Brain Tumours: Pathway to a Cure – Breaking Down the Barriers

Brain Tumours: Pathway to a Cure – Breaking Down the Barriers The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours (APPGBT) has published its landmark Inquiry Report demanding urgent action to help those affected by brain tumours.

The report calls for wide-ranging changes to be made in how research into the disease is funded. 

See also:

• Northamptonshire brain tumour widow welcomes report demanding action Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Future proof: the impact of parental and caring responsibilities on surgical careers

Future proof: the impact of parental and caring responsibilities on surgical careers Support for working parents is vital for ensuring staff currently employed by the NHS achieve work–life balance, particularly amidst a workforce crisis driven by poor retention as well as recruitment. The Royal College of Surgeons of England commissioned the Nuffield Trust to explore the impact of parental and caring responsibilities on surgical careers in order to understand the issues within that profession. Our research shows a worrying gap between policy and reality.

Tackling poverty and the cost of food

Tackling poverty and the cost of food Greater food insecurity could affect people’s physical health and mental wellbeing, and create unmanageable pressure on already stretched NHS services. It is estimated that malnutrition costs the NHS £19.6 billion a year. The briefing calls on government to make a number of policy changes to help reduce the health impacts of the rising cost of food, particularly on those for whom rising prices have the biggest impact. NHS Confederation

No more sticking plasters: repairing and transforming the NHS estate

No more sticking plasters: repairing and transforming the NHS estate This report finds that the NHS' efforts to deliver national priorities including elective recovery and improvements in productivity are being put at risk because of a damaging lack of investment in buildings and facilities. It argues that major capital investment is crucial to enabling trusts to improve productivity, operational performance, and patient care across all sectors. NHS Providers

See also:

• NHS Net Zero Building Standard NHS England
• Carbon reduction plan requirements for the procurement of NHS goods, services and works NHS England

NHS scheme reduces chances of Type 2 diabetes for at risk adults

NHS scheme reduces chances of Type 2 diabetes for at risk adults The NHS has stopped thousands of people from getting type 2 diabetes, thanks to the world leading NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, new research shows today.

Analysis by University of Manchester researchers shows the risk of developing type 2 diabetes was one fifth lower in people with raised blood sugars referred to the programme, compared to people not receiving NHS support.

The programme has been offered to adults in England who are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes as part of radical action by to tackle rising obesity rates and to prevent people from developing the condition. NHS England

Matt Hancock: Leaked messages reveal battle over Covid and schools

Matt Hancock: Leaked messages reveal battle over Covid and schools Former health secretary Matt Hancock tried to bypass the education secretary to have schools closed in December 2020, the Daily Telegraph has reported.

In leaked WhatsApp messages, Mr Hancock said Sir Gavin Williamson was battling "tooth and nail" to keep schools in England open, a move he disagreed with.

Other messages show disparaging remarks about teachers' unions and belittling comments towards Sir Gavin.

It is the latest revelation to come from the leaked text messages. BBC News

See also:

• Covid messages leak a massive betrayal, says Matt Hancock BBC News
• Jacob Rees-Mogg admits Covid test was couriered to his home during shortage BBC News
• Was there REALLY not enough tests when Matt Hancock ignored advice on care home swabs?
• Covid gurus Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance both criticised shielding in 2020 The Daily Mail
• The Lockdown Files The Daily Telegraph
• Covid inquiry chair rejects journalist’s fear of ‘colossal whitewash’ The Guardian
• Matt Hancock: what do the leaked WhatsApp messages reveal? The Guardian
• What do Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp messages show? Not what the Telegraph wants us to see | Devi Sridhar The Guardian
• Minister rejects claim Matt Hancock ignored advice on Covid testing The Guardian
• Whatever the merits of the Hancock leaks, this much is clear: Britain needs to speed up its Covid inquiry The Guardian
• War of words erupts over Covid Whatsapp messages The Independent
• Matt Hancock in clash over schools opening during Covid, according to leak ITV News
• Five things we’ve learned on day two of Hancock’s lockdown files The Spectator

Age discrimination leading to avoidable eating disorder deaths, government warned

Age discrimination leading to avoidable eating disorder deaths, government warned The government must end “age discrimination” against eating disorder patients that is causing avoidable deaths, experts have warned.

A cross-party parliamentary group and the Royal College of Psychiatrists are calling for access targets to make sure adults with eating disorders get treated within a set time. The demands come after the healthcare watchdog said patients were dying while waiting to be seen. The Independent

See also:

• Children and young people with eating disorders face treatment postcode lottery Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Prescriptions for opioids 'fall by almost half-a-million over last four years’

Prescriptions for opioids 'fall by almost half-a-million over last four years’ Ps and pharmacists have helped slash prescriptions for potentially addictive opioid drugs by 450,000 in under four years, latest data suggests.

New figures published by NHS England show prescriptions for opioids fell from 5.68 million to 5.23 million between 2019/20 and the year ending November 2022. Evening Standard

See also:

• Opioid prescriptions cut by almost half a million in four years as NHS continues crackdown NHS England

AI could help NHS surgeons perform 300 more transplants every year, say UK surgeons

AI could help NHS surgeons perform 300 more transplants every year, say UK surgeons Artificial intelligence could help NHS surgeons perform 300 more transplant operations every year, according to British researchers who have designed a new tool to boost the quality of donor organs.

Currently, medical staff must rely on their own assessments of whether an organ may be suitable for transplanting into a patient. It means some organs are picked that ultimately do not prove successful, while others that might be useful can be disregarded. The Guardian

See also:

• AI picks out transplant organs ‘with much greater accuracy than humans’ The Independent

H5N1 bird flu HAS mutated to infect people, scientists on ground zero in Cambodia say

H5N1 bird flu HAS mutated to infect people, scientists on ground zero in Cambodia say A bird flu strain that claimed the life of a schoolgirl in Cambodia has evolved to better infect human cells, in a worrying sign.

Scientists on the ground who made the discovery said the finding 'needs to be treated with the utmost concern'.

They added that there were 'some indications' the virus had already 'gone through' a human and picked up the new mutations before infecting the girl. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Bird flu spillover 'concerning', doctor warns - as virus in girl who died had mutations making it better adapted to humans Sky News