Northampton blogger and YouTuber Louise Pentland visits Downing Street with petition urging government to deliver health visits to new parents

Northampton blogger and YouTuber Louise Pentland visits Downing Street with petition urging government to deliver health visits to new parents Northampton blogger and YouTuber Louise Pentland has delivered a petition to Downing Street this week, urging the government to ensure families receive the five health visiting checks they are entitled to. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

The Health and Care Act: six key questions

The Health and Care Act: six key questions The Health and Care Act, which introduces significant reforms to the organisation and delivery of health are care services in England, received Royal Assent in April 2022. In this long read, The King's Fund explains what the changes brought in by the Act mean in practice.

Understanding healthcare workers’ confidence in AI

Understanding healthcare workers’ confidence in AI Frontline healthcare staff will need bespoke and specialised support before they will confidently use artificial intelligence (AI) in their clinical practice, a new report has found today.

The NHS aims to be a world leader in the use of emerging technologies like AI that could support trusts to address the backlog in elective procedures and make a difference in helping to detect and manage conditions, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, earlier. Health Education England

See also:

• Artificial intelligence 'has potential' to relieve pressures on NHS workforce, study finds Nursing in Practice

Chart of the week: Where are NHS nurses recruited from?

Chart of the week: Where are NHS nurses recruited from? The target to have 50,000 more NHS nurses by 2024 is ambitious, but there have been encouraging signs of progress on it. Where are these nurses coming from? Billy Palmer takes a closer look. Nuffield Trust

The first comprehensive map of young people’s health inequalities in the UK

The first comprehensive map of young people’s health inequalities in the UK As part of the Young people's future health inquiry, the Health Foundation is working with the Association for Young People's Health (AYPH) to better understand the inequalities experienced by young people from different groups. In this blog, AYPH policy fellow Rachael McKeown outlines newly published data showing the scale and complexity of young people’s health inequalities, and the need for action.

Strategies to reduce inequalities in access to planned hospital procedures

Strategies to reduce inequalities in access to planned hospital procedures This report follows on from a previous publication which described how people living in more deprived areas have poorer access to planned hospital care than their more affluent counterparts. This report aims to provide practical support for those keen to address the issues. It looks at how much additional care, and of what type, would be required to ‘level-up’ access to planned hospital procedures. It also looks at the interventions that exist that might help reduce inequities. Midlands Decision Support Network

Government on track to deliver 26,000 more primary care staff

Government on track to deliver 26,000 more primary care staff The government is on track to deliver 26,000 more primary care staff to help improve patient access to appointments and reduce the COVID-19 backlog. Department of Health and Social Care

Official Statistics: National flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports: 2021 to 2022 season

Official Statistics: National flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports: 2021 to 2022 season National influenza and COVID-19 report, monitoring COVID-19 activity, seasonal flu and other seasonal respiratory illnesses. Department of Health and Social Care

Vulnerable adults set for autumn Covid booster jab

Vulnerable adults set for autumn Covid booster jab At-risk groups should be given a booster Covid vaccine dose this autumn, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised.

The body suggested jabs should be offered to over-65s, health and care staff and clinically vulnerable adults aged 16-64.

The JCVI said this would top up levels of protection for the winter. BBC News

See also:

• JCVI provides interim advice on an autumn COVID-19 booster programme UK Health Security Agency
• Sue Gray planning to name No 10 Covid rule-breakers BBC News
• Jonathan Van-Tam misses knighthood ceremony due to Covid BBC News
• Autumn Covid booster vaccines should be given to ALL over-65s The Daily Mail
• Hospitals told to ditch Covid visiting restrictions as NHS chief says no patient should be left alone The Daily Telegraph
• North Korea’s Covid caseload passes 2 million amid global concern about regime’s pandemic plan The Guardian
• Government’s vaccines committee recommends autumn Covid jabs The Independent

Cold virus killed 100,000 children globally in 2019

Cold virus killed 100,000 children globally in 2019 A common virus that usually causes cold-like symptoms has killed more than 100,000 children under five globally in 2019, research has found.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was particularly deadly in the very young, with 45% of those cases occurring in children under six months old.

Almost all the deaths occurred in low and middle-income countries. BBC News

See also:

• Global, regional, and national disease burden estimates of acute lower respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus in children younger than 5 years in 2019: a systematic analysis (open access) The Lancet

Monkeypox cases investigated in Europe, US, Canada and Australia

Monkeypox cases investigated in Europe, US, Canada and Australia Cases of Monkeypox are being investigated in European countries as well as the US, Canada and Australia, according to health authorities and local media reports.

