State of Caring 2022: A snapshot of unpaid care in the UK

State of Caring 2022: A snapshot of unpaid care in the UK The State of Caring Survey is the UK’s most comprehensive research into the lives and experience of carers. 

It is clear from carers’ responses this year that the cost-of-living crisis has created unprecedented pressure, which has not only affected their finances but their health and wellbeing. Last month, we published a report - Heading for crisis: caught between caring and rising costs - based on these findings. As well as finances, our State of Caring 2022 survey covered many other aspects of caring, from the impact of caring on health, to experiences of using support services, and the challenges of juggling work and care.

See also:

• Unpaid carers facing 'serious difficulties' accessing NHS care, report warns The Independent

Hidden in plain sight: A national plan of action to support vulnerable teenagers to succeed and to protect them from adversity, exploitation and harm'.

Hidden in plain sight: A national plan of action to support vulnerable teenagers to succeed and to protect them from adversity, exploitation and harm'. The final report from the Commission on Young Lives proposes a new 'Sure Start Plus for Teenagers' network of intervention and support as the centrepiece of a wide range of recommendations to government, the police, schools, and others to tackle the deep-rooted problems in the children's social care, education, family support, children's mental health, and criminal justice systems. Commission on Young Lives

Health and justice framework for integration 2022-2025: improving lives – reducing inequality

Health and justice framework for integration 2022-2025: improving lives – reducing inequality This framework sets out the direction of travel and national priorities which will inform the development of integrated health and justice services across England. It has been informed by the views and experiences of people with lived experience, partner organisations, providers and our own team. NHS England

NHS offers life-changing bionic arms to all amputees

NHS offers life-changing bionic arms to all amputees Dozens of amputees will be able to access life-changing bionic arms which can mimic real hand movements, the NHS announced.

The newly available bionic arms – controlled by electrical brain signals – have multi-grip capabilities, enabling a greater range of movements to make day-to-day tasks easier.

The NHS will make the technology available to every patient across England who needs it, following two independent reviews into their use and the successful rollout for veterans. NHS England

NHS reaches deal for life-saving breast-cancer drug

NHS reaches deal for life-saving breast-cancer drug NHS England has struck a commercial deal to offer a potentially life-saving drug to more patients with a very aggressive type of breast cancer.

Triple-negative tumours account for 15% of all breast-cancer cases but are harder to treat - often with poorer outcomes.

The drug, pembrolizumab, given alongside chemotherapy, can help shrink these cancers and stop them spreading. BBC News

See also: 

• NHS strikes deal for potentially life-saving breast cancer drug NHS England
• NHS approves life-extending drug for women diagnosed with one of deadliest types of breast cancer The Daily Mail
• NHS England to offer ‘potentially life-saving’ drug for aggressive breast cancer The Guardian

University of Nottingham research could help predict diseases in men

University of Nottingham research could help predict diseases in men Researchers have discovered a hormone which could help predict whether men will develop certain diseases in later life.

Experts at the University of Nottingham have been studying INSL3 which develops in men during puberty.

They believe it offers an early marker for predicting of age-linked disease, giving medics the chance to prevent illness. BBC News

 

See also:

• The Leydig cell biomarker INSL3 as a predictor of age-related morbidity: Findings from the EMAS cohort (open access) Frontiers in Endocrinology
• Hormone discovery could predict long term health of men University of Nottingham

Mental health patients held ‘unlawfully’ in A&Es across the country, experts warn

Mental health patients held ‘unlawfully’ in A&Es across the country, experts warn Mental health patients are being held “unlawfully” in A&Es across the country as long waits for care and beds force staff into “fudging” the law, The Independent has been told.

The University Hospital of North Midland Trust has been sanctioned by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for holding mental health patients without any legal authority.

However, experts have said the problem is widespread and occurs across every emergency department in the country with some patients waiting “days” and even “weeks” in A&E.

No10 is given FINAL chance to avoid devastating nurses strike

No10 is given FINAL chance to avoid devastating nurses strike The largest NHS strikes in Britain's history can be avoided if ministers agree to an inflation-busting pay rise, the UK's nursing union has said, as another NHS union joins the fray. 

The ultimatum from The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) comes as the union is due to publish the results of its ballot on strike action later this week, with a large majority of nurses already understood to have voted in favour. 

More strike pain could also be heading No10's way, with the union Unite announcing today it will be asking 100,000 of its NHS members if they are willing to walk off the job over pay. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Fears that a MILLION NHS staff could go on strike this winter in a major series of walkouts over pay The Daily Mail
• Striking NHS nurses to give 'Christmas level of service': Cancer treatment and routine surgery set to be cancelled as thousands walk out this winter The Daily Mail
• Nursing union tells agency workers NOT to cover unprecedented NHS strikes The Daily Mail
• Nurses’ strike will test the public’s patience The Daily Telegraph
• Nurses will be striking for their pay, your health – and the future of the NHS | Polly Toynbee The Guardian
• Thousands of operations likely to be cancelled during NHS strikes, trusts chiefs warn The Independent
• Nurses’ strike: ‘We have no choice but to do this for our patients’, says nurse supporting walkout iNews
• RCN industrial action ballot: ‘Strong support’ with results expected this week Nursing in Practice

Hope for hundreds of thousands with 'untreatable' high blood pressure

Hope for hundreds of thousands with 'untreatable' high blood pressure Hundreds of thousands of people with untreatable high blood pressure could benefit from a new drug, a trial suggests.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is one of the world's most common conditions and affects roughly a third of British and half of American adults.

In recent years it has become clear that between five and 10 per cent of these people do not respond to traditional blood pressure medication, and so their condition does not improve. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Phase 2 Trial of Baxdrostat for Treatment-Resistant Hypertension (abstract) New England Journal of Medicine
• ‘Exciting’ development in tackling untreatable high blood pressure The Independent