Have your say on Northampton and Kettering General Hospitals and how services can be improved

Have your say on Northampton and Kettering General Hospitals and  how services can be improved A patient panel is being launched across both Northampton General and Kettering General Hospitals to help ensure patients’ and carers’ voices are heard.

The patient experience teams at both hospitals have developed the panel idea - which will work to improve services across both hospitals - as a new way for patients, carers, and their families to get involved in the development of services. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Dying well at home: Three things I’ve learnt about working with patients, carers and families in end-of-life care.

Dying well at home: Three things I’ve learnt about working with patients, carers and families in end-of-life care. In the project, we explored how NHS and local authority commissioners in England measure and assure the quality of the end-of-life care for people who die at home and how they identify and tackle inequalities in commissioning services. As part of the project, we held a focus group and workshop with families and carers who cared for a loved one during the pandemic. The King's Fund

Waiting for prosperity: Modelling the economic benefits of reducing elective waiting lists in the NHS

Waiting for prosperity: Modelling the economic benefits of reducing elective waiting lists in the NHS As well as compelling moral reasons to reduce NHS waiting lists, there is also a convincing economic case to go further and faster on elective recovery. We find that delivering against the target set by the Elective Recovery Plan would deliver an estimated increase in production of £73 billion over five years.

But delivering a 30 per cent increase in elective activity is a challenging task – and not one that data suggest will happen without further policy intervention. To help identify immediate opportunities for intervention, in this report we explore the most pressing bottlenecks in the elective treatment pathways. Institute for Public Policy Research

See also:

• Boost the economy by offering routine NHS surgery at the weekend Evening Standard

Exploring perceptions of green social prescribing among clinicians and the public

Exploring perceptions of green social prescribing among clinicians and the public Green social prescribing (GSP) is the practice of supporting people to engage in nature-based interventions and activities to improve their mental health. Preventing and tackling mental ill-health through green social prescribing is a cross-government project that was launched in October 2020. By effectively implementing GSP, the project aims to: improve mental health outcomes; reduce health inequalities; reduce demand on the health and social care system; and develop best practice at a local level. This report focusses on public and clinical perceptions of GSP. Department of Health and Social Care

New scheme for cheaper Hormone Replacement Therapy launches

New scheme for cheaper Hormone Replacement Therapy launches Women experiencing symptoms of the menopause can now access cheaper hormone replacement therapy (HRT) – the main treatment for menopause symptoms – helping to save hundreds of pounds in prescription charges.

The new HRT prepayment certificate (PPC) being rolled out from the 1st of April will reduce prescription costs to just £19.30 per year and can be used against a list of eligible HRT items which includes patches, tablets and topical preparations. Patients can use the HRT PPC as many times as they need across the year. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Hormone replacement therapy and menopause: What you need to know about HRT BBC News
• Website crashes as women battling menopause try to get new £19.30 certificate for HRT prescriptions The Daily Mail
• NHS website crash prevents access to cheaper HRT in England The Guardian
• NHS website crash stops women getting cheaper HRT after price cut The Independent
• Cheaper HRT prescriptions launched for women going through menopause ITV News
• How to get an HRT prescription prepayment certificate Metro
• HRT prescriptions now cheaper as cost of menopause treatment cut to less than £20 a year Sky News

NHS hits milestone of 200 children with Hep C treated in bid to stamp out virus

NHS hits milestone of 200 children with Hep C treated in bid to stamp out virus Two hundred children in England have now received life-saving treatment for hepatitis C as part of a world-first NHS programme, according to latest figures.

Thanks to a new national service, the children – aged three to 18 years – were identified for treatment over the past two years and became the first in the world to receive curative anti-viral tablets with a treatment success rate of 99%. NHS England

Covid booster vaccine available for most vulnerable

Covid booster vaccine available for most vulnerable The NHS in England is launching a spring booster vaccine campaign against Covid-19 for people most at risk of serious illness from the disease.

Around five million are eligible, including people aged 75 and over, some people with weakened immune systems, and older residents in care homes.

From Monday, older adults in care homes are expected to begin receiving their vaccines, given by visiting NHS teams.

