This blog covers the latest UK health care news, publications, policy announcements, events and information focused on the NHS, as well as the latest media stories and local news coverage of the NHS Trusts in Northamptonshire.
Tuesday, 25 April 2023
Prevention at scale through ICSs: lessons from tobacco control
Prevention at scale through ICSs: lessons from tobacco control The independent review of integrated care systems (ICSs) led by Patricia Hewitt, published earlier this month, reinforces the crucial role that ICSs have to play in prevention of ill health. But while there is widespread agreement that this is important, what has sometimes been less clear is exactly what that role should look like, and how it is distinct from the role of local authority public health teams. It’s a key question as ICS leaders grapple with the wider issue of what should happen at system, place and neighbourhood level. Recent examples from tobacco control highlight how ICSs can complement and reinforce work at other levels and help deliver potentially significant population health benefits by doing so. The King's Fund
Young people at risk of disease as concerning numbers miss out on life-saving vaccines
Young people at risk of disease as concerning numbers miss out on life-saving vaccines Data published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows that uptake of the adolescent vaccines offered to 13 and 14 year olds who were in school year 9 during the 2021 to 2022 academic year has fallen, leaving many young people unprotected from life-threatening diseases.
These rare but serious diseases can cause life-threatening illness leading to hospitalisation, permanent disability and even death. UK health Security Agency
See also:
- Teenagers at risk after drop in vaccine take-up BBC News
- Vaccine uptake among children in England has fallen since start of pandemic The Guardian
- Alarm as fewer young people protected against meningitis The Independent
- Fall in adolescent vaccines uptake puts young people at risk Pulse
- More teenagers unprotected from serious diseases as vaccine uptake falls Sky News
Urgent and emergency care improvement guide same day emergency care flow
Urgent and emergency care improvement guide same day emergency care flow This guide has been designed for providers and systems to consider embedding as good practice to reduce ambulance handover delays. The contents have been drawn from the Winter Improvement Collaborative which was set up to identify solutions to the problems facing the system over the winter period. Members of the collaborative were asked to co-design a series of plans and potential improvement measures, to be adapted and trialled at local level. NHS England
See also:
- Urgent and emergency care improvement guide same day emergency care pathways NHS England
- Urgent and emergency care improvement guide to direct access NHS England
- Urgent and emergency care improvement guide specialty support to the urgent and emergency care pathway/internal professional standards NHS England
- Urgent and emergency care improvement guide to contact hubs for primary, ambulance and clinical calls NHS England
NHS set to save £7 billion thanks to world-leading medicine pricing scheme
NHS set to save £7 billion thanks to world-leading medicine pricing scheme The NHS will save £7 billion by the end of 2023 thanks to a 5-year agreement with the pharmaceutical industry, which ensures the NHS can continue to be one of the fastest health systems in the world to roll out innovative medicines. Department of health and Social Care
Ministers start legal move to cut nurse strike short
Ministers start legal move to cut nurse strike short Health Secretary Steve Barclay is to ask judges to rule whether part of the next nurse strike is unlawful.
The government wants the High Court to assess whether Tuesday - the last day of the walkout in England - falls outside the Royal College of Nursing's six-month mandate for action.
It believes the mandate will have lapsed by Tuesday - the 48-hour strike is due to start at 20:00 BST on Sunday. BBC News
See also:
- NHS strike action in England House of Commons Library
- NHS Employers statement on legality of RCN strike action NHS Employers
- Government confirms High Court application against the Royal College of Nursing strike next week Royal College of Nursing
- England nursing strikes: legal challenge latest Royal College of Nursing
- Nurses' strikes may be cut short as Health Secretary goes to High Court The Daily Telegraph
- Government to seek court order to stop next month’s nursing strike Evening Standard
- Ministers apply to high court to stop part of nurses’ strike in England The Guardian
- Government to face nursing union in court as Steve Barclay confirms legal action over strike The Independent
- Government confirms legal action over nurses' strikes ITV News
- Nurses' strike: Health Secretary Steve Barclay says he is 'left with no choice but to proceed with legal action' Sky News
Covid: No evidence shielding helped - Swansea uni study
Covid: No evidence shielding helped - Swansea uni study There is no evidence that shielding benefited vulnerable people during the Covid pandemic, according to a study.
