Health funding in Northamptonshire cut by a fifth, report reveals

Health funding in Northamptonshire cut by a fifth, report reveals Public health funding per head in Northamptonshire has been cut by a fifth over six years in real terms, analysis reveals.

Health leaders and charities have urged the Government to increase spending after figures showed England’s public health grant has fallen by around £1 billion in real terms since 2015-16. Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also: 

• Health and social care funding projections 2021 The Health Foundation

Safety net plans revealed for 12-to-15s who miss out on Covid vaccines in Northamptonshire schools

Safety net plans revealed for 12-to-15s who miss out on Covid vaccines in Northamptonshire schools Students who miss out on vaccines in schools because they catch Covid will still get their jabs.

Hundreds of 12-to-15-year-olds are among the nearly 18,000 who have tested positive in Northamptonshire during the last 28 days and many of them are still not in school, learning at home while self-isolating.  Northamptonshire Telegraph

Depression prompts four trips to A&E a day at Northampton General Hospital

Depression prompts four trips to A&E a day at Northampton General Hospital Feeling depressed is the main reason behind four trips to A&E a day at Northampton General Hospital, figures suggest.

Mental health charity Mind said it was "deeply concerning" to see so many people needing emergency care for this reason nationally. Northampton Chronicle and Echo 

NHS performance summary: August-September 2021

NHS performance summary: August-September 2021 Our monthly round-up of the latest NHS performance data.

A&E waiting times in September were the worst since records began, with 1 in 4 patients waiting longer than four hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged. Attendances are back to pre-pandemic levels, and trolley waits are at record highs for this time of year.

The waiting list for planned care continued to grow to over 5.7 million in August, and the number of two year waiters increased to 9,754. Nuffield Trust

See also: 

• NHS England statistics show hard work and dedication of NHS staff The Health Foundation
• The waiting list for planned hospital care continues to climb The King's Fund
• NHS staff experience busiest September on record NHS England
• NHS in bleak position as A&E waits worsen, say doctors BBC News
• NHS waiting list hits ANOTHER record high with 5.72MILLION patients The Daily Mail
• Record 5.7m people in England waiting for hospital treatment The Guardian
• NHS waiting lists: Backlog hits record high with nearly six million awaiting treatment in England Sky News

The backlog of care across the provider sector: a submission to the National Audit Office inquiry on NHS backlogs and waiting times

The backlog of care across the provider sector: a submission to the National Audit Office inquiry on NHS backlogs and waiting times This survey of NHS trust leaders has revealed widespread worries that rapidly growing waiting lists will worsen existing health inequalities. Findings in the briefing also reflect concerns about the time it will take to recover the care backlog, despite impressive progress by trusts and frontline staff in restoring services. Almost a third of leaders (32 per cent) said it will take three to five years. NHS Providers 

The latest on the NHS estate

The latest on the NHS estate A grim sense of déjà vu may strike anyone who reads the latest annual data on the condition of NHS buildings and equipment. Once again, the costs of tackling the backlog of maintenance problems has risen and at the end of 2020/21 stands at £ 9.2 billion. The King's Fund 

Covid: False negative Covid test results confirmed at Newbury Showground

Covid: False negative Covid test results confirmed at Newbury Showground People who got a negative result from a Covid testing site in Berkshire earlier this month are being told to book another test, amid fears they were mistakenly given the all-clear.

Some PCR tests carried out at Newbury Showground resulted in false negatives, West Berkshire Council said. BBC News

See also:

• Covid test lab in Wolverhampton suspended over wrong results BBC News
• Number of Britons falling ill with Covid every day FALLS to below 70,000 The Daily Mail
• Chris Whitty says he can't promise everything will be great by Christmas The Daily Mail
• Sajid Javid apologises for government's Covid 'failures' The Daily Mail
• Charities say Covid booster rollout for immunosuppressed is ‘chaotic failure’ The Guardian

Stillbirth rate high for black and Asian babies in UK

Stillbirth rate high for black and Asian babies in UK Stillbirth rates remain "exceptionally high" for black and Asian babies in the UK, a report examining baby loss in 2019 has found.

