Meet the Northampton nursing student who wants to go the extra mile to help children on mental health wards

Meet the Northampton nursing student who wants to go the extra mile to help children on mental health wards A student nurse who is making it her mission to help children who are on mental health wards in Northampton.

Jade Pancoust has worked in adult mental health care for nine years and is in her final year of studying for a mental health nursing degree at the University of Northampton. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Guidance: E-cigarettes: use by patients in NHS mental health organisations

Guidance: E-cigarettes: use by patients in NHS mental health organisations Advice for commissioners, service providers and mental health trusts providing care to NHS patients who use electronic cigarettes. Department of Health and Social Care

NHS action saves 3,000 more babies’ lives

NHS action saves 3,000 more babies’ lives The NHS in England is saving hundreds more babies’ lives every year than a decade ago, with thousands more to be saved thanks to the Long Term Plan and ongoing action to make services safer.

Professor Jaqueline Dunkley-Bent, the first-ever NHS chief midwifery officer, has praised improvements to local maternity services which saw a reduction of the stillbirth rate by more than a fifth (21%) between 2010 and 2018 – meaning 2,900 fewer stillbirths. NHS England

State of child health in the UK

State of child health in the UK This report shows that for many measures of children’s health and wellbeing, progress has stalled, or is in reverse – something rarely seen in high income countries. The authors highlight that, even where there have been notable improvements in children’s health, the UK is often lagging far behind other countries. For example, although there has been a fall in the number of emergency asthma admission rates across all four nations, the UK still has one of the highest mortality rates in Europe for children and young people with asthma. Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

The NHS nursing workforce

The NHS nursing workforce Nurses are critical to the delivery of health and social care services, working across hospitals, community services, care homes and primary care. In 2019, around 519,000 people in England were registered to practise as a nurse, while the NHS employed 320,000 nurses in hospital and community services, making up about a quarter of all NHS staff.

In January 2019, the NHS Long Term Plan acknowledged the need to increase staff numbers, noting that the biggest shortfalls were in nursing. The NHS set up the People Plan programme to decide how it would secure the workforce it needed to meet its future service commitments. In this report, we define workforce planning as the analysis and plans required to ensure that the NHS has the number and type of staff it needs, now and in the future. National Audit Office

See also:

• NHS still needs 43,000 MORE nurses as one in eight job posts are empty The Daily Mail

Coronavirus: Will NHS buckle under the strain?

Coronavirus: Will NHS buckle under the strain? The UK is braced for an epidemic of coronavirus cases, with health officials warning widespread transmission is now "highly likely".

If this happens, many will need hospital treatment. Will the NHS be able to cope? BBC News

See also:

• CMO for England announces 32 new cases of novel coronavirus Department of Health and Social Care
• Detailed guide: Coronavirus (COVID-19): latest information and advice Department of Health and Social Care
• On the origin and continuing evolution of SARS-CoV-2 (open access) National Science Review
• UK coronavirus cases jump to 85 BBC News
• Coronavirus: Keep it simple, stick to facts - how parents should tell kids BBC News
• Coronavirus readiness: Three technology-led steps the NHS is taking Computer Weekly
• Human trials of coronavirus vaccines could start next MONTH in the UK and US The Daily Mail
• Coronavirus will kill Britons, warns Britain's Chief Medical Officer The Daily Mail
• TWO strains of the killer coronavirus are spreading, study claims The Daily Mail
• Practice with 20,000 patients in two-week shutdown as UK coronavirus cases spike GPonline
• British public demands more information on coronavirus cases The Guardian
• Majority of retired NHS staff don't want to return to tackle Covid-19 crisis The Guardian
• PM: workers with coronavirus will get sick pay from day one The Guardian
• 'The public has a right to the truth': NHS staff speak out on coronavirus fears The Independent
• Coronavirus: UK cases jump to 87 in biggest single-day increase so far The Independent
• Coronavirus in the UK: NHS plan to increase video consultations 'needs careful thought', says BMA deputy chair iNews
• These numbers show how well the NHS can treat a coronavirus crisis Wired

East Kent baby deaths: 'Hospital did not learn from mistakes'

East Kent baby deaths: 'Hospital did not learn from mistakes' The parents of a baby who nearly died after a series of failings during his birth said they were "heartbroken" mistakes continued to be made

East Kent Hospitals told Harry Halligan's parents they would learn lessons from his delivery in 2012.

But similar failings recently came to light after the death of Harry Richford in 2017 and the trust is now being probed over up to 15 baby deaths. BBC News

NHS 'failing' patients living with HIV

NHS 'failing' patients living with HIV The failure to address the mental-health needs of people with HIV could lead to an increase in infections, a cross-party group of MPs suggests.

People with HIV are twice as likely to experience mental-health difficulties.

And in those with depression, support raises adherence to medication by 83%.

But most HIV clinics have no mental-health professionals on staff, which, the MPs say, could be reversing progress made over the past decade toward ending the epidemic in the UK. BBC News

Late diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy 'putting women at risk'

Late diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy 'putting women at risk' NHS figures show 30 ectopic pregnancies were missed, leading to serious harm in 2017/2018

Women are at risk of serious harm and death because hospitals are not always diagnosing ectopic pregnancies quickly enough, an investigation reveals.

About 12,000 women a year in the UK suffer an ectopic pregnancy – when a fertilised egg grows outside the womb – putting them at risk if a fallopian tube containing the foetus ruptures and causes potentially fatal heavy bleeding. The Guardian

400 diagnoses of cancer per DAY could be avoided if 'Britons lived healthier lives'

400 diagnoses of cancer per DAY could be avoided if 'Britons lived healthier lives' More than 400 diagnoses of cancer could be avoided every day if the nation was healthier, a charity has claimed.

The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has estimated around 40 per cent of cases could be prevented if people stopped smoking and lost weight.

Both factors are leading causes of cancers, causing 15 per cent and six per cent of diagnoses respectively. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Thousands of cancer cases avoidable in the UK World Cancer Research Fund