Care home ordered to pay £200k for Covid failures

Care home ordered to pay £200k for Covid failures The company that ran a care home which "catastrophically let down" residents during the Covid pandemic has been ordered to pay more than £200,000.

Temple Court in Kettering, Northamptonshire, was closed in May 2020 amid serious concerns following a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection.

A hearing at Northampton Magistrates' Court on Tuesday handed out a £120,000 fine to care provider Amicura Limited.

It also had to pay the CQC's costs of £80,000 and a £181 victim surcharge. BBC Northampton

See also:

• Care firm which 'catastrophically let down' residents of Kettering home fined more than £200,000 ITV News
• Amicura Ltd ordered to pay more than £200,000 over failures Laing Buisson
• This is not justice, say grieving relatives after firm responsible for Covid-hit Kettering care home is fined Northamptonshire Telegraph
• Kettering care provider which 'catastrophically let down' residents fined £200,000 Northants Live

Keeping children and young people with mental health needs safe: the design of the paediatric ward

Keeping children and young people with mental health needs safe: the design of the paediatric ward Paediatric wards in acute hospitals are increasingly caring for children and young people (CYP) who have mental health needs. Paediatric wards are primarily designed to accommodate children with physical health needs and are not specifically designed to help keep children and young people with mental health needs safe.

This interim report from the national investigation looks at the risk factors associated with the design of paediatric wards in acute hospitals for children and young people with mental health needs. Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch

See also:

• Safe mental health care for youngsters a priority for under-strain trusts NHS Providers
• Young mental health patients 'at risk' in child wards BBC News
• Report reveals paediatric wards 'unsafe' for children with mental health needs The Independent

More choice to help cut hospital waiting times

More choice to help cut hospital waiting times Patients will be empowered to choose where they receive their NHS care under new plans to help cut waiting lists, one of the Prime Minister’s five priorities.

A letter issued by the NHS today to local areas will require patients to be offered choice when clinically appropriate.

After speaking with their GP, patients will be able to view information for up to five healthcare providers - filtered by distance, waiting times and quality of care. They will then be able to make a choice about where they go for treatment using the NHS App or website, based on their own circumstances. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Poor workforce planning, not lack of patient choice, is stopping people being seen in good time BMA
• Steps to cut waiting lists welcome, but more NHS staff needed to deliver care NHS Providers
• Shop around on NHS app to shorten wait for treatment BBC News
• 'Patient Choice' Statement BBC News
• Patients to be offered faster treatment hundreds of miles away in bid to slash record waiting times The Daily Mail
• Patients to get choice of five hospitals under Sunak pledge The Daily Telegraph
• Government push on patient choice will drive up GP workload, warns BMA GPonline
• GPs to be compelled to offer patients private alternatives or non-local NHS options The Guardian
• Patients to choose between providers on NHS app after GP referral Pulse
• GPs will have to give patients options to travel further or go private to tackle NHS backlog Sky News

Earlier screening, risk assessment and health optimisation in perioperative pathways: guide for providers and integrated care boards

Earlier screening, risk assessment and health optimisation in perioperative pathways: guide for providers and integrated care boards This guide supports providers and integrated care boards to implement early screening, risk assessment and health optimisation for patients waiting for surgery. It builds on the clinical guideline Preoperative assessment and optimisation, published by a cross-specialty, multidisciplinary working group, including the Royal College of Anaesthetists, Royal College of Surgeons of England, Royal College of General Practitioners and the Centre for Perioperative Care, in June 2021. NHS England

Plant-based diets good for the heart

Plant-based diets good for the heart Giving plants the starring role in your diet is good for heart health, a review of four decades of data shows.

Researchers in Denmark showed vegetarian and vegan diets cut levels of cholesterol and fats in the blood that increase heart attacks.

The effect - equivalent to about a third that of taking daily drugs - was "really substantial", they said.

But experts said meat and dairy had their own health benefits - and not all meat-free diets were actually healthy. BBC News

See also:

• Vegetarian or vegan diets and blood lipids: a meta-analysis of randomized trials (open access) European Heart Journal
• Best diet for heart health revealed in huge analysis The Daily Mail
• Vegan and vegetarian diets can play key role in reducing cardiovascular risk, study finds GPonline

Brain implants help paralysed man to walk again

Brain implants help paralysed man to walk again A paralysed man has been able to walk simply by thinking about it thanks to electronic brain implants, a medical first he says has changed his life.

