MP's plea to Health Secretary for Rushden care centre to stay open for NHS patients

MP's plea to Health Secretary for Rushden care centre to stay open for NHS patients An MP has urged the Government to fund the redeployment of a care facility in Rushden to be used to free up beds in local hospitals.

During a debate on NHS winter pressures, MP for Wellingborough Peter Bone asked for Rushden’s 51-bed soon-to-close Spinneyfields Specialist Support Centre to be used.

The call was made the same day as NHS data revealed both Northamptonshire hospitals are in the in top 25 per cent of dangerously busy hospitals in England. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Northampton ambulance crews strike with heavy hearts, says rep

Northampton ambulance crews strike with heavy hearts, says rep Crews are striking with "very heavy hearts", an East Midlands Ambulance Service worker said.

About 20,000 ambulance workers in England and Wales walked out for the second time without pay earlier.

GMB rep Andrew Blankley said strikers at Mereway station, Northampton, also responded "without hesitation" to a life-threatening call-out. BBC Northampton

Running on empty: the reality of nursing in A&E

Running on empty: the reality of nursing in A&E To nurse is a privilege. To be with individuals at some of the worst, and best, moments of their lives is not something most people experience in their day-to-day working lives, and it’s hard to articulate the sense of purpose and fulfilment that can bring. I’m loath to ever describe nursing as a vocation: I think to do so undervalues the expertise, skills and capability that nurses work incredibly hard to achieve and maintain. The Health Foundation

National survey shows decline in positive maternity experiences

National survey shows decline in positive maternity experiences Findings from a survey of more than 20,900 women who gave birth in February 2022 show fewer reporting positively about their experience of maternity care, with a notable decline in the number able to get help from staff when they needed it, compared to five years ago. Care Quality Commission

See also:

• Maternity survey 2022 Care Quality Commission
• Help during childbirth has declined, survey finds BBC News
• Pregnant women 'abandoned' by NHS: Nearly 40% of mothers-to-be struggled to get help during labour The Daily Mail
• Alarm raised at decline in women’s maternity experiences in England The Guardian
• "Concerning decline" in women's experiences with maternity services ITV News

COVID-19 variants identified in the UK – latest updates

COVID-19 variants identified in the UK – latest updates The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has released a new variant technical briefing detailing updated analysis of epidemiological and genomic data relating to SARS-CoV-2 variants currently circulating in the UK, including the XBB.1.5 variant which has been increasing in the US in recent months.

The analysis shows that coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the UK are primarily made up of BQ.1 and its sublineages, consistent with the UKHSA risk assessment published in October. Two variants, CH.1.1 and XBB.1.5, appear to have a growth advantage in the UK. Both are variants in the Omicron family.

XBB.1.5 remains at very low prevalence in the UK, so estimates of growth are highly uncertain.

See also:

• Guidance: SARS-CoV-2 variants of public health interest UK Health Security Agency
• Free PPE to health and social care sectors extended Department of Health and Social Care
• Role of general practice teams in supporting patient access to treatments for Covid-19 NHS England
• 'Kraken' may soon become dominant Covid variant in UK, health chiefs warn The Daily Mail
• Long Covid effects will ‘resolve in a year’ for this group of people The Independent
• Long COVID symptoms 'resolve in a year' for most with mild illness, study finds Sky News

NHS braced for more walkouts as ambulance staff strike

NHS braced for more walkouts as ambulance staff strike The NHS is braced for more strikes by staff after health unions pulled out of the independent pay review process.

The announcement by 14 health unions that they would no longer work with the NHS Pay Review Body came as ambulance crews in England and Wales walked out for the second time this winter.

The unions had been due to make a submission about the 2023-24 pay award.

But they refused to do so given the continuing dispute over this year's, upping the pressure on ministers. BBC News

See also:

