Health and Care Bill: ensuring we have enough staff to meet demand

Health and Care Bill: ensuring we have enough staff to meet demand A coalition of almost 90 health and care organisations – including NHS Providers – calling for stronger provisions on workforce planning in the Health and Care Bill has issued a briefing ahead of committee stage in the House of Lords in January 2022. An amendment has been tabled by Baroness Cumberlege to mandate the regular publication of independent assessments of current and future health and care workforce numbers. This briefing outlines the principles that the coalition believes any other amendment or clause tabled for this purpose needs to meet. NHS Providers

See also:

• The Health and Care Bill: House of Lords, Committee of the whole House: clauses 35-67 and Schedule 6 NHS Providers

NHS cancer checks at record high with quarter of a million in one month

NHS cancer checks at record high with quarter of a million in one month Record numbers of people are coming forward for cancer tests, with almost a quarter of a million referrals in one month according to the latest data, the NHS said today.

The figures show that 246,000 people were checked for cancer in November – three times as many compared to the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020, when people were reluctant to come forward. NHS England

See also:

• Public told not to delay cancer check-ups BBC News
• Minister defends Government cancer record despite treatment delays and spiralling diagnostic waits The Daily Mail
• NHS hotline set up for people worried about cancer symptoms The Independent

Covid: NHS in push to vaccinate the final four million

Covid: NHS in push to vaccinate the final four million More than four million adults in the UK have not yet had a first Covid jab and 16 million have not had their booster. This winter, NHS vaccine teams have been out on the streets trying to win over those hard-to-reach groups who might have struggled to access health services in the past. BBC News

See also:

• Was South Africa ignored over mild Omicron evidence? BBC News
• 'Brain fog' caused by Covid could be a result of how the virus affects a person's spinal fluid The Daily Mail
• Daily Covid cases fall just 1.6% in a week as Omicron curve begins to level off The Daily Mail
• Schools defy Boris Johnson as they insist face masks must stay in class The Daily Telegraph
• NHS England Covid absences fall amid signs staffing crisis is easing The Guardian
• Covid rule changes leave clinically vulnerable as ‘collateral damage’, charities warn The Independent
• ‘Game-changing’ X-ray technology can diagnose Covid within minutes The Independent
• COVID-19: Decision to lift Plan B rules is 'disaster' for healthcare which is 'at proper low' - NHS doctor Sky News

Moorfields Eye Hospital gives woman, 88, UK's first 'bionic eye implant'

Moorfields Eye Hospital gives woman, 88, UK's first 'bionic eye implant' An 88-year-old woman from east London has become the first UK patient to receive a pioneering eye implant to help partially restore her vision.

The surgery at Moorfields Eye Hospital involved inserting a 2mm wide microchip under her retina by surgically creating a 'trapdoor' in which the chip rests. BBC News

Stop caging people with autism and learning disabilities, says Robert Buckland

Stop caging people with autism and learning disabilities, says Robert Buckland Ex-Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland is calling for changes to mental health laws to stop people with autism or learning disabilities being detained in hospitals for long periods.

Last year, the BBC found that 100 people with learning disabilities and autism had been held in hospitals for at least 20 years. BBC News

Ministers and NHS bosses clash over surgery waiting list targets in England

Ministers and NHS bosses clash over surgery waiting list targets in England Publication of ‘elective recovery plan’ delayed as hospital bosses say targets to clear backlog must be realistic

A “very tense” behind-the-scenes row over how quickly hospitals in England can be expected to reduce the massive backlog of surgery has broken out between NHS bosses and ministers. The Guardian

Rates of short-sightedness across the UK skyrocketed by nearly 50% in three decades

Rates of short-sightedness across the UK skyrocketed by nearly 50% in three decades A study of more than 100,000 Britons by University College London found one in five born during WWII went on to develop the condition, with two-thirds of cases diagnosed in childhood. The Daily Mail

See also: 

• Temporal trends in frequency, type and severity of myopia and associations with key environmental risk factors in the UK: Findings from the UK Biobank Study (open access) PLOS One

Army arrives at Northampton and Kettering hospitals as figures show ambulances queuing more than an hour for A&E

Army arrives at Northampton and Kettering hospitals as figures show ambulances queuing more than an hour for A&E Nearly one in five ambulances carrying A&E patients were forced to queue for more than an hour outside Northampton General Hospital (NGH) during the first full week of 2022. Northampton Chronicle and Echo 

Chart of the week: Are a greater proportion of NHS hospital beds being occupied this winter?

Chart of the week: Are a greater proportion of NHS hospital beds being occupied this winter? Winter presents a period of significant pressure on the NHS – there are more illnesses and deaths, and individuals’ existing conditions often get worse. One clear marker of that pressure is the percentage of beds available in hospitals that are occupied by patients. In this chart, Liz Fisher looks at how the bed occupancy rate so far in English hospitals this winter compares with previous winters. Nuffield Trust 

Ethnic minority-led GP practices: impact and experience of CQC regulation

Ethnic minority-led GP practices: impact and experience of CQC regulation Providers led by GPs of an ethnic minority background have raised with us concerns that they do not receive the same regulatory outcomes from CQC as providers led by GPs of a non-ethnic minority background.

