Friday 15 December 2017

Government publishes new report on tackling social disadvantage

Government publishes new report on tackling social disadvantage The Department for Education has released a new strategy entitled Unlocking talent, fulfilling potential: a plan for improving social mobility through education. This plan draws attention to the importance of increasing participation and representation from across all parts of our diverse society into education and training, in order to improve social mobility.
The plan highlights a number actions which employers can take to tackle social disadvantage and advance social mobility NHS Employers

Parents giving children alcohol too young, researchers say

Parents giving children alcohol too young, researchers say  Parents could be storing up problems for their children by introducing them to alcohol too young and ordering takeaways too often, researchers warn.
Two universities found that one in six parents gives their children alcohol by the age of 14, when their body and brain are not yet fully developed.
Many parents may believe they are acting responsibly - but that's not backed up by research, experts said. Regular takeaways were a risk to the heart, a separate study said. BBC Health News

Up to one in 12 NHS hospitals were completely full at times last week

Up to one in 12 NHS hospitals were completely full at times last week The latest statistics on winter pressures facing NHS trusts come after GPonline revealed that GPs in parts of the country are being told to reduce hospital referrals, to avoid referrals altogether to some hospitals or to stop sending patients to specific departments within local hospitals. Patients waiting in A&E have also been bounced back to GP practices.
Data from NHS England show that across the country, the average bed occupancy rate in hospitals was 94.6% for the week from 4 December to 10 December - up from 94.5% the week before. This is well above the 85% target for hospitals, and reveals that hospitals are already under extreme pressure only a week into winter. GP Online

Significant boost to learning disability and mental health nurses needed, says HEE chief - Nursing Times

Significant boost to learning disability and mental health nurses needed, says HEE chief - Nursing Times Learning disability and mental health nursing will both require significant boosts to the workforce, as part of plans to create tens of thousands of additional clinical posts in the next 10 years, the head of the national workforce body has told Nursing Times.
In draft workforce plans unveiled yesterday by Health Education England, it was highlighted that, while the overall number of nurses working in the NHS had gone up in the past five years, the size of the NHS’s learning disability and mental health nursing workforce had decreased. Nursing Times

Major NHS trust turns away A&E patients 13 times in a week

Major NHS trust turns away A&E patients 13 times in a week As cold snap adds to pressure, Worcestershire trust is forced to divert patients from A&E at two hospitals. A major NHS hospital trust had to turn patients away from its A&E units 13 times last week – including four times in one day – as the snow left it facing “extremely challenging” conditions.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust was forced to divert emergency patients away from the A&Es at two of the hospitals it runs, the Worcestershire Royal in Worcester and Alexandra in Redditch. Continue reading... Guardian

Lung experts 'deeply concerned' by low flu jab uptake in England

Lung experts 'deeply concerned' by low flu jab uptake in England Barely two in five people in at-risk groups have been vaccinated as NHS hospitals buckle under strain caused by cold snap

Fewer than half those eligible for a free winter flu jab have had one, despite high-profile warnings that this winter could bring the biggest flu outbreak in years, NHS figures reveal.

The low uptake, which will alarm NHS bosses, come as many hospitals showed clear signs of starting to buckle under the extra demand for care caused by the cold snap that began last week. Guardian