Health chiefs still wait for results on Indian variant Covid swabs following Towcester school outbreak

Health chiefs still wait for results on Indian variant Covid swabs following Towcester school outbreak  Health chiefs are still waiting for an official all-clear following an outbreak of Indian strain Covid-19 cases at a Towcester primary school.

Last week's testing blitz among the Nicholas Hawksmoor School community produced "very few" positive tests. Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also:

• Northampton restaurant slapped with £1,000 fine for breaking Covid rules Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• Covid-19 vaccination programme extended to anyone aged 30 in England Northampton Chronicle and Echo

New online resource to support culturally appropriate care

New online resource to support culturally appropriate care Holistic, person-centred care has always been important, but during the Coronavirus pandemic it has become even more critical that we are all aware of culturally appropriate care.

Culturally appropriate care is about being sensitive to people's cultural identity or heritage. It means being alert and responsive to people’s beliefs or conventions that might be determined by a person’s culture. The Care Quality Commission has launched a new online resource which updates providers on culturally appropriate care. 

'Levelling up' general practice in England What should government prioritise?

'Levelling up' general practice in England What should government prioritise? Government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda must include general practice. People living in socioeconomically deprived areas have the greatest health needs, but general practice is underfunded and ‘under-doctored’ in areas of high deprivation. The Health Foundation 

Open consultation: Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 statutory guidance

Open consultation: Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 statutory guidance The DHSC is seeking views on draft statutory guidance to prevent the inappropriate use of force and ensure transparency and accountability about the use of force in mental health units. The guidance is intended for use by NHS hospitals and independent hospitals (providing NHS-funded care) in England providing care and treatment to patients with a mental disorder. 

This consultation closes at midday on 17 August 2021. Department of Health and Social Care

Covid: Advice to areas worst-hit by Indian variant will be updated - No 10

Covid: Advice to areas worst-hit by Indian variant will be updated - No 10 Ministers have backtracked over travel advice for eight areas worst-hit by the Indian Covid variant, after a change in guidance led to widespread confusion.

The amended advice asks people to minimise travel into and out of Bolton, Blackburn, Kirklees, Bedford, Burnley, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside.

Earlier advice had asked people to avoid non-essential travel altogether. BBC News

See also: 

• Moderna vaccine 'highly effective' in teens BBC News
• Covid vaccine: 30 and 31-year-olds in England now invited BBC News
• Coronavirus: Families blame NHS for hospital-acquired virus deaths BBC News
• US urges 'transparent' WHO inquiry into Covid origins BBC News
• France puzzled by mystery anti-Pfizer campaign offer BBC News
• Covid UK: Hospitalisations TRIPLE in Indian variant hotspot Bolton The Daily Mail
• More evidence Covid vaccines are working: Just 0.01% of those who have received shot were reinfected The Daily Mail
• Wealthy nations slammed for 'scandalous inequity' in Covid vaccines by WHO head The Daily Mail
• More than 77,000 NHS staff in England have caught Covid, shows research The Guardian
• ‘Unnecessary secrecy’: 42 NHS trusts criticised over Covid deaths data The Guardian
• Scientists react with dismay to ‘astonishing’ lack of communication over new Covid advice The Independent

Good Law Project’s Jolyon Maugham: ‘They see us pushing back hard’

Good Law Project’s Jolyon Maugham: ‘They see us pushing back hard’ As the Good Law Project’s latest legal challenge to the government draws to a close this week, its founder, Jolyon Maugham, has revealed the extent to which the case has got under ministers’ skin.

The judicial review over contracts for personal protective equipment awarded without competition concludes on Tuesday The Guardian