Covid: Northamptonshire health boss 'slightly helpless' over rise

Covid: Northamptonshire health boss 'slightly helpless' over rise A director of public health said she feels "slightly helpless" with rising case rates in her country that are among the highest in England.

In the week to 4 October, Kettering in Northamptonshire, had the highest rate with 861 cases per 100,000 people.

Daventry and Wellingborough were also in the top 10 for case rates, with Corby and Northampton in the top 20. BBC Northampton

See also: 

• Northamptonshire: Covid rates, train drivers and Afghan refugees BBC Northampton
• More Northamptonshire care homes hit by Covid outbreaks Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• Health chief feels "slightly helpless" as Covid cases continue to rise in Northamptonshire schools Northamptonshire Telegraph

How much longer and further are health inequalities set to rise?

How much longer and further are health inequalities set to rise? The launch of the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) is accompanied by the starkest evidence yet of the large, persistent and widening inequalities in life expectancy at birth in England. The divide takes many forms - north-south, rich-poor, male-female, London versus the rest of the country. The King's Fund

Health is wealth – investors can no longer afford to ignore it

Health is wealth – investors can no longer afford to ignore it The link between health and prosperity has been rammed home by the pandemic. In 2008, a government-commissioned review found poor health cost the UK economy around £100bn per year. This year, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) estimated there was an eye-watering £300bn in lost economic output, excluding direct health care costs. The Health Foundation 

Mental Health Care Needs in the U.S. and 10 Other High-Income Countries

Mental Health Care Needs in the U.S. and 10 Other High-Income Countries Findings from the 2020 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey, which included the United States and 10 other high-income countries, highlight the need for continued investment in mental health. 

NHS mental health job coaches help thousands find work

NHS mental health job coaches help thousands find work Thousands of people with mental health problems have been supported into employment during the pandemic, thanks to the NHS Long Term Plan.

More than 4,000 people were employed over the last year in a range of roles including in retail and digital marketing as part of the employment support scheme run by the health service. NHS England

NHS encourages pregnant women to get COVID-19 vaccine

NHS encourages pregnant women to get COVID-19 vaccine The NHS is encouraging pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccine as new data shows that nearly 20 per cent of the most critically ill COVID patients are pregnant women who have not been vaccinated. NHS England

See also: 

• Clinical trialists to be offered 'top-up' vaccine doses Department of Health and Social Care

Covid-19: Uncertain winter ahead as flu circulates at same time, says Harries

Covid-19: Uncertain winter ahead as flu circulates at same time, says Harries The UK is facing an uncertain winter with the spread of coronavirus and the flu, the head of the Health Security Agency Jenny Harries has said.

People are at "more significant risk of death and of serious illness if they are co-infected" with both viruses, she told the BBC.

She said: "It's a more uncertain year but I certainly would be encouraging everybody to go and get their vaccine." BBC News

See also: 

• Covid-19: Two million booster jabs given in England BBC News
• Covid: The UK is Europe's virus hotspot - does it matter? BBC News
• Novavax volunteers offered two approved travel jabs BBC News
• Could Long Covid be a little-known nervous system problem? The Daily Mail
• Adults with learning difficulties 9 TIMES more likely to die of Covid during first wave of pandemic The Daily Mail
• Experts estimate at least 30% of country have caught virus since pandemic began The Daily Mail
• Covid bereaved voice anguish at ‘ignored’ UK virus planning report The Guardian
• 17% of most critical Covid patients ‘are unvaccinated pregnant women’ The Independent
• Revealed - Health secretary's private alarm at 'huge' and growing problem of long Covid The Independent

Plans to hand over NHS data to police sparks warning from government adviser

Plans to hand over NHS data to police sparks warning from government adviser Plans to force the NHS to share confidential data with police across England are “very problematic” and could see patients giving false information to GPs, the government’s data watchdog has warned.

In her first interview, the national data guardian for England told The Independent she has serious concerns over Home Office plans to impose a responsibility on the NHS to share patient data with police.

NHS staff face rising tide of abuse from patients provoked by long waits

NHS staff face rising tide of abuse from patients provoked by long waits NHS staff across the UK are facing a “growing tide of abuse” including assaults from patients, which they say is being caused by frustration at long waits for care.

In a strongly worded joint statement, which has been shared with the Guardian, six key medical bodies and staff groups blame patients’ increasingly long delays in receiving treatment on years of successive governments underinvesting in the NHS and not fixing severe workforce shortages.

See also: 

• ‘People are being very angry with us’: A&E doctor on abuse of NHS staff The Guardian

Nursing crisis sweeps wards as NHS battles to find recruits

Nursing crisis sweeps wards as NHS battles to find recruits Lack of EU staff adding to shortages: ‘There aren’t enough to deliver care we need’

Ministers are being warned of a mounting workforce crisis in England’s hospitals as they struggle to recruit staff for tens of thousands of nursing vacancies, with one in five nursing posts on some wards now unfilled.

Hospital leaders say the nursing shortfall has been worsened by a collapse in the numbers of recruits from Europe, including Spain and Italy. The Guardian

See also: 

• Three-quarters of NHS staff consider leaving health service, survey says The Independent
• NHS intensive care unit which treated Boris Johnson for coronavirus ‘dangerously understaffed’, says union The Independent
• Nursing faces worst ever staffing crisis amid signs NHS hospitals cutting back on surgery again iNews
• Pressure on NHS 'will continue for years' but staff shortages mean workers are already burned out Nursing Notes

Sajid Javid working on radical plan to merge social care with health in England

Sajid Javid working on radical plan to merge social care with health in England Proposal aimed at freeing up NHS beds and offering home care could be included in white paper on reform

Radical plans for a new national care service under which health and social care would be delivered by the same organisation are being actively considered by the government for inclusion in a white paper next month, according to senior Conservatives and Whitehall sources. The Guardian 

Sajid Javid to set up 'NHS delivery unit' to show how proceeds of tax rise are being spent

Sajid Javid to set up 'NHS delivery unit' to show how proceeds of tax rise are being spent Sajid Javid is setting up an "NHS delivery unit" to oversee an efficiency drive in the health service, amid pressure to show that the proceeds of next April's National Insurance hike will not go to waste. The Daily Telegraph