This blog covers the latest UK health care news, publications, policy announcements, events and information focused on the NHS, as well as the latest media stories and local news coverage of the NHS Trusts in Northamptonshire.
Monday, 23 May 2022
Record 420,000 children a month in England treated for mental health problems
Revealed: one in five patients leave some A&E departments in England without treatment
NHS patients to receive £120 private health app to get them fit for surgery
Friday, 20 May 2022
Northampton blogger and YouTuber Louise Pentland visits Downing Street with petition urging government to deliver health visits to new parents
Northampton blogger and YouTuber Louise Pentland visits Downing Street with petition urging government to deliver health visits to new parents Northampton blogger and YouTuber Louise Pentland has delivered a petition to Downing Street this week, urging the government to ensure families receive the five health visiting checks they are entitled to. Northampton Chronicle and Echo
The Health and Care Act: six key questions
Understanding healthcare workers’ confidence in AI
Chart of the week: Where are NHS nurses recruited from?
Chart of the week: Where are NHS nurses recruited from? The target to have 50,000 more NHS nurses by 2024 is ambitious, but there have been encouraging signs of progress on it. Where are these nurses coming from? Billy Palmer takes a closer look. Nuffield Trust
The first comprehensive map of young people’s health inequalities in the UK
The first comprehensive map of young people’s health inequalities in the UK As part of the Young people's future health inquiry, the Health Foundation is working with the Association for Young People's Health (AYPH) to better understand the inequalities experienced by young people from different groups. In this blog, AYPH policy fellow Rachael McKeown outlines newly published data showing the scale and complexity of young people’s health inequalities, and the need for action.
Strategies to reduce inequalities in access to planned hospital procedures
Government on track to deliver 26,000 more primary care staff
Official Statistics: National flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports: 2021 to 2022 season
Vulnerable adults set for autumn Covid booster jab
- JCVI provides interim advice on an autumn COVID-19 booster programme UK Health Security Agency
- Sue Gray planning to name No 10 Covid rule-breakers BBC News
- Jonathan Van-Tam misses knighthood ceremony due to Covid BBC News
- Autumn Covid booster vaccines should be given to ALL over-65s The Daily Mail
- Hospitals told to ditch Covid visiting restrictions as NHS chief says no patient should be left alone The Daily Telegraph
- North Korea’s Covid caseload passes 2 million amid global concern about regime’s pandemic plan The Guardian
- Government’s vaccines committee recommends autumn Covid jabs The Independent
Cold virus killed 100,000 children globally in 2019
Monkeypox cases investigated in Europe, US, Canada and Australia
- UK has bought smallpox vaccine for monkeypox BBC News
- UK is stockpiling 'thousands' of monkeypox vaccines and drugs as UK cases rise to nine The Daily Mail
- Britain's monkeypox outbreak 'DOUBLES in size': Eleven new cases 'will be announced TODAY' The Daily Mail
- UK monkeypox cases ‘set to double today’ with fears infections are spiralling Metro
The nurses getting huge bills for quitting the NHS – podcast
Insomniacs in England to be offered app treatment instead of sleeping pills
Obese adults set to outnumber those at healthy weight in UK within five years, report warns
- Overweight and obesity prevalence projections for the UK Cancer Research UK
- New analysis estimates over 21 million UK adults will be obese by 2040 Cancer Research UK
- Experts warn obese people set to outnumber those at a healthy weight by 2030 The Daily Mail
Britons eat 900 more calories a day than they think - the equivalent of 3 McDonald's cheeseburgers
- Obese individuals do not underreport dietary intake to a greater extent than nonobese individuals when data are allometrically-scaled (open access) American Journal of Human Biology
Thursday, 19 May 2022
Desperate veteran says he's spent 50 or 60 years dealing with festering wound of PTSD
Hospital admissions for eating disorders increased by 84% in the last five years
The Royal College of Psychiatrists launches new Medical Emergencies in Eating Disorders guidance for frontline staff so that people with eating disorders needing urgent care can be identified and treated earlier.