Swansea University compared 117,000 people shielding in Wales with the rest of the population of three million.
The study found deaths and healthcare usage were higher among shielding people than the general population. BBC News
See also:
- Did the UK's public health shielding policy protect the clinically extremely vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales? Results of EVITE Immunity, a linked data retrospective study (open access) Public Health
- No evidence that shielding reduced Covid infections in Wales Swansea University
- Arcturus has already killed 5 Brits: New Covid strain makes up one in 40 new cases The Daily Mail
- Britain 'should open up spring Covid booster drive to ALL over-50s amid Arcturus fears' The Daily Mail
- Covid inquiry orders ministers to hand over all WhatsApps on pandemic The Daily Telegraph
- Five die with Arcturus variant in UK as strain spreads globally The Independent
- Arcturus mapped: Is new Covid-19 variant in your region? The Independent
- Covid inquiry demands Tory ministers hand over WhatsApp messages The Independent
Biting cost of NHS dental treatment revealed as patients avoid care
Biting cost of NHS dental treatment revealed as patients avoid care The price of NHS dental treatments has risen by 8.5%. The British Dental Association has warned that patients are avoiding treatments due to the cost. ITV News
See also:
- Ministers must rethink outrageous charge hikes British Dental Association
- NHS dentistry crisis: Crowdfunding my new teeth has changed my life BBC News
- 'Care homes are being deprived of dental services' BBC News
- Costs leave one quarter of patients delaying or avoiding treatment Dentistry
- One in four delay or go without NHS dental treatment ‘due to cost’ Evening Standard
- NHS dentistry crisis grows with less than half of children seeing a dentist in past year, research suggests Sky News
150000 NHS doctors and nurses opt out of pensions amid pay dispute
150000 NHS doctors and nurses opt out of pensions amid pay dispute NHS workers have stopped paying into their pensions in an attempt to boost their take-home pay amid a long-running salary dispute.
More than 150,000 people opted out of the NHS pension scheme between April and December last year, according to a freedom of information request submitted by the wealth manager Quilter. The Daily Telegraph
NHS ambulance staff in England quitting for less stressful, better paid jobs
NHS ambulance staff in England quitting for less stressful, better paid jobs NHS ambulance trusts in England are struggling with high staff turnover as key workers leave the crisis-hit service for less stressful or better paid work, according to figures obtained by the Observer.
Data sourced under the Freedom of Information Act reveals the backdrop to recent ambulance strikes, with sickness rates above pre-pandemic levels and low levels of staff retention.
A 'skinny jab' is no quick fix for obesity - and no excuse to let junk food companies off the hook
A 'skinny jab' is no quick fix for obesity - and no excuse to let junk food companies off the hook | Sarah Boseley Rather than board the injection bandwagon, Britain should be taxing unhealthy food and clamping down on marketing
Humankind has been freed from the threat of disease by some wonderful, transformative inventions, from smallpox injections to the Covid vaccinations. With all due respect, I don’t think the so-called skinny jab is one of them. The Guardian
New Alzheimer's drug can 'remove' harmful proteins associated with the disease, experts claim
New Alzheimer's drug can 'remove' harmful proteins associated with the disease, experts claim Experts have hailed a 'significant step forward' in the quest for an Alzheimer's treatment after a drug was found to remove harmful proteins linked to the condition.
Tau is one of the main proteins linked with the disease, forming 'tangles' which can interfere with brain cells and slow the ability to think and remember.
Now, for the first time, researchers have been able to lower levels of the protein with a 'gene silencing' approach. The Daily Mail
See also:
The GP will see you now... but only for a couple of minutes!
The GP will see you now... but only for a couple of minutes! More than 51million GP appointments lasted five minutes or less last year as patients were 'rushed' out the door, official figures suggest.
Patients are typically offered ten-minute consultations but more than one in six (17.2 per cent) were ended after less than half that time.
Campaigners warn doctors who cut visits short risk missing symptoms and storing up more serious problems for the future. The Daily Mail
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