First Covid death in nearly two months confirmed at Northamptonshire hospital

First Covid death in nearly two months confirmed at Northamptonshire hospital Northamptonshire s first Covid-related death for almost two months has been confirmed.

NHS England confirmed the a patient with Covid died at Kettering General Hospital on Monday (June 14) four days after being admitted.

It is the first coronavirus-linked fatality at KGH or at Northampton General Hospital in 52 days, since April 23. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• Urgent appeal for volunteer stewards at NHS coronavirus vaccination centres in Northampton Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• Corby man's Covid death is first at KGH for almost two months Northamptonshire Telegraph
• 'This announcement is fantastic news': No more isolating for Northamptonshire care home residents after visiting loved ones Northamptonshire Telegraph

‘We’re a lifeline’: Northampton charity urgently appealing for more voluntary drivers to take residents to medical appointments

‘We’re a lifeline’: Northampton charity urgently appealing for more voluntary drivers to take residents to medical appointments A Northampton charity that provides medical appointment transport for elderly and vulnerable residents is urgently seeking more voluntary drivers.

Northampton Community Transport takes people who are unable to drive or walk to bus stops to medical and wellbeing appointments. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Carl Holland: The success of front door triage in Northamptonshire

Carl Holland: The success of front door triage in Northamptonshire It’s been over two months since Northampton General Hospital started using Consultant Connect’s Referral Triage service. In this blog article Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Carl Holland shares how the project started and is now performing. National Health Executive

Moral distress and moral injury: recognising and tackling it for UK doctors

Moral distress and moral injury: recognising and tackling it for UK doctors This pan-profession survey report of UK doctors survey found that 78 per cent of respondents said they could identify with the term ‘moral distress’. This can be understood as occurring when ‘institutional and resource constraints create a sense of unease among doctors from being conflicted about the quality of care they can give’. British Medical Association

Long Covid: the NHS plan for 2021/22

Long Covid: the NHS plan for 2021/22 A five-point plan including advice for clinicians and information for patients, post-Covid assessment clinics, and specialist online rehabilitation support was published in October 2020. This plan outlines ten key next steps to be taken to support those suffering from long Covid. NHS England and NHS Improvement

NHS to invest £52 million to fast track online maternity records

NHS to invest £52 million to fast track online maternity records Every mum to be will be able to access their maternity records on their smart phones, England’s Chief Nurse announced today.

Speaking at the NHS Confederation Conference, Chief Nursing Officer for England, Ruth May, said “bulky paper records would soon be banished” and pregnant women will be able to access information on their pregnancy at their fingertips on phones or other electronic devices if they choose to. NHS England

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 variants identified in UK

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 variants identified in UK Public Health England releases weekly updates on the number of confirmed new cases of variants of concern and variants under investigation identified in the UK.

Covid: All adults able to book coronavirus vaccination in England

Covid: All adults able to book coronavirus vaccination in England Covid: All adults able to book coronavirus vaccination in England People aged 18 and over in England are being invited to book their first Covid-19 jab in what the NHS has described as a "watershed moment".

About 1.5 million texts are due to be sent to people aged 18 to 20 on Friday.

PM Boris Johnson said the speed of the programme was "one of our country's greatest collective achievements". BBC News

See also:

• Fewer than 1% of all patients who fall severely ill with COVID-19 are later reinfected The Daily Mail
• Coronavirus: Signs of UK's Covid surge 'levelling off' The Daily Mail
• COVID-19 vaccines do not cause lower sperm counts and could actually increase sperm, study says The Daily Mail
• Covid England: Outbreaks growing in 90% of areas but rates SHRINKING in Indian variant  hotspots The Daily Mail
• Nearly 16,000 people in England have caught Covid twice The Daily Telegraph
• Scotland was eight hours from running out of some PPE in Covid first wave The Guardian
• Home quarantine in UK for travellers not working, experts warn The Guardian

Covid: Disruption to surgery 'will affect millions'

Covid: Disruption to surgery 'will affect millions' Disruption to surgery in England and Wales during the pandemic will continue to affect millions of patients for many years, researchers say.

