How does residential mobility shape the health of local areas?

How does residential mobility shape the health of local areas? Residential mobility – people changing where they live, by moving from one area to another – plays an important role in shaping public health in local areas. But this has often been overlooked in research and policy discussions. The Health Foundation

Health and place: how levelling up health can keep older workers working

Health and place: how levelling up health can keep older workers working This report finds that a quarter of a million older people could have stayed in paid employment longer had the levelling up health targets been achieved a decade ago. International Longevity Centre UK

Job crafting and flexible working in general practice

Job crafting and flexible working in general practice This report explores how six GP practices across the UK have approached the challenges of designing and implementing flexible work designs and job crafting to meet the increase in patient demands and ensure that individual staff needs, and the wider practice can be balanced. Institute for Employment Studies

Infected blood £100,000 interim compensation payments to be made this month

Infected blood £100,000 interim compensation payments to be made this month Thousands of victims of the historic infected blood scandal, which occurred in the 70’s and 80’s, are being contacted this week to confirm that interim compensation payments will be made by the end of October.

The payments deliver the government’s commitment to meet, in full, the recommendations set out by infected blood inquiry chairman Sir Brian Langstaff in his interim report. Department of Health and Social Care

NHS launches recruitment drive for tens of thousands of nurses, amid record staff vacancies

NHS launches recruitment drive for tens of thousands of nurses, amid record staff vacancies The NHS is launching its annual nationwide drive to recruit more nurses, with tens of thousands of vacancies across England.

England’s Chief Nurse called on anyone looking for a lifechanging career to consider becoming a nurse, as new figures show that more than six in ten people are considering a career change over the next year. NHS England

Health: 'My illness is so rare it doesn't have a name'

Health: 'My illness is so rare it doesn't have a name' As a teenager, Debbie Schwartz felt humiliated as doctors said her illnesses were all in her head.

"It was soul destroying," said the 47-year-old former teacher. "I felt hopeless, isolated and humiliated."

Debbie has an illness so rare, experts have not been able to identify it - and she is among thousands of people looking for answers.

Now, she is among the first at the UK's first specialist clinic of its type for patients with syndromes without a name. BBC News

Cost of living crisis forcing nurses to quit their NHS pensions

Cost of living crisis forcing nurses to quit their NHS pensions The cost of living crisis is forcing nurses to quit their pensions, according to new figures.

The number of staff leaving the NHS pension scheme has doubled from 30,270 to 66,167 in just one year, according to an analysis by The Royal College of Nursing. The Independent

See also:

• Hospital food banks open for NHS staff in Leicester BBC News
• Staff food banks opened in Leicester hospitals as health workers struggle to battle cost of living Leicester Mercury
• Families across the country are feeling the squeeze New Economics Foundation

More than 137000 NHS blood donation appointments cancelled in the last year due to NHS staff shortages

More than 137000 NHS blood donation appointments cancelled in the last year due to NHS staff shortages More than 130,000 blood donation appointments have been cancelled in the past 12 months due to NHS staff shortages, new figures reveal, prompting claims by Labour that government “incompetence” has left patients “paying the price”.

The disclosure comes just two weeks after the health service issued its first-ever amber alert as blood stocks ran dangerously low, with just two days’ worth of supply left for some blood types. The Independent

NHS hospital trusts paying hundreds of millions in interest to private firms

NHS hospital trusts paying hundreds of millions in interest to private firms NHS trusts spent close to a half a billion pounds on interest charges from private companies for private finance initiative (PFI) contracts last year – equivalent to the salaries of 15,000 newly qualified nurses.

Hospital groups spent £2.3bn on legacy PFI projects in 2020-21, of which just under £1bn went on costs for essential services such as cleaning and maintenance. A third of the remaining PFI spend – £457m – went purely on paying off interest charges. The Guardian

Young people to be prescribed surfing and dancing by NHS to help anxiety

Young people to be prescribed surfing and dancing by NHS to help anxiety Young people will take part in surfing, roller-skating and gardening to see whether sport, the arts and outdoor activities can make them less anxious and depressed.

NHS mental health trusts will use the activities to help 600 young people on their waiting lists for care as part of a study into whether “social prescribing” helps improve mental wellbeing. The Guardian

Brutal type of Covid 'does not exist anymore', claims ex-Government adviser

Brutal type of Covid 'does not exist anymore', claims ex-Government adviser The Covid which forced Britain into an endless cycle of lockdowns 'does not exist anymore', an ex-Government adviser claims.

Oxford University's Sir John Bell, who served as No10's coronavirus testing tsar and was an early member of the vaccine taskforce, said the virus has radically changed since 2020. The Daily Mail

See also:

• CDC is now 'monitoring' XBB Covid variant deemed 'most vaccine resistant strain ever' The Daily Mail
• Over 2,000 Guardian readers told us about their long Covid fight. Here are their stories The Guardian
• COVID research is free to access — but for how long? Nature
• COVID-19: Inquiry focusing solely on safety of vaccines will not be opened, govt says Sky News

Children who play video games are MORE intelligent than their peers, study suggests

Children who play video games are MORE intelligent than their peers, study suggests Parents often think of them as a waste of time, but playing video games may actually boost children's intelligence.

A study found those who game for three or more hours a day on average performed better in cognitive and memory tests than their peers.

Gaming has long been associated with violence, antisocial behaviors and health problems in young people. The Daily Mail

See also: 

• Association of Video Gaming With Cognitive Performance Among Children (open access) JAMA Network Open