Heart-warming sight of Northampton General Hospital staff clapping as Covid-19 patient ends 37-day HDU stay

Heart-warming sight of Northampton General Hospital staff clapping as Covid-19 patient ends 37-day HDU stay Northampton NHS staff have released a heart-warming video of a Covid-19 patient finally leaving intensive care after 37 days battling the virus.

The patient, named only as Nur, is clapped all the way out of Northampton General Hospital's High Dependency Unit by the doctors and nurses at Northampton General Hospital who helped him through. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• Covid-19: Why does Corby have third-highest new cases in England? BBC Northampton
• Second wave Covid-19 deaths pass total from the first in Northamptonshire hospitals Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• 'Covid-safe behaviour is not just about following the rules, it is a mark of respect for each other' Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• Northamptonshire 'improving' picture but deaths and Covid cases remain at 'extremely' high level as residents warned once again to stick to the rules Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• Northampton General Hospital will vaccinate inpatients following criticism in national media Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• MP asks Health Secretary to act over Northamptonshire's "stubbornly high" Covid rates Northamptonshire Telegraph
• Health chiefs keeping a close eye on Covid rates in three Wellingborough areas Northamptonshire Telegraph
• Northamptonshire's over-70s now told to call NHS and not wait to be offered Covid-19 jab Northamptonshire Telegraph
• Around a third of Covid patients thought to experience PTSD symptoms after being on a ventilator Northamptonshire Telegraph

Just 34% of women with learning disabilities in England are attending smear test appointments

Just 34% of women with learning disabilities in England are attending smear test appointments Just a third of women with a learning disability are receiving a vital cervical screening in England, figures show.

Cervical cancer charity Jo’s Trust says that a lack of accessible information for people with disabilities and awareness among some healthcare professionals are among the possible reasons for such a low uptake nationally. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Blueprint launched for NHS and social care reform following pandemic

Blueprint launched for NHS and social care reform following pandemic New proposals launched to join up health and care services and embed lessons learned from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Department of Health and Social Care 

See also:

• Clinicians must be front and centre in plans for NHS reform BMA
• Encouraging local collaboration to improve care for patients is sensible, but greater ministerial power over the NHS takes health care backwards The Health Foundation
• Our response to the Department of Health and Social Care's Integration and Innovation White Paper: a welcome shift towards collaboration The King's Fund
• Short on detail but not on ambition: four problems with the new NHS white paper LSE
• Royal College of Nursing responds to UK Government health and care white paper Royal College of Nursing
• RCP responds to Health and Care White Paper Royal College of Physicians 
• NHS bureaucracy being cut to improve care BBC News
• Matt Hancock to publish plans to give ministers more power over NHS The Guardian
• NHS and social care blueprint launched to create services ‘fit for the future’ iNews
• Matt Hancock to announce huge NHS reforms clamping down on red tape and giving more power to the health secretary ITV News
• Health secretary seeks power to intervene in council care delivery Local Government Chronicle
• NHS and social care reform blueprint launched National Health Executive
• NHS reforms to cut red tape, but doctors say we need 'stability' during COVID crisis Sky News

Supporting the mental health of NHS staff: the role of NHS leaders in reducing mental health stigma and creating mentally healthy cultures

Supporting the mental health of NHS staff: the role of NHS leaders in reducing mental health stigma and creating mentally healthy cultures This guide, funded by the British Medical Association and posted on the Mental Health at Work website, aims to provide practical advice, hints and tips to help NHS leaders and line managers to create mentally healthy cultures and support better mental health. It includes information about mental health stigmas, and how to break them down. It is the first of a series of resources aimed at NHS leaders, managers and champions. Mind

Viral myths: why we risk learning the wrong lessons from the pandemic

Viral myths: why we risk learning the wrong lessons from the pandemic This report argues that there is no obvious measure of ‘Covid performance’ which would allow us to rank countries by how well they dealt with the pandemic. This paper claims that the best performers didn't do well because they have low public spending levels but because they have open economies, or that they did well because they have non-NHS-type health care systems. It puts forward the argument that an effective pandemic response is compatible with a variety of public spending levels, a variety of trade regimes, and a variety of health care systems. Institute of Economic Affairs

Frontline workers left “risking lives to provide treatment and care”

Frontline workers left “risking lives to provide treatment and care” The Department for Health and Social Care's decision to prioritise hospitals at the beginning of the pandemic meant social care providers were left exposed by lack of PPE, says the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee in its first report on PPE procurement.

