Why has the NHS collapsed? – Politics Weekly UK podcast

Why has the NHS collapsed? – Politics Weekly UK podcast Health officials are reporting that the NHS is on its knees. John Harris talks to the Guardian’s health policy editor, Denis Campbell, about what he has seen. Plus, Conservative peer Gavin Barwell and Gaby Hinsliff talk about why NHS reform is such a tricky conversation The Guardian

See also:

• 'We don't train to give care in corridors' BBC News
• NHS bosses ‘really worried’ by people staying away from hospital fearing huge delays Channel 4 News
• Doctor says hospitals are so overrun they are struggling more than medical centres in warzone The Daily Mail
• NHS Crisis: How will Steve Barclay’s block-book beds initiative work? Evening Standard
• I’ve worked for the NHS, and I know that doctors are starting to think the crisis will never end | Peter Endicott The Guardian
• The crucial mistakes the government has made in the NHS crisis The Independent
• One of UK's largest health authorities suspends non-urgent operations due to A&E crisis Sky News

Scientists develop simple questionnaire that can diagnose autism with up to 95% accuracy

Scientists develop simple questionnaire that can diagnose autism with up to 95% accuracy A simple online survey can diagnose autism with up to 95 percent accuracy, a study suggests.

Researchers have developed a 39-item questionnaire to help parents navigate a notoriously tricky diagnosis process.

It is the latest promising development in autism screening, coming just days after officials started the approval process for a test that can detect the disorder from a single strand of hair. The Daily Mail

See also:

• The Autism Symptom Dimensions Questionnaire: Development and psychometric evaluation of a new, open-source measure of autism symptomatology (open access) Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology
•  Autism Symptom Dimension Questionnaire Centre for Open Science

Map reveals UK's prostate cancer 'postcode lottery'

Map reveals UK's prostate cancer 'postcode lottery' Thousands of men across the UK are being diagnosed with prostate cancer too late due to a 'postcode lottery' of care, a charity has warned.

Prostate Cancer UK said the proportion of patients diagnosed with the disease when it is too advanced to treat varies significantly depending on where they live. The Daily Mail

See also:

• There’s a huge North-South divide in prostate cancer diagnoses Prostate Cancer UK

What patients can expect as East Midlands Ambulance Service staff strike across Northamptonshire

What patients can expect as East Midlands Ambulance Service staff strike across Northamptonshire As paramedics and staff from East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) staff across Northamptonshire strike over a dispute with the Government about pay, here is what patients can expect during the industrial action. Northamptonshire Telegraph

An improvement framework to reduce community musculoskeletal waits while delivering best outcomes and experience

An improvement framework to reduce community musculoskeletal waits while delivering best outcomes and experience Integrated high quality community musculoskeletal (MSK) services are integral to a productive high-performing healthcare system supporting the management of MSK conditions. This framework will support integrated care systems (ICSs) to reduce commissioned community MSK waiting times while delivering best outcomes and experience for patients. It includes defining principles, recommended actions across primary, community and secondary care and further resources. NHS England

Growing occupational health and wellbeing together: our roadmap for the future

Growing occupational health and wellbeing together: our roadmap for the future This guidance sets out NHS England's five-year strategy to improve the health and wellbeing services for the NHS workforce. This strategy now forms a mandate for action for integrated care systems and NHS organisations as part of whole system workforce planning, having been included as part of 2023-24 NHS priorities and operational planning guidance. NHS England

Independent report: Technical report on the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK

Independent report: Technical report on the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK A technical report for future UK Chief Medical Officers, Government Chief Scientific Advisers, National Medical Directors and public health leaders in a pandemic. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• UKHSA begins testing arrivals from China to enhance detection of new variants UK Health Security Agency
• Covid death rates were not a ‘lie’ Full Fact
• The covert winter wave of Covid-19 BBC Future
• What is known about new Covid variant XBB.1.5? BBC News
• Covid booster: Who can get another jab this winter? BBC News
• Covid: Leftover swabs to be tested for other viruses in the UK BBC News
• China Covid: More than 88 million people in Henan infected, official says BBC News
• COVID cases: Infections leap to six-month high after Christmas as one in 20 test positive in England Sky News

NHS bosses fear impact of second ambulance strike

NHS bosses fear impact of second ambulance strike The impact of Wednesday's ambulance strike in England and Wales is likely to be worse than that of the one before Christmas, NHS managers are warning.

