Northamptonshire's Moulton drop-in jab centre now open to ALL over 20s

Northamptonshire's Moulton drop-in jab centre now open to ALL over 20s Northamptonshire’s COVID-19 Vaccination Centre in Moulton Park is running its first ever drop-in sessions this week – where anyone eligible for their first dose of vaccine can get one without an appointment. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also: 

• Northampton care homes 'working with staff to get vaccinated' amid reported plan to make jab mandatory Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• Shoppers urged to continue wearing face masks after Northampton centre sees high rate of customers ignoring advice Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• Here's which Northamptonshire MPs voted against the Government over Freedom Day delay Northamptonshire Telegraph
• Millions of people could get ‘default’ right to work from home under new proposals Northamptonshire Telegraph

Starting the conversation: UCAS report on student mental health

Starting the conversation: UCAS report on student mental health Over the last decade there has been a significant shift in the willingness of students to talk about their mental health – the number of UK applicants to UCAS that shared a mental health condition has increased by 450% in this time, yet today’s report shows there is still more work to do to smash the myths and stigma around mental health, and to highlight the support available to students in higher education. UCAS 

Locked out: digitally excluded people’s experiences of remote GP appointments

Locked out: digitally excluded people’s experiences of remote GP appointments This report investigates the barriers to accessing digital and remote care, drawing on the experiences of people who experienced digital exclusion during the pandemic. This included older people, people with disabilities, and people with limited English. It finds that people can be digitally excluded for various reasons including digital skill level, affordability of technology, disabilities, or language barriers. The report suggests the need for a programme of investment in digital literacy and online access while emphasising the importance of maintaining face-to-face methods to ensure no one falls through the gaps. Healthwatch England 

The Case for Change

The Case for Change This report sets out the urgent need for a new approach to children’s social care in England. Our children’s social care system is a 30-year-old tower of Jenga held together with Sellotape: simultaneously rigid and yet shaky. There have been many reviews and attempts at reform since the landmark introduction of the 1989 Children Act and though each has ushered incremental progress, we are now left with a high stack of legislation, systems, structures, and services that with their sheer complicatedness make it hard to imagine something different, let alone address foundational problems. The Independent Review of Children's Social Care

See also: 

• Care services too focused on investigating families in crisis, says review BBC News
• Children’s services in England shaky as Jenga tower, says review lead The Guardian
• Social care in England is 'a tower of Jenga held together with Sellotape', independent review warns Sky News

Strengthening NHS board diversity

Strengthening NHS board diversity An independent taskforce asked to examine the diversity of healthcare leadership has said that NHS organisations can create a "sustainable pipeline" of senior leaders that properly reflect the diversity of their staff and communities by refreshing their processes for appointing chairs and non-executive directors (NEDs). The report, based on the feedback of taskforce members including NHS chairs, NEDs and chief executives, found that while there are pockets of innovation, the current NHS appointment process for NEDs would benefit from a standard, more transparent procedure. NHS Confederation

£36 million boost for AI technologies to revolutionise NHS care

£36 million boost for AI technologies to revolutionise NHS care Thousands of patients and NHS staff will benefit from dozens of new pioneering projects awarded a share of £36 million to test state-of-the-art AI technology. The projects will help the NHS to transform the quality of care and the speed of diagnoses for conditions such as lung cancer. Department of Health and Social Care

Everyone working in care homes to be fully vaccinated under new law to protect residents

Everyone working in care homes to be fully vaccinated under new law to protect residents Care home residents will be better protected from death and serious illness, following confirmation people working in care homes will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The new legislation means from October – subject to Parliamentary approval and a subsequent 16-week grace period – anyone working in a CQC-registered care home in England for residents requiring nursing or personal care must have 2 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine unless they have a medical exemption. Department of Health and Social Care

See also: 

• Consultation outcome: Making vaccination a condition of deployment in older adult care homes Department of Health and Social Care
• Independent report: REACT-1 study of coronavirus transmission: June 2021 final results Department of Health and Social Care
• More than 30 million people vaccinated with second dose Department of Health and Social Care
• 21 and 22 year olds to be offered COVID-19 jab from today NHS England
• Thousands of lives to be saved by health MOTs at NHS vaccination services NHS England

Covid: Epidemic growing across England, says study

Covid: Epidemic growing across England, says study The Covid epidemic in England is growing - with much of the growth being driven by younger age groups not yet immunised, a study suggests.

The analysis, from the React-1 study, looked at the period 20 May to 7 June.

But tentative signs in the latest daily data suggest growth may be beginning to slow. BBC News

See also: 

• Covid: Children aged 12-17 unlikely to offered vaccine in UK BBC News
• Covid: Deaf campaigner takes legal action over No 10 briefings BBC News
• Scientists develop low cost COVID-19 test strips that work similar to diabetes test strips The Daily Mail
• Britain's daily Covid cases hit 9,000 for the first time since February The Daily Mail
• A FIFTH of asymptomatic coronavirus patients develop 'long Covid' conditions The Daily Mail
• Four men barred from every hospital in England over Covid 'hoax' broadcasts The Daily Telegraph
• Matt Hancock confirms plan to require care staff to have Covid vaccine The Guardian
• Matt Hancock says Delta variant accounts for 96% of new UK Covid cases – video The Guardian
• Cummings texts show Boris Johnson calling Matt Hancock ‘totally hopeless’ The Guardian
• Matt Hancock says he 'doesn't think' he's hopeless The Independent
• Covid: R rate could jump as high as 7 without any lockdown restrictions, warns PHE The Independent
• NHS goes door to door encouraging people to get vaccinated against Covid-19 in underserved areas iNews

Living with obesity: 'My genes mean I’m hard-wired to store fat'

Living with obesity: 'My genes mean I’m hard-wired to store fat' Specialist health professionals say it is time for obesity to be regarded as an illness caused by genetics, biology and how we live today.

New research adds to growing scientific opinion that "healthy obesity" does not exist. The findings show those who are significantly overweight have a 66% higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease, compared with those of a normal weight.

Many people with obesity say not only do they have to live with prejudice and stigma, but they struggle to find treatment. BBC News

See also: 

• Obesity Without Metabolic Abnormality and Incident CKD: A Population-Based British Cohort Study (open access) American Journal of Kidney Diseases

NHS mental health trust fined £1.5m over care failures that led to 11 deaths

NHS mental health trust fined £1.5m over care failures that led to 11 deaths An NHS mental health trust has been fined £1.5m over serious lapses in care that led to the death of 11 patients who were found hanging.

Mr Justice Cavanagh, the judge who imposed the fine, said a “litany” of failings in safety standards had been identified at Essex Partnership University NHS foundation trust (EPUT) over many years, which meant that it had failed to “prevent suicides”. The Guardian

More than one MILLION deaths were linked to fossil fuel combustion in 2017

More than one MILLION deaths were linked to fossil fuel combustion in 2017 A shocking new study shows how the sluggish transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy 'continues to sicken and kill people'. 

Researchers performed a comprehensive analysis of the sources and health effects of air pollution for more than 200 countries for 2017.

They found 1.05 million deaths would have been avoidable globally – including around 10,000 in the UK – in 2017 by eliminating fossil-fuel combustion. The Daily Mail

See also: 

• Source sector and fuel contributions to ambient PM2.5 and attributable mortality across multiple spatial scales (open access) Nature Communications