Hospital admissions for eating disorders have increased by 84% in the last five years reaching a total of 24,268 admissions. New Royal College of Psychiatrists’ analysis of hospital data for eating disorders shows 11,049 more admissions in 2020/21 compared to 2015/16.
Let down
- BMA COVID-19 review BMA
- COVID-19: PPE for doctors BMA
- Government failed health staff in pandemic - BMA BBC News
- Covid-19: Government failed to protect doctors during pandemic, BMA inquiry finds The BMJ
- UK government 'failed in duty of care to doctors' in pandemic, BMA warns GPonline
- Doctors let down by Government during Covid-19 pandemic, says BMA The Independent
Maternity Disparities Taskforce explores women's health before and during pregnancy
Government review could see NHS England, CQC and UKHSA 'abolished'
Monkeypox: Two more people infected to take total to nine in UK
- Monkeypox cases confirmed in England – latest updates UK Health Security Agency
- Guidance: Monkeypox UK Health Security Agency
- Close contacts of UK's monkeypox cases are being given 'off-label' vaccine The Daily Mail
- Monkeypox hits Europe: Portugal says five men have virus while Spain probes eight suspected cases The Daily Mail
- Monkeypox: What we know about rare virus as four more cases confirmed in England The Independent
Wire cutters and drill bits among the items left inside NHS patients
NHS trust fined £1.3m over deaths of two patients after staff mistakes
Care watchdog issues urgent warning over patient safety at mental health hospital facing police probe
Care watchdog issues urgent warning over patient safety at mental health hospital facing police probe A private hospital facing a police investigation following a patient’s death has been given an urgent warning by the care regulator due to concerns over patient safety.
The Huntercombe Hospital in Maidenhead, which treats children with mental health needs, was told it must urgently address safety issues found by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following an inspection in March. The Independent
NHS checks for prostate cancer hit all-time high
NHS will NOT hit key cancer targets by next March, health chief warns
Wednesday, 18 May 2022
Northamptonshire hospitals beating new government targets on cancer diagnosis waiting times
What does the future hold for Kettering General Hospital's breast services?
What does the future hold for Kettering General Hospital's breast services? The potential for aspects of breast care to move from KGH to Northampton forms part of early talks about the service’s future, it has been revealed.
Discussions are under way about how the two hospitals – which form the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire group – could work together in the future. Northamptonshire Telegraph
Chronic pain: 'I get tsunamis of pain seven years after surgery'
Nursing and midwifery register grows but so does number of people leaving
- RCN responds to new NMC data showing a 13% increase in people leaving the profession Royal College of Nursing
- Half of new nurses and midwives come from abroad BBC News
- Record 23,000 NHS nurses and midwives employed last year - nearly HALF of new workforce - came from abroad, with the majority recruited in India and the Philippines The Daily Mail
- Numbers of nurses and midwives leaving NHS highest for four years The Guardian
General practice on the brink: how did it get there?
General practice on the brink: how did it get there? General practice is on the brink, and policy-makers, clinicians and patients seem to know it. But how did it come to this? At the start of a mini series of blogs on general practice, Charlotte Paddison reflects on how its problems came about and what lessons can be learnt from them. Nuffield Trust
See also:
China’s presence in NHS supply chains: Why we need to protect our health service from future threat
60,000 NHS staff living with post-traumatic stress following pandemic
60,000 NHS staff living with post-traumatic stress following pandemic An estimated 60,000 NHS workers could be living with post-traumatic stress as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, new research suggests.
