New discharge lounge planned for Northampton General Hospital will help ease pressure

New discharge lounge planned for Northampton General Hospital will help ease pressure Northampton General Hospital is creating a new discharge lounge to support patients leaving hospital and their families.

The discharge lounge will support up to 16 patients – with four rooms and 12 chairs - and is at the Cliftonville Trust entrance. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

The cap on medical and dental student numbers in the UK

The cap on medical and dental student numbers in the UK This briefing provides an overview of government policy on training doctors and dentists in the UK. It highlights calls to lift the cap on medical and dental school places and explains some of the associated challenges. House of Commons Library

NHS England’s three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services

NHS England’s three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services On 30 March 2023 NHS England published a three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services. Following several national plans and reports, including the reports by Donna Ockenden and Dr Bill Kirkup, the plan brings together the key objectives services are asked to deliver against over the next three years. This briefing summarises the key contents of the plan. NHS Providers

From delegation to integration: lessons from early delegation of primary pharmacy, ophthalmology and dentistry commissioning to integrated care boards

From delegation to integration: lessons from early delegation of primary pharmacy, ophthalmology and dentistry commissioning to integrated care boards Delegation of primary pharmacy, ophthalmology and dentistry (POD) from NHS England to integrated care boards (ICBs) on 1 April 2023, provides an opportunity to transform care for patients but will need a realistic timetable and smooth transition if this transformation is to be achieved. This report provides evidence from nine ‘early adopter’ ICBs and argues that closer local collaboration between NHS systems and frontline providers can be the single biggest to driver to address local provision challenges. NHS Confederation

Independent report: Higher-risk patients eligible for COVID-19 treatments: independent advisory group report (March 2023)

Independent report: Higher-risk patients eligible for COVID-19 treatments: independent advisory group report (March 2023) Update to the independent advisory group report that identifies which patient groups are at highest risk of serious illness from COVID-19 and would benefit from new COVID-19 treatments. Department of Health and Social Care

UK’s next generation of medical researchers given funding boost

UK’s next generation of medical researchers given funding boost Over 1,200 researchers in medical research charities will receive over £50 million in funding to help solve some of the biggest global health challenges and secure the future of the UK’s world-class life sciences sector.

Announced by Science Minister George Freeman, Sunday 2 April, the funding will support researchers across 90 charities early on in their careers at a time when the UK is committing record amounts to R&D, reaching £20 billion a year by 2024/25. The £50 million investment is aimed at sparking a new wave of revolutionary medical research across the industry, including in dementia, motor neurone disease and brain tumour research. Department of Health and Social Care

Social care reform funding halved for England, government confirms

Social care reform funding halved for England, government confirms Funding promised to develop the social care workforce in England has been halved, the government has confirmed.

In 2021 the government pledged "at least" £500 million for reforms, to be spent on training places and technology over three years.

But that figure is now £250 million, according to the Department of Health.

A coalition of charities said this cut is "just the latest in a long series of disappointments" over social care. BBC News

See also:

• Millions cut from funding commitments for social care Evening Standard
• Halving social care workforce funding in England an ‘insult’, ministers told The Guardian
• Tory ministers accused of ‘insult’ to social care as reform funding halved The Independent
• Millions cut from promised social care funding labelled ‘an insult to the sector’ ITV News

England's new ambulance numbers not 800 promised, figures show

England's new ambulance numbers not 800 promised, figures show The number of new ambulances in England will be far less than the hundreds promised by the government, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

In January, 800 new ambulances were announced, with a 10% fleet increase.

But vehicles being ordered by trusts are mostly replacements they were prevented from purchasing because of procurement changes and the pandemic.

NHS England said it was "delivering on its urgent and emergency care recovery plan". BBC News

Essex mental health inquiry: Staff could be compelled to give evidence

Essex mental health inquiry: Staff could be compelled to give evidence The government is actively considering whether to give full legal powers to an independent inquiry investigating the deaths of mental health patients.

Roughly 2,000 deaths at the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) are being examined.

The BBC understands Conservative Health Secretary Stephen Barclay is minded to make the inquiry statutory, which would compel witnesses to come forward. BBC News

NHS consultants to be balloted over strike action

NHS consultants to be balloted over strike action NHS consultants will be balloted over strike action next month, the British Medical Association has announced.

Senior doctors will vote from May 15 on whether to strike over pay in a move that could deepen the NHS crisis.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has agreed to pay talks with the union to avert potential strike action. Evening Standard

See also:

• NHS consultants in England to be balloted in May for industrial action BMA
• BMA delays ballot on consultant strike, as government talks continue The BMJ

Antibiotics and resistance ‘two-way street’ between animals and humans – study

Antibiotics and resistance ‘two-way street’ between animals and humans – study Antibiotic consumption and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a two-way street between animals and humans, researchers have suggested.

The findings reveal the use of antibiotics in animals like cattle, pigs and chickens is associated with AMR in humans and using antibiotics in humans is linked with resistance in animals.

Experts across the world are determined to slow down the rise in AMR, which is partly fuelled by unnecessary use of antibiotics. The Independent

See also:

• Global antimicrobial-resistance drivers: an ecological country-level study at the human–animal interface (open access) The Lancet Planetary Health

NHS should abolish raft of national targets, Patricia Hewitt review says

NHS should abolish raft of national targets, Patricia Hewitt review says The NHS should abolish a raft of national targets while shifting its focus towards preventing ill health, according to a review by a former Labour health secretary.

The study by Patricia Hewitt, commissioned by the Government and officially published on Tuesday, says a few targets help concentrate minds but having too many makes them less effective.

It comes as the NHS continues to miss major targets on A&E waits, ambulance response times and cancer waits and treatment times. The Independent

See also:

• NHS should abolish raft of national targets, Patricia Hewitt says Evening Standard
• NHS England should scrap many of its national targets, review says The Guardian

Healthy Start NHS food voucher scheme has ‘pitifully’ low take-up

Healthy Start NHS food voucher scheme has ‘pitifully’ low take-up The government has missed its target to increase the take-up of NHS healthy food vouchers aimed at vulnerable parents of young children, it has emerged, despite soaring grocery prices and rising food poverty.

The latest figures show that take-up of the ill-starred Healthy Start scheme, designed to help pregnant women and parents of under-fours in low-income families pay for fruit, vegetables, milk, and baby milk powder, has barely shifted in a year. The Guardian

Backlog in NHS genome service leaves families facing long wait for results

Backlog in NHS genome service leaves families facing long wait for results Families of children with rare genetic disorders are being made to wait more than a year for genome sequencing results under a flagship NHS programme, the Guardian has learned.

Senior doctors said worsening backlogs in the Genomics Medicines Service risked children not accessing treatments or support designed to give them the best outcomes. In other cases, parents wishing to know if their child has an inherited genetic condition in order to plan future pregnancies are being left in limbo for unacceptable time periods, experts said.

HRT could help ward off dementia - but only if women take it when their menopause begins

HRT could help ward off dementia - but only if women take it when their menopause begins Hormone replacement therapy can reduce the risk of dementia in women with early menopause – but only if they start treatment promptly, a study suggests.

Women make up around two-thirds of people with Alzheimer's, with early menopause linked to a heightened risk of the illness.

Now a study claims that those who are prescribed HRT from the onset of symptoms are at no greater risk. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Association of Age at Menopause and Hormone Therapy Use With Tau and β-Amyloid Positron Emission Tomography (abstract) JAMA Neurology