• NHS strikes: Why are nurses and ambulance staff taking industrial action? BBC News
• On the picket line with ambulance staff across England and Wales BBC News
• Ambulance service being misused, paramedics say BBC News
• 'My dying husband could not get an ambulance' BBC News
• Ambulance workers to strike again if no pay offer agreed with government Channel 4 News
• Pay offer hope to end NHS chaos: Ministers consider new proposal that could include one-off payment The Daily Mail
• Health unions launch mass boycott of NHS pay review body in blow to Steve Barclay The Daily Telegraph
• Health unions step back from next year’s NHS pay talks amid current dispute The Guardian
• Fewer people call for ambulances on service’s biggest strike so far The Guardian
• Health unions refuse to give evidence to ‘rigged’ NHS pay review system The Guardian
• More NHS staff to strike as Rishi Sunak confirms use of private healthcare – as it happened The Guardian
• Pensioner, 87, died following 17-hour wait for ambulance after breaking his pelvis The Independent
• Anti-strike legislation ‘extraordinary waste of time’, says ex-Tory health secretary The Independent
• Steve Barclay to meet health unions as NHS leaders warn strikes will 'intensify risk to patients' ITV News
• Senior doctors to meet with health secretary for talks on pay ITV News

Organ transplants: Black people wait up to six months longer, NHS figures show

Organ transplants: Black people wait up to six months longer, NHS figures show Black patients wait up to six months longer for an organ transplant than the general population, new NHS data shows.

The best match comes from someone of the same ethnicity - but only 2% of donors in 2021/22 were black, while black people are 4% of the population.

Black families are also less likely to agree to organ donation than white families, the figures show.

The NHS says there's an "urgent need" for more people from ethnic minorities to donate. BBC News

Andrew Bridgen suspended as Tory MP over Covid vaccine comments

Andrew Bridgen suspended as Tory MP over Covid vaccine comments Andrew Bridgen has been suspended as a Conservative MP for spreading misinformation about Covid vaccination.

It comes after the North West Leicestershire MP posted a tweet that compared vaccines to the Holocaust.

Tory chief whip Simon Hart said the comments had "crossed a line" and caused great offence. BBC News

See also:

• Andrew Bridgen: What has suspended MP said about vaccines? BBC Reality Check
• Outrage as Tory MP Andrew Bridgen compares Covid vaccine roll-out to the HOLOCAUST The Daily Mail
• Tory MP Andrew Bridgen loses whip over ‘dangerous’ Covid vaccine claims The Guardian
• ‘I was wrong’: how Covid conspiracies became a gateway to extreme views The Guardian
• Tory MP Andrew Bridgen suspended from party after comparing Covid vaccine to Holocaust ITV News
• 'Mind-boggling ignorance': Holocaust survivor criticises Andrew Bridgen's vaccine remarks Sky News

Why has the NHS collapsed? – Politics Weekly UK podcast

Why has the NHS collapsed? – Politics Weekly UK podcast Health officials are reporting that the NHS is on its knees. John Harris talks to the Guardian’s health policy editor, Denis Campbell, about what he has seen. Plus, Conservative peer Gavin Barwell and Gaby Hinsliff talk about why NHS reform is such a tricky conversation The Guardian

See also:

• 'We don't train to give care in corridors' BBC News
• NHS bosses ‘really worried’ by people staying away from hospital fearing huge delays Channel 4 News
• Doctor says hospitals are so overrun they are struggling more than medical centres in warzone The Daily Mail
• NHS Crisis: How will Steve Barclay’s block-book beds initiative work? Evening Standard
• I’ve worked for the NHS, and I know that doctors are starting to think the crisis will never end | Peter Endicott The Guardian
• The crucial mistakes the government has made in the NHS crisis The Independent
• One of UK's largest health authorities suspends non-urgent operations due to A&E crisis Sky News

Scientists develop simple questionnaire that can diagnose autism with up to 95% accuracy

Scientists develop simple questionnaire that can diagnose autism with up to 95% accuracy A simple online survey can diagnose autism with up to 95 percent accuracy, a study suggests.

Researchers have developed a 39-item questionnaire to help parents navigate a notoriously tricky diagnosis process.

It is the latest promising development in autism screening, coming just days after officials started the approval process for a test that can detect the disorder from a single strand of hair. The Daily Mail

See also:

• The Autism Symptom Dimensions Questionnaire: Development and psychometric evaluation of a new, open-source measure of autism symptomatology (open access) Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology
•  Autism Symptom Dimension Questionnaire Centre for Open Science

Map reveals UK's prostate cancer 'postcode lottery'

Map reveals UK's prostate cancer 'postcode lottery' Thousands of men across the UK are being diagnosed with prostate cancer too late due to a 'postcode lottery' of care, a charity has warned.

Prostate Cancer UK said the proportion of patients diagnosed with the disease when it is too advanced to treat varies significantly depending on where they live. The Daily Mail

See also:

• There’s a huge North-South divide in prostate cancer diagnoses Prostate Cancer UK