Thousands of paramedics and support staff will walk out for the second time this winter, in the dispute over pay.

NHS Providers said this strike would be harder to cope with, as the government raised fears over the lack of a national deal on emergency cover.

But union leaders said life-and-limb cover would be provided. BBC News

See also:

• NHS tells patients to seek emergency care as needed during latest industrial action NHS England
• Ambulance staff in England and Wales strike over pay BBC News
• I worry we're killing people - ambulance dispatcher BBC News
• Strikes Bill: Ambulance workers singled out by government ahead of walkout Channel 4 News
• Only call an ambulance for a ‘life or limb’ emergency, public are warned as 999 crew begin latest strike that ‘will bring even MORE disruption than the previous walkout’ The Daily Mail
• Ambulance strike today: Dates of walkouts and what to do if you need emergency help The Daily Telegraph
• Trade unions to discuss coordinated ‘day of action’ across public sector The Guardian
• NHS urges use of GP, chemist or 111 service during ambulance strike The Guardian
• Anti-strike bill: Shapps to get power to decide minimum service levels The Guardian
• Steve Barclay tells public to behave with ‘common sense’ during NHS ambulance strike The Independent
• Around 25,000 ambulance workers go on strike in England and Wales ITV News
• Ambulance workers go on strike today - with NHS offering advice on how patients will be affected Sky News
• Anti-strike bill: Ambulance unions 'put people's lives at risk' by refusing minimum levels of service, Business Secretary Grant Shapps says Sky News

The NHS has always had problems compared to the rest of the developed world - and its allowed them to get worse

The NHS has always had problems compared to the rest of the developed world - and its allowed them to get worse Analysis shows the UK's level of underinvestment in healthcare is a significant outlier compared with the rest of the developed world. But as with much about the healthcare system, the story isn't quite as simple as that. Sky News

See also:

• The NHS crisis - decades in the making BBC News
• A&E patients waiting more than 12 hours hits record high BBC News
• NHS: Woman, 90, forced to wait three days in A&E chair BBC News
• Sick man of Europe: why the crisis-ridden NHS is falling apart The Guardian
• Revealed: Record 50,000 patients a week face 12-hour A&E waits The Independent
• NHS crisis: Two health workers open up about the daily 'firefight', patients lying on floors and 24-hour waits for admission Sky News

Record number of cancer patients in England waiting over three months for treatment

Record number of cancer patients in England waiting over three months for treatment A record number of people in England are waiting longer than ever for cancer treatment, as the total waiting more than three months surpassed 12,000 for the first time.

More than 4% of the 287,000 people on cancer waiting lists had waited more than 104 days to receive treatment after diagnosis, despite 2,000 of those being considered urgent patients, according to NHS England figures for the week ending on 1 January, seen by Health Service Journal. The Guardian

Warning over errors with oxygen cylinders amid pressures on NHS

Warning over errors with oxygen cylinders amid pressures on NHS NHS England alerts health trusts over 120 patient safety incidents and increased use of portable oxygen as flu and Covid cases rise

Pressures on the health service in England could have contributed to a number of patient safety incidents involving oxygen cylinders, according to an alert from the NHS.

It was issued after 120 incidents were linked to problems with the devices. The errors, which were recorded over the past 12 months, included staff giving patients empty cylinders or failing to switch over cylinders. The Guardian

See also:

• Use of oxygen cylinders where patients do not have access to medical gas pipeline systems NHS England

Blood markers could help identify rare, inherited form of Alzheimer’s disease

Blood markers could help identify rare, inherited form of Alzheimer’s disease A new breakthrough could help medical professionals spot a rare, inherited form of Alzheimer’s disease ten years before symptoms appear in sufferers.

