Long-term air pollution linked to greater risk of COVID-19 hospitalisation

Long-term air pollution linked to greater risk of COVID-19 hospitalisation A new report finds a link between long-term exposure to air pollution and the severity with which a person will experience the effects of COVID-19.

Air pollution has harmful effects on the lungs. When COVID-19, a disease which infects the airways of the lungs, became a global pandemic it raised the question - does air pollution increase the chance of catching COVID-19 or worsen health outcomes if you do contract it? Imperial College London Environmental Research Group

Dismissed for too long: recommendations to improve migraine care in the UK

Dismissed for too long: recommendations to improve migraine care in the UK This report found a wide range of issues with migraine healthcare including slow or no diagnosis and lack of access to specialist care. It sets out the action needed from government, healthcare systems and other organisations to give everyone living with migraine in the UK the support they need. Migraine Trust 

Additional £5.4 billion for NHS COVID-19 response over next six months

Additional £5.4 billion for NHS COVID-19 response over next six months The NHS will receive an extra £5.4 billion over the next six months to support its response to COVID-19 and help tackle waiting lists, the Prime Minister and Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid have announced.

The funding will immediately go towards supporting the NHS to manage the immediate pressures of the pandemic. This includes an extra £1 billion to help tackle the COVID-19 backlog, £2.8 billion to cover related costs such as enhanced infection control measures to keep staff and patients safe from the virus and £478 million to continue the hospital discharge programme, freeing up beds. Department of Health and Social Care

Social care: PM to unveil overhaul of sector in England

Social care: PM to unveil overhaul of sector in England Boris Johnson will vow to end "catastrophic costs" for social care users in England when he sets out long-awaited reform proposals later.

The prime minister will announce the plans to MPs, alongside money to help the NHS respond to the Covid pandemic.

He is expected to breach election promises and raise National Insurance (NI) by about 1.25%.

And the plan has prompted a backlash from some of his own Tory MPs. BBC News

See also: 

• Fixing social care is not all about a cap on costs The King's Fund
• There is an alternative to the Government's social care reform plans The Daily Telegraph
• What has gone wrong with social care in England? The Guardian
• Boris Johnson faces growing red wall rebellion over social care tax rises The Guardian
• Boris Johnson to defy Tory anger with social care plan set to hit workers with higher national insurance bills The Independent
• UK National Insurance rise: How social care reform plans could impact income – and why there’s a backlash iNews
• Why is Boris Johnson's plan for social care reform being widely criticised? ITV News

Government plans October firebreak lockdown if Covid hospital admissions remain high

Government plans October firebreak lockdown if Covid hospital admissions remain high The Government has drawn up plans for an October “firebreak” Covid lockdown should hospitalisations continue at their current level and threaten to overload the NHS, a senior Government scientist has told i.

The member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said the UK is about to enter “an extended peak” of infections and hospitalisations, which are in danger of pushing the NHS beyond breaking point and could force the Government to re-introduce restrictions over the school half term period at the end of next month. iNews

See also: 

• United States eclipses more than 1,500 COVID-19 deaths per day - the highest in six months The Daily Mail
• Weekly Covid tests for pupils could be scrapped this month, Gavin Williamson says The Daily Telegraph
• No 10 intent on keeping Covid powers amid expected rise in cases The Guardian
• NHS 'ready to go' with Covid jab booster programme, says vaccines minister The Independent
• Covid antibodies ‘tumbling’ among elderly, fuelling calls for booster jab rollout The Independent

Mental health patients in shared wards despite calls for NHS to end practice

Mental health patients in shared wards despite calls for NHS to end practice Concerns raised after minister says there are more than 1,100 beds still in dormitory settings in England.

People with serious mental health problems are being forced to share wards with distressed fellow patients, 20 years after the NHS was told to give them all their own rooms.

There are still more than 1,100 beds in dormitory wards in mental health units in England, despite sustained criticism of their potentially damaging effects on patients, the government has said. The Guardian 

GP staff facing abuse from patients over cancelled blood tests

GP staff facing abuse from patients over cancelled blood tests GP surgery staff are facing abuse from patients who are “angry and upset” that their blood test has been cancelled because of the NHS-wide chronic shortage of sample bottles.

“Patients are angry when we ring them up and say, ‘Sorry we can’t do your blood test after all’. A lot of people are quite angry and concerned about their own health,” Dr David Wrigley, the deputy chair of council at the British Medical Association, said. The Guardian