In our survey of over 1000 NHS workers, close to three quarters (73%) expressed concern about colleagues leaving the workforce due to poor mental health. But while the pace of work and loss of unprecedented numbers of patients have taken a toll on staff, the public still feels overwhelming pride and affection for the health service – 60% say it is ‘the best thing about the UK. NHS Charities Together
Health Secretary announces 10-year Plan for dementia
- Speech: Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid speech at Alzheimer's Society 2022 conference. Department of Health and Social Care
- Government must back dementia ambition with research funding Alzheimer’s Research UK
- Sajid Javid says 'seismic shifts' are needed to fight dementia The Daily Mail
- Sajid Javid told dementia patients ‘need change now’ as 10-year plan launched The Guardian
The bitter fight over abortion clinic protests
Hostile behaviour toward people with a visible difference on the rise - study
UK monkeypox outbreak ‘unprecedented’ as officials say sexual contact likely route of transmission
UK monkeypox outbreak ‘unprecedented’ as officials say sexual contact likely route of transmission The recent outbreak of monkeypox cases in the UK is “unprecedented,” a scientist has said, as others warned there were “gaps in our knowledge” over the recent spread of the disease.
Health officials are investigating the links between four new cases that have been identified in London and the northeast of England, none of which have known connections to the previous three infections detected by the UK Health Security Agency. The Independent
See also:
- Monkeypox fears prompt STI clinics to bring social distancing BACK The Daily Mail
- Health chiefs are now probing whether monkeypox is being spread through SEX The Daily Mail
- Monkeypox likely a sexually transmissible infection, health officials believe for the first time The Daily Telegraph
- What is monkeypox and should UK residents be worried? The Guardian
NHS risks losing GPs to ‘nonsensical’ immigration rules, Priti Patel told
Pollution killed 9MILLION people in 2019 - the equivalent of one in six deaths, major report reveals
- Pollution and health: a progress update (open access) The Lancet Planetary Health
- Pollution killed 9MILLION people in 2019 - the equivalent of one in six deaths, major report reveals The Daily Mail
- Pollution responsible for one in six deaths across planet, scientists warn The Guardian
- Global pollution kills 9 million people a year, study finds The Independent
Councils blew £30m on health scheme which saw just 220 people lose ANY weight, MPs told
Tuesday, 17 May 2022
Northampton mental health hospital responds to data revealing 58 allegations of assault made against staff
Northampton mental health hospital responds to data revealing 58 allegations of assault made against staff A mental health hospital in Northampton has responded to data revealing that 86 safeguarding concerns were reported to West Northamptonshire Council in the space of a year.
A Freedom of Information Request was submitted to West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) regarding safeguarding at St Andrew’s Healthcare, situated on Billing Road. Northampton Chronicle and Echo
Putting patients first: championing good practice in combatting digital health inequalities
Millions suffer poor care due to overstretched NHS and social care staff
Millions suffer poor care due to overstretched NHS and social care staff New polling from Engage Britain shows that one in four adults say they, or an immediate family member, have received poor NHS care due to workforce problems.
The People’s Panel brought together 100 people to consider the health and care challenges being faced by the British public.The Panel was then tasked with prioritising the issues raised. It found workforce issues to be the most pressing problem facing the country.
It also stressed the need to improve how patients are treated, along with more support for mental health issues and healthcare prevention rather than cure.
The impact of dementia on women: how women are disproportionately affected across their lives and what needs to change.
Levelling up dementia diagnosis: Tackling variations in diagnosis rates in England
Levelling up dementia diagnosis: Tackling variations in diagnosis rates in England Future Health has published research which shows that over 300,000 people living with dementia in England
The report finds:
- A postcode lottery for dementia diagnosis, with large variations across England, including between neighbouring healthcare authorities
- The pandemic has seen a reduction in the proportion of patients receiving a diagnosis, with the number falling below 60% – missing the Government target of two thirds
- £3billion could be saved with better diagnosis rates of dementia, as report calls for pandemic recovery investment and an urgent public health campaign to encourage people to visit their GPs if they have concerns
A picture of health? Bridging the gap between physical and mental healthcare in adult mental health inpatient settings
Policy paper: Addendum to the UK 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance 2019 to 2024
The changes reflect lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and progress that has already been made. Department of Health and Social Care
Monkeypox: Four more cases detected in England
- Monkeypox cases confirmed in England – latest updates UK Health Security Agency
- Monkeypox - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland World Health Organization
- UK monkeypox alert as health chiefs detect another FOUR monkeypox cases The Daily Mail
- Mystery over spread of monkeypox as four more people infected The Daily Telegraph
- Monkeypox: What we know about rare virus as four more cases confirmed in England The Independent
- More cases of monkeypox detected in UK as scientists investigate links The Independent
- Monkeypox: How do you catch it, what are the symptoms, and how easily does it spread? Sky News
Anti-abortion groups target women with misleading ads
Google sued for using the NHS data of 1.6 million Britons 'without their knowledge or consent'
We need a definitive exit from our Covid-19 pandemic. Here’s the roadmap
We need a definitive exit from our Covid-19 pandemic. Here’s the roadmap Nasal or oral coronavirus vaccines, more and better drugs, and a variant-proof vaccine could catalyze a clear way out.
