Northampton nurse up for prestigious UK accolade for transforming awareness of PPE waste

Northampton nurse up for prestigious UK accolade for transforming awareness of PPE waste A nurse who slashed unnecessary PPE use by breaking pandemic working habits is up for a prestigious award.

Holly Slyne, Associate Director of Infection Prevention at Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust, has been selected from 920 entries as a finalist in the Greener Nursing Practice category of the RCN Nursing Awards 2023. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

The little girl who's been trapped in Kettering General Hospital for ten months because of a lack of social housing

The little girl who's been trapped in Kettering General Hospital for ten months because of a lack of social housing A young girl has been living at Kettering General Hospital for ten months because her own home is not fit for her to return to.

Kyra, who lives near Wellingborough, is trapped at the Rothwell Road site because there’s no suitable social housing in North Northamptonshire for her to go to. Northamptonshire Telegraph

How much public spending does each area receive? Local authority level estimates of health, police, school and local government spending

How much public spending does each area receive? Local authority level estimates of health, police, school and local government spending In 2022–23, more than £245 billion was spent on delivering five key public services across England: the NHS, schools, local government, the police and public health. This funding was used to deliver services to people in specific places. The scale of this spending and the important contribution these public services can make to individuals’ life chances make it vital that funding for public services is allocated in an effective and fair manner. 

In this report, we estimate the total funding available for five services in each local authority area in England in 2022–23. Indeed, we find per capita funding does vary significantly between areas. Typically, areas that receive more per capita funding for one service also receive above-average funding for other services. More-deprived and more densely populated (typically more urban) places receive more funding per capita on average across all the services we examine. Institute for Fiscal Studies

See also:

• Funding of public services in England skewed against poor areas, says IFS The Guardian

£250 million to boost NHS capacity with 900 new beds

£250 million to boost NHS capacity with 900 new beds Nine hundred new hospital beds will be delivered across the NHS as part of £250 million government funding to help treat patients more quickly this winter, the Health and Social Care Secretary, Steve Barclay, has announced today.

The funding has been awarded to NHS trusts to relieve pressures and help cut waiting lists, one of the government’s top five priorities. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Funding for additional beds welcome but questions remain regarding how they will be staffed NHS Confederation
• NHS Providers responds to £250m NHS capacity boost NHS Providers
• £250m funding for more hospital beds in England this winter BBC News
• The NHS is set to receive £250 million to open 900 new hospital beds in a drive to cut waiting times The Daily Mail
• Government hands NHS £250m in bid to tackle waiting times The Independent
• NHS handed £250m to tackle waiting times - but fresh funding labelled 'sticking plaster' after cuts Sky News

Policy paper: Major conditions strategy: case for change and our strategic framework

Policy paper: Major conditions strategy: case for change and our strategic framework Following the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s commitment to publish a major conditions strategy, this government report sets out the case for change and strategic framework for the final strategy.

The final strategy will aim to improve outcomes and better meet the needs of our ageing population living with an increasing number of conditions. Department of Health and Social Care

NHS delivers another record year of lifesaving cancer checks for patients

NHS delivers another record year of lifesaving cancer checks for patients The number of people receiving lifesaving checks for cancer in the last year has hit nearly three million (2.92m) – more than any other year on record.

In June alone, over a quarter of a million people (261,000) were seen for urgent cancer checks by the NHS, which is well over double the number of people checked in the same month a decade ago (101,592). NHS England

AI: High-tech trousers helping stroke patient to walk

AI: High-tech trousers helping stroke patient to walk A stroke survivor is learning to walk independently again thanks to high-tech trousers powered by AI.

Julie Lloyd, 65, is part of the UK's first trial of the "smart garment" that she described as a breakthrough for fellow stroke patients.

The "NeuroSkin" trousers stimulate her paralysed leg using electrodes controlled by artificial intelligence.

The Stroke Association said new technologies are giving hope to the UK's 1.3 million stroke survivors. BBC News

Eating disorder psychologist 'made patients sicker'

Eating disorder psychologist 'made patients sicker' Nearly a dozen sick and vulnerable young women turned to a private specialist eating disorders clinic in Bath hoping they would receive life-changing treatment.