Scientists attribute this potentially ground-breaking claim to the discovery of blood markers in people who are in the very early stages of the neurodegenerative disease. The Independent

See also:

• Plasma biomarker profiles in autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease (open access) Brain

Children's prescriptions for antipsychotic medicines have doubled in the last 20 years, study finds

Children's prescriptions for antipsychotic medicines have doubled in the last 20 years, study finds Children's prescriptions for antipsychotic medicines have doubled in the last 20 years, a study found.

The drugs, which have a tranquillising effect, are typically used in adults to treat major mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Trends in antipsychotic prescribing to children and adolescents in England: cohort study using 2000–19 primary care data (open access) The Lancet Psychiatry

Northamptonshire hospitals in top 25 per cent of dangerously busy hospitals in England, NHS data shows

Northamptonshire hospitals in top 25 per cent of dangerously busy hospitals in England, NHS data shows Both Northampton and Kettering General Hospital are in the top 25 per cent dangerously busy hospitals across England, analysis of NHS figures shows.

A bed occupancy rate of 85 per cent is generally considered to be the safe limit - one that has been endorsed by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM). Northamptonshire Telegraph

Northampton General Hospital visiting returns to pre-Christmas rules after 11-day ban

Northampton General Hospital visiting returns to pre-Christmas rules after 11-day ban Visiting rules at Northampton General Hospital have returned to what they were before Christmas.

On December 29, normal visiting was suspended at the Cliftonville hospital due to a “significant increase” in cases of Covid, flu and other respiratory illnesses.

Now, Covid-19 cases have dropped from 71 on December 29, 2022 to 45 on Monday January 9, 2023, so visiting restrictions have been relaxed. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• Visiting restrictions at Kettering General Hospital relaxed as Covid rate declines Northants Live

People with long term health conditions at serious risk from flu, warn Northamptonshire health experts

People with long term health conditions at serious risk from flu, warn Northamptonshire health experts Do you have a long term health condition which makes you eligible for a free flu jab, but have not yet taken up the offer? Book yours today to protect yourself from flu.

Those who have long-term health conditions are at a higher risk of catching flu and the life-threatening complications that can come with it which frequently lead to hospitalisation. These complications include pneumonia, septic shock, heart, brain or muscle tissue inflammation, or organ failure, such as lung or kidney failure. Sadly, even with hospital treatment these can, and do, lead to death. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

The health policy year in review 2022

The health policy year in review 2022 Just when you thought things couldn’t get any stranger, 2022 happened. Here's The King’s Fund’s Chief Analyst, Siva Anandaciva's, annual look at what the health policy year had in store.

6 key questions to help shape diversity and inclusion plans in 2023

6 key questions to help shape diversity and inclusion plans in 2023 Whenever and however we engage in the work of planning and deciding organisational diversity and inclusion priorities, the overarching question to be answered as part of the process is: ‘What levers are the organisation going to pull across the year to bring about true and lasting cultural change?’ The King's Fund

Digital apps and reducing ethnic health inequalities : driving progress through digital, design, and organisational transformation

Digital apps and reducing ethnic health inequalities : driving progress through digital, design, and organisational transformation This report reviews how information gleaned from users of online health tools is used by health providers to analyse and improve patient health. An analysis of NHS data finds that digital and apps teams, employed by the NHS, face a number of barriers and limitations preventing insight and the linking of gaps across health services, conditions, digital usage and wider ethnic health inequalities. It calls for an explicit reform in how the NHS and NHS Blood and Transplant rebuild, collect and use data to guide policy decisions, particularly around ethnicity coding and health inequalities. NHS Race & Health Observatory

Get in on the Act: Mental Health Act 2022

Get in on the Act: Mental Health Act 2022 In June 2022 the government published the draft Mental Health Bill. The Bill is currently going through parliament and is at the Joint Committee Inquiry stage. Councils have several existing statutory duties under the Mental Health Act 1983 and will continue to have responsibilities under the new Act. This briefing examines the role and responsibilities of Councils under the new Act. Local Government Association