Wednesday, 18 May 2022

Northamptonshire hospitals beating new government targets on cancer diagnosis waiting times

Northamptonshire hospitals beating new government targets on cancer diagnosis waiting times Medics at both Northamptonshire’s two main hospitals are beating new key cancer diagnosis targets in every month since it was first introduced.

More than eight in ten referrals getting diagnosis or all-clear within 28 days. Northamptonshire Telegraph

What does the future hold for Kettering General Hospital's breast services?

What does the future hold for Kettering General Hospital's breast services? The potential for aspects of breast care to move from KGH to Northampton forms part of early talks about the service’s future, it has been revealed.

Discussions are under way about how the two hospitals – which form the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire group – could work together in the future. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Chronic pain: 'I get tsunamis of pain seven years after surgery'

Chronic pain: 'I get tsunamis of pain seven years after surgery' A man who has been in pain since bowel surgery said he has not given up hope of one day leading a more normal life.

Alan Huddart, from Roade in Northamptonshire, said: "Even now, seven years after surgery, I still suffer nerve pain. I've actually blacked out because of the tsunami of pain."

He said he was hopeful a new treatment involving a stimulator attached to his spine, controlled via his mobile phone, would mean he would one day be able to stop using morphine. BBC Northampton

Nursing and midwifery register grows but so does number of people leaving

Nursing and midwifery register grows but so does number of people leaving The number of nursing and midwifery professionals registered to practise in the UK has grown to more than 758,000. But the number of people leaving the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register has also started to rise.

The number of people joining the register for the first time has also risen, by 13,919 to 48,436. Almost half of first-time joiners trained outside the UK.

A total of 27,133 professionals left the NMC register in 2021–2022. That’s 13 percent more than the year before, and starts to reverse a downward trend in leavers over the recent years.

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General practice on the brink: how did it get there?

General practice on the brink: how did it get there? General practice is on the brink, and policy-makers, clinicians and patients seem to know it. But how did it come to this? At the start of a mini series of blogs on general practice, Charlotte Paddison reflects on how its problems came about and what lessons can be learnt from them. Nuffield Trust

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China’s presence in NHS supply chains: Why we need to protect our health service from future threat

China’s presence in NHS supply chains: Why we need to protect our health service from future threat This new Civitas report takes a closer look at Chinese-manufactured goods in NHS supply chains and discovers the NHS is “dangerously reliant” on China for medical supplies.

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60,000 NHS staff living with post-traumatic stress following pandemic

60,000 NHS staff living with post-traumatic stress following pandemic An estimated 60,000 NHS workers could be living with post-traumatic stress as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, new research suggests.

In our survey of over 1000 NHS workers, close to three quarters (73%) expressed concern about colleagues leaving the workforce due to poor mental health. But while the pace of work and loss of unprecedented numbers of patients have taken a toll on staff, the public still feels overwhelming pride and affection for the health service – 60% say it is ‘the best thing about the UK. NHS Charities Together


Health Secretary announces 10-year Plan for dementia

Health Secretary announces 10-year Plan for dementia Health and Social Care Secretary announces a new 10-year Plan to tackle dementia and boost funding into research to better understand neurodegenerative diseases. Department of Health and Social Care

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The bitter fight over abortion clinic protests

The bitter fight over abortion clinic protests It is more than four years since the UK's first so-called buffer zone was set up outside an abortion clinic in the London borough of Ealing.

The aim was to prevent anti-abortion campaigners approaching - and often upsetting - patients.

Pro-choice campaigners had hoped buffer zones - which are legally-protected spaces - would soon become the norm.

But since 2018, only two more have been created in England, and BBC Newsnight has been told women are being regularly harassed. BBC News

Hostile behaviour toward people with a visible difference on the rise - study

Hostile behaviour toward people with a visible difference on the rise - study "I didn't even leave my flat. I was just so concerned that people were staring at me, or they were going to say something."

28-year-old Atholl Mills was born with cystic hygroma - causing cysts to form on his body.

He's part of a new campaign raising awareness about the impact of staring at people with disfigurements.

There's been an increase in hostile behaviour towards those with visible differences, according to new research. BBC News

UK monkeypox outbreak ‘unprecedented’ as officials say sexual contact likely route of transmission

UK monkeypox outbreak ‘unprecedented’ as officials say sexual contact likely route of transmission The recent outbreak of monkeypox cases in the UK is “unprecedented,” a scientist has said, as others warned there were “gaps in our knowledge” over the recent spread of the disease.

Health officials are investigating the links between four new cases that have been identified in London and the northeast of England, none of which have known connections to the previous three infections detected by the UK Health Security Agency. The Independent

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NHS risks losing GPs to ‘nonsensical’ immigration rules, Priti Patel told

NHS risks losing GPs to ‘nonsensical’ immigration rules, Priti Patel told Hundreds of overseas-born trainee GPs are at risk of deportation because of “nonsensical” immigration rules, the profession’s leader has warned Priti Patel.

The NHS risks losing much-needed family doctors unless visa regulations are overhauled to allow young medics to stay in Britain at the end of their GP training, Prof Martin Marshall said. The Guardian

Pollution killed 9MILLION people in 2019 - the equivalent of one in six deaths, major report reveals

Pollution still killing millions and accounts for one in six deaths worldwide, study finds Experts warn of the enormous health, social and economic impacts of pollution - and say climate change and wildlife loss are closely linked. Action to tackle one could help deal with the other crises, and call for a rapid transition away from all fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy.

Air, chemical and water pollution accounted for one in six deaths in 2019, a study has found.

Pollution was responsible for nine million deaths worldwide in 2019. Sky News

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Councils blew £30m on health scheme which saw just 220 people lose ANY weight, MPs told 

Councils blew £30m on health scheme which saw just 220 people lose ANY weight, MPs told ouncils blew £30million of taxpayers’ cash on weight-loss schemes that led to just 220 people slimming down, MPs heard.

Experts warned there is no evidence that diets work in the long term and an obsession with them is fuelling Britain’s obesity epidemic.

Weight-loss goals make health worse by promoting stress and stigma and focusing on self-esteem and healthy lifestyle would be more effective, the Commons health committee was told. The Daily Mail