Hundreds of Northants school pupils told 'stay at home' as Covid hits Hundreds of students at a Northamptonshire secondary school have been told to 'stay at home' after staffing levels dropped so low that safety could not be guaranteed. Northamptonshire Telegraph
See also:
Health boss vows to 'tackle health inequality' across Northamptonshire by 'empowering communities' through new programme Public Health Northamptonshire (PHN) has vowed to 'tackle health inequalities' across the county through a new programme that 'empowers communities'.
PHN said it welcomes the government’s commitment to set out its strategy to tackle the core drivers of health inequalities this year through a Health Disparities white paper. Northamptonshire Telegraph
See also:
New cases of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea identified in England Three new cases of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea have been identified in England, the UK Health Security Agency confirmed today.
A woman in her 20s in London and a heterosexual couple in their 20s based in the Midlands have been diagnosed with Neisseria gonorrhoeae - the bacteria which causes the sexually transmitted infection (STI). The Independent
See also:
We will be back with all the (health) news that's fit to print (to paraphrase the New York Times) on Tuesday the 8th of February.
Dr's Casebook: Covid restrictions are lifted but we still all need to take basic care The easing of Covid-19 restrictions in England is dividing opinion. Northamptonshire Telegraph
See also:
Tackling the inverse care law: Analysis of policies to improve general practice in deprived areas since 1990 This analysis reviews attempts to tackle inequities in the supply of general practice services in England over the past 30 years. The report looks at policies on general practice funding, workforce, premises, contracts and commissioning. The Health Foundation
Chart of the week: How quickly are NHS 111 answering calls this winter? Continuing our focus on winter pressures on the NHS, Liz Fisher looks at how NHS 111 has been performing recently. Even before the pandemic, the percentage of calls answered in a timely way by the service would drop from December to February. Is it a similar story this winter? Nuffield Trust
Special Health Authority announced for independent maternity investigations Plans to establish a Special Health Authority to continue the HSIB maternity investigation programme have been announced in Parliament (26 January, 2022) by Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch
Rise in extremely drug-resistant Shigella in gay and bisexual men Surveillance by UKHSA has detected a rise in cases of extremely antibiotic-resistant Shigella sonnei infections, mainly in gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM).
There have been 47 cases in the 4-month period between 1 September 2021 and 10 January 2022. This compares to 16 cases in a 17-month period the previous year – between 1 April 2020 and 31 August 2021. UKHSA has been following this strain since 2018, but recent cases show resistance to antibiotics is increasing. UK Health Security Agency
Half of women have not had children by 30th birthday for first time Half of women in England and Wales had not had a baby by their 30th birthday for the first time ever in 2020, according to official figures.
Data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday reveal the number of women who do not have a child by their 30th birthday has increased by 32 percentage points in 50 years. The Independent
See also:
Northampton Covid cases among highest in England as Plan B restrictions set to end Health chiefs say wearing a mask will still be vital to protecting the vulnerable when more Covid-19 restrictions in Northamptonshire are lifted from Thursday (January 27).
Northampton is one of the top four areas in England with highest coronavirus rates following another rise in cases. Northamptonshire Telegraph
See also:
Updating ethnic contrasts in deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19), England: 8 December 2020 to 1 December 2021 Estimates of COVID-19 mortality rates by ethnic group using linked data from the 2011 Census, death registrations, primary care and hospital records, and National Immunisation Management System. Office for National Statistics
Ministers urged to act as GPs in poor areas ‘have less funding and staff’ Ministers have been urged to act after a report found people living in poor areas face worse GP services with less staff and funding compared to more wealthy parts of the country.
GP services in poorer areas are underfunded, under-doctored and have worse-quality outcomes, according to a report shared with The Independent from the Health Foundation.
MEET KGH's GOVERNORS: Navigating local health and care services Patient engagement in the provision of Health and Social Care is a legal requirement.
Good communication is paramount in any walk of life and more so in the provision of health and social care. Northamptonshire Telegraph
How better use of data can help address key challenges facing the NHS This long read explores how the NHS in England can better use routine health data to help address current challenges, including winter pressures, the ongoing coronavirus response and the growing elective care backlog. The Health Foundation
Ovarian cancer death rate falls 17% in five years, study finds Deaths from ovarian cancer in Britain will be 17 per cent lower this year than in 2017 amid increased use of oral contraceptives, according to new research.
A study published in the Annals of Oncology also predicts death rates from the disease will be seven per cent lower across European Union (EU) nations. The Independent
See also:
Vaccination centre marks first birthday by closing in on 300,000th Covid-19 jab for Northamptonshire Northamptonshire's Covid-19 vaccinaction centre is one year old on Tuesday (January 25) and closing in on 300,000 jabs.
NHS staff and volunteers at Moulton Park have already given more than 285,000 doses — an average of nearly 800 a day — since it opened in the peak of pandemic's second wave. Northamptonshire Telegraph
See also:
Campaigners ramp up fight to keep GP surgery in Byfield as thousands sign petition Organisers are urging people to make their voices heard when the decision to save the surgery goes to planning on Wednesday, February 9.
If it's turned down by West Northants Council when the meeting takes place in the Council Chamber at 6pm, Byfield will lose the surgery. Northampton Chronicle and Echo
Pandemic Pressures and Public Health Care: Evidence from England Delays to cancer referrals and treatment times have led to an estimated 32,000 missing cancer patients that should have already started receiving treatment. Meanwhile, pandemic pressures have adversely affected the quality of care received by non-Covid patients resulting in at least 4,000 additional deaths that could otherwise have been avoided in England.
New research measures the short- and long-term impacts of these challenges on non-Covid-related healthcare services in England. CAGE Research Centre, University of Warwick
Covid vaccine chief's plea to Northamptonshire's missing 67,000 to get boosted Around 67,000 people across Northamptonshire are still to get a Covid-19 booster jab after a slump in demand since Christmas.
The county's vaccination programme director fears public messages about the Omicron variant 'not being that serious' may be hindering the rollout. Northamptonshire Telegraph
See also:
Northamptonshire dementia patients missing out on 'vital' care reviews, figures reveal People living with dementia in Northamptonshire missed out on potentially vital care reviews they were entitled to last year, figures suggest. Northampton Chronicle and Echo
For whose benefit? NHS England’s contract with the private hospital sector in the first year of the pandemic This report analyses the government’s use of the private hospital sector to alleviate the burden on the NHS during the first year of the COVID pandemic. Under this strategy, NHS England purchased access to practically the entire private hospital sector at the outset of the pandemic, in a series of contracts that would run between March 2020 and March 2021.
However, this research shows that none of the goals outlined for the deal were achieved to a significant extent. Centre for Health and Public Interest
Mental health: trends in the quality of mental health care In this QualityWatch update we look at a range of mental health service performance measures, and data on patient experience and outcomes, to give a view of how services have fared in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Nuffield Trust
Debt and health: Preventing ‘problem debt’ during the pandemic recovery There is a two-way relationship between debt and health: debt problems can lead to deteriorations in mental and physical health, and health problems can be a trigger for increasing debt. 20% of people in problem debt in Great Britain report ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ health, compared with 7% of those not in problem debt. The Health Foundation