The figures come despite improving numbers overall, with some 610 fewer stillbirths in 2019 than in 2013. BBC News

See also: 

• Perinatal Mortality Surveillance Report for births in 2019 MBRRACE-UK

Midwives working 20-hour days with no breaks at hospital, watchdog report finds

Midwives working 20-hour days with no breaks at hospital, watchdog report finds Staff shortages left midwives at hospitals at one NHS trust in Kent working 20-hour days with little time for a break, a report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found.

Inspectors found there were not enough maternity staff with the right qualifications or training to keep women safe from “avoidable harm” at hospitals run by East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, and on occasions the shortages meant women were transferred to other hospitals during labour. The Independent 

What’s behind Sajid Javid’s row with GPs?

What’s behind Sajid Javid’s row with GPs? There is discord over the health secretary’s desire for doctors to provide more face-to-face appointments

The health secretary has irritated GPs by making clear he wants them to provide more face-to-face appointments rather than speaking to patients on the phone or by video call. Tension between GPs and Javid has grown over the past few weeks, with family doctors describing the minister as ignorant of the huge strain they are under. The Guardian

See also: 

• Government’s ‘rescue package’ for GPs is flawed and patient care will suffer as result The BMA
• GPs criticise Health Secretary's failure to speak at doctors' conference The BMA
• Speech: Thank you to GPs for their commitment during the most challenging of times – but patients must be able to see their doctor the way they want Department of Health and Social Care
• The King's Fund responds to the Department of Health and Social Care announcement to improve access to general practice The King's Fund
• Focus on access ignores other challenges in general practice, says College in response to NHSE announcement on ‘rescue’ measures for general practice Royal College of General Practitioners
• Fury at 'overpaid' GPs for moaning about Sajid Javid's plans The Daily Mail
• 'Nothing can bring Peter back... but no one else should die after being refused a visit to their GP': Five real-life stories of heartache caused by doctors' practices fobbing off patients The Daily Mail
• GPs must face the facts The Daily Telegraph
• GP anger over 'unsafe' plans to reduce social distancing and increase face-to-face appointments The Daily Telegraph
• What was Sajid Javid thinking? Challenging GPs could only ever backfire The Daily Telegraph
• Javid plans 'won't turn the tide' for GPs, warns former Tory health secretary GPonline
• GP fury as 'support package' ramps up pressure on face-to-face access GPonline
• GPs’ leader condemns ‘malicious criticism’ by politicians The Guardian
• GPs have become the new fall guys for government failures | Gaby Hinsliff The Guardian
• Stop demonising England’s family doctors – we are on our knees | Nishma Manek The Guardian
• ‘It is with a heavy heart that I leave’ – why the unrelieved pressure is pushing GPs to quit The Guardian
• NHS plans criticised as patients left waiting months for GP appointment ITV News

Austerity in England linked to more than 50,000 extra deaths in five years

Austerity in England linked to more than 50,000 extra deaths in five years Austerity cuts to the NHS, public health and social care have killed tens of thousands more people in England than expected, according to the largest study of its kind.

Researchers who analysed the joint impact of cuts to healthcare, public health and social care since 2010 found that even in just the following four years the spending squeeze was linked with 57,550 more deaths than would have been expected. The findings, worse than previously thought, were revealed in the journal BMJ Open. The Guardian

See also: 

• Causal impact of social care, public health and healthcare expenditure on mortality in England: cross-sectional evidence for 2013/2014 (open access) BMJ Open
• Austerity linked to tens of thousands more deaths than expected The Independent

'What were we to them – expendable?' The story behind the biggest treatment scandal in NHS history

'What were we to them – expendable?' The story behind the biggest treatment scandal in NHS history Thousands of lives were destroyed by the infected blood scandal of the 1970s and '80s. The Daily Telegraph's latest podcast investigates.