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University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust had done its homework on preparing for emergencies but, even so, Storm Desmond tested the organization to its limits, as Helen Mooney discovered.

What the patient experiences is a central pillar of healthcare quality - but much needs to be done to bring it to the forefront of the agenda, writes Helen Mooney.

Over 90% of the UK public recognise that the NHS has a funding problem, but few agree on how to solve the crisis. The latest British Social Attitudes survey of 3000 people, conducted by NatCen Social Research, also showed a marked increase in the number of people identifying the funding crisis as “severe”—32% described it as such, up from 19% in 2014.1 However, despite the public’s near unanimity in its view of the funding problem, there is less consensus on how to deal with …

Commencing with a class of differential equation based car following models for traffic flow a simplified discrete time model on a closed loop is found. A two dimensional map, containing two free parameters, and corresponding to the behaviour of two vehicles on the loop is investigated. Bounds on the prisoner set of the map are determined, and a number of strange attractors are presented. The variation of largest Lyapunov exponent over a range of parameter space is considered. The resulting behaviour of the map is considered within a traffic flow context.

Children and young people with mental health difficulties are forced to wait an average of 10 years between first becoming unwell and getting help, a report has found.1 An evidence review by the Centre for Mental Health charity found that only a quarter of school age children with a diagnosable problem received any intervention at all despite most parents of these children seeking professional advice. And it warned that, when children and families do seek help, they are “frequently confused by a maze of largely fragmented services and often face lengthy delays to get the help they need.” The review found a “very mixed and confusing picture” of the current state of children and of young people’s mental health over time. “Increases in distress and …

Patients have only limited access to electronic health records and their expectations are not being met by the NHS, according to the findings of a review into the roll-out of patient records across the United Kingdom.1 NHS organisations are also missing out on ways to save money and improve patient care because of the lack of large scale implementation and access to personal health records. The review of current UK activity in personal electronic health and care records (PHRs) was carried out by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) Health Informatics Unit for NHS England. It found a lack of available information on the use of …

The UK Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), the world’s largest system of payment for performance in primary care, has failed to improve death rates, show the results of a study published in the Lancet .1 The study, carried out by York and Manchester Universities and the University of Michigan in the Unites States, showed no statistically significant declines in mortality associated with the chronic conditions targeted by the programme, which include cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. In 2004 the Labour government introduced QOF across general practices in the United …

The Royal College of Radiologists has warned that a shortage of radiologists could hamper NHS England plans to provide fast tracked cancer diagnosis. The national cancer strategy,1 launched by the National Cancer Transformation Board, unveiled plans for patients with suspected cancer to be diagnosed or have their cancer ruled out within four weeks of initial referral by a GP. From 2017 five areas will test the four week diagnosis standard. NHS England will invest £15m ($22m; €19m) in a bid to provide “world class” cancer care by speeding up diagnosis, improving the experience of patients, and helping people living with …