Grab a booster jab to keep Covid-19 off your Christmas list, plea from Northamptonshire health chiefs

Grab a booster jab to keep Covid-19 off your Christmas list, plea from Northamptonshire health chiefs Health chiefs in Northamptonshire are echoing a call by Boris Johnson to grab a booster jab and save Christmas.

The Prime Minister confirmed that follow-up jabs would be made available to 40-to-49-year-olds amid fears waning protection from initial doses could spark a rise in hospital cases. Northamptonshire Telegraph 

Kettering mum's anguish at sons' mental health discharge as they are told: 'go to your GP instead of specialist unit'

Kettering mum's anguish at sons' mental health discharge as they are told: 'go to your GP instead of specialist unit' A Kettering mum says she is 'absolutely distraught' at the decision to discharge her adult sons from the mental health team that they have relied on since they were children.

Her sons, now in their twenties, received letters on the same day informing them that 'in line with the NHS long-term plan' review they were no longer under the immediate care of St Mary's Hospital's community mental health team. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Nurses’ pay over the long term: what next?

Nurses’ pay over the long term: what next? Our report looks at long-term trends in pay for UK nurses since the establishment of the NHS Pay Review Body in 1983 to the present day.

It explores changes over time, how nurses’ pay has changed relative to other public sector workers, and how pay for UK nurses compares to other countries. The Health Foundation

Funding saga proves bad for HEE’s health

Funding saga proves bad for HEE’s health The long-running dispute between Health Education England and the Treasury over HEE’s budget has come to a head with news that the body will be incorporated into NHS England.

HSJ understands from senior sources that the funding settlement sought by HEE was deemed unaffordable, triggering its demise. It is expected the independent education body will become part of the NHSE by April 2023. Health Service Journal

See also: 

• The King's Fund responds to the Health Education England merger with NHS England The King's Fund

A joint thematic inspection of the criminal justice journey for individuals with mental health needs and disorders

A joint thematic inspection of the criminal justice journey for individuals with mental health needs and disorders Inspectors looked at more than 300 cases from six regions, interviewed 550 professionals, and heard from 67 people with mental health issues who had been through the criminal justice system, from first contact with the police to release from prison. The inspection report found poor support for people with mental health issues and concludes that too little progress had been made since the last review in 2009. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation

See also: 

• Every part of justice system fails mentally ill people, inspectors find The Guardian

Crowding and its Consequences: RCEM insight report

Crowding and its Consequences: RCEM insight report Emergency Department (ED) crowding is a major threat to public health and represents a serious policy challenge that must be urgently tackled. Although it is present in health systems across the globe, it has worsened significantly in recent years in the UK due to the severe mismatch between demand and capacity in the NHS. Increasing patient demand coupled with high hospital bed occupancy has resulted in exit block - the key reason for crowded EDs. Royal College of Emergency Medicine

See also: 

• At least 4,500 patients in England have died because of 'shocking' overcrowding at A&E and 12-hour ambulance handover delays in the last year, damning report finds The Daily Mail
• More than 4,500 people died after waiting 12 hours on hospital trolleys last year The Daily Telegraph
• A&E overcrowding in UK ‘killing thousands a year’, say doctors The Guardian
• A&E waits ‘kill’ as long delays drive thousands of patient deaths The Independent

Life in the time of Covid-19: the 2020 UK consultant census

Life in the time of Covid-19: the 2020 UK consultant census The most recent census of the consultant physician workforce in the UK shows that the number of doctors needed to meet patient demand continues to significantly outnumber the supply. It found that the proportion of unfilled medical consultant posts across the UK is at its highest level in almost a decade. Nearly half (48 per cent) of advertised consultant posts across the UK were unfilled last year – up from 36 per cent in 2013. Most posts were not filled because there were no applicants. The three Royal Colleges of Physicians believe a lack of long-term workforce planning is the primary factor behind the 33 per cent increase in unfilled consultant posts across the UK since 2013. Royal Colleges of Physicians 

Thousands spared strokes thanks to new NHS drug agreements

Thousands spared strokes thanks to new NHS drug agreements More than 20,000 strokes and 5,000 deaths could be averted after NHS England struck new agreements to expand life-saving blood thinning drugs, chief executive Amanda Pritchard announced.

