Record number of positive Covid-19 tests two days in a row in Northamptonshire

Record number of positive Covid-19 tests two days in a row in Northamptonshire Northamptonshire saw a record number of new positive Covid-19 tests for a second day in a row.

Government analysts last night (Thursday) revealed 242 positive tests across the county during the latest 24-hour reporting period. 

That followed 236 positive swabs the previous day. Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also:

• NHS confirms five more coronavirus deaths in Northamptonshire's hospitals Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• NHS chief fears Northamptonshire hospitals 'not far off' having to cancel ops due to Covid-19 Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• The Test and Trace system has had its least successful week so far Northamptonshire Telegraph

Corby care home fire: 'Trapped' residents rescued as building evacuated

Corby care home fire: 'Trapped' residents rescued as building evacuated Three care home residents were rescued and treated for breathing in smoke after becoming "trapped", Northamptonshire Fire Service said.

Crews were sent to a fire at Swan Gardens, in School Place, Corby, on Thursday at about 15:30 GMT. BBC Northampton

See also:

• Three rescued by firefighters after Corby care home bonfire night blaze Northamptonshire Telegraph

Inadmissible evidence: The double standard in evidence based practice and how it harm patients

Inadmissible evidence: The double standard in evidence based practice and how it harm patients The NHS is full of dedicated staff who, at a one-to-one level with patients, offer deeply personal and compassionate care. But too often the system as a whole seems institutionally deaf to the patient voice.

In this report, we explore the reasons for that. We show how the NHS – at an institutional and cultural level – fails to take patient experience evidence seriously enough. And we call for a few simple and entirely feasible steps that would strengthen evidence-based practice and ensure that the patient voice is better heard. Patient Experience Library

Digital transformation in the NHS

Digital transformation in the NHS This report says the Department for Health & Social Care (DHSC) and the NHS have a long way to go to deal with, and move on from, the legacy of their track record of failed IT programmes over almost two decades. It finds that the DHSC has not achieved its target to achieve 'a paperless NHS', which has now been watered-down and moved back by six years and expresses concerns that the DHSC and NHS bodies now risk repeating the mistakes that led to those failures and wasting taxpayers’ money. House of Commons Public Accounts Committee

Covid-19 and disruptions to the health and social care of older people in England

Covid-19 and disruptions to the health and social care of older people in England This briefing looks at the changes to the delivery of routine health care in England due to the Covid-19 pandemic. To prioritise access to hospital beds, staff and ventilators for Covid-19 patients, and to minimise the risk of infection for other patients, much routine health care was postponed or replaced with online or phone consultations. In addition, many would-be patients declined to seek care in the first place. This briefing aims to quantify these disruptions to care among older people in England in the early stages of the pandemic, and to examine who was most affected. Institute for Fiscal Studies

How has Covid-19 and the associated lockdown measures affected mental health and wellbeing in the UK?

How has Covid-19 and the associated lockdown measures affected mental health and wellbeing in the UK? This briefing provides insights into how mental health conditions have changed and what the risk factors are that need to be recognised when supporting people’s mental health. What Works Wellbeing

NHS Test and Trace hits record testing capacity as over 10 million people tested at least once

NHS Test and Trace hits record testing capacity as over 10 million people tested at least once Figures released today show that over 10 million people in the UK have now been tested, and the target of reaching 500,000 testing capacity has been exceeded. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Guidance: Visiting care homes during coronavirus Department of Health and Social Care
• Correspondence: Thanking general practice and community pharmacy staff for their work during the pandemic Department of Health and Social Care
• Detailed guide: Coronavirus (COVID-19): getting tested Department of Health and Social Care
• Guidance: COVID-19: supporting adults with learning disabilities and autistic adults Department of Health and Social Care
• Transparency data: Coronavirus cases in England: 4 November 2020 Department of Health and Social Care
• Weekly national flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports published Public Health England
• OSR Statement regarding transparency of data related to COVID-19 Office for Statistics Regulation

Covid-19: We need your help says NHS chief

Covid-19: We need your help says NHS chief During a press conference at Downing Street on Thursday, NHS CEO Sir Simon Stevens said the NHS needed the public's help to control the number of Covid cases in UK hospitals. BBC News 

See also:

• Covid: Can mass testing save us from another lockdown? BBC News
• Covid: Are care homes ready for the second wave? BBC News
• Covid: Regulator criticises data used to justify lockdown BBC News
• UK contact-tracing apps start to talk to each other BBC News
• Covid app backed by Zara and Mike Tindall prompts safety concern BBC News
• NHS boss takes a swipe at Vallance and Whitty's 'complicated graphs' and shows a SINGLE chart The Daily Mail
• Coronavirus UK: Test & Trace reaches smallest ever proportion of at-risk contacts The Daily Mail
• Test and trace records highest weekly total of Covid cases in England The Guardian
• Will Operation Moonshot pass its first test fighting Covid in Liverpool? The Guardian
• Operation Moonshot: rapid Covid test missed over 50% of cases in pilot The Guardian
• Coronavirus: New lockdown care home visit guidance in England likened to ‘prison systems' The Independent
• Sir Patrick Vallance publicly warned over use of ‘reasonable worst-case scenario’ coronavirus data The Independent
• Nearly one in 10 Covid tests are positive, data shows The Independent
• Jeremy Hunt attacks government over lack of Covid tests for NHS staff The Independent

Poor diet: Children 20cm shorter as a result, analysis says

Poor diet: Children 20cm shorter as a result, analysis says Poor diets for school-age children may contribute to an average height gap of 20cm (7.9in) between the tallest and shortest nations, an analysis suggests.

It reports that in 2019 the tallest 19-year-old boys lived in the Netherlands (183.8cm or 6ft) and the shortest lived in Timor Leste (160.1cm or 5ft 3in). BBC News

See also:

• Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants (open access) The Lancet

EHRC launch inquiry into BAME inequalities in health and social care

EHRC launch inquiry into BAME inequalities in health and social care Great Britain’s human rights watchdog has begun an inquiry into inequalities experienced by people from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities who work in health and social care.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it would consider the “structural issues which have left people from a range of ethnic minorities at greater risk” across England, Scotland and Wales. The Guardian

See also:

• Equality body to scrutinise racial inequality of workers in health and social care Equality and Human Rights Commission