There are almost 1.24 million full-time equivalent staff working in NHS trusts and commissioning bodies in England – over 34,000 more people compared to a year ago, up by nearly 3%. Department of Health and Social Care
Friday, 25 November 2022
Record numbers of NHS doctors and nurses
Record numbers of NHS doctors and nurses A record number of doctors and nurses are working in the NHS in England, delivering extra appointments, speeding up diagnoses and helping to tackle the COVID backlog.
NHS launches NHS 111 online campaign ahead of winter
NHS launches NHS 111 online campaign ahead of winter The NHS is launching its annual NHS 111 Online campaign today, encouraging people to get the help they need from the convenience of their own homes ahead of winter.
From Thursday 24 November, a new national campaign will remind the public they can use the NHS 111 online service for urgent help on a wide range of health problems. NHS England
Nurses to strike for two days before Christmas
Nurses to strike for two days before Christmas Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are to strike for two days next month in what is set to be their biggest walkout in the NHS's history.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced strikes on 15 and 20 December in its pay dispute with the government.
Nurses will still provide emergency care, but routine services will be hit. BBC News
See also:
- NHS pay dispute: first nursing strike dates announced Royal College of Nursing
- How much do you know about nurses' pay? Try our quiz BBC News
- NHS nurse strike threaten Christmas chaos: Fears for cancer appointments and elderly patients The Daily Mail
- Nurse strike risks elderly stuck in hospital for Christmas as union targets key dates The Daily Telegraph
- Nurses to strike for two days as December disruption deepens The Guardian
- Nurses’ strikes: Full list of hospital trusts hit – see your area The Independent
- Nurses to strike on two days next month as NHS pay row escalates The Independent
- NHS nurses' strike dates announced: Staff to walk out for two days in December in dispute over pay Sky News
Ashford bacteria outbreak: Primary school pupil dies with infection
Ashford bacteria outbreak: Primary school pupil dies with infection A child has died and another has been taken to hospital after a bacteria outbreak at a primary school in Surrey.
The pupils at the Ashford Church of England Primary School are believed to be in the same year group.
The UK Health Security Agency said the children caught the invasive group A streptococcal infection (iGAS). Pupils and staff at the school are being prescribed antibiotics. BBC News
See also:
Universal flu vaccine could counter future pandemic
Universal flu vaccine could counter future pandemic Scientists say they have made a breakthrough designing a vaccine against all 20 known types of flu.
It uses the same messenger-ribonucleic-acid (mRNA) technology as successful Covid vaccines.
Flu mutates and the current annual jab is updated to ensure the best match for the sort circulating but would probably not protect against new pandemic types.
The new vaccine triggered high levels of antibodies, in tests on ferrets and mice, that could fight a broad range. BBC News
See also:
NHS searching for 5000 new O negative blood donors in mass testing campaign - Evening Standard
NHS searching for 5000 new O negative blood donors in mass testing campaign At least 30,000 people will receive home blood type testing kits as the NHS tries to identify 5,000 individuals with critical O negative blood.
The first 6,000 kits will be posted by NHS Blood and Transplant this week to people who recently registered to be a blood donor but have not yet made their first appointment.
Those found to have O negative blood will be offered priority appointments to help ensure they become long-term donors. Evening Standard
‘An explosion’: what is behind the rise in girls questioning their gender identity?
‘An explosion’: what is behind the rise in girls questioning their gender identity? As the NHS reviews gender referrals, parents, clinicians and young people reveal the social, medical and emotional challenges they face
Earlier this year, a team of NHS researchers was asked to investigate why there has been such a huge rise in the number of adolescent biological girls seeking referrals to gender clinics.
The figures alone do seem remarkable. The Guardian
Record 225,000 written grievances made about ailing NHS
Record 225,000 written grievances made about ailing NHS Patients are complaining about the NHS more than ever, official figures revealed today.
More than 225,000 written grievances were penned about England's ailing health service in 2021/22.
This is up from nearly 210,000 in the year before Covid struck and little more than 160,000 in 2011/12, when records began. The Daily Mail
GPs vote to CLOSE their doors at 5pm: Family doctors will demand NHS allows them a 9-5 working day
GPs vote to CLOSE their doors at 5pm: Family doctors will demand NHS allows them a 9-5 working day GPs voted last night to reduce their working hours to 9am to 5pm, claiming that longer days discriminate against those with families.
Family doctors, who earn £111,900 a year on average, will now lobby the NHS to change core opening hours in general practice from the current 8am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. The Daily Mail
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Thursday, 24 November 2022
How digitalisation within Portering has increased Radiology throughput
How digitalisation within Portering has increased Radiology throughput Ever since the digitalisation of their portering system, Northampton General Hospital’s Radiology Department has seen remarkable improvements with patient throughput. Their move to digitalisation encourages better communication between the Portering and Radiology team, leading to closer collaboration between departments and overall better patient care. National Health Executive
We need innovation, improvement and implementation more than ever – but how?
We need innovation, improvement and implementation more than ever – but how? Despair comes easily in health and social care these days. From the daily headlines about crowded hospitals and growing ambulance delays to the underlying investment gap in workforce and infrastructure. Services are struggling to keep up with current demand, never mind get on a sustainable path to meet future expectations.
