How to Avoid Accidents When Driving at Night

The night is the most dangerous time to drive. When it’s dark, gloomy, and full of shadows, that’s when it gets extra hard to focus on the road. This makes just about any driver even more at risk of car accidents.

According to a research by National Safety Council, the risk of fatal car crashes is 3 times greater at night than any other time of the day. There might even be instances that drivers die from these accidents. What happens to these personal injury suits when a person dies? When dealing with the aftermath of car accidents, it is advisable to hire the services of attorneys that can help you in these driving cases. You can search a few excellent lawyers in personal injury attorneys. But, of course, it is most ideal to avoid this situation than to deal with it.

Safety precautions to take when driving at night

In nighttime driving, the dangers are much larger, but there are basic safety and precautionary measures to reduce the risks.

1. Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night.

One of the biggest causes of nighttime car accidents is the driver’s lack of sleep. Get the recommended amount of sleep, at least 8 hours, every night to reduce sleepiness when driving on the road.

2. Avoid driving if you have been awake for 24+ hours.

Your eyes need time to shut down. It can hardly function well when it has been awake for long hours.

3. Stop every hour or two to rest.

During long night road trips, pull over every hour or two to rest. You can take a nap, stretch your body, or simply get some fresher air to breathe. This will keep you re-energized and more awake.

4. If you’re sleepy, pull over and take a nap.

You don’t really need to stick to the “every-hour” pull over time. If you feel drowsy, pull over and take a quick, satisfying nap. Just make sure you stop over at a safe and traffic-wise place.

5. Travel during times when you’re normally awake.

You’re probably normally more awake during the day than the night, yet may still end up traveling during the night. If you’re planning on traveling during the night, sleep in the morning to make for your lack of sleep during the night of your trip.

6. Aim your headlights right.

The most challenging part about driving during the night is the darkness. At night, headlights from the cars around get wild. Headlights may temporarily blind drivers. Knowing this pretty well as a driver yourself, it’s important that you become responsible enough in aiming your headlights correctly.

7. Look away from approaching headlights.

Knowing the struggles of being temporarily blinded by the headlights, make sure you shun your eyes as soon as you can see an approaching car with glaring headlights. Just remember to immediately look back again to the road after.

8. Reduce your driving speed.

The most obvious way to avoid car accidents when driving at night is to reduce the driving speed. It’s better to drive slowly than treacherously.

9. Avoid distractions.

Keep your eyes open and focused on the road. As much as possible, don’t eat, drink, or use your phone when driving.

    10. Stay alert.

No matter how sleepy, tired, or bored you are, always stay alert from every corner. If you stay alert, you stay alive.

In times of accidents, you can stay safe with the protection of the law as well as with a competent group of attorneys such as theWestga lawyers.  It’s important to have the best, most trustworthy lawyers by your side during discussions of the accident to help you in such crucial times.

Author bio: The article on personal injury suits and personal injury attorneys has been written by Ignacio D. Pena who is a very active blogger and loves to write in the legal niche.

How to Avoid Accidents When Driving at Night

Nice proposes "smooth driving" measures to cut air pollution

Speed bumps should be removed, speed limits made variable on England’s motorways, sometimes dropping as low as 50mph, and a congestion charge considered in more cities to cut air pollution and save lives, health experts have said.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) released a series of recommendations on Thursday which it said would “promote a smoother driving style” and help keep emissions down.

Health officials said vehicles created more emissions when they were speeding up and slowing down, as on congested motorways. To keep a more consistent speed, they said, the limit could be temporarily lowered to 50 or 60 mph when traffic is stop-start. That represented a “more sensible” approach than having lower fixed limits, Nice’s Prof Mark Baker said.

The officials added that some speed bumps encouraged people to speed up, then slow down. They urged planners to consider using average speed technology on the roads to promote smoother driving. Figures released earlier this year by the RAC Foundation showed that cameras measuring average speeds were now monitoring drivers on more than 250 miles of Britain’s roads. Sections covered range in length from a quarter of a mile on London’s Tower Bridge to 99 miles on the A9 between Dunblane and Inverness in Scotland.

On top of that, they want towns and cities with pollution problems to consider implementing clean air zones and look into the possibility of introducing congestion charging zones.

The draft guidance for England also contains proposals for “no-idling” zones around schools to prevent parents leaving their cars running during school drop-offs. Air pollution is a contributory factor to about 25,000 deaths a year in England, almost 5% of all deaths, Nice said, and road traffic is estimated to contribute to about a third of air pollution in urban sites.

Provisional figures show that road usage is at record levels, with an estimated 320bn vehicle miles travelled on Britain’s roads in the year ending September 2016.

Health campaigners welcomed the draft proposals, which were devised for local authority staff and are out for consultation, but environmental groups called for more stringent measures.

The British Lung Foundation said it backed the plans because “air pollution contributes to tens of thousands of early deaths every year” and the British Heart Foundation called them a “step in the right direction”.

Jenny Bates, a Friends of the Earth air pollution campaigner, said the proposals were to be welcomed but that “we must deal with the real crux of the issue and reduce air pollution levels”.

She said: “Action is needed both to ensure vehicles on the road are clean and that there are fewer of them. Diesel vehicles, which are the most polluting, must be phased out and our transport and planning policy needs a radical overhaul.”

Nice officials called for a review of trees lining streets in urban areas. “In some cases, they restrict street ventilation, causing poorer air quality. In others they improve it”. It also warns that solid barriers placed next to roads to mitigate noise can actually lead to a wider dispersal of pollution.