Hospitals completed 1.5 million fewer surgical procedures in 2020 than would be expected from trends in previous years, a drop of about 33%, they say.

The NHS says the shortfall was "because fewer people came forward for care". BBC News

See also: 

• Surgical activity in England and Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide observational cohort study (open access) British Journal of Anaesthesia 
• Hospitals undertook 1.6m fewer operations last year because of Covid The Guardian
• Covid-19 pandemic 'led to 1.5 million NHS operations cancelled or postponed' iNews

Former Test and Trace boss and Tory peer Baroness Dido Harding applies for NHS top job

Former Test and Trace boss and Tory peer Baroness Dido Harding applies for NHS top job The former boss of the government’s coronavirus Test and Trace programme has applied to become the next head of the NHS.

Conservative peer Baroness Dido Harding, who is the wife of Tory MP John Penrose, formally entered the running to become the top boss of England's healthcare system on Thursday. Sky News

See also:

• Ex-Test and Trace boss Dido Harding applies to become head of NHS England The Daily Mail
• Dido Harding to head the NHS? Her position would be untenable The Guardian
• Ex-Test And Trace Chief Dido Harding Has Applied To Run The NHS Huffington Post UK
• Dido Harding applies to become next CEO of NHS England The Independent

Health chiefs recall dozens of batches of common blood pressure pills

Health chiefs recall dozens of batches of common blood pressure pills The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which polices the safety of drugs used in Britain, said the affected batches contained azido-tetrazole. The Daily Mail

See also:

• MHRA recalls contaminated Irbesartan and Losartan batches as precautionary measure Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency

Northamptonshire's Moulton drop-in jab centre now open to ALL over 20s

Northamptonshire's Moulton drop-in jab centre now open to ALL over 20s Northamptonshire’s COVID-19 Vaccination Centre in Moulton Park is running its first ever drop-in sessions this week – where anyone eligible for their first dose of vaccine can get one without an appointment. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also: 

• Northampton care homes 'working with staff to get vaccinated' amid reported plan to make jab mandatory Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• Shoppers urged to continue wearing face masks after Northampton centre sees high rate of customers ignoring advice Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• Here's which Northamptonshire MPs voted against the Government over Freedom Day delay Northamptonshire Telegraph
• Millions of people could get ‘default’ right to work from home under new proposals Northamptonshire Telegraph

Starting the conversation: UCAS report on student mental health

Starting the conversation: UCAS report on student mental health Over the last decade there has been a significant shift in the willingness of students to talk about their mental health – the number of UK applicants to UCAS that shared a mental health condition has increased by 450% in this time, yet today’s report shows there is still more work to do to smash the myths and stigma around mental health, and to highlight the support available to students in higher education. UCAS 

Locked out: digitally excluded people’s experiences of remote GP appointments

Locked out: digitally excluded people’s experiences of remote GP appointments This report investigates the barriers to accessing digital and remote care, drawing on the experiences of people who experienced digital exclusion during the pandemic. This included older people, people with disabilities, and people with limited English. It finds that people can be digitally excluded for various reasons including digital skill level, affordability of technology, disabilities, or language barriers. The report suggests the need for a programme of investment in digital literacy and online access while emphasising the importance of maintaining face-to-face methods to ensure no one falls through the gaps. Healthwatch England 

The Case for Change

The Case for Change This report sets out the urgent need for a new approach to children’s social care in England. Our children’s social care system is a 30-year-old tower of Jenga held together with Sellotape: simultaneously rigid and yet shaky. There have been many reviews and attempts at reform since the landmark introduction of the 1989 Children Act and though each has ushered incremental progress, we are now left with a high stack of legislation, systems, structures, and services that with their sheer complicatedness make it hard to imagine something different, let alone address foundational problems. The Independent Review of Children's Social Care

See also: 

• Care services too focused on investigating families in crisis, says review BBC News
• Children’s services in England shaky as Jenga tower, says review lead The Guardian
• Social care in England is 'a tower of Jenga held together with Sellotape', independent review warns Sky News

