Council 'publicity stunt' £600 bonus a 'kick in the teeth' for Northamptonshire carers

Council 'publicity stunt' £600 bonus a 'kick in the teeth' for Northamptonshire carers Carers who were promised a £600 bonus for their incredible efforts throughout the Covid pandemic say they have not yet received any money in their bank accounts despite council promises. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Provider collaboratives: explaining their role in system working

Provider collaboratives: explaining their role in system working This explainer looks at provider collaboratives in England, the opportunities they provide and the unresolved questions to consider when thinking about their role in the changing health and care landscape. The King's Fund

Inquiry into women’s health and well-being in prisons: Briefing One

Inquiry into women’s health and well-being in prisons: Briefing One Prisons are unable to address the physical and mental health needs of women and in fact make them worse, an inquiry by an influential cross-party panel of MPs and peers has found.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Women in the Penal System (APPG) has uncovered alarming evidence of poor living conditions, rising self-harm and practices that compound the victimisation of women in prison, the majority of whom have experienced violence or abuse prior to their imprisonment in a new report.

Ambulance pressures taking a significant toll on staff

Ambulance pressures taking a significant toll on staff Increasing pressures on ambulance services are leaving workers “overwhelmed” and struggling to shake off work stress when they finally finish their shifts, according to a new UNISON survey.

See also:

• Ambulance workers overwhelmed because of pressures they face – report The Independent

Government aims to eradicate modern slavery from NHS supply chains

Government aims to eradicate modern slavery from NHS supply chains The government has tabled a landmark amendment to the Health and Care Bill aiming to eradicate the use of goods and services in the NHS that are tainted by slavery and human trafficking. Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus levels continue to fall across the UK

Coronavirus levels continue to fall across the UK The number of people who currently have coronavirus in the UK is continuing to fall, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

It suggests around 3.76 million people were infected in the week ending 16 April - roughly one in 17 people.

This is a fall of about 15% on the week before - when the figure stood at 4.4 million, or around one in 15 people. BBC News

See also:

• Covid: Tain family ends more than two years self isolation BBC News
• Covid 19: Vulnerable patients denied £800 anti-viral jab unless they go private The Daily Mail
• Recipients of Paxlovid report symptoms returning and even testing positive for the virus again The Daily Mail
• At least 70% of people have had Covid in England, official data shows The Daily Mail
•  ‘Living with Covid’ should not mean letting people go to hospital alone, says NHS chief The Daily Telegraph
• Matt Hancock to publish tell-all book on government’s handling of pandemic The Guardian
• What does a faint line mean on a lateral flow test? The Independent

Women asked if bladder drug should be available to buy

Women asked if bladder drug should be available to buy A pill to help treat an overactive bladder - which affects millions of women - could soon be available to buy in the UK without prescription.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) wants women and doctors to submit their views.

Aquiette tablets treat the "urge to pee" condition which can cause frequent toilet trips and distressing accidents. BBC News

‘Woeful scarcity’: NHS psychiatrist decries lack of mental health beds

‘Woeful scarcity’: NHS psychiatrist decries lack of mental health beds As a psychiatrist, I reserve admission to a mental health hospital bed for only the most unwell patients, whose mental health has collapsed. But despite my very best efforts to keep as many patients as I can out of hospital, bed pressures pervade every aspect of my daily work. The decision about whether or not we can admit a patient with a psychotic relapse who is not eating or drinking, for example, must first be agreed by the trust’s bed-management team. The woeful and worsening scarcity of NHS mental health beds forces psychiatrists to make very difficult judgments about a patient’s need for care and the risk they pose. The Guardian

See also:

• NHS paying £2bn a year to private hospitals for mental health patients The Guardian

Sajid Javid plans review of impact of gender dysphoria treatment

Sajid Javid plans review of impact of gender dysphoria treatment A review of the long-term outcomes for children treated for gender dysphoria is being drawn up by ministers, following warnings over how little is known about children who later regret the treatment.

Sajid Javid, the health secretary, wants to hand new legal powers to an existing review into NHS gender identity services for children, granting it greater access to crucial data on the experiences of patients who have undergone treatment. The Guardian

See also:

• Sajid Javid to review gender treatment for children BBC News

At least one child has died due to mystery strain of ‘acute, severe’ hepatitis, WHO says

At least one child has died due to mystery strain of ‘acute, severe’ hepatitis, WHO says A severe hepatitis disease of unknown origin found in 12 countries has led to the death of at least one child, said the World Health Organisation (WHO).

At least 169 cases of the acute viral hepatitis disease have been reported in children aged from a month to 16 years old in countries including the UK, the US, Spain, Italy, and France, the UN health agency said. The Independent 

Next flu season could be worse than before pandemic, GPs warned

Next flu season could be worse than before pandemic, GPs warned Flu cases could rise to higher levels than before the Covid pandemic next season, the Government’s annual flu letter has warned.

It said that flu levels were ‘extremely low’ globally in 2020 to 2021 thanks to Covid measures such as mask-wearing and reduced social interactions and travel and ‘continue to be low’.

But the 2022/23 flu letter, published today by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England, stressed that this may cease to be the case. Pulse