Prime Minister Boris Johnson will lift all Covid restrictions THIS MONTH despite 140,000 in Northamptonshire unvaccinated

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will lift all Covid restrictions THIS MONTH despite 140,000 in Northamptonshire unvaccinated Boris Johnson announced plans to remove all coronavirus restrictions a month early while one-in-five people in Northamptonshire are not vaccinated. Northamptonshire Telegraph

The Covid-19 vaccine rollout shows the opportunities of place-based partnerships

The Covid-19 vaccine rollout shows the opportunities of place-based partnerships The vaccination programme has been one of the few almost unqualified success of the UK’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It has prevented tens of millions of infections, at least a quarter of a million hospital admissions and well over 100,000 deaths. The King's Fund

See also:

• The Covid-19 vaccination programme: trials, tribulations and successes The King's Fund

Getting to Net Zero: One Health System Fights Climate Change

Getting to Net Zero: One Health System Fights Climate Change In the United Kingdom, the National Health Service (NHS) has set some ambitious goals to reduce its carbon footprint. On the latest episode of The Dose, Nick Watts, the NHS’s chief sustainability officer, talks about how the health service is meeting these goals, and whether its efforts could be replicated in countries like the United States. A low-carbon health care system, he says, is actually just a good health care system. The Commonwealth Fund

Measuring the economic value of community nursing: scoping the challenge

Measuring the economic value of community nursing: scoping the challenge NHS community services are an essential part of national ambitions to support people to manage their conditions, prevent ill health and deliver care closer to home. Community nurses are central to the care delivered for many people, across a broad range of conditions and needs. This briefing considers the challenge of understanding the economic value of community nursing, building on a roundtable discussion in March 2021 and drawing in other sources of evidence. Healthcare Financial Management Association

Does the cap fit? Analysing the government’s proposed amendment to the English social care charging system

Does the cap fit? Analysing the government’s proposed amendment to the English social care charging system This briefing note considers the effects of the government’s proposed amendment to the Care Act, which would mean that means-tested support does not count for an individual’s progress towards the social care cost cap. Institute for Fiscal Studies and The Health Foundation

Flexible working: raising the standards for the NHS

Flexible working: raising the standards for the NHS The NHS People Plan 2020 puts people at the front and centre of the NHS, including those working in primary and community care. This guidance sets out a preliminary definition and set of principles for flexible working. The definition aims to support the shared and common understanding of flexible working that is needed to achieve fair, equitable and consistent practice. The principles aim to form a foundation for flexible working, and organisations are encouraged to innovate and test out approaches to support the embedding of flexible working. NHS England

Policy paper: Health and social care integration: joining up care for people, places and populations

Policy paper: Health and social care integration: joining up care for people, places and populations This white paper sets out measures to make integrated health and social care a universal reality for everyone across England regardless of their condition and of where they live. Department of Health and Social Care

Covid isolation law could be scrapped in England this month

Covid isolation law could be scrapped in England this month All remaining Covid restrictions in England - including the legal rule to self-isolate - could end later this month, Boris Johnson has said.

Under the current rules, anyone who tests positive must self-isolate for at least five full days.

The current restrictions are due to expire on 24 March. BBC News

See also:

• Is ending the last Covid rule 'brave or stupid'? BBC News
• Covid survivors are 63% more likely to suffer heart attack within year of beating virus, study warns The Daily Mail
• Covid infections started to creep up by 7% last week with 2.8million people in England The Daily Mail
• Covid rules are to be axed in England, but is pandemic’s end really in sight? The Guardian
• Is England an outlier in abandoning Covid isolation rule? The Guardian
• Covid isolation rules ending will devastate clinically vulnerable families, say campaigners iNews
• Catching Covid significantly increases the risk of other illnesses later in the year, study says iNews
• COVID-19: Removing self-isolation in February 'goes against fundamental principles of public health', scientists warn Sky News

'Massive concern' over rise in suicidal children during pandemic, major NHS care provider warns

'Massive concern' over rise in suicidal children during pandemic, major NHS care provider warns The number of suicidal children in England has soared during the pandemic, a major mental health support provider has said, warning “inundated” NHS services are preventing young people from getting help. The Independent

England’s hospital waiting lists may exceed 10 million by 2024, ministers told

England’s hospital waiting lists may exceed 10 million by 2024, ministers told Leaked data suggests NHS patient backlog likely to rise drastically in spite of national insurance rise

The number of people in England waiting for planned hospital care could hit 10.7 million by March 2024, leaked projections prepared for ministers and NHS bosses show.

Even under the best-case scenario, the waiting list could reach 9.2 million, according to modelling about potential growth in the size of the NHS backlog seen by the Spectator magazine. The Guardian

Breast cancer breakthrough as drug cuts risk of most tumour returning by 37%

Breast cancer breakthrough as drug cuts risk of most tumour returning by 37% A revolutionary drug could save the lives of thousands of women battling the most aggressive type of breast cancer, doctors say.

Pembrolizumab cuts the risk of the disease returning by 37 per cent in women with triple-negative breast cancer, a trial showed. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Event-free Survival with Pembrolizumab in Early Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (abstract) New England Journal of Medicine
• Immunity-boosting breast cancer drug could save thousands, finds UK research The Guardian