Other suggestions by Nice included:

• Town planners should avoid putting cycle routes on heavily polluted roads but, where this was unavoidable, they should consider using foliage to screen cyclists from vehicles. .

• Local authorities may want to look into setting a standard for the types of cars used for taxis.

• Some areas should consider public awareness initiatives such as “car-free days”. Those could be similar to measures sometimes used in Paris, which only allows drivers with a number plate ending in an odd or even number into the city on given days when pollution reaches high levels.

• House builders should place living rooms at the back of houses away from roads and hedgerows should be grown to protect cyclists using cycle paths.

Nice proposes "smooth driving" measures to cut air pollution

Police failed to notice revoked driving licence before fatal collision

An 87-year-old motorist was killed in a head-on motorway crash two months after police failed to notice his driving licence had been revoked because of dementia, an inquest has heard.

Albert Newman and a passenger in a van died after the “confused” motorist drove the wrong way for up to 30 miles along the M42, A42 and M1 in the early hours of 12 October last year.

An inquest heard Newman had been reported to Nottinghamshire police in August 2015 by a bank worker who spotted him driving his Mazda despite “severe” signs of dementia.

The hearing in Loughborough, Leicestershire, was told a police officer who visited the pensioner’s Nottingham home assessed his welfare, but did not check a printout showing he had no valid licence or MOT.

Newman and 27-year-old Michael Luciw, also from Nottingham, died at the scene after the Mazda crashed into a Ford Transit van in the outside lane of the southbound M1 near Lockington, Leicestershire.

The north-west Leicestershire coroner was told overhead signs warning that a car was driving the wrong way were activated near Birmingham because of an error by Warwickshire police.

Although a motorist had called police at 2.01am to report that Newman’s car was driving north on the southbound M42, the information was “incorrectly logged” and passed to Highways England as an incident involving a southbound vehicle.

Pamela Oxlade, a witness who was travelling towards Birmingham airport with her husband, told the inquest: “We were fortunately just past a lorry when suddenly, out of nowhere, there were two balls of light. It was really quick and it was just unreal because you couldn’t see the outline of the car in the dark.

“I dialled 999 and spoke to a gentleman, explained what had happened and he just said they were aware of it. We said we were almost half an hour from the M1 and going towards Birmingham. It was such a great relief to hear that he was aware of it.”

The inquest was told that approximately 20 minutes after the near-miss, Oxlade spotted motorway signs near Birmingham warning motorists to slow down because of a car travelling in the wrong direction.

Before the crash Newman’s car was recorded as being in Nottingham at 11.19pm and he is thought to have joined the M42 via an exit slip road at junction 9 in north Warwickshire.

Details of prior contact between Nottinghamshire police and Newman, whose licence was revoked in December 2013, were given to the inquest by DS Jackie Alexander, of the force’s professional standards department.

She told the hearing Newman was reported to police by a member of staff at a bank in Sneinton Dale, Nottingham, who expressed concern that he was driving on the afternoon of 12 August last year.

The call was initially graded as an immediate priority but was later downgraded to “urgent” and an officer was asked to attend Newman’s address.

Alexander told the inquest: “The beginning of the message was clear that this was about his driving. The officer did not note that part of the message and focussed on the welfare part of the message. He came to the conclusion that everything was OK in respect of this gentleman and signed the message off accordingly.”

During her evidence, Alexander agreed with the coroner, Trevor Kirkman, that the visit had been an opportunity to recognise that Newman’s licence had been revoked, that he had been driving and should not have been.

Kirkman asked the senior officer: “The most basic of steps to verify that Mr Newman had authority to drive – ie, a current licence – were not taken?”

Alexander replied: “That’s correct sir.”

Earlier in the hearing, the driver of the Transit van, Andrew Harrington, who was travelling from Ilkeston in Derbyshire to Carlisle with Luciw, told how they joined the M1 minutes before the crash.

Harrington, who suffered a broken pelvis, told the hearing: “We were just getting up to 70mph and the next minute I saw a set of headlights. I swerved slightly and the next minute it was all over – we were up in the air and landed on the crash barrier.”

The inquest was adjourned until 8 December after the coroner requested further information to be provided by Nottinghamshire police and Highways England.

Police failed to notice revoked driving licence before fatal collision

"Dangerous and unsafe" care driving midwives out of NHS

Inadequate staffing levels are driving midwives to leave the NHS, with some looking after as many as 15 mothers and babies at a time, a report has found.

The study of more than 2,700 midwives uncovered fears about making mistakes because they were working 12-hour shifts with no break.

Midwives reported not being listened to when they told managers they feared for the safety of mothers and babies, while others experienced bullying from senior staff.

The respondents to the poll, for the Royal College of Midwives, were made up as follows: 31% were midwives who have left the profession in the past two years and 69% were intending to leave in the next two years.

The top reasons for leaving were not being happy with staffing levels at work (52%), not being satisfied with the quality of care they were able to give (48%) and being unhappy with the workload (39%).

A third (35%) were unhappy with the level of support from their managers while 32% were unhappy with working conditions.

Of those who intended to leave the profession, 62% were unhappy with staffing levels, 52% were not satisfied with the quality of care they were able to give, 46% were unhappy with the workload, 37% were unhappy with conditions and 30% did not agree with the model of care they had to work in.

