Health chiefs monitoring sharp rise in new Covid-19 cases in Wellingborough villages

Health chiefs monitoring sharp rise in new Covid-19 cases in Wellingborough villages Health chiefs are monitoring a sharp rise in Covid cases among a cluster of villages near Wellingborough.

Just under three percent of the 11,000 population in and around Irchester, Wollaston and Bozeat tested positive in the space of just a fortnight. Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also: 

• Call goes out for more volunteers to support NHS teams at Northamptonshire Covid-19 Vaccination Centre Northampton Chronicle and Echo

The easiest...and hardest GP surgeries to book an appointment with in Northampton

The easiest...and hardest GP surgeries to book an appointment with in Northampton Here we reveal the GP practices in Northamptonshire Clinical Commissioning Group area which were voted the easiest/hardest to make an appointment at. Sixty-nine surgeries were ranked in the county

Surgeries are ranked by the proportion of patients who said their experience of booking an appointment was ‘very good/poor’. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

What has been the impact of Covid-19 across the UK countries?

What has been the impact of Covid-19 across the UK countries? While every health service across the United Kingdom has faced unprecedented pressures over the past year and a half, UK-wide reporting has masked any differences in peaks and troughs across the four countries. In this explainer, Sarah Scobie takes a closer look at the pandemic across the UK so far – describing where some of those differences have been between each country as well as the shared challenges that each health service will face as winter approaches. Nuffield Trust

What does the new Health and Care Bill mean for NHS financial management?

What does the new Health and Care Bill mean for NHS financial management? James W Frick once said: ‘Don’t tell me what your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are.’

So, what does the Health and Care Bill, wending its way through parliament and the most substantial piece of health legislation since the 2012 Lansley reforms, suggest about future financial management in the new NHS? The King's Fund

Drug expenditure dynamics 1995–2020: understanding medicine spending in context

Drug expenditure dynamics 1995–2020: understanding medicine spending in context While the level of drug expenditure is closely watched and often commented upon, the composition of that expenditure and its dynamics are not as well understood. Typically, official statistics of drug spending only include drugs dispensed in pharmacies and do not include drugs used in hospitals, an issue which raises questions about their representativeness of total drug spending. This report includes estimates of total drug spending, including hospitals and net of discounts and rebates. These estimates have been based on official statistics from government agencies in the countries where available, in some cases not previously published internationally. IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science 

Beyond bricks and mortar: capital funding for the NHS

Beyond bricks and mortar: capital funding for the NHS Ahead of the Spending Review on 27 October, the NHS Confederation surveyed healthcare leaders across the NHS in England to understand their capital needs. The report found that 96 per cent of healthcare leaders fear they will not receive enough capital money at the forthcoming Spending Review. Insufficient capital funding may hamper the government’s plans for the NHS, impacting safety standards, digital innovations and worsening inequalities. NHS Confederation 

Equality, diversity and inclusion training: a good practice guide

Equality, diversity and inclusion training: a good practice guide This guidance includes information on: who should receive the training; training objectives; training content outline; a definition of health inequalities; and legislative requirements and policies. It also covers equality standards in the NHS; understanding bias and strategies for embedding equality, diversity and inclusion. The guide is aimed at equality, diversity and inclusion leads, HR and learning and development professionals, and trade union representatives. NHS Employers 

Evolving regulation and oversight in a systems world

Evolving regulation and oversight in a systems world This briefing outlines the key implications for trusts of changes to the NHS regulatory framework, in the context of accelerating system working and legislative change. NHS Providers

See also: 

• Five key principles for regulation and oversight in a systems world NHS Providers

Covid: Why are UK cases so high?

Covid: Why are UK cases so high? Covid cases in the UK are higher now than they were this time last year when parts of England were under local lockdowns. Thanks to the vaccine, though, there are fewer cases of serious illness with people needing to be treated in hospital.

But soaring infections - which are outstripping some European nations - are still proving a cause for concern. BBC News

See also:

• Covid: Is the pace of the vaccine booster rollout too slow? BBC News
• Positive trial results for Valneva Covid vaccine BBC News
• MS drug does NOT improve condition of hospitalized COVID-19 patients and is linked to WORSE outcomes The Daily Mail
• NHS pressure sees No10 hint at return of Covid restrictions The Daily Mail
• Double-jabbed people are as likely not to catch Covid as those who have recovered from infection The Daily Mail
• Covid booster jabs need to be sped up or medical units could become swamped this winter The Daily Mail
• People must be 'cautious' with day-to-day interactions as Covid cases climb and immunity wanes The Daily Telegraph
• No 10 appears to confirm Nimco Ali’s Christmas lockdown stay with Johnsons The Guardian
• UK government ordered to reveal firms awarded ‘VIP’ Covid contracts The Guardian
• Five million have yet to take up Covid booster jab The Independent

NHS is wasting up to £568m a year on pointless pills as thousands of patients are given medication they don't need, study shows

NHS is wasting up to £568m a year on pointless pillsas thousands of patients are given medication they don't need, study shows The NHS is wasting up to £568million a year on pills that patients do not need and can leave them with dangerous addictions, a study shows.

Doctors in England are dishing out habit-forming drugs such as opioids, antidepressants, benzodiazepines and sleeping pills to hundreds of thousands of people who should not be on them. The Daily Mail

See also: 

• The costs incurred by the NHS in England due to the unnecessary prescribing of dependency-forming medications (abstract) Addictive Behaviors

Care homes may close over mandatory staff vaccines, industry experts fear

Care homes may close over mandatory staff vaccines, industry experts fear Under a tough new law, more than 40,000 frontline carers will be forced out of their jobs within weeks after refusing to get the jab.

But providers were already struggling to fill record numbers of vacancies and say they will be forced to close units, floors or even entire residential homes if they cannot meet required staffing levels from November 11. The Daily Mail

See also:

• 'Where's the logic?': how England's 'no jab, no job' policy will hit a care worker The Guardian