As the virus accelerates its evolution, the humans capitulate. For two and a half years, Covid-19 has been outrunning our response, getting more and more transmissible, reaching a level of infectiousness that few pathogens have ever attained. Instead of taking a stance of getting ahead of the virus, and outsmarting it, people have succumbed. The Guardian
See also:
- Covid mask rule partially eased for EU air travel BBC News
- Sniffer dogs ‘can accurately detect airport passengers infected with Covid-19’ The Independent
- Scent dogs in detection of COVID-19: triple-blinded randomised trial and operational real-life screening in airport setting (open access) BMJ Global Health
Overseas-trained NHS doctors more likely to be struck off without lawyer at disciplinary
- Doctors who graduated overseas face harsher sanctions when unrepresented at medical tribunals Medical Protection Society
Magnetic marker liquid could be used to show if breast cancer has spread
Patients made 4.7million trips to A&E because they couldn't get advice or treatment from their GP
IVF postcode lottery as Covid causes huge delays to NHS-funded cycles
- Impact of COVID-19 on fertility treatment 2020 Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority
- ‘People were extremely stressed and anxious’: IVF treatment through NHS plummets by 7% in pandemic The Independent
Monday, 16 May 2022
Devolve to evolve? The future of specialised services within integrated care
Devolve to evolve? The future of specialised services within integrated care Specialised services typically care for small numbers of patients with rare or complex conditions. They are commonly overlooked in debates around the future of the NHS.
This report sets out a series of recommendations including refinement of the services into more logical groupings, an expanded role for patient and carer input into service design, and stronger ministerial and financial oversight to ensure the sustainability of service delivery for the longer term. Policy Exchange
The government’s response to the House of Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee’s ninth report of session 2021-22, 'Clearing the backlog caused by the pandemic'
New prescription charge freeze to help ease cost of living
Government delays restrictions on multibuy deals and advertising on TV and online
- Junk food: Ministers to delay ban on multi-buy deals BBC News
- Junk food: Obesity strategy falling apart, Jamie Oliver says BBC News
- Tory backlash grows over delay to junk food TV ad ban The Guardian
- Delay to junk food ads ban could ‘blow a hole’ in UK obesity strategy The Guardian
- Ban on buy-one-get-one-free junk food deals delayed for a year, as PM accused of playing politics with kids' health Sky News
Hundreds of patients to get life-extending lung cancer drug on the NHS
Monkeypox cases confirmed in England
UK Covid infections lowest since mid-December
The estimates - from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - show levels of the virus are at the lowest since mid-December.
It means around 1.48m people would have tested positive in the week to 7 May. BBC News
- North Korea: More than a million Covid cases feared BBC News
- Covid: What will the pandemic look like in North Korea? BBC News
- 'Covid jab's very rare side-effects may be explored in public inquiry into pandemic The Daily Mail
- Cells infected with Covid can 'explode' The Daily Mail
- Only 7% of 5-11s in England have had Covid jab as parents hesitate The Guardian
- Long COVID sufferers 'considering buying own oxygen' as number seeking help doubles, says charity Sky News
Vitamin D: Could UV-mushrooms help fix the nation’s issue?
One idea being floated is getting people to eat biofortified foods, such as mushrooms that have been exposed to UV light.
