Enabling service transformation in practice: reflections on the Wade-Gery review

Enabling service transformation in practice: reflections on the Wade-Gery review The innovations we’ve seen in NHS services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic – such as more digital consultations, remote monitoring, and using data to prioritise vaccine rollout – have given us a glimpse of the potential of technology and data to revolutionise health care delivery. The Health Foundation

NHS England and tackling inequalities

NHS England and tackling inequalities The lightbulb moment of the Covid-19 experience to date – that inequalities in health and their causes run deep through our society and through how people access, experience and receive care from the NHS – must not be lost. The King's Fund 

Mental health services for children and young people risk backward slide

Mental health services for children and young people risk backward slide The Health and Social Care Committee calls for urgent action to prevent mental health services slipping backwards as a result of additional demand created by the pandemic and the scale of unmet need prior to it.

MPs found that despite progress in numbers of young people receiving treatment, it was unacceptable that more than half with a diagnosable condition pre-pandemic do not receive the mental health support they need.

See also: 

• Children and young people’s mental health (report) Health and Social Care Committee
• Children's mental health: 'The type of self-harm is the worst we have seen' BBC News
• Children facing long waits and ‘inappropriate care’ in mental health services, report says The Independent

RCEM winter flow project: analysis of the data so far

RCEM winter flow project: analysis of the data so far Winter flow is an annual project run by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine since 2015. The project collects a range of data to explore the factors that affect emergency departments and patient ‘flow’. This report reveals that in November 2021 6,726 elective care operations were cancelled and in October 2021 6,335 elective care operations were cancelled. Royal College of Emergency Medicine 

Health and Care Bill

Health and Care Bill The Health and Care Bill is scheduled for second reading in the House of Lords on 7 December 2021. This briefing focuses on how the bill changed as it went through the House of Commons, and remaining areas that opposition parties and other stakeholders would like to see addressed in the House of Lords. House of Lords Library 

Statement to Parliament: Health Secretary's oral statement to Parliament on COVID-19

Statement to Parliament: Health Secretary's oral statement to Parliament on COVID-19 Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid's oral statement to Parliament on COVID-19 and Plan B made on 8 December. Department of Health and Social Care

See also: 

• UK's most vulnerable people to receive life-saving COVID-19 treatments in the community Department of Health and Social Care
• People 40 and over to get their lifesaving booster jab three months on from second dose NHS England
• Research: Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern: variant risk assessments UK Health Security Agency
• COVID-19 variants identified in the UK UK Health Security Agency

Covid-19: Javid defends Plan B rule changes amid No 10 party row

Covid-19: Javid defends Plan B rule changes amid No 10 party row New Covid rules in England will buy time against the Omicron variant amid a "credible risk" of a crisis in the NHS, Health Secretary Sajid Javid says.

The restrictions include masks in most public places, Covid passes for some venues and work from home guidance.

Mr Javid denied the government had lost credibility by breaking rules over parties at Downing Street. BBC News 

See also:

• Covid: England braces for Plan B rule changes amid Omicron fears BBC News
• Covid: Hospital admissions could reach 1,000 a day - scientific advisers BBC News
• Covid: Pfizer says booster shot promising against Omicron BBC News
• Covid: Bereaved family angry at No 10 lockdown party BBC News
• Covid risk remains higher for some ethnic groups BBC News
• Sajid Javid warns Britain could breach 1MILLION cases of Omicron by the end of December The Daily Mail
• Covid-19 UK: Experts warn Plan B may not be enough to contain Omicron The Daily Mail
• Neil Ferguson warns full lockdown might be needed to stop Omicron overwhelming NHS The Daily Mail
• Covid Plan B: How new measures will affect Christmas The Daily Telegraph
• Talk of a No 10 Christmas party is an insult to the thousands who have died of Covid | Rachel Clarke The Guardian
• Covid PCR test market a ‘rip-off jungle’, says ex-chair of competition regulator The Guardian
• Boris Johnson’s plan B arrives – but how much is it now undermined? The Guardian

New Zealand to ban cigarettes for future generations

New Zealand to ban cigarettes for future generations New Zealand will ban the sale of tobacco to its next generation, in a bid to eventually phase out smoking.

Anyone born after 2008 will not be able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products in their lifetime, under a law expected to be enacted next year.

"We want to make sure young people never start smoking," Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verall said. BBC News

NHS report reveals decade of failings in care of vulnerable man

NHS report reveals decade of failings in care of vulnerable man A vulnerable man detained for 10 years was failed by a system meant to care for him, an independent NHS investigation has found.

Clive Treacey, a man who lived his life in the care of NHS and social care authorities, experienced an “unacceptably poor quality of life”, and was not kept safe from harm before his death at just 47. The Independent

See also: 

• Clive Treacey: Independent Review NHS England
• ‘Help me dad’: Last words of a vulnerable man failed by all systems The Independent

Dogs prevent more than 100,000 suicides in people with autism in the UK, study claims

Dogs prevent more than 100,000 suicides in people with autism in the UK, study claims Pet dogs have prevented more than 100,000 people with autism from taking their own life, according to a new study. 

Scientists from the University of Lincoln studied the relationship between people who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and their pet dog. The Daily Telegraph

See also: 

• Understanding the impact of dog ownership on autistic adults: implications for mental health and suicide prevention (open access) Nature Scientific Reports

Brackley: Thirteen cases of Omicron identified in town

Brackley: Thirteen cases of Omicron identified in town Thirteen cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant have been found in a Northamptonshire town.