Protecting and supporting the clinically extremely vulnerable during lockdown

Protecting and supporting the clinically extremely vulnerable during lockdown This report looks at how effectively government identified and met the needs of clinically extremely vulnerable people to 1 August 2020. It only examines the support provided through the shielding programme and does not include wider support to CEV people, such as statutory sick pay. National Audit Office

See also:

• Thousands of vulnerable patients not told to shield during Covid pandemic due to out of date records The Daily Mail
• Thousands of clinically vulnerable not reached at start of Covid crisis, watchdog finds The Guardian

9 in 10 local authorities in England now enrolled into community testing

9 in 10 local authorities in England now enrolled into community testing Rapid, regular testing for people without symptoms is now being offered by more than 70% of local authorities in England, through targeted community programmes. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Find out if your area offers rapid lateral flow test sites Department of Health and Social Care
• Decision: Coronavirus (COVID-19): notification to organisations to share information Department of Health and Social Care
• Government to introduce tougher measures and enforcement rules for quarantined passengers Department of Health and Social Care
• Statement to Parliament: Strengthening our health protection at the border Department of Health and Social Care
• Free PPE for unpaid carers Department of Health and Social Care
• Call for people aged 70 and over to contact NHS for a COVID jab NHS England
• Leading surgeon tackles vaccine hesitancy among minority groups NHS England
• Research and analysis: COVID-19: reported SARS-CoV-2 deaths in England Public Health England

Covid-19: Kent variant 'on course to sweep world'

Covid-19: Kent variant 'on course to sweep world' The coronavirus variant first found in Kent could become the world's dominant strain, the head of the UK's genetic surveillance programme has predicted. 

Prof Sharon Peacock told the BBC's Newscast podcast the new variant has "swept the country" and "it's going to sweep the world, in all probability".

She said her work sequencing variants of the virus could be required for at least 10 years. BBC News

See also:

• Covid: Care staff vaccinations 'lagging behind target' BBC News
• Covid vaccine priority for 'severe' asthma BBC News
• Covid: Two million yet to take jab offer, says Johnson BBC News
• Covid: WHO backs Oxford vaccine against new variants BBC News
• Covid vaccine: JVT 'really concerned' fewer BAME people will get jab BBC News
• Fake Covid videos 'will cost lives' BBC News
• Covid-19: Novavax vaccine shows 89% efficacy in UK trials BBC News
• NHS begins trial of stimulant that could improve blood flow in the lungs of Covid patients The Daily Mail
• UK could give coronavirus vaccines to children by the end of the year The Daily Mail
• Covid UK: Cases fall a third and deaths by a quarter as wave shrinks The Daily Mail
• Britain has dished out 10% of world's Covid vaccines but experts say UK's drive needs to speed up The Daily Mail
• UK autumn Covid lockdown 'too late', Professor Neil Ferguson says The Daily Mail
• UK should be 'more or less free' of pandemic by Christmas, says Sage scientist The Daily Telegraph
• UK total of 170 cases of South Africa Covid variant 'reassuring' The Guardian
• Covid travel rule-breakers could face 10-year jail terms, says Hancock The Guardian
• Thinktank critical of NHS Covid response has links to Hancock The Guardian
• Covid vaccine: tens of thousands of UK nurses yet to receive first dose The Guardian
• Doctors warn intensive care units still face months of extra pressure The Independent
• We prepared for the wrong pandemic, admits former health secretary Jeremy Hunt The Independent
• Ministers failed to learn lessons from first Covid wave and locked down too late, Neil Ferguson says The Independent

How has coronavirus affected mental health?

How has coronavirus affected mental health? The coronavirus pandemic has led to concerns about a worsening of mental health across the UK but what's the scale of the problem? BBC News

Obesity: Appetite drug could mark 'new era' in tackling condition

Obesity: Appetite drug could mark 'new era' in tackling condition A drug that suppresses appetite has led to some people losing more than a fifth of their body weight, a major international trial shows.

A weekly injection of the drug, semaglutide, was given alongside advice on diet and fitness.

The study, conducted on almost 2,000 people, showed an average 15kg weight loss during the 15-month trial. BBC News

See also:

• Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity (abstract) New England Journal of Medicine 

'Not getting help has led to me being disabled': Inquiry into NHS maternity 'systemic racism' opens

'Not getting help has led to me being disabled': Inquiry into NHS maternity 'systemic racism' opens An urgent inquiry to investigate how alleged systemic racism in the NHS manifests itself in maternity care has been launched.

The inquiry will examine how claimed racial injustice - from explicit racism to bias - is leading to poorer health outcomes in maternity care for ethnic minority groups. ITV News

See also:

• More deaths, worse care: inquiry opens into NHS maternity 'systemic racism' The Guardian
• Hospitals need extra £400m a year to make maternity units safer The Independent

NHS hospitals in England 'cut routine operations by a QUARTER in January'

NHS hospitals in England 'cut routine operations by a QUARTER in January' NHS figures also revealed there were 103,491 patients in England who needed to be seen within a month, but Covid hospitalisations surged in late December after infections spiked. The Daily Mail