Medical body NICE backs online mental health treatments

Medical body NICE backs online mental health treatments The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended eight online therapies for anxiety and depression.

NICE says the therapies have the potential to help more than 40,000 people in the UK.

Each therapy must come with a formal assessment from an NHS therapist in order for it to be recommended. BBC News

See also:

• Eight digitally enabled therapies to treat depression and anxiety in adults conditionally recommended by NICE National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

Daily walk prevents one in 10 early deaths - study

Daily walk prevents one in 10 early deaths - study You don't have to be a runner or play sport to feel the benefits of exercise - fitting a brisk walk into your day is good enough, UK analysis suggests.

It found if everyone did as little as 11 minutes of daily activity, one in 10 premature deaths could be prevented.

Most people don't manage to do the minimum recommended 150 minutes of exercise a week, however.

But doing some exercise is better than doing nothing, the researchers from the University of Cambridge say. BBC News

See also:

• Non-occupational physical activity and risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and mortality outcomes: a dose–response meta-analysis of large prospective studies (open access) British Journal of Sports Medicine
• Daily 11 minute brisk walk enough to reduce risk of early death University of Cambridge

Judge jails fake NHS psychiatrist and criticises ‘abject failure of scrutiny’

Judge jails fake NHS psychiatrist and criticises ‘abject failure of scrutiny’ A bogus psychiatrist who practised in the NHS for 22 years with a fake degree has been jailed, as a judge criticised medical authorities for an “abject failure of scrutiny”.

Zholia Alemi was ordered to serve seven years in prison after being found guilty of a “deliberate and wicked deception” that allowed her to treat hundreds of patients across Britain. The Guardian

See also:

• Fake psychiatrist Zholia Alemi who forged medical degree jailed BBC News
• Fake doctor who worked in NHS for two decades jailed for seven years ITV News
• Fake psychiatrist jailed after conning NHS out of £1,300,000 Metro
• Fake psychiatrist Zholia Alemi who worked illegally for over 20 years jailed for fraud Sky News

Shortfall of £2.3bn a year in England’s care homes ‘putting people at risk’

Shortfall of £2.3bn a year in England’s care homes ‘putting people at risk’ A £2.3bn-a-year hole has been exposed in England’s elderly care home system, leading to warnings that living standards for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people could be at risk.

A government exercise to define the true cost of care has uncovered a 20% shortfall in council funding needed to look after close to 200,000 people aged over 65 in care and nursing homes, the Guardian can reveal. A further annual hole of at least £650m has been found in funding for carers who look after people in their own homes, although that is likely to be a significant underestimate and could be over £1bn more, according to providers.

Bird flu: Ex-SAGE adviser calls on UK to start stockpiling antiviral drugs and PPE

Bird flu: Ex-SAGE adviser calls on UK to start stockpiling antiviral drugs and PPE Britain should be stockpiling more antivirals and PPE for bird flu, according to an expert who helped guide the Government through Covid.

Professor Peter Openshaw, who sat on two influential SAGE committees during the pandemic, said it was essential to start preparing for the worst-case scenario. 

His comments come as fears of an avian influenza crisis in humans have drastically escalated over the past fortnight. The Daily Mail

Northampton mental health service four times told to improve after staff caught asleep four times

Northampton mental health service four times told to improve after staff caught asleep four times A mental health hospital’s service where staff members fell asleep on four separate occasions has been told to improve by inspectors. The men's service at St Andrew's Healthcare in Northampton was visited by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in October 2022. Northants Live

I just want to be me: trans and gender diverse communities’ access to and experiences of palliative & end of life care

I just want to be me: trans and gender diverse communities’ access to and experiences of palliative & end of life care This report, based on first-hand research with the trans and gender diverse community and those working in end of life care, explores the barriers faced by trans and gender diverse people when accessing end of life, hospice, and palliative care and sets out recommendations for how to tackle them. Hospice UK

Progression of parents in NHS medical and nursing careers

Progression of parents in NHS medical and nursing careers In this report, we examine how the length of parental leave and rates of progression after having children vary by specialty, gender and other staff characteristics among doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives in the English NHS. Career progression has a direct impact on pay and can affect other job characteristics, such as shift pattern and location stability. Institute for Fiscal Studies

20-hour cap removed - NHS Employers

20-hour cap removed The Home Office has announced that from today (Monday 27 February), Health and Care Visa holders will be able to work an uncapped amount of additional hours for a second employer. NHS Employers

Campaign to help parents with introducing babies to solid food

Campaign to help parents with introducing babies to solid food Parents are being supported to safely introduce their babies to solid food through a government campaign that promotes NHS advice on weaning.

Weaning is a key milestone within the first 1,001 critical days. It teaches babies to move food around their mouth, chew and swallow, and influences children’s eating habits and their health later in life.

The campaign highlights there are three clear signs that mean your baby is ready for solid food, such as if they can stay in a sitting position, holding their head steady. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Parents to be offered weaning advice for babies in England BBC News

NHS launches ad campaign as just one in five would visit high-street pharmacy for minor illnesses

NHS launches ad campaign as just one in five would visit high-street pharmacy for minor illnesses Just one in five people aged 18-40 would visit their local pharmacy first for expert advice with a minor illness, new polling has found. The NHS has today launched a new campaign to highlight how high-street pharmacies can support patients with non-urgent health advice for minor conditions including coughs, aches and colds. NHS England

Covid inquiry: Race should be at its core, say campaigners

Covid inquiry: Race should be at its core, say campaigners Race should be made a central part of the UK's independent public inquiry into the pandemic, campaigners say.

