Northamptonshire NHS "running hot" with more staff off, more Covid cases and more people through the door

Northamptonshire NHS "running hot" with more staff off, more Covid cases and more people through the door Hospital chiefs say pressure is piling back on Northamptonshire's NHS as more Covid-19 patients are being admitted and staff are forced to self-isolate. Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also:

• Covid rules STILL apply at Northampton General Hospital as virus continues to spread, say healthcare bosses
• KGH say 'no change' on masks and Covid measures on 'Freedom Day' Northamptonshire Telegraph

Data reveals impact of deadly asbestos-related cancer in Northampton as inquiry is launched

Data reveals impact of deadly asbestos-related cancer in Northampton as inquiry is launched Asbestos-related cancer has claimed the lives of more than 150 people in Northampton over almost four decades, new figures reveal.

MPs have launched an inquiry into how the material is being managed across the UK after serious safety concerns were raised. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

GP in charge of Earls Barton and Northampton surgeries removed over catalogue of failings

GP in charge of Earls Barton and Northampton surgeries removed over catalogue of failings Two Northamptonshire GP surgeries with 9,500 patients and a senior partner have been de-registered after inspectors found a "whole catalogue of issues" putting patients at risk. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Making sense of the Health and Care Bill

Making sense of the Health and Care Bill As the Health and Care Bill is debated in the House of Commons for the first time, some in government may still recall the bruising 14 months it took for the previous piece of health legislation to get through parliament. Back in 2011 and 2012 there were big claims on all sides, with the government insisting its reforms would ‘liberate the NHS’ while the opposition argued the reforms would end it. The government found itself mired in what became the most controversial piece of NHS legislation in more than two decades. The King's Fund

See also:

• Health and Care Bill factsheets Department of Health and Social Care
• Giving the Health Secretary more power over the NHS risks taking health care backwards The Health Foundation
• The Health and Care Bill must be amended to help make workforce shortages a thing of the past The Health Foundation
• The Health and Care Bill: a threat to the operational independence of the NHS? The King's Fund
• Will the new Health and Care Bill privatise the NHS? Nuffield Trust
• Second Reading of the Health and Care Bill Nuffield Trust
• Briefing: Health and Care Bill - Second Reading Royal College of Nursing 
• RCP reaction to the health and care bill Royal College of Physicians 
• RCPsych responds to the Health and Care Bill Royal College of Psychiatrists

Nursing Workforce Shortages: 21 Missed Warnings

Nursing Workforce Shortages: 21 Missed Warnings A new briefing from the RCN detailing the warnings around the increasing nursing workforce shortage from a range of stakeholders including think tanks, health sector organisations, and cross party parliamentary groups. Royal College of Nursing

Shared decision making: shared reality or insider jargon?

Shared decision making: shared reality or insider jargon? This report says shared decision making, when patients and doctors work together to decide treatment options, provides benefits to patients and the health service. But patients, and the professionals treating them, face many barriers in making it work in practice. The report makes recommendations on how to make shared decision making a reality. Patients Association

Covid-19: preparing for the future - looking ahead to winter 2021/22 and beyond

Covid-19: preparing for the future - looking ahead to winter 2021/22 and beyond This report warns that a mix of Covid-19, influenza, and the respiratory virus Respiratory Syncytial Virus, could push the NHS to breaking point this winter unless action is taken. The report urges policy makers and the NHS to prepare by expanding Covid-19 testing, increasing the speed and uptake of the Covid-19 vaccination, and strengthened financial and staffing support. The Academy of Medical Sciences

Fully vaccinated critical workers to be able to leave self-isolation in exceptional circumstances

Fully vaccinated critical workers to be able to leave self-isolation in exceptional circumstances Fully vaccinated critical workers to be able to leave self-isolation in exceptional circumstances under new plans to prevent serious disruption to vital public services. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Statement on offering COVID-19 vaccines to at-risk young people Department of Health and Social Care
• Independent report: COVID-19 vaccination of children and young people aged 12 to 17 years: JCVI statement Department of Health and Social Care
• Every adult in UK offered COVID-19 vaccine Department of Health and Social Care
• Consultation outcome: Making vaccination a condition of deployment in older adult care homes Department of Health and Social Care
• New research into treatment and diagnosis of long COVID Department of Health and Social Care

Covid: Which children can have the vaccine in the UK?

Covid: Which children can have the vaccine in the UK? Hundreds of thousands of under-18s will now be offered the Covid vaccine in the UK.

They'll get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as that's the only one which has been approved for 12 to 17-year-olds - so far.

However, the news means that most children still aren't eligible for the jab - in keeping with guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). BBC News

See also: 

• Shielders 'feeling abandoned' as coronavirus restrictions lifted BBC News
• Covid patients urge public to 'be careful' as restrictions ease BBC News
• Covid: Critical workers to avoid close contact isolation BBC News
• Covid: UK faces a difficult summer, says leading scientist BBC News
• Covid: Coping with opening-up anxiety BBC News
• Covid: Boris Johnson resisted autumn lockdown as only over-80s dying - Dominic Cummings BBC News
• Some COVID-19 patients may not regain sense of smell for as long as THREE YEARS, expert claims The Daily Mail
• Freedom Day will cause 'mad' spike in Covid cases, scientists fear The Daily Mail
• State Department tells Americans not to travel to the UK The Daily Telegraph
• Third of close contacts told to self-isolate by test and trace developing symptoms - up from one fifth The Daily Telegraph
• I work in an NHS Covid ward – and I feel so angry The Guardian
• Ministers shelve plans to fix Covid app as cases in England surge The Guardian
• Lockdowns do not harm health more than Covid, say researchers The Guardian
• NHS summer crisis deepens as Covid surge leads to cancelled operations and ambulance ‘black alert’

UK plans biggest flu vaccine rollout this winter

UK plans biggest flu vaccine rollout this winter Free flu vaccines will be offered this winter to children aged two to 16 in England, as well as people aged 50 and over or in "at-risk" groups, amid the double threat of Covid and influenza.

Experts hope for a record-breaking rollout reaching more than 35 million people, including more teenagers than ever before.

Last winter there was a high uptake, with 19 million doses given. BBC News

NHS staff in England set to be offered 3% pay rise

NHS staff in England set to be offered 3% pay rise The government is likely to announce a pay rise of 3 per cent for NHS staff in the coming days, triple its original offer earlier this year.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) originally told the independent NHS Pay Review Body in March it could only afford a 1 per cent pay rise this year for doctors, nurses and other NHS workers. The Independent

See also: 

• NHS staff 'set to get 3 per cent pay rise' THIS WEEK after medics threatened to go on strike if the Government failed to improve its 1 per cent offer The Daily Mail
• NHS staff in England could be offered 3% pay rise The Guardian
• NHS pay row: doctors and nurses could start being mobilised for strike action this week iNews

NHS is failing half of young people with mental health issues

NHS is failing half of young people with mental health issues Parents report that even suicidal youngsters are not being referred or supported by care professionals

Up to half of all children and teenagers referred to mental health, learning disability and autism services in the run-up to the pandemic were left without proper support, with parents telling the Observer of children waiting years for treatment and a seven-year-old girl denied support as she was not suicidal. The Guardian