Wednesday, 5 October 2022
Health and wellbeing communications guide
Health and wellbeing communications guide This guide provides practical tools that will help NHS health and wellbeing and staff experience leads deliver successful campaigns and initiatives. NHS Employers
More support needed for international nurses and midwives
More support needed for international nurses and midwives This analysis reveals that the profile of international professionals registered in 2021–2022 is very different from UK joiners and the register they joined. They’re more likely to be men and they’re much more likely to be ethnically diverse. The NMC is calling on health and care employers to fully support internationally trained professionals into UK practice – and join with UK trained nurses and midwives to create the most inclusive environment possible. Nursing and Midwifery Council
Eating within set times good for shift workers
Eating within set times good for shift workers Eating meals within set hours of the day may be a good way for shift workers to feel better and stay healthier, researchers say.
Their working patterns are known to play havoc with the body's rhythms, raising the risk of disease.
In a study, firefighters working 24-hour shifts reduced their "bad" cholesterol and blood pressure, by eating within a 10-hour window.
And those with existing health conditions benefited the most. BBC News
See also:
Tony Hickmott: Autistic man to be released after 21 years in hospital
Tony Hickmott: Autistic man to be released after 21 years in hospital An autistic man who has been held in a secure hospital for 21 years has been told he can finally go home.
Tony Hickmott, 45, was sectioned after he had a mental health crisis in 2001, and despite a long fight by his family, he has not been released since.
Last year, a judge criticised his detention, telling authorities to find a home near his parents, in Brighton.
A care team for Mr Hickmott is now being assembled and he is expected in a new home in his home town, next month. BBC News
UK economic policies ‘likely to cause many more deaths than Covid’
UK economic policies ‘likely to cause many more deaths than Covid’ The UK government’s economic policies are “likely” to have caused a “great many more deaths” than the Covid pandemic, an academic has claimed.
Researchers said their “not only shocking but shameful” statistics showed that almost 335,000 more deaths than expected were recorded across Scotland, England and Wales over an eight-year period. The Independent
See also:
- Bearing the burden of austerity: how do changing mortality rates in the UK compare between men and women? (open access) Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Thérèse Coffey is leaving the UK vulnerable to monkeypox
Thérèse Coffey is leaving the UK vulnerable to monkeypox | Ceri Smith Reports that new health secretary, Thérèse Coffey, has rejected her officials’ expert advice to procure an additional 70,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine are deeply concerning and shortsighted.
Less than a month into the role, Coffey is said to have gone against the recommendation of those who have been leading the country’s response, and made a critical decision that leaves the UK vulnerable to future outbreaks of monkeypox. The Guardian
Rates of little-known super-STI 'that causes infertility' have spiralled 60-FOLD within last decade
Rates of little-known super-STI 'that causes infertility' have spiralled 60-FOLD within last decade Rates of a super-STI which can cause infertility in women have soared 60-fold over the last decade, official figures revealed today.
More than 5,000 cases of mycoplasma genitalium — which is becoming resistant to drugs — were logged in England in 2021.
By comparison, just 79 cases of MG were recorded when experts first proved it was a sexually transmitted infection seven years ago. The Daily Mail
See also:
- Official Statistics: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs): annual data tables UK Health Security Agency
Underperforming NHS hospitals 'are being dragged in for Cobra-style meetings'
Underperforming NHS hospitals 'are being dragged in for Cobra-style meetings' More than a dozen underperforming hospitals are being dragged in for emergency meetings with ministers in a bid to tackle the handover delay crisis, it was reported today.
Bosses from 15 NHS sites, including in Birmingham, Leicester and the South West, have been summoned for talks to set out ways they can discharge patients faster to make space in hospitals. The Daily Mail
Hospital parking fees scandal continues as analysis shows one site charges £76 A DAY
Hospital parking fees scandal continues as analysis shows one site charges £76 A DAY Hospitals are piling pressure on ambulance services by charging patients up to £76.80 a day to park, campaigners warned yesterday.
They said sky-high parking fees mean many sick Britons can no longer afford to drive to A&E and rely on 999 vehicles instead.
Researchers analysed parking charges at 120 of England's top hospitals. The Daily Mail
Tuesday, 4 October 2022
Northampton comes together to 'commemorate and remember' those affected by Covid-19
Northampton comes together to 'commemorate and remember' those affected by Covid-19 Northampton will come together to commemorate, reflect and remember those affected by Covid-19 this weekend.
An afternoon of reflection is planned for Sunday (October 9) in Abington Park with a service around the iconic bandstand from 2pm.
