Christmas fundraiser sees Northampton hospital on its way to raising £20,000 for two sensory rooms

Christmas fundraiser sees Northampton hospital on its way to raising £20,000 for two sensory rooms Nurses at Berrywood Hospital want to turn two rarely used rooms into sensory rooms for children to use on both the Burrows and Sett wards.The rooms will be used in different ways to suit each patient’s needs and will allow the children to self-manage stress and anxiety, in the company of their families.

Wednesday saw staff, patients and their family and friends take part in a raffle, tombola and charity cake sale, in the company of the Rock Choir, to raise funds to pay for the two facilities. So far, £600 has been raised and one of the activity coordinators, Katie Trevor, said she's happy with the progress they have made so far. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Unconventional health and care: five organisations delivering care differently

Unconventional health and care: five organisations delivering care differently How can we make sure that people always receive the compassionate care they need? This long read looks at five organisations that are thinking differently about how they support patients and service users, and considers what we can learn from their unconventional approach. The King's Fund

Measles deaths 'staggering and tragic'

Measles deaths 'staggering and tragic' More than 140,000 people died from measles last year as the number of cases around the world surged once again, official estimates suggest.

Most of the lives cut short were children aged under five.

The situation has been described by health experts as staggering, an outrage, a tragedy and easily preventable with vaccines.

Huge progress has been made since the year 2000, but there is concern that incidence of measles is now edging up.

In 2018, the UK - along with Albania, the Czech Republic and Greece, lost their measles elimination status. BBC News

Briton Audrey Schoeman revived after six-hour cardiac arrest

Briton Audrey Schoeman revived after six-hour cardiac arrest A British woman whose heart stopped beating for six hours has been brought back to life in what doctors have described as an "exceptional case".

Audrey Schoeman developed severe hypothermia when she was caught in a snowstorm while hiking in the Spanish Pyrenees with her husband in November.

Doctors say it is the longest cardiac arrest ever recorded in Spain.

Mrs Schoeman, who has made a near-full recovery after the ordeal, says she hopes to be hiking again by spring. BBC News

See also:

• British woman brought back to life six hours after cardiac arrest The Daily Telegraph
• British hiker survives six-hour cardiac arrest in 'exceptional' case: 'It's like a miracle' The Indepdent

Major reforms needed to healthcare education to tackle workforce shortages, unions warn

Major reforms needed to healthcare education to tackle workforce shortages, unions warn A radical overhaul of the healthcare education system in England is needed to tackle significant workforce shortages facing the sector, an alliance of unions has warned.

An open letter, shared exclusively with The Independent, calls for nursing, midwifery and allied health students to receive greater financial support to help solve the recruitment crisis in the NHS.

See also:

• The RCN has written to political party leaders demanding urgent funding for England’s nursing students in the first budget of the next government Royal College of Nursing

Shrewsbury maternity scandal: Inspectors warn of unsafe staffing amid signs of improvement

Shrewsbury maternity scandal: Inspectors warn of unsafe staffing amid signs of improvement Maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust were 50 midwives short of what was safe, hospital inspectors have said.

A new report by the Care Quality Commission, published today, revealed the trust, which is at the centre of the largest maternity scandal in the history of the NHS, had a 26 per cent vacancy of midwives in April this year. The Independent

See also:

• Royal Shrewsbury Hopsital inspection report Care Quality Commission
• Women giving birth at scandal-hit trust are still at risk, watchdog finds The Daily Telegraph

As a junior doctor I can reach breaking point. A patient's note keeps me going

As a junior doctor I can reach breaking point. A patient's note keeps me going To have someone recognise the difficulty of my job meant so much, and reminded me why I became a doctor

As a junior doctor who has experienced depression, I often wake up feeling like there’s a weight on top of me. During shifts we’re split in so many different directions that eating or even going to the toilet are out of the question. I’m painfully aware patients wait hours for care or even just to be discharged, and I can’t stand not being able to prevent delays.

It’s rare that I’d ever get a chance to voice these concerns to patients. That’s why Mr Jones, an elderly patient I got to know from his recurring visits to the ward I was working on, sticks out in my mind. The Guardian

Winter vomiting bug sees twice as many hospital beds closed as last year

Winter vomiting bug sees twice as many hospital beds closed as last year Health officials have warned that winter vomiting bug is on the rise, with twice as many hospital beds closed as this time last year.

Hospitals in England have been forced to close more than 1,100 hospital beds over the last week due to norovirus.

NHS England urged people to stay at home if they get the bug - which causes vomiting and diarrhoea - to avoid passing it on. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• NHS warning as winter vomiting bug closes 1,000 hospital beds NHS England
• Official Statistics: Norovirus and rotavirus: summary of surveillance 2019 to 2020 Public Health England
• Norovirus closes 1,100 hospital beds in England BBC News
• Norovirus forces NHS England to close more than 1,100 hospital beds The Guardian

NHS hospitals are 'unable to share medical records because they use different computer software'

NHS hospitals are 'unable to share medical records because they use different computer software' The NHS is risking patient safety because it can't get to grips with computers, a damning report has revealed.

Almost a quarter of hospitals still use paper records and those which have switched to IT systems have no standard – almost two dozen different systems are being used.

A report by Imperial College London found there were 11 million occasions last year on which patients went to appointments at hospitals which didn't have their records. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Improving data sharing between acute hospitals in England: an overview of health record system distribution and retrospective observational analysis of inter-hospital transitions of care (open access) BMJ Open
• Patients at risk because NHS hospitals using different record-keeping systems  Imperial College London

Flu hits England early: Health chiefs call for parents to get children vaccinated NOW

Flu hits England early: Health chiefs call for parents to get children vaccinated NOW Health chiefs today urged parents to immediately get their children vaccinated against flu after an early start to the season.