When asked if they might return to midwifery, only 18% said they would consider doing so.

When asked to expand on their experiences, one midwife who left more than 18 months ago said she was stressed “trying to provide good as well as safe midwifery care despite ridiculously low staffing levels and having to complete endless paperwork just to prove I was there”.

Others reported feeling depressed and under-valued, while one who intended to leave midwifery in the next 12 to 18 months said: “I am tired and worn out and am concerned that if this continues that I might make a tragic mistake.”

A midwife who left after 40 years said the “stress of under-staffing and the ever-increasing workload” had left her burnt out.

One who left the profession in the past six months said: “I was often working 12.5 hours with no breaks. My unit was struggling with employing enough midwives – we had a shortage of 30 full-time midwives in the unit. I was not able to deliver the care I wanted as decisions were often made about women’s birth without her full involvement.

“It was not safe to look after 15 mums and babies on a postnatal ward by one midwife. We were not listened to when we raised issues over staffing and safety.”

Others described in detail “dangerous and unsafe” working conditions.

One who left more than six months ago said: “I felt scared with the care I was able to deliver. I was left in a dangerous position on many occasions due to a lack of staff and a lack of support from managers when escalating concerns.”

Another said: “Maternity is the most litigious area in healthcare, yet we cannot actually practice safely and in a way that makes us proud, due to chronic staff shortages and cost-cutting.”

Some midwives with young children said their applications to work flexibly or part-time were denied, forcing them to leave. Others described bullying bosses and said they were working in a “culture of fear”.

One said: “Changes are put in place after serious incidents – ie more staff in those specific areas – but as soon as the workload reaches capacity these staff are moved to cover other areas once again leaving you in a vulnerable position.”

Another said: “I have seen midwifery colleagues destroyed by management if something goes wrong and yet they had worked 12-hour shifts without breaks and no one will accept that the system has caused the failure.”

Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the RCM, said the findings were “saddening, dispiriting and worrying”. She added: “Maternity services are performing as well as they are on the backs of the selfless dedication of midwives and other maternity staff, and their capacity to go that extra mile for mothers and babies, day after day. However, this shows that many cannot fight that battle any longer.

“Enormous demands are being made on midwives and the services they work for, yet investment in these services from the government remains inadequate to provide the quality of care that women deserve.”

The RCM has repeatedly called for more midwives, saying there is a shortage of 3,500 across the NHS.

Conservative MP Dr Dan Poulter, who was the maternity services minister in the coalition until May 2015, said that the risks involved in delivering babies could be prompting some midwives to leave.

“Delivering babies is a very rewarding job, but also a very risky one, so it is unsurprising that chronic understaffing in some already overstretched maternity units is resulting in midwives feeling unable to deliver safe care to the women they are caring for. It is perhaps unsurprising that this has resulted in a demoralised maternity workforce,” he said.

Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said: “This is yet more evidence of the staffing crises in the NHS affecting staff morale and patient care. Midwives want to do the best for their patients but as this survey shows, pressure on services and staff shortages mean too many are unhappy with the quality of care they are able to give. The government needs to do something to relieve this crisis and ensure that no exodus occurs that will make the current situation even worse.”

"Dangerous and unsafe" care driving midwives out of NHS

Helpful hand gestures may improve others’ driving | Letters

As I read your article about waiting lists of up to 467 days for cataract removal on the NHS (21 September), a circular arrived through my door offering cataract operations within two weeks from private healthcare provider Nuffield Health. Could the two be related, I wonder?
John French
Chepstow, Monmouthshire

• Simon Platman (Letters, 21 September) repeats the often expressed view that Jeremy Corbyn’s opposition to Trident is “a sure-fire vote loser”. If this is so, why has this same policy not lost votes for the SNP, which is just as firmly opposed to Trident? 
John Boaler
Calne, Wiltshire

• Since when, may I ask Simon Platman, did being willing to exterminate hundreds of thousands of people and contaminate swaths of the planet define a politician as “serious”? I am one of those who supports Jeremy Corbyn because he is not willing. I believe he is serious, and I know I am.
Alison Leonard
Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire

• May I suggest three fingers held aloft as a polite universal hand gesture to stop drivers using their mobile phone while driving (Letters, 19 September)? When the new proposals become law three fingers could be closed and raised again to denote six penalty points.
Rosanna Achilleos-Sarll
London

• Like your other correspondents, I often see people using their mobile phones while driving. Even more often, I am overtaken by drivers exceeding the 20mph speed limit. As they pass, I politely sign “2” and “0” with my fingers. Unfortunately, I fear they only have time to see the “2”.
David Ridge
London

• I was very glad to see the word “flava” as a solution in Tuesday’s cryptic crossword (No 26,994), even though I am really too old to know what it means.
Liz Fuller (aged 59½)
London

Helpful hand gestures may improve others’ driving | Letters

"I fell asleep at the wheel": the dangers of doctors driving home

Steven Best was on his way home from work when he crashed and wrote off his car.

The GP, who at the time was a junior doctor working in obstetrics, had just finished his shift at 5pm after starting work at 9am the day before. He was in the fast lane of the dual carriageway when a car in the slow lane crossed into his line of vision and he hit it.

“I don’t remember falling asleep at the wheel but I’ve always thought I was pretty tired. I thought that might have played a part in it,” he says of the incident 32 years ago.

