Corby Lakeside research team wins award for medical trial work

Corby Lakeside research team wins award for medical trial work Doctors working at Corby’s Lakeside Research have received awards from a regional clinical research network for their teamwork.

National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) East Midlands awarded the Corby medics two accolades.

As well as winning the ‘outstanding achievement by a team’ award they were also shortlisted in the ‘excellent example of collaborative working’ category. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Should emergency departments move patients to other wards even when there's no bed space available?

Should emergency departments move patients to other wards even when there's no bed space available? With emergency departments beyond capacity throughout the country, some hospitals have been trialling an approach of moving a set number of patients into inpatient wards each hour, regardless of bed availability. Is this a viable solution to the problems faced throughout the system? Dr Louella Vaughan assesses the evidence and argues for further caution before rolling out such a model. Nuffield Trust

Introducing integrated care systems: joining up local services to improve health outcomes

Introducing integrated care systems: joining up local services to improve health outcomes This report examines the setup of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) by the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, and their partners and the risks they must manage. The report is not an assessment of whether the programme has secured good value for money to date because ICSs have only recently taken statutory form. Instead, it is an assessment of where they are starting from and the challenges and opportunities ahead. It makes recommendations intended to help manage those risks and realise those opportunities. National Audit Office

The bet against the NHS – how likely is a two-tier healthcare system in the UK?

The bet against the NHS – how likely is a two-tier healthcare system in the UK? This briefing unpacks the background and policy landscape creating increased concerns for the health care system in the UK. It explains how for-profit health care provision has grown in the past two decades, the role of the Government in creating an environment that encouraged this growth, and the effect this has on patients and the way we access treatment based on ability to pay rather than level of need. Centre for Health and the Public Interest

NHS delivers record number of lifesaving cancer checks as long waits for care continue to fall

NHS delivers record number of lifesaving cancer checks as long waits for care continue to fall More people than ever before received a lifesaving NHS cancer check in August alongside continued progress against the elective recovery plan, new figures show today.

Over a quarter of a million people (255,055) were checked following an urgent GP referral in August – the highest number since records began. NHS England

Guidance: The R value and growth rate

Guidance: The R value and growth rate The latest reproduction number (R) and growth rate of coronavirus (COVID-19). UK Health Security Agency

See also:

• Research: Consensus statements and medium-term projections on COVID-19 UK Health Security Agency

Covid cases rise as one in 37 has virus in UK

Covid cases rise as one in 37 has virus in UK The latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest one in 37 people in the UK has coronavirus, a rise from one in 50 the week before.

Experts warn of a "notable rise" in older people in England and Wales.

They say vaccines are the best defence against the virus and urge people aged 50 and over and others eligible for booster jabs to get them.

There are fears of a flu and Covid "twindemic" this winter. BBC News

See also:

• Covid: Time running out to protect vulnerable, campaigners warn BBC News
• Study links coronavirus lockdowns to birth rate drop in Europe BBC News
• BioNTech: Could Covid vaccine technology crack cancer? BBC News
• Still never had Covid? Thank your genes: Three in 10 people have a gene that blocks infection The Daily Mail
• Covid cases surge across UK again as one in 35 people in England now has virus The Independent

Nurses can leave ‘if they want to’ – they have already had a pay rise, says Thérèse Coffey

Nurses can leave ‘if they want to’ – they have already had a pay rise, says Thérèse Coffey Thérèse Coffey doubled down on her previous comments rejecting any notion of an increased pay offer.

The Health Secretary has said that nursing staff can leave the UK “if they want to” amid complaints over poor pay and short staffing. Nursing Notes

See also:

• RCN responds to media comments by the Health Secretary on not making changes to NHS pay Royal College of Nursing
• Government must act urgently on NHS pay to bring record waiting times down UNISON
• Ballot dates for ambulance strike vote revealed BBC News
• Nurses can LEAVE if they're unhappy about their pay Health Secretary says The Daily Mail
• Therese Coffey: Government ‘has already acted’ to help nurses with cost of living Evening Standard
• Thérèse Coffey says nurses won’t get higher pay offer as strike vote looms The Guardian
• Endemic low pay threatens future of NHS, says union boss The Guardian
• NHS facing mass staff walkouts this winter as unions hold votes on coordinated strike action The Independent
• Higher pay offer for nurses unlikely to be put on the table, Health Secretary Therese Coffey says Sky News

Thérèse Coffey criticised for giving leftover antibiotics to a friend

Thérèse Coffey criticised for giving leftover antibiotics to a friend Doctors have rounded on the health secretary, Thérèse Coffey, after she admitted to sharing prescription medicines with others, actions the British Medical Association described as both dangerous and against the law.

Coffey told civil servants in a meeting last month that she had given leftover antibiotics to a poorly friend, an admission that came as the discussion on how to alleviate pressures on struggling GPs moved on to public behaviour around antibiotics. The Guardian 

See also:

• Health Secretary Therese Coffey admits to illegally sharing antibiotics with friends and family as she faces backlash over plan for pharmacies to offer the medicines without prescriptions The Daily Mail
• Thérèse Coffey's 'nuts' plan for antibiotic prescription without GP okay makes drugs less effective The Daily Mail

NHS struggles as lockdown boozing causes deaths from liver disease to soar to unprecedented levels

NHS struggles as lockdown boozing causes deaths from liver disease to soar to unprecedented levels Deaths from alcohol-related liver disease reached record levels at the height of the Covid pandemic, NHS figures have revealed.

More than 5,200 people under 75 lost their lives to the condition in 2020 – 20 per cent more than the year before and the highest number since records began.

Hospitalisations related to the disease also reached unprecedented levels that year, rising to 25,000 – a jump of 57 per cent since 2010. The Daily Mail