Latest News Priorities for NHS Wales published

Boosting vaccinations in children, reducing A&E waiting times and targeting bed blocking are the priorities for NHS Wales, according to its chief executive.

• Hunt accused of being ‘childish’
  Jeremy Hunt has been accused of making childish and misleading claims that GPs are at fault for worsening the problems at A&E departments, Yorkshire Post reports.
• Quality of care in NHS not given enough priority, majority of staff believe
  Almost three-quarters of NHS professionals don't believe that quality of care in the NHS is given enough priority, according to the findings of a think tank survey.
• Parents still urged to immunise their children against measles
  The number of people hit by measles in Scotland continues to rise, with cases up almost 170% compared with last year, figures show.

Radical changes at Royal Glamorgan hospital might not go ahead, watchdog says
Radical changes that could see an A&E unit downgraded at a south Wales hospital are not guaranteed to go ahead, a health watchdog has said.

NICE Issues Updated Guidance to Help Assess Children Running High Temperatures
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has today published its updated clinical guideline on assessing and managing children under the age of 5 years with fever.

Social Workers Join GPs in Unique Collaboration
The Royal College of General Practitioners and The College of Social Work (TCSW) have announced a unique partnership that will encourage closer links between health and social care to improve and integrate care and services for patients.

GPs to take back 24-hour responsibility for patients, MPs suggest
The Department of Health is considering plans to change GPs' contracts to incorporate 24-hour responsibility for their patients, a leading Conservative MP has told Pulse Today.

NHS boosts private healthcare and contributes to the economy, reports claim
NHS spending on private services has increased by more than £3bn since 2006, research says.

£74 million wroth of Tamiflu destroyed because of “poor record keeping”
A National Audit Office (NAO) report has found that £74 million of anti-flu drug Tamiflu had to be destroyed at the height of a flu pandemic because of “poor record keeping”.