Here’s what health chiefs are saying as Covid cases and hospitalisations rise in Northamptonshire

Here’s what health chiefs are saying as Covid cases and hospitalisations rise in Northamptonshire  Anybody hoping that Covid-19 was dead and gone might need to think again, according to experts.

Health chiefs are warning of early signs indicating Northamptonshire may be at the start of a new wave of coronavirus infections Northamptonshire Telegraph

Psychiatric podcast returns with schizoaffective patient’s recovery journey at Northampton hospital

Psychiatric podcast returns with schizoaffective patient’s recovery journey at Northampton hospital Self-harm, psychosis and borderline personality disorder are just some of the key themes that patients from a psychiatric hospital will discuss in a forthcoming podcast about life as an inpatient. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

State of the nation: a comprehensive, retrospective view of NHS data

State of the nation: a comprehensive, retrospective view of NHS data This report looks at key data trends over the course of the pandemic, establishing how new trends in healthcare activity, patient numbers, disease burden, NHS operational practice, prescribing and regional variation have emerged. The report groups the data into six key areas: hospital episode statistics; demographic segmentation; therapy area analysis; referral to treatment; prescribing insights; and regional insights. Free registration is required to access the report. Wilmington Healthcare

Where next for NHS nurses' pay?

Where next for NHS nurses' pay? The gruelling effects of the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis have accelerated the need to review the current approach to NHS nurse pay determination, to ensure it can be fit for purpose as part of an overall NHS workforce strategy.

 This analysis looks at the impact of high inflation and other factors affecting nurse pay, assessing the potential implications for the 2022 NHS Pay Review Body recommendations on nurses' earnings. Secondly, we consider the extent to which the current pay determination system could be improved to meet NHS nurse workforce priorities. The Health Foundation

Employment survey 2021: workforce diversity and employment experiences

Employment survey 2021: workforce diversity and employment experiences This is the second report from the RCN annual employment survey. It focuses on four major themes: working hours and patterns; experience of workplace abuse; bullying and harassment, and career progression. Royal College of Nursing

Tip of the iceberg: 12-hour stays in the emergency department

Tip of the iceberg: 12-hour stays in the emergency department This report reveals that on average 1,047 patients waited 12-hours or more from their time of arrival every day in a major Emergency Department in 2021 in England, equalling a total of 381,991 patients experiencing these 12-hour waits in 2021. Royal College of Emergency Medicine

Public attitudes towards institutions involved in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic

Public attitudes towards institutions involved in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic According to this report of an international study of six countries three in four (74 per cent) people in the UK think the government is motivated by building or protecting its own reputation when it comes to Covid-19, while six in ten (61 per cent) believe it is motivated by making lots of money in relation to the pandemic. However, majorities in other nations share the same perceptions. These perceptions also extend, although to a lesser extent, to scientists involved in tackling coronavirus. The Policy Institute at King's College London

Gaps in student mental health services to be tackled

Gaps in student mental health services to be tackled Students are set to benefit from better join up of mental health services to prevent them falling through the gaps at university.

The new scheme will bring together university, NHS and mental health services to create regional partnerships which could include physical hubs that students can visit in-person. Department of Health and Social Care

Dementia patients not allowed to use toilet

Dementia patients not allowed to use toilet Dr Katie Featherstone, from the Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory, at the University of West London, observed the continence care of dementia patients in three hospitals in England and Wales over the course a year for a study funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

She found patients who were not helped to go to the toilet and instead left to wet and soil themselves. BBC News

Britain’s mental health faces ‘threat of pandemic proportions’ from cost of living crisis

Britain’s mental health faces ‘threat of pandemic proportions’ from cost of living crisis The mental health of the nation faces a “threat of pandemic proportions” due to the deepening cost of living crisis, the head of the Royal College of Psychiatrists has warned.

Dr Adrian James said pressure on the NHS could reach unprecedented levels as people try to cope with the rising price of food, fuel and other essentials, adding that those who already living with a mental illness “are more likely to suffer the consequences of the looming economic downturn”. The Independent

See also:

• Cost-of-living crisis threat of ‘pandemic proportions’ to mental health, warns UK’s leading psychiatrist Royal College of Psychiatrists

Violence against ambulance staff in England at record high as A&E crisis intensifies

Violence against ambulance staff in England at record high as A&E crisis intensifies Violence against ambulance staff in England has reached a record high, as the NHS crisis in emergency care continues to deepen.

An estimated 12,626 incidents were reported in the 12 months to April 2022, according to nationwide data shared with The Independent – a 7 per cent rise on the previous year.

Palantir: concerns over data firm poised to be ‘operating system’ of NHS

Palantir: concerns over data firm poised to be ‘operating system’ of NHS For a company tipped to provide the NHS’s new overarching data platform, it is appropriate that Palantir Technologies is named after an all-seeing orb.

Palantir, which draws its name from the powerful crystal balls deployed in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, is the favourite to win a £360m contract for the NHS’s Federated Data Platform (FDP). Covering everything from individual patients’ data to vaccination programmes, waiting lists and medical trials, the FDP will aggregate data from multiple sources and different formats on to a single platform. The Guardian

NHS to offer women in England drug that cuts recurrence of breast cancer

NHS to offer women in England drug that cuts recurrence of breast cancer Thousands of women in England with breast cancer are to benefit from a new pill on the NHS which reduces the risk of the disease coming back.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has given the green light to abemaciclib, which cuts the chance of breast cancer returning after a patient has had surgery to remove a tumour. The Guardian

See also:

• NICE recommends step-change targeted treatment for people with early breast cancer National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

Long Covid is a disability, tribunal rules in landmark case

Long Covid is a disability, tribunal rules in landmark case Long Covid is a disability, a tribunal has ruled in what employment experts say could result in a “significant increase” in the number of claims brought by people suffering with the syndrome.

In what appears to be a landmark employment tribunal ruling, Terence Burke, who was dismissed from his job as a charity caretaker, has been given permission to bring a case of disability discrimination against his former employer. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Long Covid forces 10,000 NHS staff off sick for longer than three months The Independent

New brain scan technology can detect early-stage Alzheimer's with near 100% accuracy

New brain scan technology can detect early-stage Alzheimer's with near 100% accuracy A new machine learning powered brain scan can detect when a person has early stage Alzheimer's with near perfect accuracy, and researchers are hopeful it will become available for use in the coming years.

Researchers at the Imperial College London, in the UK, used an algorithm that already existed to detect cancerous tumors, and repurposed it to detect early Alzheimer's with 98 percent accuracy. The Daily Mail

See also:

• A predictive model using the mesoscopic architecture of the living brain to detect Alzheimer’s disease (open access) Nature Communications Medicine

More pressure for NHS as waiting list for children hits 350,000, data shows

More pressure for NHS as waiting list for children hits 350,000, data shows The number of children on NHS waiting lists has passed 350,000 for the first time – after rising by 100,000 in just a year, figures show.

Experts warn that long waits are particularly harmful for youngsters as it can impair their mental and physical development at a critical time of life. But only 65.4 per cent of under-18s are being treated within the 18-week target and 12,000 have been waiting for more than a year. The Daily Mail