We're taking a break over Christmas

This will be the last daily health news blog over the Christmas period (although we will still be posting news items on Twitter).

We hope you have found our efforts to keep you up-to-date with health related news useful.

We will be back with more national and local news, publications and updates on Thursday the 2nd of January.

Wishing all our readers a happy festive season and a peaceful and prosperous new year. See you in 2020!

Surgical site infections (SSI) surveillance: NHS hospitals in England

Surgical site infections (SSI) surveillance: NHS hospitals in England This annual report covers surgical site infection (SSI) data collected by NHS hospitals and independent sector NHS treatment centres. Public Health England

Implementing routine outcome monitoring in specialist perinatal mental health services

Implementing routine outcome monitoring in specialist perinatal mental health services This document focuses on good practice examples, tools, tips and information to help perinatal mental health (PMH) services embed appropriate perinatal mental health outcomes measures at a local level, using outcome measures that are already part of the Mental Health Services Dataset. NHS England

‘Never a better time to join the NHS’ says health chief Simon Stevens

‘Never a better time to join the NHS’ says health chief Simon Stevens NHS chief Simon Stevens is today urging people of all ages to consider embarking on a career in the health service next year, as he thanks those current staff who will be working over Christmas. NHS England

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn praise NHS in Christmas messages

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn praise NHS in Christmas messages Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn have both paid tribute to NHS staff and other public sector workers in their Christmas messages.

Mr Johnson used his first Christmas message as prime minister to thank those staff working over the holiday. BBC News

Christmas: Beware 'lethal' button batteries in toys

Christmas: Beware 'lethal' button batteries in toys Sophie Skill, from Sheffield, spent days on life support after she swallowed a coin-sized button battery.

Battery acid burned through her gullet (oesophagus) and into her lung, causing agonising pain and putting her life in danger.

Doctors say her case is not unique - about two UK children a year die from swallowing batteries.

Button batteries are used to power many gadgets and toys that will be opened as gifts on Christmas Day, experts warn. BBC News

See also:

• Button batteries for toys can KILL children if they're swallowed, NHS chief warns The Daily Mail
• ‘Toxic’ Christmas toys could put children at risk of long-term fertility problems, officials warn The Independent

First human head transplant could be achieved by 2030, veteran NHS neurosurgeon claims

First human head transplant could be achieved by 2030, veteran NHS neurosurgeon claims The first ever human head transplants could be achieved within the next decade, claims a former NHS neurosurgeon who believes he knows how the feat of moving a person’s consciousness to another body could be made to work.

Bruce Mathew, a former clinical lead for neurosurgery at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, was working on a science fiction novel with Institute of Futurology founder Michael Lee when he realised the potential key to making the outlandish surgery a success. The Independent

Children in care being increasingly moved miles away from families, risking county lines exploitation, Children’s Commissioner warns

Children in care being increasingly moved miles away from families, risking county lines exploitation, Children’s Commissioner warns Children in care are being increasingly moved away from their family, putting them at greater risk of county lines exploitation, the Children’s Commissioner has warned.

Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, has published a report detailing how thousands of children in the care system are living many miles away from family and friends. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Pass the parcel: children posted around the care system Children’s Commissioner for England
• Thousands of children in care passed around the system like parcels and living miles away from family and friends Children’s Commissioner for England
• Thousands of children in care over 100 miles away from family The Guardian
• More than 2,000 children in care are being forced to live 100 miles from home The Independent

British GPs are among best paid in the Western world with most earning more than £100,000

British GPs are among best paid in the Western world with most earning more than £100,000 British GPs are among the best paid in the Western world with most earning more than £100,000, a major report reveals.

Family doctors are paid more than three times as much as the average Briton, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The report reveals only Germany pays its GPs more than Britain when compared with the rest of its citizens. Yet the UK is struggling to hold on to its family doctors. The Daily Mail

See also:

• NHS Staff Earnings Estimates September 2019, Provisional statistics NHS Digital