'The NHS is still here but please don't call 999 or attend Accident and Emergency unless you have an emergency'

The NHS is still here but please don't call 999 or attend Accident and Emergency unless you have an emergency' With upcoming industrial action next week, which will seriously impact on our hospitals, the local NHS is appealing to local people to play their part and only access 999 and emergency services if they have a serious illness or injury. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Minister backs threatened Corby children's centre

Minister backs threatened Corby children's centre A Conservative MP and minister has given his backing to a children and families centre hit by cuts, in a special BBC debate in Corby.

The Pen Green Centre in the Northamptonshire town is to have its budget cut in half, in a move campaigners have called "catastrophic".

Corby MP Tom Pursglove said: "It makes no sense to lose the centre." BBC Northampton

Going swimmingly or treading water: is the elective recovery plan bringing down NHS waiting lists?

Going swimmingly or treading water: is the elective recovery plan bringing down NHS waiting lists? The NHS Elective recovery plan (ERP), launched in February 2022, is intended to make a major contribution to reducing waiting lists. This paper sets out: how the national waiting list has changed over the year and the impact of the ERP; inequalities in the waiting list by speciality and geography and how the ERP has so far impacted regions differently; and LCP’s projections past and future – how their previous projections compare to 2022’s waiting list and what their projections are to 2027 in light of over a years’ worth of new data being available. Lane Clark & Peacock LLP

Pandemic preparedness for the real world: why we must invest in equitable, ethical and effective approaches to help prepare for the next pandemic

Pandemic preparedness for the real world: why we must invest in equitable, ethical and effective approaches to help prepare for the next pandemic This report warns the global health community to think beyond vaccines and lockdowns, proposing investment in a five point action framework for pandemic preparedness which responds to people’s experiences, knowledge and needs. The proposed five areas for investment are: health professionals; diverse knowledge, expertise and perspectives; reform of health, social and other systems and structures to support resilience to disease crises; people’s trust in politics; and ethics and social justice. Institute of Development Studies

World-Leading NHS Virtual Wards Treat 100,000 Patients In A Year

World-Leading NHS Virtual Wards Treat 100,000 Patients In A Year More than 100,000 patients have been treated in NHS virtual wards in the last year, with 16,000 patients treated in January alone.

Virtual wards allow patients to get hospital-level care at home safely and in familiar surroundings, helping speed up their recovery while freeing up hospital beds for patients that need them most.

There are now more than 340 virtual ward programmes across England – 58 opened in January – including a total of 7,653 virtual beds. NHS England

NHS on-the-spot liver scans find one in 10 people have liver damage that could lead to deadly cancer

NHS on-the-spot liver scans find one in 10 people have liver damage that could lead to deadly cancer A new initiative to check for liver cancer in high-risk communities has been rolled out as part of a major NHS drive to catch more cancers earlier and save lives.

The roaming trucks performed more than 7,000 fibroscans and identified over 830 people with cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis, a leading cause of liver cancer, in eight months (June 2022 to January 2023) – with the majority of those identified referred on to further care. NHS England

Junior doctors’ strike prompts tens of thousands of hospital cancellations

Junior doctors’ strike prompts tens of thousands of hospital cancellations Hospitals have cancelled tens of thousands of outpatient appointments and operations this week as they prepare for a junior doctors’ strike that will severely disrupt NHS care.

NHS trusts in England have postponed many more procedures than for any of the recent walkouts by nurses and ambulance staff. The Guardian 

See also:

• BMA responds to Health Secretary’s last-minute pay talks letter BMA
• Junior doctors can ‘make more serving coffee than saving patients’, BMA warns ahead of three-day strike BMA
• Clarification on misleading claims made in BBC article on junior doctors industrial action BMA
• Statement ahead of the junior doctors strikes NHS Confederation
• NHS’ top doctor warns emergency care will be prioritised during biggest strike disruption to date NHS England
• A very difficult day for the NHS NHS Providers
• Thousands of junior doctors begin three-day strike BBC News
• How Monday 13 March junior doctors' strike will affect you BBC News
• Why are doctors demanding the biggest pay rise? BBC News
• Junior doctors strike today: Picket lines appear outside hospitals as union says workers 'can make more serving coffee than saving patients' The Daily Mail
• NHS could be 'safer than normal' as consultants cover striking junior doctors The Daily Telegraph
• Hundreds of NHS workers descend on capital in support of health service strikes Evening Standard
• Junior doctors strike ‘will be most disruptive so far’, says NHS leader Evening Standard
• Junior doctors paid lower hourly rate than workers to get at Pret The Guardian
• Junior doctors’ strike threatens patient safety, say NHS hospital bosses The Guardian
• Junior doctors could earn more serving coffee at Pret, says union The Independent
• Striking junior doctors say Pret pays more hourly than 'saving patients' ITV News
• Junior doctors reject Steve Barclay’s plea to call off strike action Nursing Notes
• Junior doctors strike: Anger at 'national scandal' of unnecessary NHS deaths as thousands start three day walkout Sky News
• Junior doctors launch three-day strike Sky News
• How to stop the junior doctors’ strike The Spectator

Disability the 'stark' face of England and Wales suicide statistics

Disability the 'stark' face of England and Wales suicide statistics A leading disability rights charity has described new suicide statistics as the "tragic face of systemic inequality".

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested disabled people had the highest rate of dying by suicide compared to other groups.

It found 48 disabled men per 100,000 people and 19 disabled women ended their lives, compared to 16 non-disabled men and five women.

Fazilet Hadi from Disability Rights UK (DRUK) described it as "stark". BBC News

MPs call for ban on electroconvulsive therapy for women in mental health care

MPs call for ban on electroconvulsive therapy for women in mental health care MPs from across the political spectrum have called for a ban on electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as a treatment for mental illness in England, and want the practice to be subject to an urgent inquiry.

MPs told The Independent they have serious concerns that women are disproportionally given electroconvulsive therapy, and argued that patients are not properly notified of the treatment’s potential side effects.

GPs plan to stop writing sick notes to free up time to see more patients

GPs plan to stop writing sick notes to free up time to see more patients GPs plan to stop signing sick notes, death certificates and disability forms in an effort to create more time to deal with their patients’ medical problems.

The British Medical Association (BMA) – the doctors’ union – wants GPs to ditch unpaid bureaucratic tasks that eat into time they could allocate to more appointments. Instead, it says much of the red tape should be done by nurses and even pharmacists. The Daily Mail

See also: 

• Contract imposition forces GPs to consider all options in response The BMA

NHS surgeons use high-tech 3D printers to create replacement ribs for cancer patients

NHS surgeons use high-tech 3D printers to create replacement ribs for cancer patients Patients recovering from surgery to cut out chest and lung tumours can hope to breathe easier thanks to replacement ribs created by high-tech 3D printers.

The implants are given to people who have had part of their chest wall removed during treatment, and are created using scans of the ribcage that build up a mould in the printer, layer by layer, to perfectly match the bones that need to be replaced. The Daily Mail