The NHS will now dramatically scale up the use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) with as many as 610,000 more patients set to benefit over the next three years. NHS England 

Government response: PPE procurement in the early pandemic

Government response: PPE procurement in the early pandemic The government is publishing further information about its exceptional procurement exercise to secure critical personal protective equipment (PPE) during the early months of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Department of Health and Social Care

See also: 

• UKHSA updates clinical guidance on vaccinations for 12 to 17 year olds UK Health Security Agency

Covid vaccines: Children told to wait longer for jab after infection

Covid vaccines: Children told to wait longer for jab after infection Healthy children aged 12 to 17 are being advised to wait 12 weeks after a coronavirus infection before having a Covid jab in the UK.

Previously the advice was to leave a four-week gap.

The UK Health Security Agency said the change was a precaution against the small risk of heart inflammation. BBC News

See also:

• Guidance: COVID-19 vaccination: checklist for parents of children aged 12 to 15 years UK Health Security Agency
• Merkel: Germany hit by full force of Covid BBC News
• Covid-19 UK: Britain's coronavirus cases FALL for first time in a week The Daily Mail
• Covid vaccines may only affect menstrual cycles of women on contraception, study claims The Daily Mail
• Covid immunity wanes after two doses of the Pfizer vaccine in all ages, Israeli study claims The Daily Mail
• Mask-wearing cuts Covid incidence by 53%, says global study The Guardian
• Delta offshoot ‘one to watch’ over fears of future mutations The Independent
• Researchers find way to filter coronavirus particles out of the air Sky News

Government changes rules on social care cap

Government changes rules on social care cap The financial help poorer people get to cover their care will not count towards a new cap on costs, according to updated government plans.

It was announced in September that from 2023 no-one in England would pay more than £86,000 for care.

Now a tweak to the plan has been published, which critics say could see the poorest having to use more of their assets than better off people. BBC News

See also: 

• Social care cap could expose poorer homeowners to ‘catastrophic’ costs The Guardian

Long-acting HIV jabs to replace daily pills in ‘great step forward’

Long-acting HIV jabs to replace daily pills in ‘great step forward’ The NHS has been given the green light to offer people living with HIV the first "long-acting injectable" to keep the virus at bay.

Charities have hailed the "incredible news" which offers an alternative to adults living with HIV who have to take daily antiretroviral drugs.

Many people living with HIV can keep the virus at very low levels by taking antiretroviral tablets each day. The Independent

See also: 

• NICE approves first long-acting injectable HIV-1 treatment NICE
• Cabotegravir and rilpivirine for treating HIV-1 (draft guidance) NICE
• First long-acting injection for HIV approved BBC News

Stakes high for both sides as dispute over GP appointments deepens

Stakes high for both sides as dispute over GP appointments deepens Talking to MPs recently, an effusive Sajid Javid lauded the vital role paid by “our fantastic GPs”. But his warm words are unlikely to have persuaded many of England’s family doctors that the new health secretary was softening his stance in an increasingly bitter dispute over his insistence on face-to-face appointments for any patient that asks.

The row has led to the first clash between the government and medical profession since Javid’s predecessor Jeremy Hunt confronted junior doctors in 2015 over weekend working, which led to a year-long struggle including a series of strikes by trainee medics. The Guardian

See also:

• GPs have decided whether they will strike, but they won't tell YOU (the person who pays their wages) The Daily Mail
• Sajid Javid’s criticisms fuelling abuse of doctors, says GPs’ chief The Guardian
• GP access improvement plans to be finalised this week, says NHS England Pulse