'Don't be Covid complacent' warning as Northamptonshire cases rise despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying they're falling

'Don't be Covid complacent' warning as Northamptonshire cases rise despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying they're falling Northamptonshire health chiefs are warning against Covid complacency after Boris Johnson announced plans to lift Plan B restrictions.

The Prime Minister's claimed that Office for National Statistics data show 'clearly that infection levels are falling' yet the number of new coronavirus cases in the county reported daily has risen sharply during the last three days. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• Seventy per cent of KGH Covid patients are unvaccinated Northamptonshire Telegraph

Mental health: trends in the quality of mental health care

Mental health: trends in the quality of mental health care In this QualityWatch update we look at a range of mental health service performance measures, and data on patient experience and outcomes, to give a view of how services have fared in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Nuffield Trust

How does the health and care system hear from people and communities?

How does the health and care system hear from people and communities? People's lived experience is a powerful tool to improve existing services and identify new and better ways to meet their needs. This explainer looks at how the health and care system can listen and learn from the people and communities they serve and the sources of information available to them. The King's Fund

Debt and health: Preventing ‘problem debt’ during the pandemic recovery

Debt and health: Preventing ‘problem debt’ during the pandemic recovery There is a two-way relationship between debt and health: debt problems can lead to deteriorations in mental and physical health, and health problems can be a trigger for increasing debt. 20% of people in problem debt in Great Britain report ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ health, compared with 7% of those not in problem debt. The Health Foundation

Health and Care Bill: ensuring we have enough staff to meet demand

Health and Care Bill: ensuring we have enough staff to meet demand A coalition of almost 90 health and care organisations – including NHS Providers – calling for stronger provisions on workforce planning in the Health and Care Bill has issued a briefing ahead of committee stage in the House of Lords in January 2022. An amendment has been tabled by Baroness Cumberlege to mandate the regular publication of independent assessments of current and future health and care workforce numbers. This briefing outlines the principles that the coalition believes any other amendment or clause tabled for this purpose needs to meet. NHS Providers

See also:

• The Health and Care Bill: House of Lords, Committee of the whole House: clauses 35-67 and Schedule 6 NHS Providers

NHS cancer checks at record high with quarter of a million in one month

NHS cancer checks at record high with quarter of a million in one month Record numbers of people are coming forward for cancer tests, with almost a quarter of a million referrals in one month according to the latest data, the NHS said today.

The figures show that 246,000 people were checked for cancer in November – three times as many compared to the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020, when people were reluctant to come forward. NHS England

See also:

• Public told not to delay cancer check-ups BBC News
• Minister defends Government cancer record despite treatment delays and spiralling diagnostic waits The Daily Mail
• NHS hotline set up for people worried about cancer symptoms The Independent

Covid: NHS in push to vaccinate the final four million

Covid: NHS in push to vaccinate the final four million More than four million adults in the UK have not yet had a first Covid jab and 16 million have not had their booster. This winter, NHS vaccine teams have been out on the streets trying to win over those hard-to-reach groups who might have struggled to access health services in the past. BBC News

See also:

• Was South Africa ignored over mild Omicron evidence? BBC News
• 'Brain fog' caused by Covid could be a result of how the virus affects a person's spinal fluid The Daily Mail
• Daily Covid cases fall just 1.6% in a week as Omicron curve begins to level off The Daily Mail
• Schools defy Boris Johnson as they insist face masks must stay in class The Daily Telegraph
• NHS England Covid absences fall amid signs staffing crisis is easing The Guardian
• Covid rule changes leave clinically vulnerable as ‘collateral damage’, charities warn The Independent
• ‘Game-changing’ X-ray technology can diagnose Covid within minutes The Independent
• COVID-19: Decision to lift Plan B rules is 'disaster' for healthcare which is 'at proper low' - NHS doctor Sky News

Moorfields Eye Hospital gives woman, 88, UK's first 'bionic eye implant'

Moorfields Eye Hospital gives woman, 88, UK's first 'bionic eye implant' An 88-year-old woman from east London has become the first UK patient to receive a pioneering eye implant to help partially restore her vision.

The surgery at Moorfields Eye Hospital involved inserting a 2mm wide microchip under her retina by surgically creating a 'trapdoor' in which the chip rests. BBC News

Stop caging people with autism and learning disabilities, says Robert Buckland

Stop caging people with autism and learning disabilities, says Robert Buckland Ex-Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland is calling for changes to mental health laws to stop people with autism or learning disabilities being detained in hospitals for long periods.

Last year, the BBC found that 100 people with learning disabilities and autism had been held in hospitals for at least 20 years. BBC News

Ministers and NHS bosses clash over surgery waiting list targets in England

Ministers and NHS bosses clash over surgery waiting list targets in England Publication of ‘elective recovery plan’ delayed as hospital bosses say targets to clear backlog must be realistic

A “very tense” behind-the-scenes row over how quickly hospitals in England can be expected to reduce the massive backlog of surgery has broken out between NHS bosses and ministers. The Guardian

Rates of short-sightedness across the UK skyrocketed by nearly 50% in three decades

Rates of short-sightedness across the UK skyrocketed by nearly 50% in three decades A study of more than 100,000 Britons by University College London found one in five born during WWII went on to develop the condition, with two-thirds of cases diagnosed in childhood. The Daily Mail

See also: 

• Temporal trends in frequency, type and severity of myopia and associations with key environmental risk factors in the UK: Findings from the UK Biobank Study (open access) PLOS One