Chance to speak to hospital consultant online about skin issues

Chance to speak to hospital consultant online about skin issues Skin deep – how to manage common skin complaints and avoid skin cancer - is a free online event held in the county to help identify problems and answer common skin complaint questions.

It is part of the series of free county Your Health Matters events run by Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (KGH) Governors to help demystify health conditions and provide practical tips, the next event looks at how to manage common skin problems and avoid skin cancer. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Injection of 'long-termism' vital to deliver an NHS fit for the future

Injection of 'long-termism' vital to deliver an NHS fit for the future As financial pressures continue to mount, the NHS will do everything it can to deliver a stretching efficiency ask, but the government must play its part too.

The NHS is facing immense financial and operational challenges. But its ability to meet those challenges is threatened by short-term fixes. We need a vital injection of long-termism to deliver an NHS fit for the future. NHS Providers

Occupational therapy under pressure: workforce survey findings 2022–2023

Occupational therapy under pressure: workforce survey findings 2022–2023 This report finds that the occupational therapy (OT) workforce is under pressure due to increased demand coupled with workforce shortages. It outlines concerns that this is challenging OTs’ capacity to provide essential support to people whose lives are impacted by long-term health conditions and disability. It makes several recommendations including building capacity within primary and community health and social care services, to ensure people receive advice and help early on. It also recommends that investment in the OT workforce must be matched to service and demographic need, not just in the NHS but also in social care. Royal College of Occupational Therapists

NHS website visits to sexual health clinic search tool rise 38% after a bank holiday

NHS website visits to sexual health clinic search tool rise 38% after a bank holiday An NHS search tool aimed at helping people find local sexual health services attracts a third more visits following a bank holiday, latest figures show. 

Analysis carried out by NHS England, which runs the NHS website, found page visits to the tool increased to an average of 7,414 in the 24 hours following the summer bank holiday weekends in May, June and August last year – equivalent to one visit every 12 seconds. NHS England

NHS vaccinates half of care home residents in three weeks

NHS vaccinates half of care home residents in three weeks The NHS Covid-19 Vaccination Programme has vaccinated more than 150,000 older adult care home residents in England in just three weeks since the campaign began – over half of all those eligible.

Roving teams of NHS staff have visited more than 6,000 care homes – almost three in five – to offer the spring jabs since the campaign launched on Monday 3 April with the targeted visits. NHS England

Government on brink of giving NHS staff 5% pay rise

Government on brink of giving NHS staff 5% pay rise The government is expected to agree to give NHS staff in England their 5% pay increase at a key meeting later.

Government and NHS officials will meet representatives from 14 NHS unions covering all staff except for doctors and dentists at lunchtime.

The unions will declare whether a majority of the workforce are in favour of the deal, which also includes a one-off lump sum.

Union sources said it was almost certain a majority had been reached. BBC News

See also:

• GMB members vote to accept NHS pay offer GMB Union
• We need to see a deal to end the strikes NHS Providers
• Statement from RCN General Secretary speaking in the final hours of the current strike Royal College of Nursing
• Unite union votes to reject NHS pay offer BBC News
• Nurses' strike: Nurse union relaxes strike rules for critical services BBC News
• Nurses out on strike in half of England’s NHS BBC News
• Nurses' strike: 28-hour strike over pay under way BBC News
• Strikes are about saving the NHS, Unite union rep says Channel 4 News
• A&E patient begs Rishi Sunak to 'pay staff fairly' after 8-hour wait on the first day of NHS strikes The Daily Mail
• Strike-hit NHS hospital has to SHUT intensive care beds after nurses ignore union's last-minute plea The Daily Mail
• Now even the GPs may strike! The Daily Mail
• GMB union votes to accept pay offer for NHS staff in England The Guardian
• Ministers set to impose NHS pay deal on staff despite opposition of unions The Guardian
• Striking nurses will return to work for emergencies, says RCN head The Guardian
• Government faces years of strike action from nurses, warns RCN chief The Independent
• ‘Determined’ nurses the NHS ‘can’t cope’ without will push ahead with strikes, union leader warns The Independent
• Will a key meeting between unions and NHS employers lead to a breakthrough? ITV News
• Crucial strike meeting between NHS employers and unions as health secretary 'optimistic' deal will be reached Sky News

Australia to ban recreational vaping in major public health move

Australia to ban recreational vaping in major public health move Recreational vaping will be banned in Australia, as part of a major crackdown amid what experts say is an "epidemic".

Minimum quality standards will also be introduced, and the sale of vapes restricted to pharmacies.

Nicotine vapes already require a prescription in Australia, but the industry is poorly regulated and a black market is thriving.

Health Minister Mark Butler says the products are creating a new generation of nicotine addicts in Australia. BBC News

Revealed: Scandal of mentally ill children dumped on the wrong hospital wards

Revealed: Scandal of mentally ill children dumped on the wrong hospital wards Thousands of children in mental health crisis are being treated on inappropriate general wards – with some forced to stay for more than a year and staff not properly trained to care for them, shocking new data reveals.

New figures uncovered by The Independent show at least 2,838 children needing mental health care were admitted to non-psychiatric hospitals last year as the NHS battled with a lack of specialist staff and a surge in patients.

Children could be prescribed weight-loss jabs on the NHS

Children could be prescribed weight-loss jabs on the NHS Children as young as 12 in England could be given weight-loss injections on the NHS after the government asked medical watchdog Nice to assess the potential benefits of prescribing them to under-18s.

Department of Health officials have asked the watchdog to evaluate the clinical and cost effectiveness of giving semaglutide injections to obese children aged 12 to 17, “in addition to healthy nutrition and increased physical activity”, the Observer can reveal.

See also:

• Can drugs fix the UK’s adolescent obesity crisis? The Observer

Stark figures show family doctors are cramming in up to 60 patients per day

Stark figures show family doctors are cramming in up to 60 patients per day Family doctors are cramming in nearly 60 patients a day in some areas amid an appointments crisis.

Alarming figures reveal that each GP in England saw an average of 8,534 patients last year after many put off visits during the Covid pandemic.

A growing population and shrinking workforce has exacerbated the crisis, with patients waiting as long as four weeks for an appointment in some areas. The Daily Mail

The anorexia patients abandoned by the NHS because 'they are too sick to treat'

The anorexia patients abandoned by the NHS because 'they are too sick to treat' There are a rising number of desperately ill anorexia patients being deemed too sick to treat.

Experts have voiced concerns about both NHS and private clinics withdrawing life-saving treatment – helping patients to gain weight – to those with body mass indexes (BMI) lower than 18, the very edge of what is considered a normal weight.

The MoS has heard from patients who say they were told they are ‘too far gone’ for treatment, with some referred to palliative care. The Daily Mail

Performing more light exercise such as gardening and walking could reduce breast cancer risk

Performing more light exercise such as gardening and walking could reduce breast cancer risk Gardening and regular walks could lower the risk of developing breast cancer, experts say.

Light physical activity – also including housework and cooking – was linked to a 21 per cent reduced chance of getting the disease, a study found.

Women who clocked up five hours and 45 minutes a day of gentle exercise benefited from the reduced risk. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Associations of Physical Activity With Breast Cancer Risk: Findings From the UK Biobank Prospective Cohort Study Journal of Physical Activity and Health