Tuesday, 7 March 2023

Supporting high-quality perinatal mental health care

Supporting high-quality perinatal mental health care This resource, drawn from an evidence review, provides a strengths-based action template to enable and inform high-quality care for families impacted by perinatal mental health (PMH) problems, enabling individuals to come together and plan “what good looks like” for them, as practitioners, services, professions, organisations, pathways, networks, and systems. The resource (produced with the Maternal Mental Health Alliance) highlights: why improving PMH care is crucial; what good care looks like to both practitioners and families with lived experience; and ten principles of best practice. Institute of Health Visiting

    Protected learning time

    Protected learning time This guidance sets out the RPS's recommendations for protected learning time (PLT). PLT is needed to give professionals time to develop clinical and non-clinical capabilities across the pharmacy workforce, particularly around education and research as well as leadership. A wider workforce plan for the pharmacy profession needs to be developed in each of the three nations and these need to contain several elements which will enable pharmacists, in all sectors, to develop professionally. Royal Pharmaceutical Society

      NHS health teams to refer lonely and isolated patients for check in and chat service

      NHS health teams to refer lonely and isolated patients for check in and chat service Over a thousand volunteers have signed up to provide friendly phone calls for patients in England who are vulnerable, isolated or lonely, as the NHS Volunteer Responders programme reintroduces its Check in and Chat service.

      GPs, pharmacists, and other healthcare workers are being encouraged to request Check in and Chat support for patients who are socially isolated or would benefit from a phone call and a bit of encouragement – with an option to request just a one-off call or a series of calls. NHS England

      NHS consultants ready to strike, warns British Medical Association

      NHS consultants ready to strike, warns British Medical Association Consultants in England are ready to strike after a consultative ballot by the British Medical Association (BMA) showed support for industrial action.

      The union says consultants have seen pay cuts of 35% since 2008 once inflation is taken into account.

      The BMA is now warning it will proceed to a formal ballot unless the government acts before 3 April. BBC News

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      Vitiligo: Controversial skin cream may come to UK

      Vitiligo: Controversial skin cream may come to UK A controversial new treatment for a condition called vitiligo that can restore pigment to the skin might soon be offered on the NHS, if UK experts approve it.

      Some call ruxolitinib a miracle cream because it can return skin's natural colour and get rid of whitened patches.

      But it carries some potentially serious side effects. BBC News

      Mothers denied gas and air in labour say their births were traumatic

      Mothers denied gas and air in labour say their births were traumatic When Leigh Milner gave birth to her baby boy last month she was expecting "all the pain relief" but ended up with just paracetamol and describes her labour as absolutely unbearable.

      The BBC journalist delivered her son Theo at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, one of several that have recently suspended gas and air due to fears midwives and doctors have been exposed to unsafe levels. BBC News

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      NHS England imposes GP contract with focus on access

      NHS England imposes GP contract with focus on access NHS England has imposed a contract on GPs to start next month, which includes more stipulations around access, but no extra funding.

      The contract letter, which was sent to GPs today, was not agreed with the BMA GP Committee, who have already said they will be exploring all options following an imposition, including potential industrial action.

      Under the new contract, GP practices will have to offer patients an ‘assessment of need’ on first contact and will ‘no longer be able to request that patients contact the practice at a later time’. Pulse

      What have we learned from Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp messages? – podcast

      What have we learned from Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp messages? – podcast More than 100,000 of the former health secretary’s phone messages have been leaked. What do they tell us about the way the government handled the pandemic?

      The revelations have come thick and fast. There was the joke implying the health secretary believed Rishi Sunak’s “eat out to help out” scheme may have driven up Covid cases. There was the most senior civil servant describing the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, as a “nationally distrusted figure”. There was the reference to teaching unions as “absolute arses”. The leaked phone messages from Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp account have certainly had their share of surprises. The Guardian

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      Hundreds of community pharmacies 'could close due to rising costs'

      Hundreds of community pharmacies 'could close due to rising costs' The most recent contract signed with NHS England and the government to fund community pharmacies is said to be no longer fit for purpose, given the rise in costs. Sky News

      11MILLION Brits were unable to get an NHS dentist appointment last year

      11MILLION Brits were unable to get an NHS dentist appointment last year Roughly 11million people in England failed to get an NHS dentist appointment last year, shock data suggests.

      Industry leaders warned today the figures — amounting to around one in four adults — show the decaying dental industry 'is running out of road'. The Daily Mail

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      What do experts on the Government's SAGE panel hink the next pandemic will be?

      What do experts on the Government's SAGE panel hink the next pandemic will be? What will be the next pandemic, and what, if anything, can be done to stop it?

      This is the question MailOnline put to experts who sat on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) panel during the Covid crisis.

      Their answers come as concerns around the globe continue to grow on if bird flu could spill over to people and cause a new pandemic. The Daily Mail

      Meet the NHS medics who've gone beyond the call of duty

      Meet the NHS medics who've gone beyond the call of duty For these six healthcare professionals, it’s not enough to spend their working days trying to help others — they have gone one step further by donating one of their kidneys to a stranger. The Daily Mail