You might think this was an unlucky one-off but new research suggests the opposite. Two in five UK doctors (41%) have fallen asleep at the wheel while driving home after a night shift, according to an online survey of 1,135 doctors from Doctors.net.uk.

The survey respondents also said they knew, on average, six colleagues who had fallen asleep at the wheel. More than one in four knew a doctor who had died in a road traffic accident after a night shift.

One doctor who answered the survey said: “I lost two very good friends within weeks of each other … both had car accidents driving home after a night shift. One on the motorway with no one else involved – the inquest [revealed that she] fell asleep at the wheel … [They were] super people who had so much more to give and so much more life to live.”

The results come soon after the inquest of Dr Ronak Patel that found he fell asleep at the wheel when driving home after his third night shift in a row. Last week, Michael Farquhar, a paediatric consultant sleep specialist, told the British Medical journal that the NHS needs a sizeable culture shift in its attitude to doctors sleeping during night shifts.

Falling asleep while driving isn’t just an issue limited to doctors and there have been reports of nurses dying in road traffic accidents too. The nature of certain jobs in healthcare means that professionals’ working lives are made up of an ever-changing variety of night shifts, day shifts and rest days.

The issue is perhaps more pronounced among junior doctors who change hospital every three to four months, often leading to a lengthy commute home. The average distance reported by respondents to the survey was 25 miles.

Night shifts can be incredibly stressful, especially for a doctor just out of university who is faced with having to make life or death decisions. Driving home afterwards can be equally as worrying, as Thomas Bewerley knows only too well: “When I first qualified and was working near London, some of those journeys home were scary as hell. I’ve never had a near miss but have momentarily fallen asleep at the wheel.”

He added: “The experiences were horrible. You’ve got the windows down and you’re trying to sing along to your favourite songs and it’s not working. You’re on a busy road and it’s not easy to find somewhere convenient to stop. These episodes came out of nowhere. Starting the journey I’d be fine and within five or 10 minutes, I’d be in trouble. I was doing my utmost to stay awake but couldn’t.”

Although the issue is commonplace among the medical profession, the subject remains taboo. Helen Peterson, a junior doctor in psychiatry in the Midlands, said: “It’s known that everyone feels absolutely shattered driving home. In terms of people having fallen asleep at the wheel, it’s not as openly talked about. People worry that it might get around and they will be asked if they should be driving home or that the police might get involved.”

So what’s the answer? The doctors interviewed said they would like to see employers take responsibility. They complained that there were no rest facilities for staff to go when they’re tired. In response to their survey, Doctors.net.uk has launched an e-petition calling on trusts and deaneries to make some provision for on-site accommodation.

Peterson continues: “If a lot of people are raising issues, then employers need to look at what’s happening. I’ve never been asked if this is an issue by my employers. None of my colleagues would bring it up because of the fear around how it might reflect on you. We just suck it up and get on with it.”

All names have been changed

Has anything happened to you after a night shift? Does this need to be talked about more? What would you like to see happen? We want to hear from any healthcare professionals – nurses, paramedics, doctors, healthcare assistants etc – who feel this is an issue. Please comment below the line or email sarah.johnson@theguardian.com

Join the Healthcare Professionals Network to read more pieces like this. And follow us on Twitter (@GdnHealthcare) to keep up with the latest healthcare news and views.

"I fell asleep at the wheel": the dangers of doctors driving home

Social media driving rise in complaints to GMC: report

Social media, particularly Twitter and Facebook, meant communities produced exactly where individuals could discuss their therapy and very easily exchange data on how to complain.

But the majority of the complaints from the public to the GMC have been not about individual doctors and had been about standards of care a lot more typically. These ought to have been filed to the NHS organisation responsible or to the Care Quality Commission, the authors explained.

In close to 1300 cases the GMC referred the complaint back to the doctor’s employer to deal with and in three,750 circumstances the complaint was looked into and right away closed. In some circumstances no person physician could be identified at all.

Patients had been normally puzzled about where to complain to, the report said and because the GMC was seen an independent, sufferers may possibly be far more willing to seek support there rather than the organisation where they knowledgeable poor treatment method.

All regulators had noticed an improve in circumstances, even so the rise was biggest at the GMC.

Dr Julian Archer, lead author of the report, stated: “The process of compiling this report has created some fascinating findings. They present that the forces behind a rise in complaints against medical doctors are hugely complex and reflect a blend of increased public awareness, media influence, the function of social media technology and wider adjustments in society.

“We found that while a much better awareness of the GMC has a part to perform in the improve in complaints, it did not automatically result in an improve in complaints the GMC were in a place to deal with.”

He additional: “The report also indicated that there is considerably to do to enhance the wider complaint-handling system, so that complaints manufactured by the common public about their medical doctors are directed to the acceptable authorities.”

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, explained: “We have no proof that the rise in complaints towards doctors reflects falling requirements – what this investigation underlines is that sufferers are more inclined to complain and discover it simpler to do so.

“Medical doctors also are much more inclined to increase issues about their colleagues. The challenge for the GMC and other organisations is to make positive that any person who has a concern or complaint can uncover their way to the right organisation to deal with it.

“For the vast majority of patients and relatives, that will suggest nearby resolution. The big variety of complaints we acquire that are not for us, suggests that the recent system is not functioning as properly as it ought to.”

Social media driving rise in complaints to GMC: report

Drowsy Driving: What You Need To Know

As we understand more about the horrific accident that left comic Tracy Morgan critically injured and killed James McNair, what has emerged is the truth that the Wal-Mart driver, Kevin Roper, had reportedly not slept for 24 hrs ahead of the crash, primarily based on reports from New Jersey authorities.

