Northampton General Hospital fire believed to have been started 'accidentally' as one ward remains closed to patients

Northampton General Hospital fire believed to have been started 'accidentally' as one ward remains closed to patients A fire at Northampton General Hospital is believed to have been started accidentally, according to the fire service.

Firefighters were called to the Cliftonville hospital shortly before 2pm on Monday (March 13) following reports of a blaze on the ground floor. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Spring Budget 2023: what you need to know - NHS Confederation

Spring Budget 2023: what you need to know Analysis of what the Spring Budget means for health and care.

Compared to the Autumn Statement, this Budget had little focus on health and leaves more questions than it answers when it comes to the NHS. In particular, we emerge from today with uncertainty on the pay award for 2023/24 and without publication of the much-anticipated long-term workforce plan. NHS Confederation

See also:

• Spring Budget 2023 HM Government
• Spring Budget 2023: Academy President’s response The Academy of Medical Sciences
• ‘NHS workforce plan cannot come soon enough’ BMA
• Chancellor listens to BMA with pension taxation reform to help keep senior doctors in the NHS BMA
• Our response to the Spring Budget 2023 The Health Foundation
• Spring Budget 2023: A summary House of Commons Library
• Spring Budget 2023 response Institute for Fiscal Studies
• NHS Confederation responds to the Chancellor's 2023 Spring Budget NHS Confederation
• Spring Budget 2023 NHS Employers
• Pensions reform welcome, but there must be no further delay for the workforce plan NHS Providers
• NHS faces unrealistic budget and uncertainty over significant workforce challenges in the year ahead Nuffield Trust
• RCN responds to the Budget Statement Royal College of Nursing
• Challenges facing health and social care workforce dismissed as a key priority for spending in 2023 Spring Budget Royal College of Occupational Therapists
• Childcare and pensions interventions welcome, but NHS long-term workforce plan yet to be seen Royal College of Physicians

Medical, dental, and healthcare students: UK numbers and student support arrangements

Medical, dental, and healthcare students: UK numbers and student support arrangements This briefing provides an overview of applicant and entrant numbers for medical, dental, and healthcare students across the UK. It also sets out the student support arrangements in place in each part of the UK, and covers the NHS bursary reforms in England. House of Commons Library

Public health ring-fenced grant 2023 to 2024: local authority circular

Public health ring-fenced grant 2023 to 2024: local authority circular Local authorities (upper tier and unitary) are responsible for improving the health of their local population and reducing health inequalities. In 2023 to 2024 the total public health grant to local authorities will be £3.529 billion. The grant will be ring-fenced for use on public health functions. This local authority circular sets out the allocations and conditions for using the grant. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Delay to Public Health Grant will cause ‘avoidable and unacceptable’ harm Faculty of Public Health
• Health Foundation responds to the announcement of the public health grant allocation in England The Health Foundation

Unions close to pay deal with government to avert more NHS strikes

Unions close to pay deal with government to avert more NHS strikes Unions representing hundreds of thousands of health staff are thought to be close to agreeing a pay deal that would avert more NHS strikes.

The offer would cover ambulance workers, nurses, midwives and physiotherapists in England, although not doctors.

It is believed an agreement could be announced as soon as Thursday afternoon. BBC News

See also:

• NHS Confederation responds to the third day of junior doctors strikes NHS Confederation
• Doctors' strike fallout could take weeks to resolve, NHS bosses say BBC News
• Stay away from A&E, health bosses urge as pressure from 3-day junior doctors' strike builds The Daily Mail
• Junior doctors strikes ‘must not happen again’ – health leaders Evening Standard
• 'Industrial action is the only option': GPs urge BMA to move fast GPonline
• Breakthrough imminent on NHS nurses and ambulance staff pay, insiders say The Guardian
• Ambulance strikes suspended as NHS unions receive new pay offer The Independent
• Strikes continue but hopes of a breakthrough on pay for NHS workers ITV News
• Junior doctors like me aren’t just striking over pay – it’s for your safety too Metro
• NHS unions receive new pay offer - announcement expected this afternoon Sky News

Steve Barclay accused of breaking pledge over NHS staff abuse data

Steve Barclay accused of breaking pledge over NHS staff abuse data NHS staff have accused Steve Barclay of breaking a pledge to publish details of how many of them are abused and assaulted in the course of their work.

In 2018, when Barclay was a junior minister in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), he promised he would resume publication of those statistics in the following year.

However, five years later, Barclay has not fulfilled his pledge, despite being in his second stint as health secretary. The Guardian

Stagnating life expectancy of Britain and the US laid bare

Stagnating life expectancy of Britain and the US laid bare British life expectancy has dropped in the world rankings with only the US faring worst among advanced economies, according to new analysis.

Some 70 years ago people in the UK had one of the longest life expectancies ratings in the world, ranking tenth globally behind countries such as Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

But despite the average person now living more than 12 years longer than in 1950, progress has stalled compared to other developed nations, with the UK falling to 36 on the global standings. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Falling down the global ranks: life expectancy in the UK, 1952–2021 Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
• UK life expectancy growing at slower rate than rest of G7, research shows The Guardian
• UK falls down global ranks for life expectancy – analysis The Independent
• UK falling behind other countries on life expectancy measure Sky News

Pharmacy access to NHS medical records would 'enormously improve outcomes for patients'

Pharmacy access to NHS medical records would 'enormously improve outcomes for patients' Pharmacies should have access to customers' NHS medical records so they can deliver more care and ease pressure on GPs, the boss of Boots says.

Seb James, managing director of the High Street chain, said giving his staff permission to read and write notes would 'enormously improve outcomes for patients'.

He acknowledged a 'lot of people' struggle to access a family doctor and wants ministers to give pharmacists the power to take on some of the work. The Daily Mail 

Woman has breakthrough transfusion of lab-grown red blood cells

Woman has breakthrough transfusion of lab-grown red blood cells Scientists running the trial believe that lab-grown blood cells will survive for longer after a transfusion because they are 'younger' than those taken from a donor, which are of different ages. Sky News