The service will be held against a backdrop of a new autumn wave of coronavirus pushing numbers of patients with the virus in Northamptonshire's hospitals hit the highest level in two months, according to latest NHS data. Northampton Chronicle and Echo
The courage to press the pause button: the role of OD in supporting health and care leaders
The courage to press the pause button: the role of OD in supporting health and care leaders In early July, alumni participants of The King’s Fund’s Advanced Organisational Development (OD) programme met to share their experiences and explore the role of OD during some of the most complex times the health and social care system has ever faced. In the same week, the Health and Social Care Select Committee identified acute shortages and high turnover of staff across the sector; the stories that afternoon came to life against this backdrop. The King's Fund
Ipsos Global Health Service Monitor 2022
Ipsos Global Health Service Monitor 2022 This annual study explores the biggest health challenges facing people today and how well-equipped people think their country’s healthcare services are to tackle them. The survey was run in 34 countries between 22nd July and 5th August 2022. Key findings in the report include: for a third year, Coronavirus remains the biggest health problem facing people around the world (47 per cent globally, down from 70 per cent in 2021); and mental health (36 per cent) has experienced a five-point increase from 2021, making it the second biggest concern — for the first time, it is ahead of cancer (34 per cent) which is now third. Ipsos
Covid inquiry first preliminary hearing to begin
Covid inquiry first preliminary hearing to begin The first preliminary hearing of the UK Covid public inquiry will begin later.
The one-day hearing had originally been scheduled last month but was delayed after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The session, in London, will focus on the UK's pandemic preparedness before 2020.
It will be largely procedural, involving lawyers and an announcement about who will be giving evidence. Public hearings where witnesses are called will not start until the spring. BBC News
See also:
- COVID inquiry: the UK government’s pandemic response was often not ‘guided by the science’ – yet now scientists are under fire The Conversation
- Why you really DON'T need to panic about Covid's resurgence: Experts argue new wave was inevitable The Daily Mail
- Should YOU be worried about a flu and Covid TWINDEMIC this winter? The Daily Mail
- UK ‘no better prepared for the next pandemic’ with ‘dangerous gaps’ in its health security The Daily Telegraph
- Covid-19: is there a ‘twindemic’ coming? – podcast The Guardian
- Covid bereaved fear testimonies will not be heard by inquiry The Independent
- UK ‘at start of new Covid wave that could devastate the NHS’ Metro
Edenfield Centre: Care watchdog praised bosses at abuse hospital
Edenfield Centre: Care watchdog praised bosses at abuse hospital The healthcare watchdog praised bosses of a mental health hospital after visiting during the weeks when the BBC filmed patients being mistreated.
According to a report to governors at the trust which runs the Edenfield Centre, the Care Quality Commission noted its "strong, motivated leaders".
After the BBC gave it information about the abuse, the watchdog suspended the hospital's "good" rating.
The CQC said it would take further action if needed. BBC News
Schools and hospitals ‘must find £11bn of cuts’ after Kwarteng spending freeze
Schools and hospitals ‘must find £11bn of cuts’ after Kwarteng spending freeze Schools and hospitals must find a whopping £11bn of cuts after the chancellor refused to protect their budgets from rampant inflation, experts say.
Kwasi Kwarteng is being warned that his decision to stick to 2021 spending allocations – despite prices now rising by 10 per cent – spells bad news “for stretched public services”. The Independent
See also:
Hundreds of thousands more women than men prescribed powerful anti-anxiety drugs ‘harder to come off than heroin’
Hundreds of thousands more women than men prescribed powerful anti-anxiety drugs ‘harder to come off than heroin’ Hundreds of thousands more women than men have been prescribed powerful anti-anxiety drugs which experts warn are harder to come off than heroin, The Independent can reveal.
New information obtained under freedom of information (FOI) laws shows women in England were 59 per cent more likely to be prescribed benzodiazepines – better known by the brand names of Valium, Xanax and Temazapam – than men between January 2017 and December 2021.
NHS to investigate health inequalities among Jewish communities for first time
NHS to investigate health inequalities among Jewish communities for first time The NHS will investigate health inequalities affecting Jewish communities for the first time.
Low immunisations, high Covid-19 rates and heightened breast cancer risks are among some of the disproportionate well-being issues faced by these groups and will be examined through a year-long review commissioned by the NHS Race and Health Observatory. The Independent
NHS hospitals are still cancelling more than 22 THOUSAND appointments every day
NHS hospitals are still cancelling more than 22 THOUSAND appointments every day More than 22,000 hospital appointments are being cancelled every day — despite waiting lists for treatment standing at a record 6.8million, it emerged today.
The Government has pledged to tackle the NHS care backlog but some patients are continuing to see their appointments cancelled multiple times.
So far this year, the average number of cancellations each day was 20 per cent more than it was before the pandemic, when around 18,000 were axed every day. The Daily Mail
Taking antidepressants during pregnancy does NOT raise risk of having an autistic child
Taking antidepressants during pregnancy does NOT raise risk of having an autistic child Taking antidepressants during pregnancy does not raise the risk of autism in newborns, a major study has found.
Both antidepressant use and the prevalence of autism have increased in recent years, and previous studies suggested the two might be linked.
But while researchers found women taking the drugs had a higher risk of having a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder, the medication was not to blame. The Daily Mail
See also:
- Association of Antidepressant Use During Pregnancy With Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children (abstract) JAMA Internal Medicine
Will the new Alzheimer's drug ward off brain decline?
Will the new Alzheimer's drug ward off brain decline? Could the tide finally be turning in the hunt for an effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease? That was the suggestion from a story last week about a new drug, lecanemab, which seems to improve symptoms of early Alzheimer’s. The Daily Mail
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