Roper, now charged with vehicular homicide, is free on $ 50,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Workplace.

Primarily based on reports from State Police, Roper did not see site visitors slowing down ahead of him on early Saturday morning.  Without sufficient rest, along with his steady driving routine, the recipe for disaster was total.

Drowsy driving is a public health dilemma

Those who get behind the wheel without adequate sleep represent a risk to all drivers on the street. As our lives have turn out to be far more complicated and above-scheduled, sleeping has become compromised, foremost to a myriad of health issues, not to mention the dangers of working a motor motor vehicle.

It is critical to understand that even though falling at the wheel driving is obviously harmful, individuals who drive whilst sleepy compromise their security and other folks, even if they don’t truly fall asleep.

Drowsy drivers have slowed reaction instances and are less attentive, ultimately affecting their potential to make choices.  The National Highway Site visitors Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that practically two.five% of fatal crashes and 2% of crashes resulting in injuries involve drowsy driving. Virtually five,000 or six,000 fatal crashes every single 12 months may be brought on by drowsy drivers, according to some conservative estimates.

Data signifies that commercial drivers as well as shift workers (specially night shift staff) are at danger for drowsy driving. In addition, drivers with sleep apnea or other rest issues pose a significant risk to the public as well due to excessive daytime sleepiness. These persons usually snore heavily at evening and might have periods in which they stop breathing. Finally, drivers who take sedating prescription drugs which includes sleeping capsules or antihistamines could place us all at chance.

According to a latest study by the CDC, four.two% of 147,000 adults 18 years or older in 19 states and the District of Columbia self-reported that they had fallen asleep whilst driving at least as soon as in the past 30 days. Individuals individuals who snored or typically slept 6 hrs or less per day have been much more most likely to fall asleep even though driving.  Self-reported snoring also was an independent threat issue. The report stressed that most drivers are unaware that they have fallen asleep behind the wheel

It’s crucial to practice behaviors which can avert drowsy driving prior to acquiring behind the wheel.  This involves acquiring ample quantities of rest.  In accordance to the NIH, adults must aim for 7- 8 hrs of rest day-to-day. Teenagers want far more, typically about 9 to 10 hrs.  If you do have a rest disorder, its crucial to continue to be below health care care and make scheduled visits   to your physician.  Meanwhile, it is usually essential to keep away from alcohol or sedating medicines prior to driving.

Important Details to Bear in mind

Based on data, the cognitive impairment resulting from staying awake for 18 hrs are comparable to that of someone with a blood alcohol content material (BAC) of .05%.  And, cognitive impairment following 24 hrs without having sleep is equal to a BAC of .ten%–greater than the legal restrict of alcohol whilst driving in all states.  Also crucial to recognize is that drinking tiny quantities of alcohol below the legal restrict can exacerbate the effects of not sleeping adequate.

Critical warning indications of drowsy driving

Its crucial to know that blinking frequently and yawning are impending indicators that a person may possibly be at threat of dozing off. Also missing exits on highways, and troubles remembering the past couple of miles driven. Hitting a “rumble” strip, and drifting out of your lane are also worrisome indicators. The National Sleep Basis provides a comprehensive breakdown of the importance of recognizing these indicators in drivers.

Drivers who are mentioned to exhibit these patterns ought to immediately pull more than to rest. Alternatively, changing drivers may possibly be another selection.  Tricks such as opening the window, placing on the air-conditioning, or turning up the stereo will not reliably maintain you alert or focused.

It is critical to acknowledge that drowsy driving is a severe risk to public safety as nicely as personalized well being and security.  It need to also be emphasized that loud snoring is an critical warning indicator for drowsy driving and should not be ignored. Loud and frequent snoring is linked to obstructive rest apnea, a rest disorder that typically leads to extreme daytime sleepiness.

Drowsy Driving: What You Need To Know

5 top guidelines for driving innovation in the NHS

‘Use data to make choices,’ writes Tom Whicher. ‘Measuring what end users do can lead to sudden insight.’ Photograph: Alamy

Innovation was marked by the new NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens as a major priority in his maiden speech in publish. He said breaking down barriers to driving innovation from organisations within and outside the overall health services would be a make or break problem for the future.

Even so, with the adverse coverage of the replacement of Select and Book, it is clear inner and external innovators will want all the support Stevens and other individuals can give them to aid reduce by means of red tape and ingrained methods of functioning.

Here are my five leading guidelines on how to establish new, efficient and modern ways of doing work which de-chance tasks, pace up innovation and deliver for sufferers:

Commence small and iterate

De-risk your venture by experimenting. Do not invest months developing a remedy in isolation and then count on it to just function. Run experiments, mock up products and check them. Develop a small subset of functionality and check it with true sufferers. Measure what they do. Maintain what operates and throw away the rest. Repeat. The ideal products start off with the genesis of an idea, which is then refined in the genuine globe to be something greater than its originator could ever picture. This approach is lower risk as little time and funds is invested early on.

Use data to make selections

Measuring what customers (patients, clinicians, NHS management and admin personnel) do can lead to sudden insight. Develop project metrics early on and use these to make information-driven decisions about what operates on both functionality and design.