It is a process that makes the food extra-rich in the nutrient. BBC News
Tens of thousands waiting too long for 999 calls to be answered in England
Tens of thousands waiting too long for 999 calls to be answered in England Tens of thousands of emergency calls are taking more than two minutes to be answered in England amid a crisis in the ambulance service, The Independent has learned.
More than 37,000 emergency calls took more than two minutes to answer in April 2022 – 24 times the 1,500 that took that long in April 2021, according to a leaked staff message.
Jeremy Hunt: I was at top of rogue system as health secretary
Jeremy Hunt: I was at top of rogue system as health secretary Jeremy Hunt has described sitting at the top of a “rogue system” when he was health secretary, as he reportedly told how he was “shocked to his core” by failures in care.
The current chair of the Health and Social Care Committee said the a fear of transparency and honesty in the NHS when it comes to avoidable deaths and mistakes is a “major structural problem” that must be addressed, in comments reported in the Sunday Times. The Independent
See also:
Thousands miss out on treatment as physiotherapists are taken off UK register
- Statement on physiotherapist renewals Health and Care Professions Council
- Physiotherapists: how to rejoin the Register if you’ve been removed Health and Care Professions Council
Health chiefs deny vulnerable patients vital care which NHS should fund
England will end free NHS flu jabs for over-50s but Scotland won't
Friday, 13 May 2022
Vaccine boss hails Covid jabs success as Northamptonshire hospital cases plummet 80 percent in four weeks
Vaccine boss hails Covid jabs success as Northamptonshire hospital cases plummet 80 percent in four weeks Vaccination bosses are hailing the success of Covid-19 jabs after the number of patients in hospital with the virus dropped by 80 percent in four weeks. Northampton Chronicle and Echo
Northamptonshire welcomes 16 international nurses to healthcare foundation trust in last year
Ukraine war: Paramedic to deliver humanitarian aid in Ukraine
NHS performance summary
- Continued pressure on emergency services not safe or sustainable The Health Foundation
- The King's Fund responds to the latest NHS performance stats The King's Fund
- Latest figures show NHS making significant dents in waiting lists, but demand skyrocketing NHS Confederation
- Further drop in number of people facing longest waits for NHS care NHS England
- NHS Activity Tracker May 2022 NHS Providers
- Appalling delays in emergency and routine care will remain for some time Nuffield Trust
- NHS waiting list spikes to ANOTHER record high: Now 6.4MILLION patients are stuck in queues The Daily Mail
- NHS England waiting list reaches another record high in March The Guardian
- What do the latest NHS performance figures show? The Independent
- NHS waiting list hits record high with 6.4 million patients yet to have routine treatment The Independent
- NHS waiting list in England hits new record high of 6.4 million people but ambulance response times improve iNews
Why health visitors matter: perspectives on a widely valued service
Waiting for Care ADASS Report May 2022
Waiting for Care ADASS Report May 2022 New survey findings from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services show that more than half a million people are now waiting for an adult social care assessment, for care or a direct payment to begin or for a review of their care. The latest data suggests:
- More than six in 10 councils that responded (61%) say they are having to prioritise assessments and are only able to respond to people where abuse or neglect is highlighted, for hospital discharge or after a temporary period of residential care to support recovery and reablement.
