Thousands of Northamptonshire teenagers have not had one Covid jab as Boris Johnson gets set to scrap isolation rules

Thousands of Northamptonshire teenagers have not had one Covid jab as Boris Johnson gets set to scrap isolation rules Thousands of unvaccinated Northamptonshire teenagers will return school on Monday (February 21) just as the government scraps Covid quarantine rules.

More than four in ten youngsters in the 12-to-15 year age group have not had even one jab and number of those coming forward to get one has slowed. Northamptonshire Telegraph 

Tired of being exhausted: seven key actions for leaders in the NHS workforce crisis

Tired of being exhausted: seven key actions for leaders in the NHS workforce crisis ‘I’m exhausted from being exhausted...’ is the harrowing expression of weary, depleted staff across the NHS and in social care.  

We know the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on staff in health and social care, but even before the pandemic, these sectors were facing the biggest staffing crisis since the introduction of the welfare state in 1948. High levels of vacancies, sickness absence, staff turnover and stress were typical with damaging consequences for staff health, which puts patient and service-user safety and quality of care at risk, and undermines organisational performance. The King's Fund 

Workforce burnout and resilience in the NHS and social care

Workforce burnout and resilience in the NHS and social care The Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee has said the Government has missed an opportunity to alleviate the workforce crisis in the NHS and social care by rejecting the Committee’s recommendation to overhaul workforce planning. Today the Government has published its response to the Committee’s June 2021 Report, Workforce burnout and resilience in the NHS and social care.

In its report, the Committee warned that workforce burnout across NHS and care systems had reached emergency level and was risking the future functioning of services. 

New guidelines to support disabled children to be more active

New guidelines to support disabled children to be more active Disabled children and young people will be supported to be more physically active following the publication of new guidelines from the UK Chief Medical Officers. Department of Health and Social Care

See also: 

• Guidance: Physical activity guidelines: disabled children and disabled young people Department of Health and Social Care
• Research: Physical activity in disabled children and disabled young people: evidence review Department of Health and Social Care
• Research: Physical activity guidelines for disabled children and disabled young people: methodology Department of Health and Social Care

UK Government awards £10 million for vaccines research to combat potential epidemics in developing countries

UK Government awards £10 million for vaccines research to combat potential epidemics in developing countries 22 research projects have been selected by the government’s UK Vaccine Network and will help tackle viruses such as Ebola, Lassa Fever and Zika. Department of Health and Social Care 

Vaccinated less likely to develop long Covid

Vaccinated less likely to develop long Covid People who are vaccinated are less likely to develop long Covid even if they catch the virus, a rapid review by the UK Health Security Agency reveals.

It looked at the available evidence to date from 15 studies around the world.

The findings suggest that while some who are jabbed catch Covid, vaccines reduce infection risk and illness, including symptoms like fatigue. BBC News

See also:

• How do we know Covid vaccines are safe?  BBC News
• 'I've seen the worst of Covid - but new drugs can tame the virus' BBC News
• Covid deaths in UK continue to fall  BBC News
• Covid UK: A THIRD of infected victims now die primarily from other conditions in England and Wales The Daily Mail
• Free lateral flow tests 'will be axed under Government's new Living With Covid Strategy' The Daily Mail
• EU set to bin 25 million more vaccine doses than it has donated to Africa this year The Independent

Doctors call for action not words from NHS in response to racial inequality report

Doctors call for action not words from NHS in response to racial inequality report Health officials have “paid lip service” to racism in the NHS for years, leading black, Asian and minority ethnic doctors have warned as they called for “concrete” action to tackle inequalities exposed by a landmark review. The Guardian

See also: 

• Racial health inequality is stark and requires concerted action, says review The BMJ
• NHS needs radical action to tackle ethnic health inequalities, major review finds GPonline
• Review finds NHS nurses enduring 'covert and overt' racial discrimination Nursing Times

Sanction against 150 doctors for sexual misconduct are ‘tip of the iceberg’, medics warn

Sanction against 150 doctors for sexual misconduct are ‘tip of the iceberg’, medics warn Nearly 150 doctors have been disciplined for sexual misconduct in the last five years, as surgeons call for action on the “systemic” and “cultural” problem of sexual assault within healthcare, The Independent can reveal.

See also: 

• Sexual assault in surgery: a painful truth (open access) Bulletin of the Royal College of Surgeons

Ex-health secretary Matt Hancock did not comply with equality duty when making top COVID appointments, High Court rules

Ex-health secretary Matt Hancock did not comply with equality duty when making top COVID appointments, High Court rules The High Court finds that ex-health secretary Matt Hancock failed to comply with an equality duty when appointing Conservative peer Baroness Dido Harding as the interim chief of a new public health body, and ex-Sainsbury's boss Mike Coupe to an NHS Test and Trace role. Sky News 

Government relaxes immigration rules for care worker jobs because of staffing shortages which has left crippled sector 'on its knees'

Government relaxes immigration rules for care worker jobs because of staffing shortages which has left crippled sector 'on its knees' Immigration rules for care workers were relaxed today because of crippling staffing shortages that have left the sector 'on its knees'.

More than 105,000 care jobs are currently going unfilled — equivalent to about one in 12 positions in the workforce. Vacancy rates spiralled when No10's 'no jab, no job' mandate kicked in last November. The Daily Mail