Health chiefs still wait for results on Indian variant Covid swabs following Towcester school outbreak

Health chiefs still wait for results on Indian variant Covid swabs following Towcester school outbreak  Health chiefs are still waiting for an official all-clear following an outbreak of Indian strain Covid-19 cases at a Towcester primary school.

Last week's testing blitz among the Nicholas Hawksmoor School community produced "very few" positive tests. Northamptonshire Telegraph

See also:

• Northampton restaurant slapped with £1,000 fine for breaking Covid rules Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• Covid-19 vaccination programme extended to anyone aged 30 in England Northampton Chronicle and Echo

New online resource to support culturally appropriate care

New online resource to support culturally appropriate care Holistic, person-centred care has always been important, but during the Coronavirus pandemic it has become even more critical that we are all aware of culturally appropriate care.

Culturally appropriate care is about being sensitive to people's cultural identity or heritage. It means being alert and responsive to people’s beliefs or conventions that might be determined by a person’s culture. The Care Quality Commission has launched a new online resource which updates providers on culturally appropriate care. 

'Levelling up' general practice in England What should government prioritise?

'Levelling up' general practice in England What should government prioritise? Government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda must include general practice. People living in socioeconomically deprived areas have the greatest health needs, but general practice is underfunded and ‘under-doctored’ in areas of high deprivation. The Health Foundation 

Open consultation: Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 statutory guidance

Open consultation: Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 statutory guidance The DHSC is seeking views on draft statutory guidance to prevent the inappropriate use of force and ensure transparency and accountability about the use of force in mental health units. The guidance is intended for use by NHS hospitals and independent hospitals (providing NHS-funded care) in England providing care and treatment to patients with a mental disorder. 

This consultation closes at midday on 17 August 2021. Department of Health and Social Care

Covid: Advice to areas worst-hit by Indian variant will be updated - No 10

Covid: Advice to areas worst-hit by Indian variant will be updated - No 10 Ministers have backtracked over travel advice for eight areas worst-hit by the Indian Covid variant, after a change in guidance led to widespread confusion.

The amended advice asks people to minimise travel into and out of Bolton, Blackburn, Kirklees, Bedford, Burnley, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside.

Earlier advice had asked people to avoid non-essential travel altogether. BBC News

See also: 

• Moderna vaccine 'highly effective' in teens BBC News
• Covid vaccine: 30 and 31-year-olds in England now invited BBC News
• Coronavirus: Families blame NHS for hospital-acquired virus deaths BBC News
• US urges 'transparent' WHO inquiry into Covid origins BBC News
• France puzzled by mystery anti-Pfizer campaign offer BBC News
• Covid UK: Hospitalisations TRIPLE in Indian variant hotspot Bolton The Daily Mail
• More evidence Covid vaccines are working: Just 0.01% of those who have received shot were reinfected The Daily Mail
• Wealthy nations slammed for 'scandalous inequity' in Covid vaccines by WHO head The Daily Mail
• More than 77,000 NHS staff in England have caught Covid, shows research The Guardian
• ‘Unnecessary secrecy’: 42 NHS trusts criticised over Covid deaths data The Guardian
• Scientists react with dismay to ‘astonishing’ lack of communication over new Covid advice The Independent

Good Law Project’s Jolyon Maugham: ‘They see us pushing back hard’

Good Law Project’s Jolyon Maugham: ‘They see us pushing back hard’ As the Good Law Project’s latest legal challenge to the government draws to a close this week, its founder, Jolyon Maugham, has revealed the extent to which the case has got under ministers’ skin.

The judicial review over contracts for personal protective equipment awarded without competition concludes on Tuesday The Guardian

KGH expands midwife continuity of care service

KGH expands midwife continuity of care service A project to provide mothers-to-be with complete continuity of care and midwives they know has expanded to Kettering and Wellingborough. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Charity joins in Big Tea toasting local Northamptonshire's NHS heroes

Charity joins in Big Tea toasting local Northamptonshire's NHS heroes Northamptonshire Health Charity is urging people to join the nation’s biggest tea break to help raise cash to help health service champions on the NHS' 76th birthday. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

The role of healthcare services in addressing domestic abuse

The role of healthcare services in addressing domestic abuse This briefing considers the role of the NHS and healthcare professionals in addressing domestic abuse. It looks at the use of healthcare services by victims and perpetrators, alongside initiatives such as health-based independent domestic violence advisers. House of Commons Library

Blood and body fluid exposures in 2020: results from a survey of RCN members

Blood and body fluid exposures in 2020: results from a survey of RCN members This report suggests that Pressures of the pandemic and a lack of training has led to a 50 per rise in needlestick injuries, a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) report suggests today. The authors surveyed 7,571 RCN members for the report. Of those 15 per cent said they had suffered a ‘sharps injury’ in 2020. This compares to ten per cent in 2008. Reasons for the rise cited in the report included fatigue induced by the pandemic, low staffing levels, lack of training and safer sharps and sharps bins not being available. Royal College of Nursing

Up to 8,700 patients died after catching Covid in English hospitals

Up to 8,700 patients died after catching Covid in English hospitals Exclusive: official NHS data reveals 32,307 people contracted the virus while in hospital since March 2020.

Up to 8,700 patients died after catching Covid-19 while in hospital being treated for another medical problem, according to official NHS data obtained by the Guardian.