Design and style one thing much better that works in context

To some individuals innovation is one thing that has by no means been carried out before. A new drug fits into that class. People innovations spread easily. No matter whether it is a far better drug, a more quickly process, or technological innovation, innovation demands to fix a challenge. For most individuals this indicates more quickly, simpler or a lot more practical. The finish result of the unique Choose and Guide didn’t do this as it was cumbersome to use.

Listen to sufferers, spend time on the ground

Individuals are the soul of the NHS. Even so, they are usually missed when discussing and deploying new technologies. Placing the patient 1st and listening prospects to insight. At DrDoctor, our strategy to create a smartphone app speedily modified when patients told us SMS and email would be most useful. We duly created on those technologies initial. Anybody severe about innovation in the NHS demands to devote time in clinics, in operating theatres, or anyplace that helps to recognize the true difficulties faced in the day-to-day operating of a hospital. Numerous inventors have come up with some magnificent instrument that solves the incorrect difficulty. The original Select and Guide was an illustration of this – the technique was far more difficult than the conventional approach of writing a letter, and so GPs understandably didn’t want to use it. Only by investing time with the physicians, nurses and healthcare assistants who make up the frontline teams will the true challenges grow to be clear. Solve people, and your innovation will flourish.

Be tenacious by using robust products and proof base

The street ahead is treacherous. At each stage your innovation will be challenged. The NHS is, rightly, chance adverse. As an innovator, your occupation is to anticipate and find remedies to roadblocks – data governance, procurement, proof. Feel about any information governance concerns that might come up, map the risks and have robust factors why your merchandise is secure. Have evidence that shows your solution can work, demonstrate how it improves patients’ lives, outcomes, and saves NHS personnel time and funds. Share that proof as broadly as you can.

Innovation need to start on the ground, be proved, and slowly connect the dots, not start off at the leading and be forced into location. As with any new way of carrying out issues, the bottom line is that consumers need to come to feel ownership and see the positive aspects.

Tom Whicher is the founder of DrDoctor

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5 top guidelines for driving innovation in the NHS

What is driving Pfizer"s pursuit of AstraZeneca?

Medicines giant Pfizer has disclosed information of a £59 billion strategy for Uk rival AstraZeneca in what would be the most significant foreign takeover of a British company.

Astra has spurned two advances from the Viagra maker since January but the American company mentioned it remained “assured a mixture is capable of becoming consummated”, as it lifted the lid on the deal talks following a week of speculation.

Pfizer admitted it hopes to slash its tax bill as element of the deal, which would see it re-domiciled in Britain.

What is driving Pfizer"s pursuit of AstraZeneca?

Be Wholesome And Get Rewarded--Incentives Driving Engagement In Well being And Wellness

STAT 10 is meant to give a voice to these in digital well being. From these resonant voices in the headlines to quiet innovators and thinkers behind the scenes, it’s my intent to function people folks who are driving innovation–in the two believed and deed. And while it’s not an exhaustive interview, STAT 10 asks 10 rapid inquiries to give this person a chance to be heard.  

 Michael G. Dermer is the Senior Vice President and Chief Incentive Officer of Welltok. Prior to his existing position, Michael was the founder and CEO of IncentOne, the very first business that in 2003 recognized incentives in healthcare as a crucial remedy to driving value financial savings and engagement. Considering that then, he has been guiding wellness programs, partners and employers in how to use incentives to supply cost reductions. In October 2013, IncentOne was acquired by Welltok to produce “the” remedy that the overall health market turns to for social engagement and incentives. His recent position is to assist the well being marketplace optimize their incentive program from both a design and style and execution point of view to generate correct wellness optimization. Michael is an author and contributor to a lot of wellness publications which includes Managed Care Executive, Healthcare Payer Information, Overall health Strategy Markets, Managed Care Outlook, The Healthcare Website, Investor Investor’s Enterprise Daily, Customer Driven Market Report, AHIP, Worker Advantages News, Worker Rewards Advisor, Benefit and Compensation Answers, Deloitte’s Breaking Constraints, Fierce Healthcare and CDHC Remedies.  You can find far more about Michael’s on his blog and follow him on Twitter.

So, should we use a carrot, a stick or some fancy digital health gadget to help engage the audience?  Which ever you decide on, it looks there is a compelling situation for the use of incentives and Michael can help bring this discussion into emphasis.

1. What makes rewards and incentives compelling for both the client and the healthcare neighborhood?

It is one of the rare situations in healthcare when every person wins. Shoppers earn rewards for conduct that improves health or reduces their price. The technique wins by rewarding for conduct that lowers expense. With incentives, you really don’t publish the verify until somebody will take action. So as long as they are lined up to the correct actions, everybody wins.

two. Why are incentives essential? How do packages complete with no incentives?

With no incentives, individuals generally participate in overall health behaviors about ten percent of the time. For example, absolutely everyone on Medicare is entitled to a cost-free yearly wellcare pay a visit to and only 6 % take benefit of it. However, in healthcare, just since we develop it doesn’t suggest they will come. There is no shortage of excellent well being applications and equipment. We all know, for instance, what we want diabetics to do. The challenge is that we cannot get them to do them. Incentives is what drives people to consider behaviors that enhance wellness and lessen price.

three. Are reward plans prevalent in healthcare?

Employers invested $ 594 per worker in incentives in 2013. This is up from $ 260 per employee in incentives in 2009. Large employers spent $ 717 per worker. More than 74% of employers are anticipated to have incentive programs in 2014. Overall health rewards is also predicted to be a single of the best 5 overall health options in 2014. Rewards is a single of the fastest developing answers in healthcare.

four. How do customers perceive the healthcare neighborhood and how can rewards be utilized to improve that perception?

