Northamptonshire County Council: £8m of planned savings target to be missed

Northamptonshire County Council: £8m of planned savings target to be missed Finances at a cash-crisis council are still not on track, with forecasts predicting £8m of £41m savings needed in 2019-20 will not be made.

After its financial collapse in 2018, Northamptonshire County Council will cease to exist from spring 2021, with two new unitary authorities planned.

The Conservative-run authority set out planned savings in its February budget.

But the council's scrutiny committee heard £5.8m of planned children's services savings looked unachievable. BBC Northampton

See also:

• Finances are still off track at Northamptonshire County Council Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Will linked data finally show us what happens after the ambulance arrives?

Will linked data finally show us what happens after the ambulance arrives? Sarah Scobie takes a closer look at new ambulance response standards, explores the variation in how providers are performing, and argues the case for a single national ambulance dataset. Nuffield Trust

Guidance: Wellbeing and mental health: applying All Our Health

Guidance: Wellbeing and mental health: applying All Our Health Evidence and guidance to enable healthcare professionals make improvements against wider factors that affect health and wellbeing in mental health. Public Health England

Billion fewer cigarettes smoked in England a year

Billion fewer cigarettes smoked in England a year The number of cigarettes smoked each year in England has fallen by more than a billion, according to analysis by Cancer Research UK.

The charity says average monthly cigarette consumption fell by a quarter between 2011 and 2018 - equating to 118 million fewer cigarettes smoked each month.

Only 16% of adults in England smoke, latest data shows. BBC News

See also:

• Comparison of Trends in Self-reported Cigarette Consumption and Sales in England, 2011 to 2018 (open access) JAMA Network Open
• More than a billion fewer cigarettes smoked each year as people ditch the cigs Cancer Research UK
• People in England smoked 1.4BILLION fewer cigarettes in 2018 than 2011 The Daily Mail
• Average smoker now down to 10 a day, in wake of smoking ban The Daily Telegraph

Pinterest to direct vaccine searches to health sites

Pinterest to direct vaccine searches to health sites Pinterest users searching for vaccine-related information will be directed to results from "public health organisations".

Last year, the social platform stopped showing results for vaccine searches to tackle the spread of misinformation.

Social media companies are facing increasing scrutiny over how they moderate content on their sites.

In recent months, other firms including Facebook have taken some steps to address vaccine misinformation. BBC News

See also:

• More must be done to tackle measles and anti-vax messages, says RCGP Royal College of General Practitioners
• Measles: Four European nations lose eradication status BBC News
• Four countries lost their measles-free status in Europe in 2018 The Daily Mail

Health unions warn no-deal Brexit could cause ‘fatal’ medicine shortages

Health unions warn no-deal Brexit could cause ‘fatal’ medicine shortages Health union leaders have issued a stark warning that a no-deal Brexit could “devastate” the NHS and cause fatal medicine shortages arguing “no responsible government should take that risk”.

A joint statement signed by 11 organisations called on the government to take no deal off the table, the day after prime minister Boris Johnson received the Queen’s permission to suspend parliament for more than a month ahead of the EU withdrawal date. The Independent

'People think of straitjackets': the podcast unveiling reality in a psychiatric hospital

'People think of straitjackets': the podcast unveiling reality in a psychiatric hospital A nurse wants to shift outdated perceptions of mental health by giving patients a voice

“We’re all seen as people catching flies in their mouth and talking to Jesus while wearing tin helmets,” says Chris Dowling*, who is being treated for mental health problems that include depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Mental health needn’t be that debilitating, but even my own family … it’s almost as if they think it’s contagious. They steer clear of me,” he adds. “We have to shift the outdated Victorian connotations of what mental health is.” The Guardian

Health watchdogs are being taken to court over claims they have breached human rights

Health watchdogs are being taken to court over claims they have breached human rights The health watchdog is being taken to court over claims it has breached human rights by not approving a drug to treat a cruel and deadly syndrome.

NICE controversially rejected the only available medication to treat one type of Batten disease for use on the NHS in England in draft guidance in February.

Outraged families – including the parents of a boy once cradled by Prince Harry in hospital – launched legal action to get cerliponase alfa available.

The High Court has now announced it will hold a judicial review into legality of the decision. Lawyers fighting to overturn the decision claim it was unlawful. The Daily Mail

National shortage of common contraceptive pills could lead to unplanned pregnancies, experts warn

National shortage of common contraceptive pills could lead to unplanned pregnancies, experts warn A nationwide shortage of contraceptive pills could lead to a wave of unplanned pregnancies, experts have warned.

Women are struggling to get hold of several common birth control pills, such as Lestrin and Cilest.

Leading brands have confirmed there are problems in the manufacturing process - but have given little indication of when it will be resolved. The Daily Mail

More patients are dying from blood poisoning than anticipated at 28 NHS trusts

More patients are dying from blood poisoning than anticipated at 28 NHS trusts More patients are dying from sepsis than anticipated at 28 NHS trusts in England, MailOnline can reveal.

Deaths from the silent killer at Tameside and Glossop NHS Foundation Trust are 38 per cent higher than expected over the past six years.

In real terms, 517 patients died from sepsis - a violent immune response to an infection - at the trust in Ashton-under-Lyne, well above the 373 deaths expected.

The NHS denies excess deaths are necessarily avoidable, saying the rate given for each trust is based solely on a national average. The Daily Mail