The figures, which were provided by the hospitals themselves, were described as “horrifying” by relatives of those who died. The Guardian

See also: 

• Covid: Deaf campaigner calls for clear mask research BBC News
• Britain records 2,439 Covid cases as positive tests spike by nearly a quarter in a week The Daily Mail
• Covid UK: 15 suffer rare blood clots after SECOND AstraZeneca vaccine The Daily Mail
• Weaknesses that led to patients getting Covid in hospital remain The Guardian
• ‘What chance did Mum have?’: two women who died with hospital-acquired Covid The Guardian
• Government failed to act over PPE shortage warnings, MPs told The Guardian

'Dangerous' home teeth-whitening kits sold online

'Dangerous' home teeth-whitening kits sold online Some home teeth-whitening kits sold online contain dangerous levels of bleaching chemical that can burn gums and cause tooth loss, an investigation has revealed.

The worst had more than 300 times the recommended amount of hydrogen peroxide, says consumer group Which?. BBC News 

'Algae proteins' partially restore man's sight

'Algae proteins' partially restore man's sight The vision of a completely blind man has been partially restored using light-sensing proteins first found in algae.

The man was treated with a type of therapy called optogenetics, which uses the proteins to control cells at the back of his eye.

He first knew it was working when he realised he could see the painted stripes of a pedestrian crossing. BBC News

See also:

• Partial recovery of visual function in a blind patient after optogenetic therapy (open access) Nature Medicine

Pupils at school in Wellingborough told to wear masks again after high number of Covid cases found

Pupils at school in Wellingborough told to wear masks again after high number of Covid cases found Health protection officers have visited a Wellingborough school after their high number of Covid-19 cases triggered a review of measures to prevent further spread of the virus. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Inside the teen mind: what’s happening to mental health?

Inside the teen mind: what’s happening to mental health? In our latest podcast, we ask what trends and changes in day-to-day life are affecting the mental health of today’s young people, and how has the pandemic had an impact. The Health Foundation 

Twin crisis of access and affordability calls for a radical rethink of NHS dentistry

Twin crisis of access and affordability calls for a radical rethink of NHS dentistry Access to NHS dental care continues to be a problem for people across England, with Healthwatch recording a 22% rise in calls and complaints about dentistry between January and March 2021.  

Our review of 1,375 people’s experiences shared with Healthwatch found a lack of consistency across the country when it comes to accessing a dental appointment. Whilst some people were asked to wait an unreasonable time of up to three years for an NHS appointment, those able to afford private care could get an appointment within a week. 

Genome UK: 2021 to 2022 implementation plan

Genome UK: 2021 to 2022 implementation plan Published in 2020, Genome UK: the future of health care set out a vision to create the most advanced genomic health care system in the world to deliver better health care at lower cost. Following collaboration with key partners across the genomics community, priority actions for 2021 to 2022 have been set out in the implementation plan to progress key commitments made in Genome UK. Department of Health and Social Care

NHS England opens up life-saving COVID-19 jab offer to 32 and 33 year olds as England tops 50 million doses given

NHS England opens up life-saving COVID-19 jab offer to 32 and 33 year olds as England tops 50 million doses given One million more people in their thirties can now get the life-saving covid jab, as the NHS opens bookings for people aged 32 and 33 from today (Saturday). As the biggest and fastest vaccination programme in NHS history continues rolling out, 1.1 million more people will be able to book their jab. NHS England

See also:

• Vaccine status drives over one million new users to the NHS app Department of Health and Social Care
• 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered in UK Department of Health and Social Care
• Vaccine status drives over one million new users to the NHS app Department of Health and Social Care
• Government launches new pilots to further support people to self-isolate Department of Health and Social Care
• Vaccines highly effective against B.1.617.2 variant after 2 doses Public Health England

Covid: Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs effective against Indian variant - study

Covid: Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs effective against Indian variant - study The Pfizer and AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines are highly effective against the variant identified in India after two doses, a study has found.

Two jabs of either vaccine give a similar level of protection against symptomatic disease from the Indian variant as they do for the Kent one.

However, both vaccines were only 33% effective against the Indian variant three weeks after the first dose. BBC News

See also:

• Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against the B.1.617.2 variant (open access preprint) Public Health England
• Covid: Parts of England to trial self-isolation support BBC News
• Covid: Sniffer dogs could bolster screening at airports BBC News
• Covid vaccine: 32 and 33-year-olds in England now invited to book BBC News
• India records 300,000 Covid deaths as pandemic rages BBC News
• Fewer than a THIRD of Brits say they 'completely' understand the current UK Covid lockdown rules The Daily Mail
• Covid cases in England may be on the rise, ONS data shows The Daily Mail
• Super-sniffer dogs detect Covid with 94 per cent accuracy, UK study suggests The Daily Telegraph
• Testing and tracing of sewage ramped up to tackle Covid variants The Daily Telegraph
• Scientists detect new coronavirus in pneumonia patients in Malaysia that has ‘likely made jump from animals’ The Independent
• NHS warns hospitals of fourth peak in Covid-19 cases at the end of the summer iNews
• Private hospitals provided average of seven Covid beds a day despite £2bn Government contracts iNews

Detectives consider corporate manslaughter charge in NHS maternity scandal involving 200 families

Detectives consider corporate manslaughter charge in NHS maternity scandal involving 200 families Detectives are examining a series of baby deaths at East Kent Hospitals NHS trust as the number of cases being investigated by an independent inquiry nears 200 – making it one of the worst maternity scandals in NHS history. The Independent