We want to understand that although we would like consumers to wake up each and every day considering about paying the $ two.7 trillion well being care tab, they don’t. In reality, 53 % of shoppers say they reside “paycheck to paycheck.” In addition, consumers don’t specifically believe in the healthcare neighborhood. Only 7 percent trust their wellness prepare – only somewhat much better than the six% that believe in social media companies. Only tobacco (three%) and oil (four%) businesses were trusted much less. Probably more importantly, when searching for well being tips, only 18 % of customers turn to their well being plan and 12 % flip to their employer. So when designing incentive packages we want to maintain these realities in thoughts. Hopefully the message of “be healthier and be rewarded” can support to align client behavior with a positive message to customers.

five. Buyers are obviously effectively conscious of reward applications in their non-healthcare lives, how do they feel about them when it comes to healthcare?

In spite of their lack of believe in of the healthcare method, this is one particular spot where shoppers are quite willing to engage. For example, if rewarded, 96 % of buyers would be healthier , 75 % of shoppers would have their blood stress checked , 73 % of consumers would lose excess weight and 68 % would have blood sugar or cholesterol checks. In a current survey by Accenture, 65 % of buyers mentioned the most important thing that a pharmaceutical business can offer to customers is rewards. Consumers get it and are prepared, inclined and in a position.

six. What part do incentives play in optimizing digital well being assets?

Incentives are important to obtaining individuals to engage with connected overall health devices in a meaningful way. There’s no arguing that the connected overall health movement has reached a tipping point – 52% of shoppers are interested in acquiring wearable wellness trackers, according to the 2014 Accenture Digital Buyer Tech Survey. However, 80% of health apps are abandoned inside of two weeks. The market need to discover a way to genuinely engage consumers and create sustained healthy behaviors. It is not enough to just put on these devices as equipment and log the outcomes in a silo. Incentives have the opportunity to do that, as I outline in a recent publication.

Be Wholesome And Get Rewarded--Incentives Driving Engagement In Well being And Wellness

One particular Certain Way To Inform If Your Aging Parent Shouldn"t Be Driving

Residing in a county with a massive aging population, I regularly see information reviews about accidents and tragedies involving elderly drivers.  In latest instances, older drivers have crashed into plate glass storefronts, hit pedestrians, driven into a physique of water and even disappeared altogether when evening driving.  Maybe household had advised them or asked them to cease without good results.

The struggle to get an aging mother or father to give up driving can be quite tough for family members, notably when the aging individual thinks he or she is perfectly fine.  Loss of independence is a very threatening factor for most people.  An aging mother or father who is determined to preserve driving, regardless of warning signs that it is time to give up the keys may not be ready to listen to family members members.  But, the elder may possibly be persuaded to get a driving evaluation by an goal particular person just to “prove I’m fine”.

The Burke Institute http://www.burke.org/outpatient/services/occupational-therapy in White Plains, N.Y.  delivers what seems to be to me like a model program for drivers who might be marginal.  It’s their Driver Evaluation System, carried out by licensed occupational therapists.

The plan is described on their site as  evaluating “vision, perception, attention, reaction time, memory, judgment, security awareness and cognition. Every single is completely assessed to determine if the patient can carry on to drive safely for themselves and those all around them.  The in-motor vehicle evaluation, performed by participating certified driving instructors, permits a third party professional to assess how all locations come with each other throughout the actual job of driving. This thorough testing allows experts to make a dependable recommendation based mostly on health care expertise.”

I have extended been an advocate of making use of licensed occupational therapists to do the work of assessing the several abilities concerned in aging parents’ driving, rather than relying only on family’s opinions when there is a conflict with the elder.  This is the first system I’ve seen that is conducted in a rehabilitation facility by a group of expert occupational therapists.  It lends an air of credibility to the idea of assessment and could make it easier to get the elder there for evaluation. A doctor’s prescription is necessary.  That also will take the onus off the medical professional, who may possibly be reluctant to say that an aging patient need to end driving when the medical professional and patient have had a lengthy relationship and the medical doctor has never ever witnessed the elder’s driving.  There could be indicators of early dementia in the elder, but everybody, like the physician, is hesitant to say that the elder ought to end driving now.

As a retired individual damage lawyer who represented victims of car accidents, some brought on by these aging drivers who must have offered up the keys just before they hurt my clientele, I can only applaud the Burke Institute for its plan.  I would like to see packages like it all over the nation, making use of their method as a model.  Getting this type of testing is 1 sure way to inform if your aging parent need to give up the car keys for good.

The cost of the program is $ 268, like a one particular-hour evaluation (potential testing), with recommendations and a report that is sent to the driver or doctor requesting the evaluation.  With a report describing driving impairments in hand, it would be less complicated for any doctor to tell an aging client it’s time to quit driving.  If the elder gave permission to the family members to acquire the details, all concerned could strategy for substitute transportation arrangements to preserve the elder’s pursuits.  And the expense of this testing is far reduced than the value a dangerous driver hurting someone or even damaging a automobile.

From what I’ve observed with aging folks, nevertheless, the greatest challenge for families may not be finding an occupational therapist to do such an evaluation of driving potential. It will be receiving the elder to go for evaluation.  Perhaps individuals who need it most will protest the loudest and refuse to be tested. It may possibly be up to responsible family members members to use other signifies of persuasion.

