Midwives turn out in force in Northampton town centre to push message about health crisis

Midwives turn out in force in Northampton town centre to push message about health crisis Placard-waving Northamptonshire midwives braved the cold and turned out in force to highlight a growing crisis in maternity services.

Organisers of the March with Midwives in Northampton town centre on Sunday (November 21) say many are being driven out of the NHS by understaffing and fears they can’t deliver safe care to women in the current system. Northampton Chronicle and Echo 

Parents raise £184k for Kettering General Hospital bereavement suite

Parents raise £184k for Kettering General Hospital bereavement suite Parents and families in Northamptonshire who have lost babies have helped raise £184,000 for a new bereavement suite.

The Northamptonshire Health Charity has been fundraising for the facility at Kettering General Hospital but still needs more donations.

The Twinkling Stars Appeal is hoping to raise £1m. BBC Northampton 

Major reforms to NHS workforce planning and tech agenda

Major reforms to NHS workforce planning and tech agenda Recruitment, training and retention of NHS staff and digital transformation will be put at the heart of the NHS in England, under new reforms announced by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care today. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• HEE response to DHSC announcement of HEE and NHSE/I merger Health Education England
• Department of Health & Social Care announcement on NHS Tech Agenda NHS Digital

Nowhere else to turn: exploring high intensity use of accident and emergency services

Nowhere else to turn: exploring high intensity use of accident and emergency services People who frequently attend accident and emergency (A&E) a make up less than one per cent of the population, but account for a significant proportion of all A&E attendances, ambulance journeys and hospital admissions. It is estimated they cost the NHS at least £2.5bn per year. This report explores the profile and experiences of people who frequently attend A&E and considers what needs to be done to ensure that more people can be supported in the community, before they reach a crisis that leads to the door of the emergency department. It shows the clear link between high intensity use and wider inequalities. British Red Cross 

Understanding vaccine hesitancy through communities of place

Understanding vaccine hesitancy through communities of place This UK-US collaborative study highlights the importance of tapping into local knowledge and leadership in efforts to improve Covid-19 vaccine take-up. Produced together with the Institute for Community Research and Boston University in the United States, the report explores levels of vaccine engagement in four locations: Oldham and Tower Hamlets in the UK, and the cities of Boston and Hartford in the US. In all four localities, the survey finds the authorities’ ‘top-down’ approach to vaccine distribution and education has been ineffective, and that applying a ‘community engagement approach’ instead –involving community groups and trusted leaders in vaccine distribution and education – can improve take-up rates. Institute for Community Studies

Covid: Can UK avoid a Europe-style return to lockdown?

Covid: Can UK avoid a Europe-style return to lockdown? Covid infection rates have started rising sharply in parts of Western Europe, prompting the introduction of fresh restrictions and lockdowns.

It has triggered fears the UK could follow suit. But there are plenty of reasons to believe Britain will escape the worst of what is being seen on the continent. In fact, the UK may well be in the strongest position of all to weather Covid this winter. BBC News

See also:

• COVID-19: AstraZeneca CEO on long-term protection from jab BBC News
• Covid death doctor Irfan Halim touched lives, brother says BBC News
• Inhalable asthma treatment does not reduce number of days it takes to clear COVID-19 symptoms The Daily Mail
• Delta subvariant AY.4.2 is LESS likely to cause symptoms but slightly more infectious than ancestor The Daily Mail
• UK's daily Covid cases rise 13% in a week to 44,917 but deaths drop slightly with 45 victims The Daily Mail
• AstraZeneca jab could be why Britain is faring better than Europe, says vaccine boss The Daily Telegraph
• Getting jabs to the unvaccinated has never been more critical The Guardian
• Another Covid Christmas: Britons urged to delay festive plans The Guardian
• Zahawi rejects exclusion zones to keep Covid anti-vaxxers away from schools The Guardian

Change to sepsis advice after mums' herpes deaths

Change to sepsis advice after mums' herpes deaths Advice on how new mothers with sepsis should be treated is to change after two women died of a herpes infection.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says viral sources of infections should be considered and appropriate treatment offered.

This comes after the BBC revealed one surgeon might have infected the mothers while performing Caesareans on them. BBC News

See also: 

• New mothers who died of herpes could have been infected by one surgeon BBC News
• Two mothers died ‘after catching herpes from same caesarean surgeon’ The Daily Telegraph

NHS to give therapy for depression before medication under new guidelines

NHS to give therapy for depression before medication under new guidelines Millions of people with mild depression in England should be offered therapy, exercise, mindfulness or meditation before antidepressants, according to the first new NHS guidelines in more than a decade.

Under draft guidance, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) recommends the “menu of treatment options” be offered to patients by health professionals before medication is considered. The Guardian

See also: 

• NICE creates new menu of treatment options for those suffering from depression NICE
• NHS could give therapy before anti-depressants, under new guidelines BBC News
• What are the new Nice guidelines on depression in the UK? The Guardian

System for assessing who needs to pay for NHS care ‘incentivises racial profiling’

System for assessing who needs to pay for NHS care ‘incentivises racial profiling’ The system for assessing who should be asked to pay for NHS services “incentivises racial profiling”, an investigation has found.

A study by the Institute for Public Policy Research found that overstretched NHS staff sometimes racially profile patients in order to determine who is not “ordinarily resident” in the UK, and therefore must pay for their care. The Guardian

See also: 

• Towards true universal care: Reforming the NHS charging system Institute for Public Policy Research

Health and Care Bill explained - and why anti-NHS-privatisation groups are angry

Health and Care Bill explained - and why anti-NHS-privatisation groups are angry The Tories’ Health and Care Bill will make sweeping changes to the structure of the NHS in England - undoing 2012 reforms. The Mirror

See also: 

• Last minute changes to social care reforms are a step in the wrong direction The Health Foundation
• A ‘radically realistic’ vision for adult social care The King's Fund
• Significant tweak to social care proposals will leave fewer protected from catastrophic costs Nuffield Trust
• Social care: MPs back change to funding cost cap in England BBC News
• Social care: Boris Johnson defends his plan amid criticism over the cost cap BBC News
• England’s social care cap will see poorest areas lose greater share of property wealth The Guardian
• The NHS is facing the hardest winter in its history, and still the Tories vandalise it The Guardian
• UK Social Care: What The Shake-Up Means For You Huffington Post
• The Tories’ health and care bill needs a new name: the corporate takeover bill The Independent
• Controversial changes to social care plan pass Commons - but only just ITV News