The women say their mental and physical health quickly deteriorated while the "dangerous" therapist in charge made them sicker and subjected them to psychological abuse. The clinic has since closed its doors but the former-patients say they have been left with life-long scars and want answers. BBC News

Mum fears NHS trust cover-up over Cambridgeshire suicides review

Mum fears NHS trust cover-up over Cambridgeshire suicides review The mother of a woman who took her own life weeks after being discharged from a mental health ward fears a "culture of cover up" within the NHS trust.

Hannah Roberts, 22, died by suicide in 2018 and her mother Sally said there were "discrepancies" in the accounts of the talented musician's discharge.

She feels an ongoing internal review into all Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) suicides since 2017 should be independent.

CPFT did not respond to her comments. BBC News

Mysterious new long Covid symptom identified by scientists

Mysterious new long Covid symptom identified by scientists A new symptom of long Covid has been revealed by scientists at the University of Leeds.

Though most people who contract Covid recover within a few days or weeks of experiencing initial symptoms, some people can experience longer, more persistent symptoms – termed long Covid or post Covid-19 syndrome by the NHS. The Independent

See also:

• Venous insufficiency and acrocyanosis in long COVID: dysautonomia (free access) The Lancet

NHS to offer weight-loss jabs via apps that help patients with obesity

NHS to offer weight-loss jabs via apps that help patients with obesity Weight-loss jabs are among a range of measures that will soon be made available by the NHS via prescription on apps in an attempt to tackle obesity, as demand for traditional face-to-face services surges.

The four programmes – Liva, Oviva, Roczen and Second Nature – can be downloaded via an app or computer, allowing specialists to provide care online. They have been recommended for use by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) in new draft guidance and will bring together various specialists, including those providing psychological support. The Guardian

See also:

• Digital services to enable easier access to weight management support National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
• Weight-loss apps to offer NHS help to obese BBC News

How bad are waiting lists at YOUR hospital? Use our search tool to find out: 60% of patients at busiest NHS trusts have been stuck in system for at least 18 weeks

How bad are waiting lists at YOUR hospital? Use our search tool to find out: 60% of patients at busiest NHS trusts have been stuck in system for at least 18 weeks Sixty per cent of patients at England's busiest hospital trusts are not being treated within the NHS's time target, official figures show.

Sick Brits have the legal right to undergo routine procedures, such as hip and knee replacements, within 18 weeks of being referred.

But not a single NHS trust met the acceptable threshold of ensuring 92 per cent of patients are seen within the time-frame, a cornerstone of the health service's own rulebook. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Which UK nation has the longest NHS waiting list? The Guardian
• A&E crisis fears as NHS leaders ‘too busy with strikes to prepare for winter’ The Independent

Why that 9-5 isn't so bad for your mental health after all: People who do shift work up to 22% more likely to suffer depression and anxiety, study suggests

Why that 9-5 isn't so bad for your mental health after all: People who do shift work up to 22% more likely to suffer depression and anxiety, study suggests People who work rotating shift patterns outside the typical 9 to 5 window are more likely to be depressed, researchers say.

A study tracking more than 175,000 British adults found that shift workers — such as nurses, security guards and police officers — were 22 percent more likely to be diagnosed with the condition than those on a standard day schedule.

They were also 16 percent more likely to have anxiety. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Lifestyle Factors in the Association of Shift Work and Depression and Anxiety (open access) JAMA Network Open

When there's smoke... Nearly 200,000 cases of dementia each year are caused by air pollution, first-of-its-kind study finds - and wildfires pose biggest risk

When there's smoke... Nearly 200,000 cases of dementia each year are caused by air pollution, first-of-its-kind study finds - and wildfires pose biggest risk People who regularly breathe in smoke from wildfires are more likely to get dementia, a study suggests.

Researchers from the University of Michigan warned those breathing in higher levels of particulate matter, or PM2.5, from wildfires and farms or agricultural production, had an up to 13 percent higher risk of developing the disease for every unit rise in concentrations of the particles. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Comparison of Particulate Air Pollution From Different Emission Sources and Incident Dementia in the US (abstract) JAMA Internal Medicine