Statistics show the number of intensive care admissions for flu in NHS hospitals are three times higher than at the same point last winter.

Some 212 people across the country have been rushed into ICU with influenza so far this year - up from 75 in 2018 and 63 the year before. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Millions of children exposed as flu spreads following vaccine delays The Daily Telegraph

There are 59 people in Northants wishing for one thing this Christmas

There are 59 people in Northants wishing for one thing this Christmas For 59 Northamptonshire people and their families, there will be only one thing on their Christmas wishlist this year as they wait for an organ transplant.

NHS Blood and Transplant is urging families in Northamptonshire to talk about their decision on organ donation when they get together over the festive season, so their loved ones know what they want when they die. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Five hits, five misses: public and population health and the main party manifestos

Five hits, five misses: public and population health and the main party manifestos Reading manifestos is a double-edged pleasure for a policy wonk, hoping to find evidence of ‘their stuff’ while fearing its absence. The lot of a public health policy wonk is a particularly trying one because we need to look more widely, beyond the NHS (and sometimes social care) sections, to get a sense of how policies might have an impact on the population’s health. The King's Fund

‘Hospital mergers increase death and harm’? Not so fast…

‘Hospital mergers increase death and harm’? Not so fast… In February 2019 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a working paper on the impact of hospital competition on rates of patient harm in the English NHS. The Health Foundation examined the central conclusion of the CMA paper – that the research provides ‘further empirical evidence that competition ultimately benefits patients’ – finding that this cannot be substantiated from the analysis. This working paper outlines how more rigorous well-designed research is needed to measure the impact of competition on the quality of care. Health Foundation

Stopping the staff we need? Migration choices in the 2019 general election

Stopping the staff we need? Migration choices in the 2019 general election This briefing looks back at how migrants and migration policy have shaped the care workforce across the UK in recent decades, drawing on new figures obtained from the Office for National Statistics. It assesses the risks different parties’ policies pose and how these could be addressed to ensure that we do not stop the staff we need. Nuffield Trust

See also:

• One in four NHS hospital staff were born outside the UK, analysis reveals The Daily Mail
• Both Labour and Tory migration plans 'would worsen NHS staffing' The Guardian
• NHS staff crisis 'would worsen' under both Tory and Labour governments Metro

State of the nation’s health in 2018 shown in new report

State of the nation’s health in 2018 shown in new report The latest figures for the Health Survey for England have been released by NHS Digital, monitoring trends in the nation’s health and featuring new data on gambling, asthma and longstanding conditions.

Opportunities to embed sexual and reproductive healthcare services into new models of care: a practical guide for commissioners and service providers

Opportunities to embed sexual and reproductive healthcare services into new models of care: a practical guide for commissioners and service providers More than 50 strategies and operational plans were reviewed for this report, with results showing that few areas have explicitly recognised the opportunity to embed sexual and reproductive health care services in their plans. Other areas of sexual and reproductive health such as psychosexual services and menopause were not present in the majority of plans. Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare

Lack of social care has led to 2.5 million lost bed days in the NHS between the last Election and this one

Lack of social care has led to 2.5 million lost bed days in the NHS between the last Election and this one Over the same period these ‘social care delayed discharges’ have cost the NHS a total of £587 million, or £27,000 each and every hour

During the 917 days between the last General Election on 8th June 2017 and the upcoming Election on 12th December 2019, new Age UK analysis finds that lost bed days in the NHS due to a lack of social care will have topped the 2.5 million mark.

The cost to the NHS of our national failure to reform and refinance social care over this period is £587 million overall, equivalent to £640,000 every day, or £27,000 every hour, the Charity says.

See also:

• 2.5million NHS bed days have been lost since the last election The Daily Mail
• One in eight care homes closes amid growing crisis in social care The Daily Telegraph

Air pollution in worst hit areas as deadly as smoking over 150 cigarettes each year

Air pollution in worst hit areas as deadly as smoking over 150 cigarettes each year People living in areas of the country that are worst affected by air pollution have an increased risk of death that is on average the equivalent to smoking over 150 cigarettes a year, the British Heart Foundation has warned.

The new analysis of data comes as we urge the next government to urgently adopt into law tougher World Health Organisation (WHO) air pollution limits.

The UK currently subscribes to EU limits on levels of fine particulate matter called PM2.5, which are not as stringent as those set by the WHO. This fine particulate matter is the most dangerous kind of air pollution, with the smallest particles finding their way into the circulatory system when inhaled.

See also:

• Breathing London air is 'like smoking 160 cigarettes a year' The Daily Mail
• City air pollution is equivalent of smoking 150 cigarettes a year The Daily Telegraph
• Breathing London air same as smoking 150 cigarettes a year, experts warn The Independent

Mentally ill 'spend months on hidden waiting list'

Mentally ill 'spend months on hidden waiting list' Patients with mental health problems are being left in limbo on "hidden" waiting lists by England's NHS talking therapy service, the BBC can reveal.

The service - called Improving Access to Psychological Therapies - provides therapy, such as counselling, to adults with conditions like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.

It starts seeing nine in 10 patients within the target time of six weeks.

But that masks the fact many then face long waits for regular treatment.

Half of patients waited over 28 days, and one in six longer than 90 days, between their first and second sessions in the past year. BBC News

Seizures of illegal diazepam tablets double in a year

Seizures of illegal diazepam tablets double in a year The number of illegal diazepam tablets seized entering the UK has more than doubled in a year, figures obtained by the Victoria Derbyshire programme show.

Some 1.3 million were intercepted in the postal system by the UK's Border Force in 2018, up from 545,000 in 2017.

Doctors warn the authenticity of diazepam bought online cannot be trusted. It is illegal to possess without a prescription. BBC News