Northampton General's new Paediatric Emergency Department gets the royal treatment

Northampton General's new Paediatric Emergency Department gets the royal treatment The Princess Royal has officially opened Northampton General Hospital's new Paediatric Emergency Department.

Before visiting the new £2.9m new facility, Princess Anne met senior hospital leaders, clinicians and volunteers who had been part of the county’s Covid-19 response. ITV News

See also:

• Princess Anne opens Northampton General Hospital's new £2.9 million paedriatic emergency department Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• IN PICTURES: Princess Anne's visit to Northampton in September 2021 Northamptonshire Telegraph

Blood test delays in Northamptonshire as tube shortages continue to blight NHS

Blood test delays in Northamptonshire as tube shortages continue to blight NHS More blood tests are being rescheduled at Northampton and Kettering Hospitals as a shortage in equipment continues.

A shortage in blood tubes, which is forcing a reduction in tests across the UK, have been felt throughout the NHS for several weeks. Northants Live

Inside a GP surgery: 'There is not enough time or space in the day'

Inside a GP surgery: 'There is not enough time or space in the day' Not only has the Covid pandemic put GP surgeries across England under immense pressure, it has also caused significant backlogs of work they are now trying to clear. The BBC has spent the morning inside one NHS practice to hear how staff and patients are coping.

The Harborough Field Surgery near Rushden, Northamptonshire, has nearly 13,000 patients on its roll. BBC Northampton

Making maternity services safer: nurturing a positive culture

Making maternity services safer: nurturing a positive culture According to this report, poor working cultures must be tackled if UK maternity services are to be made safer. It describes how a positive working environment is needed, where multi-disciplinary teams work and train together and are better equipped to deliver good quality, safe care for women and families. Royal College of Midwives

Research: Health Profile for England: 2021

Research: Health Profile for England: 2021 The fourth annual profile combining data and knowledge with information from other sources to give a broad picture of the health of people in England in 2021. Public Health England

Barriers to wellbeing: migration and vulnerability during the pandemic

Barriers to wellbeing: migration and vulnerability during the pandemic This report reveals that refugees, asylum seekers and migrants reported higher levels of bad health and inadequate housing during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as difficulties registering with a GP and accessing remote health care services, suggesting significant unmet health care needs. Doctors of the World

Drawing light from the pandemic: a new strategy for health and sustainable development

Drawing light from the pandemic: a new strategy for health and sustainable development Over the past year, members of the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development have reflected on what worked and, more often, what did not work in the Covid-19 response and in previous crises. This report makes a series of recommendations with the aim of achieving seven key objectives to prevent a catastrophe on the same scale from happening again. World Health Organization 

Public spending during the Covid-19 pandemic

Public spending during the Covid-19 pandemic This briefing looks at the very high level of UK public spending on tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, including how the money was spent and where it came from. House of Commons Library

Thousands of patients to benefit from life-saving COVID-19 treatment

Thousands of patients to benefit from life-saving COVID-19 treatment Thousands of vulnerable NHS patients in hospital due to COVID-19 are set to benefit from a groundbreaking new antibody treatment, the government has announced. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Research: DHSC and ONS: Direct and Indirect health impacts of COVID-19 in England - long paper, 9 September 2021 Department of Health and Social Care
• Speech: The hidden costs of COVID-19: the social backlog Department of Health and Social Care
• New system for international travel Department of Health and Social Care
• Over one million invited for COVID booster jabs this week NHS England
• Confirmed cases of COVID-19 variants identified in UK Public Health England

Ronapreve: 'Most vulnerable' to get new Covid drug

Ronapreve: 'Most vulnerable' to get new Covid drug The UK's "most vulnerable" hospital patients, who are unable to build up an antibody response to Covid, will be offered new drug Ronapreve from Monday.