The latest new cases were reported in France, Italy, Sweden and Australia. BBC News

See also:

• UK has bought smallpox vaccine for monkeypox BBC News
• UK is stockpiling 'thousands' of monkeypox vaccines and drugs as UK cases rise to nine The Daily Mail
• Britain's monkeypox outbreak 'DOUBLES in size': Eleven new cases 'will be announced TODAY' The Daily Mail
• UK monkeypox cases ‘set to double today’ with fears infections are spiralling Metro

The nurses getting huge bills for quitting the NHS – podcast

The nurses getting huge bills for quitting the NHS – podcast International nurses working for NHS trusts are being trapped in their jobs by clauses in their contracts that require them to pay thousands of pounds if they try to leave. Shanti Das reports. The Guardian

Insomniacs in England to be offered app treatment instead of sleeping pills

Insomniacs in England to be offered app treatment instead of sleeping pills Hundreds of thousands of people struggling to sleep are to be offered treatment via an app instead of sleeping pills in the biggest shake-up of guidelines for insomnia in decades.

Until now, people with insomnia have typically been given advice about sleep hygiene or prescribed sleeping pills. Now they could be offered a £45 app-based treatment programme on the NHS instead of pills, under new guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The Guardian

Obese adults set to outnumber those at healthy weight in UK within five years, report warns

Obese adults set to outnumber those at healthy weight in UK within five years, report warns Obese adults in Britain are on course to outnumber those who are a healthy weight within five years, a stark report has revealed.

Experts have warned there will be a “tipping point” in 2027 when one third of adults will be obese if current trends continue.

By 2040, they predict there will 21 million people classed as obese in the UK, and 19 million deemed to be overweight. The Independent 

See also:

• Overweight and obesity prevalence projections for the UK Cancer Research UK
• New analysis estimates over 21 million UK adults will be obese by 2040 Cancer Research UK
• Experts warn obese people set to outnumber those at a healthy weight by 2030 The Daily Mail

Britons eat 900 more calories a day than they think - the equivalent of 3 McDonald's cheeseburgers

Britons eat 900 more calories a day than they think - the equivalent of 3 McDonald's cheeseburgers Everyone eats the equivalent of three extra McDonald’s cheeseburgers a day than they admit, a study claimed today.

And both thin and fat people fib about the amount of food they consume.

Researchers at the University of Essex analysed food diaries filled out by over 200 Britons. They then tracked how much energy they actually burned, in order to find any disparity. The Daily Mail

See also: 

• Obese individuals do not underreport dietary intake to a greater extent than nonobese individuals when data are allometrically-scaled (open access) American Journal of Human Biology

Desperate veteran says he's spent 50 or 60 years dealing with festering wound of PTSD

Desperate veteran says he's spent 50 or 60 years dealing with festering wound of PTSD A veteran who says he was refused help from ex-service and mental health organisations is now “hopeful” for his future after attending Northampton’s first mental health festival. Headfest'22 was held during Mental Health Awareness Week at Northampton Filmhouse. Northants Live

Hospital admissions for eating disorders increased by 84% in the last five years

Hospital admissions for eating disorders increased by 84% in the last five years Signs that someone with an eating disorder is dangerously ill are often missed by healthcare professionals due to lack of guidance and training.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists launches new Medical Emergencies in Eating Disorders guidance for frontline staff so that people with eating disorders needing urgent care can be identified and treated earlier.

Hospital admissions for eating disorders have increased by 84% in the last five years reaching a total of 24,268 admissions. New Royal College of Psychiatrists’ analysis of hospital data for eating disorders shows 11,049 more admissions in 2020/21 compared to 2015/16.

See also:

• Eating disorder hospital cases up 84% in five years in England BBC News
• NHS reports ‘alarming’ rise in hospital admissions for eating disorders The Guardian
• Hospital admissions for eating disorders rise by 84% over past five years The Independent

Let down

Let down It will be years before the Government’s public inquiry into COVID gives its findings, but lessons need to be learned now. So the BMA is publishing its own reports into the pandemic, the first two revealing the woeful lack of protective equipment in the early days of the epidemic, and the profound physical and mental strain it has placed on doctors

See also:

• BMA COVID-19 review BMA
• COVID-19: PPE for doctors BMA
• Government failed health staff in pandemic - BMA BBC News
• Covid-19: Government failed to protect doctors during pandemic, BMA inquiry finds The BMJ
• UK government 'failed in duty of care to doctors' in pandemic, BMA warns GPonline
• Doctors let down by Government during Covid-19 pandemic, says BMA The Independent

Maternity Disparities Taskforce explores women's health before and during pregnancy

Maternity Disparities Taskforce explores women's health before and during pregnancy Minister for women’s health, Maria Caulfield, and chief midwifery officer, Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, co-chaired the second meeting of the Maternity Disparities Taskforce this week (Monday 16 May 2022).

The taskforce led a deep dive discussion into the role of primary care – including GPs, nurses, healthcare practitioners, pharmacists – in supporting women’s health before they become pregnant, known as preconception health. Department of Health and Social Care

Government review could see NHS England, CQC and UKHSA 'abolished'

Government review could see NHS England, CQC and UKHSA 'abolished' A Government review of arm’s length bodies (ALBs), including the NHS England, CQC and UKHSA could see ‘powers returned to accountable ministers’.

The evaluation will look at the efficacy and efficiency of all public bodies and whether they should be ‘abolished or retained’ or should carry on delivering all of their functions.

NHS Improvement, NHS Digital and Health Education England (HEE) also fall under the remit of the review. Pulse