Two more days of strike action for East Midlands Ambulance Service staff across Northamptonshire over ‘increasingly bitter’ pay dispute

Two more days of strike action for East Midlands Ambulance Service staff across Northamptonshire over ‘increasingly bitter’ pay dispute Two more days of industrial action for paramedics and ambulance service staff are coming up and they will include employees in Northamptonshire.

GMB union members - who took part in strikes on December 21, 2022 - will partake in another day of action on Wednesday (January 11) - after it was moved from its original date of December 28, 2022 - and members of trade union, Unite, will strike on January 23 over an “increasingly bitter” pay dispute with the Government. Both strikes will include East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) staff and will last for 24 hours. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Modular building set to replace A&E gazebo at Northampton General

Modular building set to replace A&E gazebo at Northampton General A temporary building is set to arrive at a hospital to replace a gazebo used as an accident and emergency waiting room since the summer.

Northampton General Hospital said it will be a "much-improved" indoor, heated waiting room for emergency patients. BBC Northampton

See also:

• New heated waiting area constructed outside Northampton A&E department - here's when it will be ready for use Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Kettering General Hospital relaxes visiting restrictions as Covid cases fall

Kettering General Hospital relaxes visiting restrictions as Covid cases fall Kettering General Hospital patients will be allowed visitors again from today (Friday) after a fall in Covid cases meant restrictions could be relaxed.

NHS bosses suspended visiting at adult inpatient wards on December 29, having triggered its critical incident status because of the demand on its services.

Only compassionate visiting was allowed, with staff offering increased virtual visits, although maternity and paediatrics were not affected by the measures. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Under pressure: what will 2023 hold for the health and care system?

Under pressure: what will 2023 hold for the health and care system? It goes without saying that this is an exceptionally difficult time for many that work in, or rely on, health and care services in England. Does 2023 hold out hope of something better? The King's Fund

Guidance on developing the joint forward plan

Guidance on developing the joint forward plan This guidance supports integrated care boards (ICBs) and their partner NHS trusts and foundation trusts (referred to collectively in this guidance as partner trusts) to develop their first 5-year joint forward plans (JFPs) with system partners. NHS England

New partnership to boost research into vaccines for cancer

New partnership to boost research into vaccines for cancer Trials into vaccines for cancer and wider diseases will accelerate after the government reached a historic agreement with a leading biopharmaceutical firm to bring revolutionary research to England.

A memorandum of understanding will be signed today by Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Steve Barclay and the Germany-based company BioNTech, which previously developed a world-leading COVID-19 vaccine with Pfizer. Department of Health and Social Care

Up to £250 million to speed up hospital discharge

Up to £250 million to speed up hospital discharge Thousands of extra medically fit patients will be discharged from hospitals into community care settings, such as care homes, over the coming weeks to free up hospital beds and reduce pressure on the NHS, the Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay is set to announce today [Monday 9 December].

The government will make available up to £200 million of additional funding to immediately buy short-term care placements to allow people to be discharged safely from hospitals into the community where they will receive the care they need to recover before returning to their homes. Department of Health and Social Care

See also: 

• Record numbers of doctors and nurses working in the NHS to ease pressure over winter Department of Health and Social Care
• PM to hold NHS Recovery Forum at Downing Street Department of Health and Social Care
• Flu cases up almost half in a week as NHS answers near record 111 calls NHS England
• NHS to buy care beds to make space in hospitals BBC News
• PM Rishi Sunak to hold crisis meeting over NHS pressures BBC News
• Gridlock as record number of ambulances queue at A&E BBC News
• NHS hospitals moving patients into hotel to free up beds BBC News
• UK suffers worst flu season for decade as weekly death toll soars to levels not seen since lockdown The Daily Mail
• Care providers ask for doubled fees to care for people discharged from hospitals The Guardian
• Three reasons why politicians can’t solve our social care crisis The Guardian
• £200 million to buy care home beds in bid to ease NHS crisis The Independent
• Rishi Sunak refuses to accept NHS in crisis and won’t say if he uses private GP The Independent
• Health secretary blames flu and COVID for NHS crisis as pressure mounts on government to act Sky News

Union talks aimed at ending strike action

Union talks aimed at ending strike action Ministers are holding separate talks with health, teaching and rail unions to try to bring an end to the country's various strike actions.

Rishi Sunak said the talks were a "positive development" but any pay deals had to be "affordable".

Unions welcomed the discussions but insist pay rises for nurses in this financial year must be addressed.

The government has so far only agreed to discuss a settlement for the next financial year, which starts in April. BBC News

See also:

• NHS pay: Nurses' leader optimistic over Sunak talks BBC News
• NHS pay dispute: Health Secretary Steve Barclay hints at revised offer to unions BBC News
• Junior doctor strike warning for March BBC News
• Employers could sue unions under planned anti-strike laws BBC News
• Junior doctors could strike for 72 HOURS in March, warns 'militant' union demanding a 26% pay rise The Daily Mail
• Nursing union orchestrating chaotic NHS-wide strikes tells Government it would 'meet halfway' The Daily Mail
• Rishi Sunak may consider one-off payment to end nurses’ strikes The Guardian
•  More than 2,600 ambulance workers from Unite to join existing strike The Guardian
• Nurses’ union ‘could accept 10% pay rise’ The Guardian

Half of NHS trusts providing or planning food banks for staff

Half of NHS trusts providing or planning food banks for staff Soaring cost of living forces nurses and health workers to seek help from charities through free meals and voucher schemes

More than half of NHS trusts and health boards are either providing or planning food banks for staff, new research suggests, as the cost of living soars.

In a survey that lays bare the catastrophic impact that the rising cost of food, energy and housing is having on health workers, NHS Charities Together and the Observer have found that thousands of NHS staff – including nurses – are already seeking help from food banks, with numbers expected to rise in the coming months.

One in 20 people were infected with Covid at Christmas, data shows

One in 20 people were infected with Covid at Christmas, data shows One in 20 people were infected with Covid over the Christmas break, experts believe.

Cases are estimated to have doubled during December, just as the XBB.1.5 'Kraken' variant began to sweep Britain. Analysts say almost three million people had the virus in the festive week, mirroring levels seen during the summer when experts wanted the return of pandemic-era restrictions like masks. The Daily Mail

 

See also:

• Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey, UK: 6 January 2023 Office for National Statistics