To investigate and respond to these concerns, we started a programme of work in February 2021. The focus of this has been on how our own regulatory approach affects ethnic minority-led GP practices and how we can improve our methods to address any inequalities we identify. Care Quality Commission 

CQC publishes new survey showing the impact of lockdown on mental health and dignity

CQC publishes new survey showing the impact of lockdown on mental health and dignity New research published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) carries a stark message on the challenges faced by health and social care services in England and has highlighted the importance of feedback for improving care. 

New plans to boost veterans employment launched

New plans to boost veterans employment launched New programmes to make better use of the unique skills and experience of military veterans, including as prison officers and the uniformed and health services, have been launched.

The programmes are part of the Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan, which will launch a range of measures to make the UK the best place in the world to be a veteran. The Cabinet Office 

England to return to Plan A following the success of the booster programme

England to return to Plan A following the success of the booster programme The government has announced that England will fully return to Plan A on Thursday 27 January thanks to the success of the booster programme, with ministers urging anyone who has still not had a top-up jab to come forward and Get Boosted Now. Department of Health and Social Care

See also: 

• Health Secretary statement from COVID-19 press conference Department of Health and Social Care

Covid infections falling across the UK, says ONS

Covid infections falling across the UK, says ONS The number of people infected with coronavirus in the UK is showing the most significant fall since the start of the Omicron wave, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates.

In the week to 15 January, 3.5 million people tested positive - down from 4.3 million the week before, it says. BBC News

See also: 

• PM announces end to Plan B Covid measures BBC News
• FactCheck: tens of thousands of NHS England staff face dismissal over compulsory vaccines Channel 4 News
• Machine learning process can predict which Covid patients will recover from the disease The Daily Mail
• Covid-19 UK: Common blood thinner can spare virus patients from severe lung damage, study claims The Daily Mail
• Free lateral flow Covid tests to be scrapped by JULY under No10's 'Operation Rampdown' The Daily Mail
• Covid lateral flow tests don't work as well on children The Daily Mail
• The NHS doctors picking 'no jab' over a job The Daily Telegraph
• Work from home and and mandatory mask rules to be dropped as England moves back to plan A – video The Guardian
• Plan A: what are the new Covid rules in England? The Guardian
• Sajid Javid’s axing of all Covid restrictions draws warnings from NHS The Guardian
• Removal of Covid rules in UK risks premature signal of victory The Guardian
• Dropping Plan B will not ease pressure on NHS, nurses warn The Independent
• No Covid lockdown rules needed says NHS boss with severe cases stable Metro

Millions are dying from drug-resistant infections, global report says

Millions are dying from drug-resistant infections, global report says More than 1.2 million people died worldwide in 2019 from infections caused by bacteria resistant to antibiotics, according to the largest study of the issue to date.

This is more than the annual death toll from malaria or Aids.

Poorer countries are worst affected but antimicrobial resistance threatens everyone's health, the report says. BBC News

See also:

• Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis (open access) The Lancet
• Antibiotic-resistant superbugs killed 1.2MILLION people in 2019 - more than HIV or malaria The Daily Mail
• Antibiotic-resistant infections killing more than HIV or malaria, major study shows The Independent

Patients 'wait two years' for check-ups as dentists drop NHS work

Patients 'wait two years' for check-ups as dentists drop NHS work NHS dentistry is "hanging by a thread" with some patients facing two-year waits for check-ups, the British Dental Association has said.

Department of Health data analysed by the BBC shows almost 1,000 dentists working in 2,500 roles across England and Wales left the NHS last year. BBC News

Changes will give NHS patients 'quicker access to new medicines'

Changes will give NHS patients 'quicker access to new medicines' Changes to the way medicines and devices are assessed for NHS use in England will give patients “better access to life-changing medicines”, experts have said.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has proposed a raft of measures changing the way that it assesses new medicines and devices for NHS use. The Independent

Ex-banker NHS chair must ‘get up to speed’ on social care, MPs warn

Ex-banker NHS chair must ‘get up to speed’ on social care, MPs warn The new chair of the NHS must get up to speed on social care, MPs have warned as they approved the banking chief’s appointment.

The appointment of Richard Meddings as new chair of NHS England has been approved by the government’s Health Committee, following an interview on Tuesday. The Independent 

Northamptonshire health boss says major Covid incident not over

Northamptonshire health boss says major Covid incident not over An NHS chief executive has said a county which declared a major Covid incident "is still in the teeth of it" despite a fall in staff absences.

Northamptonshire made the declaration on 7 January, with critical services facing staff shortages.

The number of staff absent at the county's two hospital sites has since fallen from 910 to 694. BBC Northampton

See also:

• Boris Johnson to give update on lifting Covid Plan B rules today Northamptonshire Telegraph

Care home staffing crisis leaves Northampton and Kettering hospitals facing bed-blocking jam

Care home staffing crisis leaves Northampton and Kettering hospitals facing bed-blocking jam County NHS hospitals are dealing with 300 patients who could be discharged but have nowhere to go because of crippling staff shortages in care services. Northampton Chronicle and Echo