Addressing the leading risk factors for ill health: a review of government policies tackling smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol use in England

Addressing the leading risk factors for ill health: a review of government policies tackling smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol use in England This review assesses government policies tackling each of the leading risk factors driving ill health and early death in England, including smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity, and harmful alcohol use. The report concludes that the government’s current approach – including policies that promote individual behaviour change – is insufficient to deliver on its key targets and achieve its ‘levelling up’ mission to improve healthy life expectancy. It finds that trends are going in the wrong direction for many of the major health risk factors and calls for the government to take stronger action to tackle the leading risk factors for ill health. The Health Foundation

Chart of the week: How does the quality of patient ethnicity data vary between private and public health care providers?

Chart of the week: How does the quality of patient ethnicity data vary between private and public health care providers? The pandemic has highlighted ethnic disparities in health care and outcomes in England, but poor data on the ethnicity of patients hampers efforts to address inequalities. In this week's chart, Sarah Scobie looks at how patient ethnicity data varies between private and public health care providers. Nuffield Trust

NHS launches online platform to empower patients as they wait for care

NHS launches online platform to empower patients as they wait for care Millions of patients on the waiting list for NHS care will be able to access support and check wait times at their fingertips thanks to a new online platform launching today.

Built in conjunction with patient groups, My Planned Care is one of the latest measures in a major package of moves by the NHS to tackle the COVID backlog.

The platform will allow patients and their carers to access information ahead of their planned appointment, operation or treatment through the touch of a button. NHS England

Official Statistics: National flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports: 2021 to 2022 season

Official Statistics: National flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports: 2021 to 2022 season National influenza and COVID-19 report, monitoring COVID-19 activity, seasonal flu and other seasonal respiratory illnesses. UK Health Security Agency

See also:

• Official Statistics: Seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccine uptake in frontline healthcare workers: monthly data, 2021 to 2022 UK Health Security Agency
• Research: COVID-19 vaccine weekly surveillance reports (weeks 39 to 8, 2021 to 2022) UK Health Security Agency

The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination programme in England

The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination programme in England The COVID-19 vaccination programme (the programme) met stretching and unprecedented targets, helping to save lives and reduce serious illness and hospitalisation, according to a report by the National Audit Office. As the programme continues to evolve in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to new clinical advice and evidence about vaccines, there are some clear risks to be managed.

Covid: How we already understand long-term vaccine safety

Covid: How we already understand long-term vaccine safety "We don't know the long-term side effects of Covid vaccines." That's a claim that's still common to see shared online.

But a year is actually considered "long term" when it comes to vaccine safety.

This week marks the anniversary of the first delivery of Covid-19 vaccines under the Covax scheme - as well as being more than 14 months since the first dose was given.

And scientists explain that's more than enough time for all but the rarest side effects to have emerged. BBC News

See also:

• Covid: Millions of vaccine doses destroyed in England BBC News
• Covid-19 tests: Southern Health Trust investigates 'inaccurate' results BBC News
• Government's decision to sell vital vaccine infrastructure 'is baffling and should be reversed' The Daily Mail
• Lateral flows missed up to 80% of Covid-infected people, study suggests The Daily Mail
• New Covid vaccine 100% effective against severe disease, manufacturers say The Independent
• "We are broken": The 2020 diaries of an ICU nurse on the Covid frontline The Independent
• Covid: 25000 NHS staff who had retired or left health service returned to the front line in the pandemic iNews
• GPs 'not expected' to lead spring Covid booster programme, says NHS England Pulse

Life may actually flash before your eyes on death - new study

Life may actually flash before your eyes on death - new study New data from a scientific "accident" has suggested that life may actually flash before our eyes as we die.

A team of scientists set out to measure the brainwaves of an 87-year-old patient who had developed epilepsy. But during the neurological recording, he suffered a fatal heart attack - offering an unexpected recording of a dying brain. BBC News

See also:

• Enhanced Interplay of Neuronal Coherence and Coupling in the Dying Human Brain (open access) Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
• A replay of life: What happens in our brain when we die? Frontiers in Science

Climate crisis will increase mental health emergencies, researchers warn

Climate crisis will increase mental health emergencies, researchers warn Healthcare staff told to expect an increase in patients requiring treatment for substance use, anxiety and stress during periods of extreme heat.

Extreme heat leads to an increase in emergency admissions for mental health problems, US researchers have found. The Independent

See also: 

• Association Between Ambient Heat and Risk of Emergency Department Visits for Mental Health Among US Adults, 2010 to 2019 (open access) JAMA Psychiatry

England abortion ‘pills by post’ scheme to be scrapped in September

England abortion ‘pills by post’ scheme to be scrapped in September Women in England will be able to access abortion pills more easily for the next six months, but the temporary “pills by post” scheme brought in because of Covid will then be scrapped in September.

Maggie Throup, the public health minister, confirmed on Thursday that women seeking to terminate a pregnancy by taking the two pills involved at home would lose that right at the end of August. The Guardian 

NHS figures reveal a MILLION fewer women were screened for breast cancer last year

NHS figures reveal a MILLION fewer women were screened for breast cancer last year England faces a breast cancer timebomb as official figures show a million fewer women were screened for the disease over the first year of the pandemic.  

In total 1.19m women had the vital tests in the 12 months to April 2021, marking the lowest number since records began two decades ago and down nearly half on 2.12m the previous year. The Daily Mail

See also: 

• Decrease in women screened for breast cancer in 2020-21 NHS Digital

Only a THIRD of English adults have seen an NHS dentist in the past two years of the pandemic

Only a THIRD of English adults have seen an NHS dentist in the past two years of the pandemic Only a third of English adults have seen a NHS dentist in the past two years of the pandemic, statistics have revealed. 

Official health service data shows just under 15.8million adults in England were seen by an NHS dentist in the 24 months to the end of 2021. The Daily Mail