

Rates of alcohol-related hospital admissions came down in the past two years in Scotland, after increasing for a decade. In Wales, figures for up to 2006 showed increasing admission rates and in Northern Ireland the total number of admissions increased year on year since 2006/07.

From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13559455