What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? A scoping review

What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? A scoping review This comprehensive review of evidence on arts and health concludes that engaging with the arts can be beneficial for both mental and physical health. The report reviews arts activities that seek to promote health and prevent ill health, as well as manage and treat physical and mental ill health and support end-of-life care. World Health Organization

The outlook for councils’ funding: is austerity over?

The outlook for councils’ funding: is austerity over? This analysis shows that, with councils now largely dependent on council tax and business rates to fund their spending, a growing gap is likely to open up between their income and what they need to meet the rising costs of service provision, especially for adult social care. With council tax rising in line with inflation (two per cent a year), by the end of the parliament councils will need an extra £4 billion a year from the government just to maintain social care services at current levels and stop further cut backs in the share of national income spent on other services like children’s social care, public health and housing. This would rise to £18 billion a year by the mid-2030s. Institute for Fiscal Studies

Vaping nearly killed me, says British teenager

Vaping nearly killed me, says British teenager A teenage boy nearly died after vaping caused a catastrophic reaction in his lungs, doctors in Nottingham say.

Ewan Fisher was connected to an artificial lung to keep him alive after his own lungs failed and he could not breathe.

Ewan told BBC News e-cigarettes had "basically ruined me" and urged other young people not to vape.

His doctors say vaping is "not safe", although health bodies in the UK say it is 95% safer than tobacco.

See also:

• Life-threatening hypersensitivity pneumonitis secondary to e-cigarettes (open access) Archives of Diseases in Childhood
• Clinical presentation, treatment, and short-term outcomes of lung injury associated with e-cigarettes or vaping: a prospective observational cohort study (abstract) The Lancet
• Vaper, 16, suffers life-threatening lung inflammation The Daily Mail
• 'Vape at your peril', doctors warn as they reveal teenage boy contracted life threatening condition The Daily Telegraph
• Vaping is causing lung damage, Lancet study finds as medics urge public to avoid e-cigarettes The Daily Telegraph
• UK teenager needed life support over vaping-linked disease The Guardian
• Vaping deaths: Health officials find possible cause of mystery illness linked to e-cigarettes The Independent
• Vaping deaths: Are e-cigarettes really safer than smoking tobacco? A complete guide to the facts The Independent

Lack of care available to country’s sickest children forces NHS to restore beds to local hospitals

Lack of care available to country’s sickest children forces NHS to restore beds to local hospitals A shortage of beds and staff to care for the country’s sickest children has forced the NHS to redesign critical-care services nationwide, The Independent has learned.

Health service bosses will reverse more than two decades of centralisation that have seen many smaller hospitals lose services, with new children’s critical-care networks created and hospitals working together to move children closer to their homes, freeing up beds.

The scandalous detention of learning disabled people won't be stopped by a review

The scandalous detention of learning disabled people won't be stopped by a review | Dan Scorer Urgent investment in social care is essential to address the reasons why people are locked away in inpatient units

People with a learning disability face inequalities in all aspects of their lives, and access to good quality health and social care is no exception.

Many people may think asylums are a thing of the past, but 2,250 people with a learning disability and/or autism continue to be locked away in inpatient units across the country, where they are at increased risk of abuse and neglect. The Guardian

Childhood pneumonia cases up 50% in 10 years, NHS data shows

Childhood pneumonia cases up 50% in 10 years, NHS data shows A&E admissions highest in deprived areas of England as bronchiolitis drives increase

Emergency hospital admissions for children with pneumonia have risen by more than 50% in England over the past decade, figures suggest, with admission rates highest in more deprived areas.

According to NHS Digital data analysed by the charities Unicef and Save the Children, between April 2018 and March 2019 there were 56,210 emergency admissions in England for pneumonia in those aged 18 or younger, using a definition that included a type of lower respiratory tract infection called bronchiolitis. In contrast, there were 36,862 such admissions between April 2008 and March 2009. The Guardian

See also:

• "Forgotten epidemic" hospitalising 6 children every hour in England Save the Children
• One child dies of pneumonia every 39 seconds, agencies warn UNICEF
• Six children are hospitalised with pneumonia EVERY HOUR The Daily Mail
• Poorest areas hardest hit by ‘forgotten epidemic’ of pneumonia putting a child in hospital every 10 minutes The Independent

GPs call for an end to home visits, saying they do not have time

GPs call for an end to home visits, saying they do not have time Family doctors are calling for an end to home visits - saying they are too busy to visit the frail and elderly.

The radical proposal, to be put forward at a conference of the British Medical Association, would see the duties removed from the standard contract for GPs

Medics said house calls were too “time consuming” for family doctors, who were overloaded.

But patients’ groups said the threat to withdraw such services from GPs was “appalling” and would put the vulnerable at risk. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Leading GPs call for mandatory home visits to be scrapped The Daily Mail
• GPs demand power to close lists and drop home visits amid workload crisis GPonline
• GPs ‘no longer have capacity’ to offer home visits, doctors say The Independent

More than a MILLION patients are being admitted to hospitals with obesity-related illnesses

More than a MILLION patients are being admitted to hospitals with obesity-related illnesses More than one million people a year are now being admitted to hospital with obesity-related conditions, NHS figures have revealed.

Statistics show the number of obese patients admitted in England has jumped from 884,000 in 2017/18 to almost 1.1million last year.

The burden has also doubled in just five years, with 442,000 cases in 2013/14. Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, described the trend as 'startling'. The Daily Mail