Gert-Jan Oskam, a 40-year-old Dutch man, was paralysed in a cycling accident 12 years ago.

The electronic implants wirelessly transmit his thoughts to his legs and feet via a second implant on his spine.

The system is still at an experimental stage but a leading UK spinal charity called it "very encouraging". BBC News

See also:

• Walking naturally after spinal cord injury using a brain–spine interface (open access) Nature
• Watch: Brain implants help paralysed man to walk again BBC News
• Paralysed man walks for the first time in 12 YEARS after being fitted with an electronic implant The Daily Mail
• Paralysed man walks using device that reconnects brain with muscles The Guardian
• Groundbreaking implants allow paralysed man to walk again in historic first The Independent
• Paralysed man walks again thanks to 'digital bridge' that wirelessly reconnects brain and spinal cord Sky News

Dementia risk increases the younger a person develops diabetes, study suggests

Dementia risk increases the younger a person develops diabetes, study suggests A person’s risk of dementia increases the younger they develop diabetes, research suggests.

Experts say the findings indicate that preventing progression from prediabetes to a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes could mean a substantial reduction in future dementia cases.

Prediabetes is where blood sugar is high but has not yet crossed the threshold for type 2 diabetes. The Independent

See also:

• Prediabetes, intervening diabetes and subsequent risk of dementia: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study (abstract) Diabetologia

NHS Trust chief to publicly apologise to victims of maternity care

NHS Trust chief to publicly apologise to victims of maternity care scandal The head of an under-fire NHS trust will publicly apologise to victims of a maternity scandal as the chair of a review into the episode said the trust has “a lot of learning to do”.

Nick Carver, chairman of the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust, will apologise on its behalf to parents who were affected by poor maternity care at its annual public meeting on July 10, the trust said on Wednesday. Evening Standard

See also:

• NHS to publicly apologise for maternity failings in Nottingham BBC News

Hospitals at home plan will fail because NHS has no staff to run them, health leaders warn

Hospitals at home plan will fail because NHS has no staff to run them, health leaders warn Plans to operate virtual wards from home have been set up to fail because the NHS has no staff to run them, hospital leaders have warned.

Up to 25,000 hospital patients were due to be treated on “virtual wards” by Christmas, according to a target set by NHS England in its “living with Covid” plan. The Daily Telegraph

Flesh-eating 'zombie' drug that has ravaged US cities reaches the UK

Flesh-eating 'zombie' drug that has ravaged US cities reaches the UK A terrifying new 'zombie' drug that has ravaged cities across the United States has been found in the UK and taken the life of a British factory worker.

Karl Warburton, 43, died last May from the effects of xylazine combined with other drugs including heroin, fentanyl and cocaine, The Times reported.

The coroner determined the West Midlands man died because of acute aspiration pneumonitis, a condition often caused by inhaling toxins. But xylazine was listed on Mr Warburton's death certificate as contributing to his death. The Daily Mail

See also:

• First UK death linked to 'zombie' drug xylazine BBC News
• What is the 'zombie drug' xylazine? It's caused its first known death in the UK Evening Standard
• The horrific rise of xylazine, the flesh-destroying drug making fentanyl even deadlier The Guardian
• 'Zombie drug' claims first victim in UK and could be in widespread use across the country Sky News

Chronic cannabis use raises the risk of major depression and bipolar disorder by up to FOUR TIMES

Chronic cannabis use raises the risk of major depression and bipolar disorder by up to FOUR TIMES Chronic cannabis use significantly raises the risk of mental health problems and personality disorders, a major study suggests.

Research on more than 6.6million people in Denmark found that those who were addicted to marijuana were up to four times more likely to be diagnosed with major depression or bipolar disorder. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Cannabis Use Disorder and Subsequent Risk of Psychotic and Nonpsychotic Unipolar Depression and Bipolar Disorder (free access) JAMA Psychiatry