Till up coming time,
Carolyn Rosenblatt
AgingParents.com

One particular Certain Way To Inform If Your Aging Parent Shouldn"t Be Driving

Basic practice plays a part in driving top quality and strengthening overall health services

GPs are ‘on a extremely essential journey to delivering enhanced local community-based mostly providers for individuals …’ says Sam Everington. Photograph: Alamy

A combination of an unprecedented monetary challenge, an ageing population and a wish by patients to be handled in the community anytime feasible, generates a challenge and an chance for common practice.

In Tower Hamlets, around 2% of individuals, who are largely housebound or terminally sick, currently get proactive, co-ordinated care from their GP, district nurses, social services, psychological overall health trust and other community companies. This is managed by using virtual wards and multidisciplinary regular monthly group meetings. Nonetheless, we estimate that up to 25% of patients in the long term will want this variety of proactive approach to minimise the chance of hospital admissions. This kind of an technique offers a win-win scenario, greater worth for funds for the NHS and, a lot more importantly, it’s greater for sufferers who say they want to keep at house. It also builds on a method of basic practice that several nations consider to be 1 of the best in the globe.

In Tower Hamlets every single surgical treatment is now component of a federation, sharing experiences and skills, and operating together to give integrated care and provide key clinical outcomes – 94% immunisation prices for MMR and the ideal cholesterol and blood pressure control in the nation for diabetic and ischaemic heart ailment are some of our achievements.

Basic practice has a wealth of patient data that can be utilised to drive high quality and support enhance solutions. For example, we have co-designed dashboards across Tower Hamlets with information-sharing agreements which let us to evaluate outcomes and find out from each and every other. It also means we can draw a lot more funding into common practice and share personnel. Examples consist of sharing a diabetic nurse across practices who is too costly to employ on our personal.

A report from The King’s Fund suggests that federations move in the direction of end result-primarily based contracting with commissioners encompassing population wellness, patient experience, accessibility and monetary efficiency. In Tower Hamlets this has manufactured a critical variation, but I would go a step more and propose that nearby contracts need to be co-developed by suppliers and commissioners, as they have been right here. The present procurement method is also rigid and inflexible and maintaining them apart does not work. Wellness is a complicated system.

To realise the report’s vision of family care networks delivering truly integrated care with the patient at the centre, suppliers and commissioners want to work collectively to co-create contracts that supply the correct outcomes for patients. Conflicts of curiosity can be negated through openness and transparency with non-clinical directors and lay members on the CCG board creating decisions in such instances. What shouldn’t occur is that the dread of a conflict of interest prevents modern doing work that much better meets patients’ needs.

The King’s Fund report does not propose replacing the national contract on the contrary its suggestions offer you an chance to shift care and sources into the local community primarily based on clinical proof and patient feedback.

We also need to have to think about the role of consultants. They need to adopt an integrated, total population method across different clinical pathways. Our diabetic advisor is accountable for every single diabetic patient in the federation. A huge ask? Our advisor has offered training sessions, support for problematic instances and is always on the end of a telephone to provide guidance. This has observed a large shift to a lot more diabetic care currently being provided in the neighborhood making it possible for him to focus on people they truly need to see in hospital.

Any new model should sit alongside and be in addition to the present 1. It is crucial not to underestimate the significance of winning over hearts and minds to be successful standard practice wants to see for itself the benefits of this new way of functioning. As we have seen in Tower Hamlets, main and secondary care providers and commissioners require to have the area and time to develop local solutions and find for themselves the “magnificent unintended consequences” that this way of doing work offers. The King’s Fund report starts us on a extremely crucial journey to delivering improved local community-based mostly services for individuals and reversing the decline in resourcing for main care.

Dr Sam Everington has been a GP in Tower Hamlets for twenty many years

This report is published by Guardian Expert. Join the Healthcare Pros Network to acquire normal emails and exclusive delivers.

Basic practice plays a part in driving top quality and strengthening overall health services

Smoking ban in cars when driving with young children: do you agree?

Smoking in vehicles exposes young children to notably “substantial amounts of tobacco smoke” say health professionals in a letter to MPs. Photograph: Alamy

MPs will vote Monday on no matter whether to back a ban on smoking in autos when young children are current. Divisions in Tory and Liberal Democrat ranks indicate Labour help is most likely to carry the ban by way of the Commons.

If the Commons backs the amendment to the Youngsters and Families Bill, the Well being Secretary will have the power to bring in a ban in England, empowering the government to make it a criminal offence for drivers to fail to avert smoking in their autos when youngsters are existing.

Final week, much more than 700 well being specialists wrote an open letter to MPs urging them to back the measure.

The shadow public wellness minister, Luciana Berger, explained 300,000 GP appointments every yr consequence from kids suffering from the results of secondhand smoke, like these who have had to endure passive smoking in the back of a vehicle.

The letter writes that smoking in automobiles exposes youngsters to specifically “higher quantities of tobacco smoke” and there is now a consensus that kids must be protected from this kind of pointless hazards

Bans on smoking in autos carrying kids presently exist in countries which includes Australia, Canada, South Africa and the US.

What do you believe? Should it be a criminal offence to avert smoking in your automobile when kids are existing? Do you consider the law has any possibility of getting enforced? Vote and share your view in the comment thread under

Smoking ban in cars when driving with young children: do you agree?