A letter seen by BBC News, sent to the chairwoman of the Covid-19 inquiry, calls for it to look at "racism as a key issue" at every stage.

Ethnic minorities were significantly more likely to die with Covid-19, according to official figures.

An inquiry spokesperson said the unequal impacts of the pandemic would be at the forefront of its work. 

A&E delays linked to tens of thousands of patient deaths, top doctors claim

A&E delays linked to tens of thousands of patient deaths, top doctors claim A&E delays may have led to more than 20,000 patient deaths last year, top emergency doctors have claimed.

“Hidden data” analysed by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said 1.65 million people waited more than 12 hours for treatment after arriving in A&E departments in 2022 - with 23,003 of these later dying as a result.

The RCEM warned that long waiting times can have “catastrophic consequences for patient safety and mortality”. The Independent

See also:

• A&E delays killed 23,000 Brits last year as health experts warn 1.6MILLION Brits faced 12-hour waits The Daily Mail
• The NHS emergency care crisis: ‘Left for 16 hours in A&E suffering sickle cell pain’ The Independent

Patients losing out amid slump in NHS clinical trials, warn top clinicians

Patients losing out amid slump in NHS clinical trials, warn top clinicians UK falls from fourth to 10th place in phase III trials amid ‘ossified’ bureaucracy and stretched health service

The state of clinical trials in the NHS is “much worse than it has been in years” with patients losing access to cutting-edge cancer and dementia treatments, one of the UK’s most senior clinicians has warned.

Sir John Bell, the regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford and a government life sciences adviser, said the UK’s approach needed “a full overhaul, top to bottom” to prevent a collapse in the number of clinical trials being conducted in the NHS. The Guardian

Will DIY smear tests save lives? As research indicates 80 per cent more women will get screening

Will DIY smear tests save lives? As research indicates 80 per cent more women will get screening Using a 'DIY' test for cervical cancer could spare women embarrassment — and potentially save lives.

Rather than going to a clinic or their GP's surgery for a smear test, women would test themselves in the privacy of their own home.

They would then post their samples back to the lab to be examined for signs of the virus that causes the cancer. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Self-Sampling for Human Papillomavirus Testing: Increased Cervical Cancer Screening Participation and Incorporation in International Screening Programs (open access) Frontiers in Public Health

Northampton: Maternity unit needs 37 more midwives

Northampton: Maternity unit needs 37 more midwives A criticised maternity service needs 37 more midwives, about a fifth of its total midwifery workforce.

The care regulator has said Northampton General Hospital did not always have enough qualified and experienced staff to keep women safe from avoidable harm.

Figures obtained by the BBC show that 49 serious incidents have occurred in its maternity services in four years.

The hospital said it had undertaken "a lot of work" in the past 18 months and a recruitment process was under way. BBC Northampton

See also:

• Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust maternity services remain rated requires improvement by CQC Care Quality Commission

What caused the UK’s elective care backlog, and how can we tackle it?

What caused the UK’s elective care backlog, and how can we tackle it? The latest statistics on elective (non-emergency) care in England are making headlines for all the wrong reasons – the waiting list is over seven million, and over 400,000 have waited more than a year. Why is this? And what can be done about it? The King's Fund

Interim report explores impact of staff wellbeing on patient safety

Interim report explores impact of staff wellbeing on patient safety HSIB have published a third interim report for this investigation which focuses on staff wellbeing across the urgent and emergency care systems and the impact that this has on patient safety.

The investigation team spoke to staff working across the urgent and emergency care system in the NHS including in emergency departments, NHS 111 call handling centres and ambulance services. As conversations progressed, we saw that there was ‘significant distress’ from staff as they expressed that not being able to help the sickest of people had an impact on their personal health and wellbeing. Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch

See also:

• NHS staff cried in safety interviews, says watchdog BBC News
• ‘How many people will we kill today?’: Shocking reality facing NHS ambulance workers The Indepedent

Urgent action needed to prevent eating disorder deaths

Urgent action needed to prevent eating disorder deaths The UK’s Health Ombudsman has warned that people with eating disorders are being repeatedly failed by the system and radical changes need to be made to prevent further tragedies.

Little progress has been made in the six years since the publication of a report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) which highlighted serious failings in eating disorder services.

See also:

• Eating disorder patients ‘repeatedly failed’, says England watchdog The Guardian

NHS pilots artificial intelligence software to cut missed hospital appointments

NHS pilots artificial intelligence software to cut missed hospital appointments Artificial intelligence (AI) that predicts likely missed appointments and offers back-up bookings will be piloted by the NHS in a bid to maximise resources and potentially save billions.

Through algorithms and anonymised data, the technology breaks down the reasons why someone may not attend an appointment – using a range of external insights including the weather, traffic and jobs.

The appointments are then arranged for the most convenient time for patients – for example, it will give evening and weekend slots to those less able to take time off during the day. NHS England