How much is Covid-19 to blame for growing NHS waiting times?

How much is Covid-19 to blame for growing NHS waiting times? The pandemic has had an enormous impact on health and care services, but to what extent is it to blame for the current pressures facing the NHS? Jessica Morris and Sarah Reed take a closer look at access and waiting times before and after the start of the Covid crisis. Quality Watch

See also:

• Covid-19 not solely to blame for scale of NHS care backlog Quality Watch
• NHS backlog would have been at 'alarming' levels affecting five million patients even without Covid The Daily Mail
• More than five million people would still be on NHS waiting lists even without the pandemic The Daily Telegraph
• The NHS will recover with an 'all hands on deck' approach The Independent

What are the health and care challenges for the next Prime Minister?

What are the health and care challenges for the next Prime Minister? What are the immediate health and care pressures the next Prime Minister will need to address once they're in post? Podcast from The King's Fund

Fuel poverty, cold homes and health inequalities in the UK

Fuel poverty, cold homes and health inequalities in the UK This report reviews the evidence on both the direct and indirect impacts of fuel poverty and cold homes on health; the inequalities in who this effects the most, and the relation between health inequalities and climate change. It makes the case for prioritising reducing fuel poverty through policy suggestions at both the national and local level. Institute of Health Equity

Expansion of polio sewage surveillance to areas outside London

Expansion of polio sewage surveillance to areas outside London Following the findings of poliovirus in sewage samples collected from the London Beckton Sewage Treatment Works, which covers parts of North and East London, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) working with the Medicines and Healthcare product Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are now expanding the surveillance to a range of areas outside of the capital.

JCVI advises use of additional bivalent vaccine for autumn booster campaign

JCVI advises use of additional bivalent vaccine for autumn booster campaign Following on from the previous advice on which vaccines should be used in this year’s autumn booster programme, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has updated its published advice to include an additional bivalent vaccine now approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). UK Health Security Agency

See also:

• Independent report: COVID-19 vaccines for autumn 2022: JCVI advice, 3 September 2022 Department of Health and Social Care
• Guidance: The R value and growth rate UK Health Security Agency
• Research: Consensus statements and medium-term projections on COVID-19 UK Health Security Agency
• Guidance: Emerging infections and zoonoses: epidemic intelligence scanning procedures UK Health Security Agency

Covid: Millions invited for booster jabs from Monday

Covid: Millions invited for booster jabs from Monday Millions of people will be invited for their autumn Covid booster jab in England and Scotland next week, with care home residents the first to receive them.

Although infections are falling, health bosses are predicting a resurgence of Covid and flu this autumn and winter.

They are urging those eligible to protect themselves from serious illness by getting vaccines against both. BBC News

See also: 

• EU watchdog passes first blood test for diagnosing long Covid The Daily Mail
• Omi-gone! Covid wave crashes to lowest level since June - with fewer than a million now infected The Daily Mail
• Covid app that detects virus in your voice ‘more accurate than lateral flow tests’ The Daily Telegraph
• UK approves second Covid vaccine targeting Omicron variant The Guardian
• Covid-19 booster jab programme gets under way The Independent

Fixing the NHS - a near impossible job for new PM?

Fixing the NHS - a near impossible job for new PM? On Monday we will find out who will be the new prime minister. But as summer makes way for autumn, the alarm bells are ringing loud and clear in the NHS.

And while the cost of living crisis has dominated the attention during the leadership contest, talk to anyone in the NHS and they will tell you they are worried what the coming months will bring.

Put simply, this summer has been worse than any winter this century. Dr Adrian Boyle, of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, says the demise has been so sharp that the service is "struggling to perform even its central function - to deliver care safely and effectively". BBC News

NHS whistleblower Shyam Kumar wins case against regulator

NHS whistleblower Shyam Kumar wins case against regulator A doctor who was sacked for raising patient safety concerns has won a case against England's hospital regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Orthopaedic surgeon Shyam Kumar worked part-time for the CQC as a special adviser on hospital inspections, but Manchester Employment Tribunal found that he was unfairly dismissed. BBC News

Care homes will 'go to the wall' over energy costs putting further strain on the NHS

Care homes will 'go to the wall' over energy costs putting further strain on the NHS Many care homes could be forced to close because of sky high energy bills this winter putting further strain on the NHS, experts in the sector have warned.

Providers cannot cut back on consumption and will “go to the wall” because “there’s nowhere to go”, they warned. The Independent

Ministers to make it easier for foreign nurses and dentists to work in NHS

Ministers to make it easier for foreign nurses and dentists to work in NHS Ministers will introduce legislation as soon as parliament returns on Monday to tackle the NHS’s worsening staffing crisis by making it easier for overseas nurses and dentists to work in the UK.

The move is part of a drive by the health secretary, Steve Barclay, to increase overseas recruitment to help plug workforce gaps in health and social care. The Guardian

Child cancer deaths have HALVED since late 80s thanks to UK's world-leading trials and research

Child cancer deaths have HALVED since late 80s thanks to UK's world-leading trials and research The number of children dying from cancer in Britain has almost halved in the past 33 years.

Since the late Eighties, the mortality rate has plunged thanks to world-leading research and trials in the UK. The Daily Mail

Routine surgeries could be postponed due to blood shortages

Routine surgeries could be postponed due to blood shortages Routine surgeries could be delayed because of a shortage of blood, experts have warned. Supplies are at around half their normal levels and hospitals have been told they should be ready to implement emergency measures – possibly as early as this month – should the situation get worse. The Daily Mail