Other eligible people will be able to receive jabs from mid-April. BBC News

See also:

• NHS launches spring covid jab campaign for five million most vulnerable people NHS England
• Covid booster vaccine to be offered to millions in England next week The Guardian
• Covid booster jab rollout to begin for 5 million most vulnerable people The Independent
• COVID booster vaccine drive to begin next week - with five million people in England eligible for jab Sky News

Tuberculosis warning as cases of disease rise for first time in decades in Europe

Tuberculosis warning as cases of disease rise for first time in decades in Europe Disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic is being blamed for the first recorded rise in tuberculosis (TB) cases and deaths in Europe for two decades.

Some 27,300 people died from TB in the World Health Organisation’s Europe region in 2021, up from 27,000 deaths the previous year, according to a new surveillance report by the WHO and European Union’s disease prevention agency. The Independent

See also:

• Tuberculosis surveillance and monitoring in Europe 2023: 2021 data World Health Organization
• Unfinished business: the challenge of ending tuberculosis in the European Region World Health Organization

Menopause symptoms could be treated with testosterone patch in world-first

Menopause symptoms could be treated with testosterone patch in world-first Researchers in the UK are developing the world’s only testosterone patch aimed at easing symptoms experienced as a result of the menopause.

Low levels of testosterone following the menopause can cause low libido, and are also linked to a loss of energy, headaches, and difficulty concentrating. The Independent

See also:

• First testosterone patch for menopausal women to begin clinical trials this year The Guardian

Thousands of children in England facing ‘unacceptable’ NHS delays

Thousands of children in England facing ‘unacceptable’ NHS delays Thousands of children experiencing “unacceptable” long waits for NHS treatment face a “lifelong” impact on their health, a senior doctor has warned, as shocking figures reveal that nearly 15,000 paediatric operations were cancelled over the last year.

Dr Camilla Kingdon, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the mounting treatment backlog in England risked “serious” and “devastating” physical and mental consequences for children and their families. The Guardian

Failed IT systems at Capita fuel fears of cyber-attack on crucial NHS provider

Failed IT systems at Capita fuel fears of cyber-attack on crucial NHS provider Computer systems abruptly stopped working at outsourcing group Capita on Friday morning, triggering fears that a company that runs crucial operations for the NHS and the military could be under cyber-attack.

Staff are understood to have been unable to access IT systems at the outsourcing company since Friday morning, with an early investigation yet to establish the cause. The Guardian

See also:

• British govt tech supplier Capita crippled by 'IT issue' The Register
• UK outsourcer Capita says no data compromised after cyber incident Reuters

NHS hospital triggers outrage after staff are promised 'goodies' for rapidly discharging patients

NHS hospital triggers outrage after staff are promised 'goodies' for rapidly discharging patients An NHS hospital has triggered outrage after offering medical teams chocolate prizes for rapidly discharging patients.

NHS bosses have urged all hospitals to free up beds ahead of the Easter weekend and the junior doctors' strike.

But one hospital was forced to apologise after it offered boxes of chocolates to those who were the speediest at sending patients home. The Daily Mail

Fury as NHS's maternity plan to prevent more tragedies will be unsafely staffed for FIVE YEARS

Fury as NHS's maternity plan to prevent more tragedies will be unsafely staffed for FIVE YEARS Tragedy-stricken NHS maternity units face being unsafely staffed for another five years, officials admitted today.

Damning inquiries into devastating scandals, which saw hundreds of mothers and babies harmed, partly blamed a lack of midwifery staff. 

Yet NHS bosses have given hospitals until 2027/28 to ensure they meet workforce requirements. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services NHS England

Thousands of women miss out on vital breast cancer scans because they have to book themselves

Thousands of women miss out on vital breast cancer scans because they have to book themselves Women's lives are in danger from having to book their own mammograms, as evidence suggests thousands are missing out on vital breast cancer checks.

Before the pandemic, all women received mammogram appointments with a set date and time.

But the NHS now recommends 'open invitations', which require women to call and book their own appointment. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Did the use of open invitations in place of timed appointment invitations reduce the uptake of breast screening in the London region during the COVID-19 recovery? (open access) Journal of Medical Screening