As well as the confirmed instances, "a number of highly probable cases" have been identified in the Brackley area. BBC Northampton

See also: 

• Extra 7 million people able to book Covid jabs as booking system extended Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Northamptonshire health professionals missed danger signs before death of six-month old baby boy, official report finds

Northamptonshire health professionals missed danger signs before death of six-month old baby boy, official report finds An independent review says Northamptonshire health professionals failed to spot danger signs in weeks leading up to the death of a six-month old baby boy in April last year. Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also: 

• Child Az - Child Safeguarding Practice Review Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Partnership

Restraint, segregation and seclusion review: progress report

Restraint, segregation and seclusion review: progress report This short report comments on the progress following publication of Out of sight – who cares? in October 2020, which looked at the use of restraint, seclusion and segregation in care services for people with a mental health condition, a learning disability or autism. This report highlights the main areas where further work is still needed. Care Quality Commission 

Lockdown on loneliness: creating connection for people with a learning disability

Lockdown on loneliness: creating connection for people with a learning disability According to this report, experiences of loneliness were not limited to Covid lockdown for people with learning disabilities. Over a third (36 per cent) of people with a learning disability surveyed after lockdown said they felt lonely nearly always or all the time, while one in three people (37 per cent) also said that they hardly ever or never go out to socialise – suggesting that their experiences of loneliness were not a consequence of restrictions introduced due to the pandemic. The report highlights unmet support needs as a key driver of loneliness which prevents many people with a learning disability from taking opportunities to socialise. Hft

Assessing the global burden of post-Covid-19 conditions

Assessing the global burden of post-Covid-19 conditions As the number of reported cases of Covid-19 exceeds 250 million globally and deaths exceed 5 million, there is growing awareness and concern about those who suffer long-term conditions that appear to be associated with the virus. These long-term conditions are likely to impose a large burden on the health care system. The objective of the research reflected in this report is to quantify the magnitude of patients with post-Covid-19 conditions based on analysis of medical open claims data and a review of the growing body of literature globally. IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science 

UK marks one year since deploying world's first COVID-19 vaccine

UK marks one year since deploying world's first COVID-19 vaccine The UK administered the first COVID-19 vaccine in the world, outside of clinical trials, one year ago today as the Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid urges people to get their booster jab as soon as they are eligible. Department of Health and Social Care

See also: 

• Statement to Parliament: Oral statement on the COVID-19 pandemic Department of Health and Social Care

Covid: Vaccines should work against Omicron variant, WHO says

Covid: Vaccines should work against Omicron variant, WHO says Existing vaccines should still protect people who contract the Omicron variant from severe Covid cases, a World Health Organization (WHO) official says.

It comes as the first lab tests of the new variant in South Africa suggest it can partially evade the Pfizer jab.

Researchers say there was a "very large drop" in how well the vaccine's antibodies neutralised the new strain. BBC News

See also:

• Covid: Early signs Omicron spreads more easily, says No 10 BBC News
• Covid booster jab booking system opens to over-40s in England BBC News
• Downing Street party: No 10 staff joked about party amid lockdown restrictions BBC News
• Nearly 70 Spanish medics Covid positive after Christmas party BBC News
• UK's Covid cases spike again amid growing Omicron wave The Daily Mail
• Boris insists booster roll-out going FASTER than planned but data shows barely any improvement The Daily Mail
• Wearing a mask is better than social distancing in EVERY scenario, study finds The Daily Mail
• Omicron significantly reduces Covid antibodies generated by Pfizer vaccine, study finds The Daily Telegraph
• UK races to deliver booster jabs before Omicron takes hold The Guardian
• NHS recruits more staff to ‘ramp up’ Covid booster rollout The Guardian
• It’s not too late for the British government to develop an effective Covid strategy | Gabriel Scally The Guardian
• UK could reach 90,000 infections a day by Christmas, experts warn The Independent

Viagra may be useful against Alzheimer's dementia

Viagra may be useful against Alzheimer's dementia The impotence pill Viagra may be a useful treatment against Alzheimer's disease, say US researchers who have been studying its effects in the brain.

Tests in cells suggest the drug targets some of the proteins that accumulate in this type of dementia.

The Cleveland team also analysed a database of 7m patients and found men who were on the drug had a lower risk of Alzheimer's. BBC News

See also: 

• Endophenotype-based in silico network medicine discovery combined with insurance record data mining identifies sildenafil as a candidate drug for Alzheimer’s disease (abstract) Nature Aging

If you love the NHS, the new health and social care bill should set off alarm bells

If you love the NHS, the new health and social care bill should set off alarm bells | Allyson Pollock and Peter Roderick Ten years ago, Andrew Lansley’s health and social care bill to reorganise the NHS in England faced enormous opposition. The current health and care bill, which has its second reading in the House of Lords today, has received far less attention. But it is no less significant. The new bill will continue the dismantling of the NHS, this time by adopting more features from the US health system. For anyone who cares about the NHS, this should set off alarm bells. The Guardian 

Alcohol-related deaths in Britain hit highest EVER level: Experts say lockdowns helped fuel 20% rise

Alcohol-related deaths in Britain hit highest EVER level: Experts say lockdowns helped fuel 20% rise Alcohol-related deaths in the UK have risen to the highest level in nearly two decades, official figures show as experts warn Covid lockdowns fuelled dangerous drinking habits. 

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows alcohol-related deaths across Britain spiked a fifth in a year to nearly 9,000, marking the highest annual increase since records began in 2001. The Daily Mail

See also: 

• Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK: registered in 2020 Office for National Statistics