Northants Director of Public Health's comments about Greencore staff are 'unacceptable' says campaign group

Northants Director of Public Health's comments about Greencore staff are 'unacceptable' says campaign group Lucy Wightman has said her comments about Greencore staff are not about apportioning blame but helping workers understand where the transmission risks lie. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Day centre for adults with special needs in Northamptonshire causes confusion by stopping care for selected clients

 Day centre for adults with special needs in Northamptonshire causes confusion by stopping care for selected clients A day centre that cares for adults with special needs has cancelled a number of clients’ contracts in a move described by families as completely ‘out of the blue’.

Brixworth Farm Nursery, in Holcot Road, which is set on a plot of countryside and has allotments and an animal husbandry unit, can cater for up to 30 adults at any one time. Northamptonshire Telegraph

New guidance on financial wellbeing

New guidance on financial wellbeing New guidance which covers a range of practical steps to help employers support staff financial wellbeing. NHS Employers

See also:

• New case study on improving performance by improving staff wellbeing NHS Employers

Correspondence: Secretary of State message to the NHS on the coronavirus response

Correspondence: Secretary of State message to the NHS on the coronavirus response The Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock thanks the NHS workforce for the dedication they have shown in the national effort against coronavirus (COVID-19). Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Dido Harding to be temporary head of new health agency

Coronavirus: Dido Harding to be temporary head of new health agency Baroness Dido Harding, who runs NHS Test and Trace in England, is to be the interim chief of the government's new Health Protection Institute.

The agency - set to launch on Tuesday - will merge some of Public Health England's (PHE) pandemic response work with the coronavirus test and trace system.

Lady Harding will run the new institute until a permanent appointment is made. BBC News

See also:

• Government AXE 'obstructive' PHE after litany of disaster from testing to death figures - but replace it with body run by Tory Baroness whose husband called for department to be abolished The Daily Mail
• Dido Harding to run agency replacing Public Health England The Guardian
• Dido Harding: confident, loyal – but with precious little relevant experience The Guardian
• Dido Harding set to head agency replacing Public Health England The Independent

NHS cannabis guidelines challenged in court

NHS cannabis guidelines challenged in court The parents of a three-year-old boy with severe epilepsy are going to court to mount the first legal challenge to the guidelines on prescribing cannabis on the NHS.

Charlie Hughes went from having up to 120 seizures a day to fewer than 20, after receiving cannabis oil privately. BBC News

Restrictions on laxative sales in the UK to stop misuse

Restrictions on laxative sales in the UK to stop misuse The UK government is imposing stricter regulations on the sale of laxatives, to help prevent their misuse.

The drugs, designed to treat constipation, will be sold in smaller packs that carry warnings about never using laxatives for weight control.

People will need to be 18 or older to buy them from pharmacies and supermarkets. BBC News

NHS prepares to spend up to £10 billion on private hospital treatments

 NHS prepares to spend up to £10 billion on private hospital treatments The health service could spend up to £10bn of taxpayers’ money buying operations and treatment in the private sector over the next four years to reduce waiting times.

NHS England said the figure, which was revealed in a contract tender notice published online on Monday, is an upper estimate of what it could spend to cut waiting times. The Independent

‘We could see this tsunami of people coming’: inside the secret world of intensive care – podcast

‘We could see this tsunami of people coming’: inside the secret world of intensive care – podcast Even within a hospital, the ICU can feel like another world. But critical care goes far beyond simply keeping people alive – it’s also about what happens next. The Guardian

Coronavirus: Why face masks DO work, according to study

Coronavirus: Why face masks DO work, according to study Coughing or sneezing without a face covering exposes bystanders to at least 10,000 times more droplets, scientists claim.

Droplets — large particles that fall to the ground and land on surfaces — are thought to be the main driver of Covid-19 transmission. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Face Coverings and Respiratory Tract Droplet Dispersion (open access preprint) MedRxiv
• Coronavirus: 'It's not how I thought maternity leave would be' BBC News
• Glimmers of hope for immunity in survivors of mild COVID-19 The Daily Mail
• Coronavirus could be linked to type 1 diabetes in children, study suggests The Independent