- 506,131 people were waiting for assessments, reviews, and/or care support to begin
- There has been a 16% increase in the number of hours of home care that have been delivered since Spring 2021, but that dipped from a high of over 41m hours in Autumn 2021 in the first quarter of this year as staff vacancies and sickness impacted
Almost 170,000 hours a week of home care could not be delivered because of a shortage of care workers during the first three months of 2022. That is a dramatic seven-fold increase since Spring 2021
See also:
- Chief Social Worker for Adults publishes annual report Department of Health and Social Care
- Official Statistics: Adult social care in England, monthly statistics: May 2022 Department of Health and Social Care
- NHS Providers responds to ADASS report 'Waiting for care and support' NHS Providers
- Social care: Half a million adults waiting for help in England BBC News
Increased funding for nursing in care homes
COVID-19: Around 60,000 NHS workers living with PTSD after battling the pandemic
NHS Charities Together also found nine in 10 workers (90%) say it will take them years to recover. Sky News
- Police issue 50 more fines over Covid-rule breaking in Downing Street BBC News
- Latest No 10 lockdown party fines are a non-story, says Jacob Rees-Mogg BBC News
- Covid inquiry broadens scope to include children BBC News
- End of Covid regulations: What if I'm still worried? BBC News
- United States passes one million Covid deaths BBC News
- Covid UK: Independent inquiry WILL probe impact of lockdowns on mental health and young people The Daily Mail
- Covid is not more likely to cause depression than other respiratory infections, study claims The Daily Mail
- Unequal impact of Covid should be part of UK inquiry, says chair The Guardian
- Partygate: PM accused of presiding over ‘record’ 100 Covid fines The Guardian
- Ending England’s Covid restrictions was divisive – but the data shows we were right The Guardian
- Covid vaccine uptake in pregnant women rises to 60% but racial inequalities persist The Independent
- Number of Covid-19 hospital patients in England lowest since Christmas The Independent
Hepatitis outbreak in children: What do we know so far?
Offer women oral tablet to treat fibroids, NHS advised
High pollen levels this weekend ‘could be deadly’ for asthma sufferers, charity warns
High pollen levels this weekend ‘could be deadly’ for asthma sufferers, charity warns Asthma sufferers have been warned that high pollen levels this weekend could put their lives at risk.
The Met Office is forecasting high pollen levels across most of England and Wales from Friday, with medium levels in other parts of the UK, except in Orkney and Shetland, where they should remain low. The Independent
NHS ambulance crisis sparks an 80% spike in serious safety incidents
- Ambulance Quality Indicators Clinical Outcomes for December 2021 NHS England
- Ambulance wait times: Injured nine-year-old told ambulance would take hours to reach her BBC News
- Top emergency medic admits she would consider a TAXI to take ill family member to hospital The Daily Mail
- Ambulance response times ‘putting lives at risk’ as girl, 9, told to wait 10 hours The Independent
Thursday, 12 May 2022
How can the NHS Staff Survey data help you to meet the core needs of your people?
Loneliness and Mental Health Report UK
Loneliness and Mental Health Report UK We all know what loneliness feels like and feeling lonely from time to time is a normal part of life. But when loneliness is severe or lasts a long time, it can negatively affect our mental health.
This report explores what it’s like to be lonely: its causes, consequences and the groups of people who are more likely to experience severe and enduring loneliness. Mental Health Foundation
Integrated working to address frailty needs: Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership
Workforce Disability Equality Standard: 2021 data analysis report for NHS trusts and foundation trusts
Ambulance wait times endangering patients, doctors say
Half of Covid-hospitalised still symptomatic two years on, study finds
- Health outcomes in people 2 years after surviving hospitalisation with COVID-19: a longitudinal cohort study (open access) The Lancet Respiratory Medicine
- World complacent on Covid, warns former UK prime minister Gordon Brown BBC News
- Covid: Superhero images unhelpful, says nurse chief BBC News
- North Korea orders strict lockdown with first official Covid cases BBC News
- England logs just 9,700 new Covid cases on first day of UK-wide daily stats being scrapped The Daily Mail
- SAGE models were too scary and held too much weight... says lockdown architect behind them! The Daily Mail
- Long Covid sufferers at far greater risk of blood clots, study says The Independent
- Impaired exercise capacity in post-COVID syndrome: the role of VWF-ADAMTS13 axis (open access) Blood Advances
Nurses top UK poll on who makes biggest contribution to society
Hundreds of organisations breached patient data rules, reveals BMJ
- Hundreds of patient data breaches are left unpunished (open access) The BMJ
- NHS data breaches: a further erosion of trust (open access) The BMJ
Author of review into aborted GP data sharing in England opted out of scheme
Prof Ben Goldacre, a former Guardian columnist and the author of the Goldacre Review, exercised his right to opt out of the Government’s General Practice Data for Planning and Research scheme, he told the Commons Science and Technology committee, because he was concerned about the risks of deanonymisation. The Guardian