Northampton mental health service four times told to improve after staff caught asleep four times

Northampton mental health service four times told to improve after staff caught asleep four times A mental health hospital’s service where staff members fell asleep on four separate occasions has been told to improve by inspectors. The men's service at St Andrew's Healthcare in Northampton was visited by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in October 2022. Northants Live

I just want to be me: trans and gender diverse communities’ access to and experiences of palliative & end of life care

I just want to be me: trans and gender diverse communities’ access to and experiences of palliative & end of life care This report, based on first-hand research with the trans and gender diverse community and those working in end of life care, explores the barriers faced by trans and gender diverse people when accessing end of life, hospice, and palliative care and sets out recommendations for how to tackle them. Hospice UK

Progression of parents in NHS medical and nursing careers

Progression of parents in NHS medical and nursing careers In this report, we examine how the length of parental leave and rates of progression after having children vary by specialty, gender and other staff characteristics among doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives in the English NHS. Career progression has a direct impact on pay and can affect other job characteristics, such as shift pattern and location stability. Institute for Fiscal Studies

20-hour cap removed - NHS Employers

20-hour cap removed The Home Office has announced that from today (Monday 27 February), Health and Care Visa holders will be able to work an uncapped amount of additional hours for a second employer. NHS Employers

Campaign to help parents with introducing babies to solid food

Campaign to help parents with introducing babies to solid food Parents are being supported to safely introduce their babies to solid food through a government campaign that promotes NHS advice on weaning.

Weaning is a key milestone within the first 1,001 critical days. It teaches babies to move food around their mouth, chew and swallow, and influences children’s eating habits and their health later in life.

The campaign highlights there are three clear signs that mean your baby is ready for solid food, such as if they can stay in a sitting position, holding their head steady. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Parents to be offered weaning advice for babies in England BBC News

NHS launches ad campaign as just one in five would visit high-street pharmacy for minor illnesses

NHS launches ad campaign as just one in five would visit high-street pharmacy for minor illnesses Just one in five people aged 18-40 would visit their local pharmacy first for expert advice with a minor illness, new polling has found. The NHS has today launched a new campaign to highlight how high-street pharmacies can support patients with non-urgent health advice for minor conditions including coughs, aches and colds. NHS England

Covid inquiry: Race should be at its core, say campaigners

Covid inquiry: Race should be at its core, say campaigners Race should be made a central part of the UK's independent public inquiry into the pandemic, campaigners say.

A letter seen by BBC News, sent to the chairwoman of the Covid-19 inquiry, calls for it to look at "racism as a key issue" at every stage.

Ethnic minorities were significantly more likely to die with Covid-19, according to official figures.

An inquiry spokesperson said the unequal impacts of the pandemic would be at the forefront of its work. 

A&E delays linked to tens of thousands of patient deaths, top doctors claim

A&E delays linked to tens of thousands of patient deaths, top doctors claim A&E delays may have led to more than 20,000 patient deaths last year, top emergency doctors have claimed.

“Hidden data” analysed by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said 1.65 million people waited more than 12 hours for treatment after arriving in A&E departments in 2022 - with 23,003 of these later dying as a result.

The RCEM warned that long waiting times can have “catastrophic consequences for patient safety and mortality”. The Independent

See also:

• A&E delays killed 23,000 Brits last year as health experts warn 1.6MILLION Brits faced 12-hour waits The Daily Mail
• The NHS emergency care crisis: ‘Left for 16 hours in A&E suffering sickle cell pain’ The Independent

Patients losing out amid slump in NHS clinical trials, warn top clinicians

Patients losing out amid slump in NHS clinical trials, warn top clinicians UK falls from fourth to 10th place in phase III trials amid ‘ossified’ bureaucracy and stretched health service

The state of clinical trials in the NHS is “much worse than it has been in years” with patients losing access to cutting-edge cancer and dementia treatments, one of the UK’s most senior clinicians has warned.

Sir John Bell, the regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford and a government life sciences adviser, said the UK’s approach needed “a full overhaul, top to bottom” to prevent a collapse in the number of clinical trials being conducted in the NHS. The Guardian

Will DIY smear tests save lives? As research indicates 80 per cent more women will get screening

Will DIY smear tests save lives? As research indicates 80 per cent more women will get screening Using a 'DIY' test for cervical cancer could spare women embarrassment — and potentially save lives.

Rather than going to a clinic or their GP's surgery for a smear test, women would test themselves in the privacy of their own home.

They would then post their samples back to the lab to be examined for signs of the virus that causes the cancer. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Self-Sampling for Human Papillomavirus Testing: Increased Cervical Cancer Screening Participation and Incorporation in International Screening Programs (open access) Frontiers in Public Health