New parents need space to talk about their mental health

New parents need space to talk about their mental health A report by Healthwatch says new parents need more support to deal with mental health problems during and after pregancy. Healthwatch

'Football saved my life' after breakdown

'Football saved my life' after breakdown In the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50, according to the Office for National Statistics.

After losing two male friends to suicide, Rob Moss set up RammyMen in the former mill town of Ramsbottom, Lancashire, to engage local men in activities that would help with depression. BBC News - Health

Many hospital patients get no visitors

Many hospital patients get no visitors Two-fifths (40%) of patients on UK hospital wards get no visitors, say the NHS nurses who care for them.

The Royal Voluntary Service charity commissioned a poll of 200 nurses working in acute hospitals in Britain. As well as being socially isolating, having no visitor to help with the "small" things, such as cutting up food or refilling a water glass, can delay a patient's recovery, the nurses say.  They want more people to become volunteer visitors and helpers. BBC News - Health

See Also:

• Two in five hospital patients never have any visitors – and it could affect their recovery

Guidance: Healthier weight conversations: support for professionals

Guidance: Healthier weight conversations: support for professionals It describes the intent of professional organisations to work together, support and enable the public health workforce to have healthier weight conversations and maximise population behaviour change, helping individuals and communities significantly reduce their risk of obesity, in order to support the national ambition to
halve childhood obesity rates by 2030. Gov.UK

NHS pension shake-up unveiled to tackle 'tax trap' staffing crisis

NHS pension shake-up unveiled to tackle 'tax trap' staffing crisis Operations being cancelled as medics turn down work to avoid risk of massive bills

Ministers have unveiled a major overhaul of the NHS pension scheme to try to stop doctors cutting their hours in order to avoid falling into a “tax trap” that means they face bills for as much as £100,000.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said the changes meant “every senior clinician will be able to carry out life-saving work for patients, safe in the knowledge they have more control over their pension, their future and their retirement than at any point in NHS history.” The Guardian

See Also:

• Open consultation: NHS Pension Scheme: increased flexibility Gov.UK

New strain of toxin-producing strep A emerges in UK

New strain of toxin-producing strep A emerges in UK A new strain of group A streptococcus, which is able to produce significantly more toxin, is spreading in England and Wales, scientists say.

Strep A causes a range of infections, from a sore throat to scarlet fever. The new strain's emergence, reported in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, coincides with a rise in rare but potentially deadly invasive infections.

However, it does not explain the mysterious surge in scarlet fever cases during the past five years. And there is no direct evidence the new strain causes more serious infection than other strains, experts say. BBC News - Health

See Also:

• Emergence of dominant toxigenic M1T1 Streptococcus pyogenes clone during increased scarlet fever activity in England: a population-based molecular epidemiological study The Lancet Infectious Diseases
• New strain of bacteria responsible for scarlet fever reaching record high   The Telegraph
• 'Toxigenic' strain of Strep A is 'behind the surge in scarlet fever cases in England since 2014'  Mail Online

NHS regulation and oversight: a time of transition

NHS regulation and oversight: a time of transition NHS Providers - This report outlines the findings from a survey on regulation and explores trusts' experiences of regulation over the last twelve months. It reveals that only 39 per cent of NHS trust leaders think the overall regulatory approach adopted by NHS England, NHS Improvement and the Care Quality Commission is working well. It also highlights the growing tension between the current system of regulation which focuses on organisations and ambition to move towards an approach which takes system working into account. King's Fund: Health Management and Policy Alert

Corporate report: PHE Strategy 2020 to 2025

Corporate report: PHE Strategy 2020 to 2025 The PHE Strategy 2020 to 2025 sets out how Public Health England will work to protect and improve the public’s health and reduce health inequalities over the next 5 years.

It outlines PHE’s role within the public health system, 10 priorities where PHE will focus particular effort and the areas where PHE will build capability within the organisation to support delivery of its strategic objectives and wider activities. Gov.UK

Bacteria developing new ways to resist antibiotics, doctors warn

Bacteria developing new ways to resist antibiotics, doctors warn Scientists in UK identify growing trend that threatens to leave patients untreatable

Bacteria are increasingly developing ways of resisting antibiotics, threatening a future in which patients could become untreatable, doctors have warned.

Over the last decade scientists in the UK studying samples from patients have identified 19 new mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. The Guardian

See Also:

• Life-saving drugs may soon become useless, experts warn as 19 untreatable superbugs are discovered in the last decade The Telegraph
• Fears of infections pandemic grow after NINETEEN new superbugs are discovered in UK Mail Online