Schools fuelling surge in cases as Kettering overtakes Corby as country's Covid hotspot

Schools fuelling surge in cases as Kettering overtakes Corby as country's Covid hotspot Kettering has overtaken Corby as England's Covid hotspot with positive tests in schools fuelling a surge in cases.

Daily government data released at 4pm on Tuesday September 21 showed 171 out of 597 new positive tests countywide were people living in the former Kettering borough. Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also: 

• University of Northampton urges new students to use drop-in clinics to get a Covid jab Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• Covid tickets worth £140,000 brought fines of £780 in Northamptonshire Northamptonshire Telegraph

Three more reports of drink spiking incidents confirmed in Northampton nightlife venues

Three more reports of drink spiking incidents confirmed in Northampton nightlife venues Three more incidents of drink spiking in Northampton venues have been reported, a police spokeswoman has confirmed. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also: 

• Northampton nightclub working with police over drink-spiking BBC Northampton
• Detective's warning over fears women's drinks were spiked in Northampton nightclub Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Watch traffic CHAOS at Northampton General Hospital on the first day of THREE-MONTH major roadworks in the area

Watch traffic CHAOS at Northampton General Hospital on the first day of THREE-MONTH major roadworks in the area There was traffic CHAOS at Northampton General Hospital (NGH) Monday as the first day of major roadworks in the area began. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Directors of public health and the COVID-19 pandemic

Directors of public health and the COVID-19 pandemic Directors of public health continue to play a critical role in responding to and recovery from COVID-19. It is vital that we learn from their experiences in order to strengthen the role of public health and directors of public health for the longer term. The Health Foundation 

Welfare facilities for healthcare staff

Welfare facilities for healthcare staff This guidance, developed by the NHS Staff Council’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing Partnership Group, aims to support NHS organisations to improve their provision of staff welfare facilities. NHS Employers 

Independent report: National overprescribing review report

Independent report: National overprescribing review report The findings and recommendations of the national overprescribing review led by Dr Keith Ridge, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England.

The review sets out a series of practical and cultural changes to ensure patients are receiving the most appropriate treatment for their needs while ensuring clinicians’ time is well spent and taxpayer money is spent wisely. This includes better use of technology, how to review prescriptions more effectively, and how to offer alternatives to medicines where they would be more effective. Department of Health and Social Care

See also: 

• Government pledges to reduce overprescribing of medicines Department of Health and Social Care
• College hits back at anti-GP media coverage on prescribing Royal College of General Practitioners
• We welcome review into overprescribing Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• Overprescribing of medicines must stop, says government BBC News
• Government review finds 10% of drugs dispensed in England are pointless The Guardian
• Ministers to crack down on overprescription of medicines on the NHS The Independent

New strategy launched to improve patient safety through digital technology

New strategy launched to improve patient safety through digital technology NHSX in collaboration with NHS Digital and NHS England and NHS Improvement, has published the first ever Digital Clinical Safety Strategy to help the NHS provide a safer service for patients.

NHSX’s new strategy, builds on the national NHS Patient Safety Strategy. It sets out a clear vision and recommendations to make care safer for patients, use digital to improve safety and expand staff access to digital safety.

See also: 

• Digital Clinical Safety Strategy NHSX
• Speech: Using the power of technology to make the world a safer and healthier place Department of Health and Social Care
• Digital Clinical Safety Strategy adds to NHS patient safety plan Computer Weekly
• First of its kind strategy to ‘mainstream’ digital clinical safety Digital Health
• NHSX launches strategy to improve patient safety through digital technology Healthcare IT News

Severe mental illness: inequalities in cancer screening uptake

Severe mental illness: inequalities in cancer screening uptake This report presents analysis of differences in the uptake of bowel, breast and cervical cancer screening in England between people with and without severe mental illness (SMI).

Based on a large sample of primary care data, the report is part 1 of an assessment of SMI and cancer screening. It is also part of a larger ongoing exploration into the causes of high premature mortality among adults with SMI. Public Health England

New NHS clinical leadership to support post-COVID challenges

New NHS clinical leadership to support post-COVID challenges Leading clinicians from across the health service have been appointed to new national clinical roles to help lead action on post-COVID challenges facing patients and staff.

The five new clinical leads – covering urgent and emergency care, elective care and long COVID – will provide expert advice to the NHS Medical Director, Professor Stephen Powis, and to the programme teams working to support local NHS teams improve services for patients in these areas. NHS England 

Long NHS waiting lists have led to a dangerous explosion in opiate use

Long NHS waiting lists have led to a dangerous explosion in opiate use A hidden and worrying aspect of the rapid growth in NHS waiting lists is the 40 per cent rise in use of drugs like tramadol, codeine and dihydrocodeine compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Researchers uncovered this startling increase in patients waiting for hip and knee operations. This type of surgery is a useful barometer as these are the most common surgical procedures carried out in the NHS, although much of this bread and butter work is subcontracted to private health providers. The Independent

Britain's daily Covid cases rise again by nearly a fifth in a week and deaths climb 10%

Britain's daily Covid cases rise again by nearly a fifth in a week and deaths climb 10% Department of Health bosses posted 31,564 new coronavirus infections today, up 18.5 per cent on the 26,628 recorded last Tuesday. Cases had been falling for the nine days prior to Saturday. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Covid vaccine: India to resume vaccine exports from October BBC News
• Covid vaccine stockpiles: Are 241m doses at risk of going to waste? BBC News
• Covid was the THIRD leading cause of death in England last month The Daily Mail
• Tories slam No10 over 'perverse' move to give over-12s Covid vaccines The Daily Mail
• Fix ‘grotesque’ vaccine inequity, campaigners tell world leaders The Independent

Number of parents using surrogates in England and Wales has quadrupled in a decade

Number of parents using surrogates in England and Wales has quadrupled in a decade Almost four times as many parents in England and Wales are using surrogates now compared to a decade ago, it was revealed today.  

A report by Kent University found there were 413 babies born to surrogate mothers last year, compared to just 117 in 2011. The Daily Mail

See also: 

• Surrogacy on the rise in England and Wales BBC News