Strengthening NHS board diversity

Strengthening NHS board diversity An independent taskforce asked to examine the diversity of healthcare leadership has said that NHS organisations can create a "sustainable pipeline" of senior leaders that properly reflect the diversity of their staff and communities by refreshing their processes for appointing chairs and non-executive directors (NEDs). The report, based on the feedback of taskforce members including NHS chairs, NEDs and chief executives, found that while there are pockets of innovation, the current NHS appointment process for NEDs would benefit from a standard, more transparent procedure. NHS Confederation

£36 million boost for AI technologies to revolutionise NHS care

£36 million boost for AI technologies to revolutionise NHS care Thousands of patients and NHS staff will benefit from dozens of new pioneering projects awarded a share of £36 million to test state-of-the-art AI technology. The projects will help the NHS to transform the quality of care and the speed of diagnoses for conditions such as lung cancer. Department of Health and Social Care

Everyone working in care homes to be fully vaccinated under new law to protect residents

Everyone working in care homes to be fully vaccinated under new law to protect residents Care home residents will be better protected from death and serious illness, following confirmation people working in care homes will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The new legislation means from October – subject to Parliamentary approval and a subsequent 16-week grace period – anyone working in a CQC-registered care home in England for residents requiring nursing or personal care must have 2 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine unless they have a medical exemption. Department of Health and Social Care

See also: 

• Consultation outcome: Making vaccination a condition of deployment in older adult care homes Department of Health and Social Care
• Independent report: REACT-1 study of coronavirus transmission: June 2021 final results Department of Health and Social Care
• More than 30 million people vaccinated with second dose Department of Health and Social Care
• 21 and 22 year olds to be offered COVID-19 jab from today NHS England
• Thousands of lives to be saved by health MOTs at NHS vaccination services NHS England

Covid: Epidemic growing across England, says study

Covid: Epidemic growing across England, says study The Covid epidemic in England is growing - with much of the growth being driven by younger age groups not yet immunised, a study suggests.

The analysis, from the React-1 study, looked at the period 20 May to 7 June.

But tentative signs in the latest daily data suggest growth may be beginning to slow. BBC News

See also: 

• Covid: Children aged 12-17 unlikely to offered vaccine in UK BBC News
• Covid: Deaf campaigner takes legal action over No 10 briefings BBC News
• Scientists develop low cost COVID-19 test strips that work similar to diabetes test strips The Daily Mail
• Britain's daily Covid cases hit 9,000 for the first time since February The Daily Mail
• A FIFTH of asymptomatic coronavirus patients develop 'long Covid' conditions The Daily Mail
• Four men barred from every hospital in England over Covid 'hoax' broadcasts The Daily Telegraph
• Matt Hancock confirms plan to require care staff to have Covid vaccine The Guardian
• Matt Hancock says Delta variant accounts for 96% of new UK Covid cases – video The Guardian
• Cummings texts show Boris Johnson calling Matt Hancock ‘totally hopeless’ The Guardian
• Matt Hancock says he 'doesn't think' he's hopeless The Independent
• Covid: R rate could jump as high as 7 without any lockdown restrictions, warns PHE The Independent
• NHS goes door to door encouraging people to get vaccinated against Covid-19 in underserved areas iNews

Living with obesity: 'My genes mean I’m hard-wired to store fat'

Living with obesity: 'My genes mean I’m hard-wired to store fat' Specialist health professionals say it is time for obesity to be regarded as an illness caused by genetics, biology and how we live today.

New research adds to growing scientific opinion that "healthy obesity" does not exist. The findings show those who are significantly overweight have a 66% higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease, compared with those of a normal weight.

Many people with obesity say not only do they have to live with prejudice and stigma, but they struggle to find treatment. BBC News

See also: 

• Obesity Without Metabolic Abnormality and Incident CKD: A Population-Based British Cohort Study (open access) American Journal of Kidney Diseases