Appeal to find new governors for Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Appeal to find new governors for Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Kettering General Hospital is calling for people to have their say in the future of the hospital by standing for election as a public governor.

Anyone from the Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough or Rushden areas can stand for election to become a public governor in their local area if they are over 16. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Man jailed after shocking attack on KGH security guards

Man jailed after shocking attack on KGH security guards An abusive patient who bit a Kettering General Hospital security guard before kicking another in the head has been locked up. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Air pollution: cognitive decline and dementia

Air pollution: cognitive decline and dementia The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants reviewed nearly 70 studies in human populations (epidemiological studies) which looked at possible links between air pollution and a decline in mental ability and dementia in older people. They also considered studies which investigated how air pollution might affect the brain.

From this review, it can be concluded that it is likely that air pollution does contribute to these effects. The most likely way this occurs is through effects on the circulation. It is known that air pollutants, particularly small particles, can affect the heart and blood vessels, including to the brain. UK Health Security Agency

See also:

• Air pollution IS causing dementia: UK Government advisers acknowledge link for first time The Daily Mail
• Air pollution linked to rise in dementia in major Government study The Daily Telegraph
• Air pollution is ‘likely’ to raise dementia risk, find UK government experts The Guardian
• Air pollution likely to be causing dementia, say UK science advisers New Scientist

Poverty, economic inequality and mental health

Poverty, economic inequality and mental health This briefing explores evidence about the links between poverty, economic inequality and mental health, showing that living in poverty increases people’s risk of mental health difficulties, and that more unequal societies have higher overall levels of mental ill health. The briefing also demonstrates that poverty and economic inequality intersect with structural racism to undermine the mental health of racialised and marginalised groups in society. The briefing calls for concerted and concrete actions to improve mental health by increasing the incomes and reducing the costs of the poorest people in society. These include increasing benefits and paying the Living Wage, help with housing and childcare costs for the least well-off, and improving access to vital services in the most deprived areas. Centre for Mental Health

Enhancing Junior Doctors’ Working Lives: annual progress report 2022

Enhancing Junior Doctors’ Working Lives: annual progress report 2022 This is the sixth report that looks at the achievements over the past year of the Enhancing Junior Doctors’ Working Lives programme in providing improved support for doctors in training. The programme was established in March 2016, to address a range of issues that were having a significant negative impact on the quality of life of doctors in postgraduate training. Led by Health Education England (HEE), it is a cross-system collaboration to drive and deliver system improvements and meaningful change to postgraduate medical training. HEE worked collaboratively with system partners in the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the GMC, NHS Employers and the BMA as well as individual Medical Royal Colleges and the devolved nations to address those issues and provide trainees and stakeholders with yearly updates on progress. Health Education England

Managing cross-border travel during the COVID-19 pandemic

Managing cross-border travel during the COVID-19 pandemic In a report today the Public Accounts Committee says despite spending at least £486 million on implementing the international travel “traffic light system” during the pandemic, Government “does not know whether the system worked or whether the cost was worth the disruption caused”.

See also:

• Government’s contracts with Randox Laboratories Ltd Public Accounts Committee
• UK health department played ‘fast and loose’ when awarding Covid contracts to Randox The Guardian

Covid origin studies say evidence points to Wuhan market

Covid origin studies say evidence points to Wuhan market Scientists say there is "compelling evidence" that Wuhan's Huanan seafood and wildlife market was at the centre of the Covid-19 outbreak. 

Two peer-reviewed studies published on Tuesday re-examine information from the initial outbreak in the Chinese city. BBC News

See also:

• The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic (open access) Science
• The molecular epidemiology of multiple zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2 (open access) Science
• Expert warns that Covid-caused smell-loss is returning with BA.5 variant The Daily Mail
• The most crushing thing about getting Covid so late? Knowing I’m not a medical marvel | Andy Welch The Guardian
• New studies find more evidence of Covid’s origin from Wuhan’s ‘wet market’ The Independent
• Two new Covid sub-variants are sparking global concern - what you need to know The Independent

Monkeypox: UK health officials identify new symptoms

Monkeypox: UK health officials identify new symptoms Health officials in the UK have updated the case definition of monkeypox to include new symptoms associated with the disease. The Independent

See also:

• Monkeypox case definition updated to include new symptoms UK Health Security Agency
• Statement: Vaccines alone won’t end the monkeypox outbreak – at-risk individuals will have to take action too World Health Organization
• The mystery virus that protects against monkeypox BBC Future
• Monkeypox: CDC says US leads globally in most known cases BBC News
• How worried should you be about monkeypox? The Independent
• Monkeypox emergency could last months, with window closing to stop spread, experts say Reuters

‘Without Find and Treat I wouldn’t be here’: the NHS service caring for London’s vulnerable

‘Without Find and Treat I wouldn’t be here’: the NHS service caring for London’s vulnerable On the streets of the capital with the doctors, nurses and outreach workers administering care to at-risk populations. 

“We take healthcare to people who need it most,” says Sive O’Regan, a health inclusion nurse with the NHS service Find and Treat, whose team in London cares for the city’s homeless, sex workers, drug addicts and asylum seekers. “We work with disadvantaged and marginalised groups who don’t get much healthcare normally.” The Guardian

Up to 300,000 people in Britain are unaware they may have potentially deadly heart condition

Up to 300,000 people in Britain are unaware they may have potentially deadly heart condition Now research suggests up to 300,000 people in Britain may have the potentially deadly condition without even knowing it.

Many will have no symptoms and will be diagnosed only when the condition is advanced — when half could die within five years without prompt treatment, according to the research by NHS England, UK universities and the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle, Australia. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Uncovering the treatable burden of severe aortic stenosis in the UK (open access) BMJ Open Heart
• 300,000 people suffering from potentially fatal heart disease ‘with third unaware of it’ The Independent