Three more Covid patients die in Northamptonshire hospitals as health chiefs carry on making case to get jabbed

Three more Covid patients die in Northamptonshire hospitals as health chiefs carry on making case to get jabbed Health chiefs in Northamptonshire admit they are frustrated by battling anti-vaccine myths as the number of jabs delivered in the county nears one million.

NHS England has confirmed three more coronavirus patients sadly died in Northamptonshire's two main hospitals since Thursday (July 22). Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also: 

• University students ‘face lectures ban unless they are fully vaccinated’ Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Corby Urgent Care Centre Wellness Hub offers help to victims of domestic abuse

Corby Urgent Care Centre Wellness Hub offers help to victims of domestic abuse North Northants Council’s Safer Corby Team is working with the Urgent Care Centre Wellness Hub Team to raise awareness around domestic abuse. Northamptonshire Telegraph 

Will the third Covid-19 wave overwhelm the NHS?

Will the third Covid-19 wave overwhelm the NHS? Covid-19 restrictions in England may now have been lifted, but it is very clear that the pandemic is not yet over. The numbers of people admitted to hospital have been increasing in recent weeks, as have deaths from the virus. This explainer from Sarah Scobie looks at what the third wave might mean for the NHS. Nuffield Trust 

Coronavirus: the consequences for mental health

Coronavirus: the consequences for mental health This research with almost 12,000 people found that those with mental health problems report an increase in the severity of challenges they're facing now and concerns about the future. The report calls for services to be ready for the increase in severity of people's mental health problems, and to take into account the trauma that people have experienced over the last year and how this might affect the support they need. Mind 

Action to tackle misery of drug misuse

Action to tackle misery of drug misuse The government has appointed Dame Carol Black as an independent advisor on drug misuse and will publish an ambitious new drug strategy later this year. Home Office

See also:

• Policy paper: Independent review of drugs by Dame Carol Black: government response Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Four numbers that reveal the real trends

Coronavirus: Four numbers that reveal the real trends A run of seven consecutive days with falling case numbers is raising hopes about the beginning of the end of the pandemic.

Even notoriously cautious experts such as Prof Neil Ferguson are saying that by the autumn "the bulk of the pandemic" could be behind us.

But with Public Health England warning that "we are still in the third wave", how can you tell the blips from the real trends? BBC News

See also: 

• Covid: UK Covid cases fall for seventh day in a row BBC News
• Boris Johnson on Covid infection rates falling for six days BBC News
• Covid-19 UK: SAGE expert says group left 'scratching head' over falling infections The Daily Mail
• Over half of Covid hospitalisations only tested positive AFTER admission The Daily Mail
• Covid killed 218 people in England and Wales last week as virus deaths rose by a fifth The Daily Mail
• UK not ‘out of the woods’ despite falling Covid case numbers, says expert The Guardian
• UK poised to end amber list quarantine for people vaccinated in US and EU The Guardian

Chronic health issues for third in late 40s - study

Chronic health issues for third in late 40s - study About one in three middle-aged people has multiple chronic health issues, a long-running British study suggests.

The 1970 British Cohort Study has been periodically tracking the lives of about 17,000 people born in England, Scotland and Wales in a single week.

Nearly 8,000 of them were surveyed for the University College London work, published in journal BMC Public Health.

And 34% had two or more chronic health problems, such as high blood pressure and mental ill-health, at age 46-48. BBC News

See also: 

• Prevalence and early-life determinants of mid-life multimorbidity: evidence from the 1970 British birth cohort (open access) BMC Public Health
• One in three are hit by midlife health crisis The Daily Mail

Contaminated-blood inquiry: Former Health Minister Clarke denies responsibility

Contaminated-blood inquiry: Former Health Minister Clarke denies responsibility Lord Clarke has told an inquiry he was "not responsible" for blood products during his time as health minister.

About 3,000 people died after being given blood products containing HIV and hepatitis C in the 1970s and 1980s.

And Lord Clarke - Conservative Health Minister 1982-85 and Health Secretary 1988-90 - is the first senior health minister from the time to testify during the inquiry into the scandal. BBC News 

England is sleepwalking towards a two-tier health system

England is sleepwalking towards a two-tier health system | Richard Vize The pandemic has driven both the NHS and a growing number of its patients towards private healthcare. Heightened awareness of the health service’s frailties, fuelled by repeated warnings that it could be overwhelmed, has prompted a surge in private medical insurance. As the UK drifts into a possible future of two-tier healthcare, with the wealthy given more chances to skip the queue, we need to ask whether the founding principle of the UK’s health service – free at the point of need – is being eroded in front of our eyes. The Guardian 

Respected GP and ‘fearless defender’ of NHS dies at 73

Respected GP and ‘fearless defender’ of NHS dies at 73 Leading political figures and medics have paid tribute to a respected GP and “fearless defender” of the NHS, who died on Monday aged 73.

Prof Kailash Chand was renowned for his longstanding service to the NHS, for which he received an OBE, as well as his outspoken criticism of government NHS policy including the recent lifting of Covid restrictions. The Guardian 

Paramedics abused and assaulted while on duty, survey reveals

Paramedics abused and assaulted while on duty, survey reveals Hundreds of paramedics have reported being physically abused or verbally abused while working to serve the public, new data has revealed.

More than 1,600 paramedics from across the country said they feared for their own safety or had been threatened while on duty.

The College of Paramedics survey of 2,345 paramedics comes after NHS England data showed there had been a 32 per cent rises in assaults over the past five years, with 3,569 incidents recorded in 2020-21. The Independent

One in five women actively trying to get pregnant smoke cigarettes, study finds

One in five women actively trying to get pregnant smoke cigarettes, study finds One in five women trying to get pregnant smoked cigarettes while actively trying to conceive, a new study has found.

The research, conducted by leading pregnancy charity Tommy’s, discovered a slew of other troubling findings which demonstrate the lack of awareness around the dangers of smoking cigarettes, consuming alcohol and caffeine and not eating healthily while trying for a baby. The Independent

See also: 

• Health behaviours in 131,182 UK women planning pregnancy (open access) BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth

Dementia cases 'set to almost triple worldwide to more than 150 million by 2050'

Dementia cases 'set to almost triple worldwide to more than 150 million by 2050' The number of people suffering from dementia around the world is set to almost triple over the next three decades.

Experts from the University of Washington expect 153 million people globally to have the condition in 2050, up from around 57million living with dementia now.

The spike will be driven by ageing — the number one risk factor for the disorder — and expanding populations, they say. The Daily Mail