KGH and Tesco team up to get important organ donation message across

KGH and Tesco team up to get important organ donation message across The organ and tissue donation committee at Kettering General Hospital has worked with Tesco to increase awareness of the importance of discussing your donation wishes.

And the result is a colourful 9ft by 6ft panel near the entrance to the main Tesco store in Carina Road, Kettering, which reads: ‘Tell your family how you feel about organ donation.’ Northamptonshire Telegraph

Beyond devices and connectivity: the human factors of digital health care

Beyond devices and connectivity: the human factors of digital health care Devices and internet connectivity are essential for effective digital services but so are good design, co-development and trust. The use and beneficial impact of digital technologies and data is much more likely if technology is useable and trusted, while also meeting the needs and expectations of staff and patients. The King's Fund

Struggling to be heard: understanding the experience of disabled people in England

Struggling to be heard: understanding the experience of disabled people in England More than ever disabled people are facing barriers to living well, so it is concerning that the census might not be capturing the true picture of disability in England, and that disabled people struggle to be heard. The King's Fund

New research explores burnout and exhaustion in nursing staff

New research explores burnout and exhaustion in nursing staff Latest research from the University of Southampton has found long shifts combined with poor staffing and little choice in working patterns are likely to be behind nurses experiencing burnout and exhaustion. NHS Employers

See also:

• Shift work characteristics and burnout among nurses: cross-sectional survey (open access) Occupational Medicine
• What’s behind burnout and exhaustion in nursing staff? University of Southampton

Gonorrhoea and syphilis at record levels in 2022

Gonorrhoea and syphilis at record levels in 2022 New data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows record levels of gonorrhoea and syphilis diagnoses in 2022.

Gonorrhoea diagnoses increased to 82,592 in 2022, an increase of 50.3% compared to 2021 (54,961) and 16.1% compared to 2019 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic) – this is the highest number of diagnoses in any one year since records began in 1918

Infectious syphilis diagnoses increased to 8,692 in 2022, up 15.2% compared to 2021 (7,543) and 8.1% compared to 2019 – this is the largest annual number since 1948.

See also:

• Gonorrhoea and syphilis sex infections reach record levels in England BBC News
• How rife is gonorrhoea in YOUR area? Map reveals where the clap is most prevalent The Daily Mail
• Syphilis cases at highest level for 75 years in England last year The Guardian
• Syphilis and Gonorrhoea hit record levels in England The Independent
• Gonorrhoea and syphilis STI diagnoses in England hit record levels, latest figures show Sky News
• Syphilis and gonorrhoea: What are the symptoms, how do you catch the STIs and how are they treated? Sky News

New drugs pilot to tackle obesity and cut NHS waiting lists

New drugs pilot to tackle obesity and cut NHS waiting lists More people living with obesity will have access to the newest and most effective obesity drugs to help cut NHS waiting lists, following the announcement of a £40 million two-year pilot today [Wednesday 7 June].

The £40 million pilots will explore how approved drugs can be made safely available to more people by expanding specialist weight management services outside of hospital settings. This includes looking at how GPs could safely prescribe these drugs and how the NHS can provide support in the community or digitally - contributing to the government’s wider ambition to reduce pressure on hospitals and give people access to the care they need where it is most convenient for them. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Plan for GPs to offer NHS patients Wegovy weight-loss jab BBC News
• Rishi Sunak announces that thousands of NHS patients could receive 'game-changing' weight-loss drug The Daily Mail
• £40m pilot to expand availability of weight loss drugs on NHS Evening Standard
• Ministers launch £40m pilot scheme to trial wider access to slimming jab The Guardian
• £40m pilot scheme launched to increase access to weight-loss drugs and cut NHS waiting lists Sky News

Complaints upheld against Coventry NHS boss

Complaints upheld against Coventry NHS boss The chair of Coventry's NHS integrated care system has been found not to have always acted with honesty and integrity in the past by an independent inquiry.

The investigation into Danielle Oum's conduct whilst she was chair at Birmingham and Solihull Mental health trust was published last September.

In all, 16 complaints against her were upheld. BBC News

The NHS is 'failing women', says women's health ambassador

The NHS is 'failing women', says women's health ambassador The Government’s women’s health tsar has said the NHS is “failing” some women.

Professor Dame Lesley Regan, the women’s health ambassador, said women “do not have a fair deal”.

The professor of obstetrics and gynaecology was appointed last year to “drive system-level changes to close the gender health gap”. Evening Standard

See also:

• Adenomyosis: NHS failing women, health ambassador says BBC News

Ministers seek volunteer social care army to speed up hospital discharges

Ministers seek volunteer social care army to speed up hospital discharges Health ministers are to recruit a new volunteer army for social care to ferry medical equipment and drugs to people’s homes in a bid to free up congested hospital wards.

Volunteers will also be sent to, though not into, people’s homes to tackle loneliness and carry out shopping and other errands. The Guardian

Fire crews in England deal with obesity callouts every four hours

Fire crews in England deal with obesity callouts every four hours Fire services in England had to help police and ambulance crews move people living with obesity once every four hours in what health organisations called a failure by government to fight the condition.

Figures published by the Home Office show firefighters were called 2,319 times to help police or ambulance services with “bariatric assistance” – coming to the aid of people who are otherwise unable to leave their homes due to serious obesity. This marks an 11% rise on the previous year and a 58% increase on 2020. The Guardian

Promising vaccine could treat two deadliest and fastest-rising forms of cancer, early study shows

Promising vaccine could treat two deadliest and fastest-rising forms of cancer, early study shows An off-the-shelf cancer vaccine could help prevent relapse in patients with two of the deadliest and fastest-rising cancers in the world.

The shot is designed for patients whose cancers are caused by the KRAS mutation, which accounts for up to nine in 10 cases of the disease. 

An early trial tested the effects in people with colon and pancreatic cancers. The first-in-human study found the vaccine, developed by the small firm Elicio Therapeutics, showed the potential to lower the risk of relapse in 100 percent of patients who had surgery to remove their tumors but still had cancer markers in their blood. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Elicio Therapeutics Announces Positive Interim Data from the Phase 1 Study of an Investigational Therapeutic Cancer Immunotherapy, ELI-002, in Patients with High Relapse Risk Pancreatic and Colorectal Cancer at the ASCO Annual Meeting Elicio Therapeutics

Urgent warning over FAKE oxygen supplied to dentists as health chiefs launch criminal probe

Urgent warning over FAKE oxygen supplied to dentists as health chiefs launch criminal probe Hundreds of dentists across Britain have been given 'falsified' oxygen supplies, it was revealed today.

'Approximately 500' practices have been told to immediately stop using a batch of tanks and replace them with 'legitimate stock'.

Tricodent Limited, the Sussex-based firm which supplied the oxygen, is now under criminal investigation, health watchdogs said today. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Class 3 Medicines Recall: Tricodent Limited (supplier), Medical Oxygen B.P (MEDIGAS OXYGEN B.P), EL (23)A/20 Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency

World's first baby is born from a transplanted uterus implanted by a robot

World's first baby is born from a transplanted uterus implanted by a robot A baby boy carried in a uterus implanted into his mother by a robot was born in a world first.

The youngster, who has not been named, weighed six pounds and 13 ounces when he was born via planned C-section in Sweden last month. Both the child and his 35-year-old mother are doing well.

The pregnancy was made possible when a family member agreed to donate their uterus to the mother, who then had a fertilized egg implanted into it via IVF. The case marks the first time robots have been used for the procedure. The Daily Mail