The new Covid treatment, approved just last month, uses a pair of laboratory-made antibodies to attack the virus. BBC News

See also:

• First Covid booster jabs given to NHS staff BBC News
• Covid calculator spots people vulnerable despite jabs BBC News
• Sajid Javid: 'We need to avoid unsustainable pressure on the NHS' BBC News
• Covid: Vaccine volunteers sought for children's second dose study BBC News
• Long Covid less common than feared - ONS study BBC News
• People with Down's syndrome are most at risk of death after having two Covid vaccines, study finds The Daily Mail
• Covid Delta variant 'will hunt down anyone who's not had jab', scientific advisers warn No 10 The Daily Mail
• NHS aims to deliver over 1m daily Covid and flu jabs in race against time The Guardian
• No 10 accused of sidelining behaviour experts on latest Covid measures The Guardian

Folic acid to be added to UK flour to help prevent birth defects

Folic acid to be added to UK flour to help prevent birth defects Folic acid is to be added to UK flour to help prevent spinal birth defects in babies, the government will announce.

Women are advised to take the B vitamin - which can guard against spina bifida in unborn babies - before and during pregnancy, but many do not.

It is thought that adding folic acid to flour could prevent up to 200 birth defects a year. BBC News

Sickle cell: 'Did our son have to die to change things?'

Sickle cell: 'Did our son have to die to change things?' Sickle cell disease is the fastest-growing genetic condition in the UK but some feel the illness, which mostly affects black people, isn't taken seriously.

Nurse Gildé Nsianguana has the condition and has interviewed the parents of Evan Nathan Smith for Radio 1 Newsbeat.

After being denied oxygen, Evan called 999 from his hospital bed but died shortly after. An inquest found that if hospital workers had a better understanding of the condition his life might have been saved. BBC News

Culture of bullying and racial discrimination found at NHS trust

Culture of bullying and racial discrimination found at NHS trust A culture of bullying and racial discrimination has been found at a hospital trust, according to an inspection report.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said there was a bullying culture across Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) Trust, with many staff too frightened to speak up.

The trust has been told it requires improvement as a result of the report. BBC News

Operations at risk from CO2 shortages unless ministers 'prioritise NHS', hospitals chief warns

Operations at risk from CO2 shortages unless ministers 'prioritise NHS', hospitals chief warns NHS surgery is at risk from the gas shortages unless ministers make it their top priority, a health service leader is warning.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is used in some operations, as well as to freeze meat and in the brewing and nuclear power industries – potentially putting the NHS in the firing line if shortages worsen. The Independent

Appeal court overturns UK puberty blockers ruling for under-16s

Appeal court overturns UK puberty blockers ruling for under-16s The court of appeal has overturned a controversial judgment that children under the age of 16 considering gender reassignment are unlikely to be mature enough to give informed consent to be prescribed puberty-blocking drugs. The Guardian

See also:

• Puberty blockers: Court of Appeal rules under-16s can use gender reassignment aid as NHS trust wins case iNews

Most NHS staff vote to oppose 3% pay rise as union warns workers ‘fed up’

Most NHS staff vote to oppose 3% pay rise as union warns workers ‘fed up’ NHS staff have voted overwhelmingly to oppose the government’s 3% pay rise as Britain’s biggest health union warned thousands of workers are “fed up of being taken for granted”.

Publishing the results of a consultation exercise that ran over the summer, Unison said the majority (80%) of health staff were not happy with the pay increase and want to challenge the government. Only one in five (20%) found it acceptable. The Guardian

See also: 

• UNISON health members deliver damning verdict on government’s 3% increase UNISON

Growing toll of illnesses missed by 'remote' doctors fuels concerns over healthcare appointments

Growing toll of illnesses missed by 'remote' doctors fuels concerns over healthcare appointments Family doctors must carry out more appointments face to face, the Daily Mail demands today.

A string of deaths has heightened fears that cancers and other illnesses are being missed because of the rise of phone and video consultations.

Before the pandemic around 80 per cent of GP appointments were in person. But the figure was just 57 per cent in July despite life returning to normal.

See also:

• GPs and patients are ‘on the same side’ over face to face appointments – but chronic GP shortages make it hard to guarantee safe care, says College Royal College of General Practitioners
• Media depiction of virtual appointments irresponsible and causing unnecessary concern, warns College Royal College of General Practitioners
• Pandemic caused a plunge in numbers who saw a GP and this year is set to be worse than last The Daily Mail
• Backbone of the NHS... so why DO so many GPs avoid patients? The Daily Mail
• Dr ARUN GHOSH: Why it's crucial we save this life-saving human touch The Daily Mail
• DR MAX PEMBERTON: GPs who won't see patients are hurting the NHS The Daily Mail