Tuesday 12 November 2019

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.

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    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

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    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

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    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