It’s time for some (cautious) optimism, however. Millions of people still receive great, timely care every day, thanks to the huge efforts made by staff across the UK. It's easy to miss this achievement among all the difficulties we face. And making progress on innovation and improvement is now more important than ever, not just to enhance the services we have today but also to create the services we need tomorrow. The Health Foundation
Following, not leading: politicians and public opinion on action to support better health
Following, not leading: politicians and public opinion on action to support better health Earlier this month, I interviewed Wes Streeting, the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, at The King’s Fund Annual Conference. One of the topics was the recent decision by the government to delay the ban on buy one get one free offers, and the Labour Party’s support of this delay. It’s a move that has dismayed many because the evidence of both the scale of the obesity crisis and the impact that the ban could have is so clear. Wes said that politicians care about what the public think and if the public don’t want the ban, it’s right to delay. The King's Fund
The puzzle of UK’s half a million missing workers
The puzzle of UK’s half a million missing workers For the first time, more than 2.5 million people in the UK are out of work because of a long-term health problem. The number has jumped by half a million since the start of the pandemic - but, BBC News analysis reveals, the impact is spread unevenly across the country, with some regions and types of job far more affected.
They died suddenly - then the anti-vax trolling started
They died suddenly - then the anti-vax trolling started "Seven days, 18 hours, 39 minutes ago my beloved... died suddenly of cardiac arrest". When Victoria Brownworth logged onto Twitter to post these words about her partner of 23 years, she didn't know that two of them in particular would provoke a storm of online harassment.
Because, as Victoria waited at her home in Philadelphia on Sunday night for her wife's ashes to be delivered, a video titled Died Suddenly was about to drop.
In an hour and eight minutes of dramatic music and out-of-context news reports, the film tells a fictitious story of a dangerous vaccine killing off swathes of young people - all part of an imagined plot to depopulate the earth. BBC News
See also:
- China Covid: Record number of cases as virus surges nationwide BBC News
- Understanding and neutralising covid-19 misinformation and disinformation (open access) The BMJ
- UK experts helped shut down Covid lab leak theory - weeks after being told it might be true The Daily Telegraph
- Revealed: Tory peer Michelle Mone secretly received £29m from ‘VIP lane’ PPE firm The Guardian
- Michelle Mone’s PPE denials v what we know The Guardian
- A Lasting Legacy of Covid: Far-Right Platforms Spreading Health Myths New York Times
- China expands lockdowns as COVID cases soar to daily record high Sky News
Ministers consider staff body cameras to tackle NHS mental health abuse scandals
Ministers consider staff body cameras to tackle NHS mental health abuse scandals Ministers are considering the use of body cameras within mental health units as part of the government’s response to NHS abuse scandals, The Independent has learned.
Senior sources with knowledge of the conversation between the Department for Health and Social Care and the NHS have raised concerns about the plans. There are fears that using the technology in mental health units could have implications for human rights and patient confidentiality.
See also:
NHS has 'foot on the gas' in effort to meet key cancer target, MPs told
NHS has 'foot on the gas' in effort to meet key cancer target, MPs told The NHS has a “job to do” to meet a key cancer target by March but has its “foot on the gas”, a health boss has said.
In February, NHS England said the number of people waiting more than 62 days from an urgent cancer referral to starting treatment should go back to pre-pandemic levels by March 2023.
At present, just 61.7% of people (the average for 2022/23 so far) get cancer treatment within 62 days, compared with 77.2% before the pandemic. The Independent
Ambulance service in England ‘in meltdown’ as one in four 999 calls missed in October
Ambulance service in England ‘in meltdown’ as one in four 999 calls missed in October NHS heads warn patients dying every day as A&E logjams cause 169,000 hours of crew delays in worst-ever month
Ambulance crews could not respond to almost one in four 999 calls last month – the most ever – because so many were tied up outside A&Es waiting to hand patients over, dramatic new NHS figures show.
An estimated 5,000 patients in England – also the highest number on record – potentially suffered “severe harm” through waiting so long either to be admitted to A&E or just to get an ambulance to turn up to help them. The Guardian
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GPs deliver record 36 million appointments as practice-level data published for first time
GPs deliver record 36 million appointments as practice-level data published for first time GP practices in England delivered a record 36 million appointments last month, the latest NHS Digital data has shown.
This month, the dataset also includes the first-ever publication of controversial GP appointment data at practice level across the country, which from now on will form part of the monthly GP appointment dataset.
The data for October showed that practices in England delivered an estimated 36 million appointments – including around four million Covid vaccinations. PULSE
See also:
- Appointments in General Practice, October 2022 NHS Digital
- Face-to-face GP appointments at highest level since BEFORE Covid nationally The Daily Mail
- GPs will be named and shamed over failure to see patients face-to-face The Daily Telegraph
- Third of GP practices seeing more patients remotely than face-to-face The Daily Telegraph
- How practice-level appointments data threatens unfair pressure on GPs GPonline
- GP surgeries could be named and shamed as appointment 'league tables' revealed for first time Sky News
Breakthrough Alzheimer's drug could be rolled out NEXT YEAR
Breakthrough Alzheimer's drug could be rolled out NEXT YEAR Alzheimer's-stricken Britons could start getting a breakthrough drug that slows the progression of their condition next year, experts claimed today.
Lecanemab's success was hailed a 'historic moment' after landmark trials showed it can halt the declines in memory and thinking among patients in the earliest stages.
The drug, given as an injection, was designed to clear a build up of amyloid — toxic plaques in the brain that are thought to cause the cruel, memory-robbing disease. The Daily Mail
Hope for thousands battling kidney cancer: Study reveals existing lung drug might help fight disease
Hope for thousands battling kidney cancer: Study reveals existing lung drug might help fight disease Thousands of kidney patients could potentially benefit from a new breakthrough.
Researchers have discovered an existing lung cancer drug may be effective against the disease.
Renal cell carcinoma is one of the most common cancers in the UK and US and has a 50 per cent mortality rate, partially because three in five patients show no symptoms until the cancer is at a late stage.
Now, a study into the cancer at single-cell level has discovered canakinumab could prevent RCC from forming or progressing. The Daily Mail
See also:
- Mapping single-cell transcriptomes in the intra-tumoral and associated territories of kidney cancer (open access) Cancer Cell
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