Covid-19 death toll hits 200 at Northampton General Hospital

Covid-19 death toll hits 200 at Northampton General Hospital NHS staff on the Covid-19 front line at Northampton General Hospital have now seen 200 victims of the bug die in just 57 days.

Confirmation that two more patients died at the Cliftonville site took the grim total to exactly 200 since the first victims died there on March 16 to the most recent on May 12. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• Northants NHS worker ill with Covid-19, says trust chairman Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Social care reform: fit for purpose or simply fit for a crisis?

Social care reform: fit for purpose or simply fit for a crisis? The Covid-19 (coronavirus) crisis has laid out in stark relief just how critical social care is to the people who rely on it to live the lives they want to, to communities and the economy, and yes, to the NHS too. Too often, politicians of all parties decided they couldn’t afford the political capital and the financial cost of social care reform. We can only hope that the current crisis is showing that they can’t afford not to. The King's Fund

Covid-19 and the nation’s mental health: forecasting needs and risks in the UK

Covid-19 and the nation’s mental health: forecasting needs and risks in the UK According to this report, the global Covid-19 pandemic is likely to increase the number of people in Britain experiencing a mental health problem in the next two years. It uses evidence from previous epidemics internationally and from the aftermath of the 2008 banking crisis to estimate what effect Covid-19 will have on mental health at population level in the UK. Centre for Mental Health

Digital transformation in the NHS

Digital transformation in the NHS This report was prepared before the Coronavirus pandemic. We recognise that the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS have unprecedented operational priorities to deal with, and we have agreed with them to publish this report because it contains valuable information that will remain relevant and help with digital transformation in the NHS in the longer-term.

Progress in transforming digital services in the NHS has been slower than expected. Today’s report by the National Audit Office has found that recent investment in digital transformation has been inadequate, and it is uncertain whether current funding will be sufficient to meet the government’s ambitions because plans are based on very limited cost data. National Audit Office

70 million face masks for NHS and care workers through new industry deal

70 million face masks for NHS and care workers through new industry deal More than 70 million face masks will be manufactured in the UK and delivered to frontline health and care workers following an agreement with a global technology company. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Detailed guide: Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and risk in the UK Department of Health and Social Care
• NHS Roadmap To Safely Bring Back Routine Operations NHS England
• Statistical data set: COVID-19: number of outbreaks in care homes – management information Public Health England
• Research and analysis: National COVID-19 surveillance reports Public Health England
• Covid-19: resetting emergency department care Royal College of Emergency Medicine

Health unions publish blueprint for the safe opening up of the NHS

Health unions publish blueprint for the safe opening up of the NHS The nine-point plan, jointly released by the RCN and 15 other unions, details measures that must be in place to protect the NHS, patients and staff as outpatient clinics and operations resume.

These include fast, comprehensive and accessible testing and the ongoing, ample supply of personal protective equipment. Royal College of Nursing

See also:

• NHS Trade Unions’ Blueprint for Return Royal College of Nursing

Coronavirus: Reopening NHS services must be safe, unions say

Coronavirus: Reopening NHS services must be safe, unions say Rapid testing and an adequate supply of protective equipment must be in place when the NHS reopens services cancelled during the peak of the coronavirus oubreak, health unions have said.
 
The unions have put forward a nine-point plan for the NHS to reopen safely as lockdown restrictions ease.

And staff working through the crisis should be paid overtime and a public sector pay freeze ruled out, they say. BBC News

See also:

• Doctors 'told not to discuss PPE shortages' BBC News
• Coronavirus: Mental health of NHS staff at long-term risk BBC News
• One in 400 people in England have coronavirus, tests suggest BBC News
• Coronavirus is FIVE TIMES deadlier than the seasonal flu, report finds The Daily Mail
• TALKING in confined spaces can spread coronavirus, study finds The Daily Mail
• Coronavirus UK: Contract tracing may mean 770k self-isolate a day The Daily Mail
• Army called in after PPE distribution 'beset by chaos' The Daily Telegraph
• England's Covid-19 infection rate too high for further easing, experts say The Guardian
• MPs and peers call for legal requirement to delete UK contract-tracing data The Guardian
• NHS coronavirus advisory board split over ditching government app The Guardian
• Quarter of Covid-19 deaths in English hospitals were of diabetics The Guardian
• Drivers tell of chaos at UK's privately run PPE stockpile The Guardian
• 23,000 extra care home residents die in five months with 12,500 linked to coronavirus, new figures reveal The Independent