North Northants healthy eating project awarded £250,000

North Northants healthy eating project awarded £250,000 A project to help north Northants residents be more healthy is being launched by a charity thanks to funding from Public Health Northamptonshire.

The initiative will focus on communities most at risk of a poor diet and will address ‘health inequalities’ in north Northamptonshire, as well as using knowledge and expertise already available. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Elderly patient reveals his "lonely" experience and criticises "appalling" TV services at Northampton General Hospital

Elderly patient reveals his "lonely" experience and criticises "appalling" TV services at Northampton General Hospital An elderly patient at Northampton General Hospital (NGH) has criticised the ‘cutting back’ of television services at the hospital.

The man, who the Chronicle & Echo has not named, said he and many other pensioners were often left ‘staring at walls’ because the free television service was scrapped. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

NHS marks milestone in recovery plan as longest waits virtually eliminated

NHS marks milestone in recovery plan as longest waits virtually eliminated NHS staff were today praised for virtually eliminating the longest waits for scans, checks, surgical procedures and other routine treatment, the first milestone in the most ambitious catch-up plan in health service history. NHS England

See also:

• Virtually eliminating 104 week waiters ahead of July deadline is testament to tireless efforts across the whole NHS system NHS Confederation
• Backlog of longest-wait patients slashed in England BBC News
• Patients to wait longer for routine checks so NHS can clear record backlogs The Daily Telegraph
• NHS backlog of two-year waits for routine surgery in England shrinks to below 200 The Guardian
• NHS backlog of two-year waits shrinks from 22,500 to below 200 The Independent
• NHS backlog of two-year waits in England shrinks from 22,500 to below 200 ITV News
• NHS England reduces two-year waits for treatment but 12-month delays soar Sky News

RightCare stroke toolkit

RightCare stroke toolkit This toolkit provides integrated stroke delivery networks (ISDNs) and local stroke services with key actions to guide service improvement in the following pathway specific and across pathway system improvement priority areas: health inequalities; prevention; TIA management; pre-hospital; hyper acute and acute care; rehabilitation and life after stroke; workforce; medicines optimisation; and technology. NHS England

Heat-health alert issued by the UK Health Security Agency

Heat-health alert issued by the UK Health Security Agency The UK Health Security Agency’s heat-health alert service is designed to help healthcare professionals manage through periods of extreme temperature. The service acts as an early warning system for periods of high temperatures that may affect the public’s health.

The alert will be in place from midday Tuesday 9 August to 6pm on Saturday 13 August for all regions of England.

See also:

• UK heatwave: Heat-health alert to begin across England BBC News

Child deaths expose mental health unit pressures

Child deaths expose mental health unit pressures Deaths, staff shortages and a culture of life-threatening self-harm are exposing deep fears about the quality of mental health care in hospitals for children and young people.

Since 2019, at least 20 patients aged 18 or under have died in NHS or privately-run units, the BBC has found.

A further 26 have died within a year of leaving units, amid claims of a lack of ongoing community support. BBC News

Did we all believe a myth about depression?

Did we all believe a myth about depression? A study showing depression isn't caused by low levels of the "happy hormone" serotonin has become one of the most widely shared medical articles.

It has provoked a wave of misleading claims about antidepressant drugs, many of which increase the amount of serotonin in the brain.

This research doesn't show the drugs aren't effective.

But the response to it has also sparked some genuine questions about how people treat, and think about, mental illness. BBC News

Nurses set to vote on walkout over pay as RCN boosts strike fund by £15m

Nurses set to vote on walkout over pay as RCN boosts strike fund by £15m Nurses will begin voting next month on whether to strike over pay in what would be the first walkout by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England and Wales.

The RCN is recommending hundreds of thousands of its members support industrial action in a ballot that opens on 15 September. Sky News

See also:

• Vote to strike: RCN members urged to support industrial action in strike ballot over NHS pay Royal College of Nursing
• Vote on pay by UK nurses raises prospect of first ever strike Financial Times
• NHS nurses told to ready for strike action after ‘years of underpayment and staff shortages’ Nursing Notes
• Nurses in England and Wales to vote on strike action over pay Reuters

What are the impending threats to the NHS this autumn?

What are the impending threats to the NHS this autumn? Explained: from Covid to dire workforce shortages, the health service faces a deepening crisis

The health secretary, Steve Barclay, has warned the NHS faces serious challenges this autumn. We take a look at the growing pressures on the healthcare system. The Guardian

See also:

• Cost of living crisis will add strain to ‘creaking’ NHS, experts warn The Guardian

DIY dentistry on the rise as 90% of NHS practices not seeing new patients

DIY dentistry on the rise as 90% of NHS practices not seeing new patients Incidents of DIY dentistry, including people using superglue to stick homemade teeth to their gums, are increasing across Britain as more than nine in 10 NHS dental practices are unable to offer appointments to new adult patients, the director of the Healthwatch England watchdog has warned. The Guardian

Getting more sun can reduce a person's risk of diabetes and heart disease, study finds

Getting more sun can reduce a person's risk of diabetes and heart disease, study finds Getting sun can do more than just boost your mood, as the vitamin D from natural light can even help prevent devastating conditions like diabetes and heart disease, a new study finds.

Researchers at the  University of South Australia Cancer Research Institute in Adelaide, found that people who received a proper amount of vitamin D were less likely to show markers of inflammation in blood tests. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Vitamin D deficiency and C-reactive protein: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study (open access) International Journal of Epidemiology

NHS is sending POLICE officers to heart attack callouts due to paramedic shortage

NHS is sending POLICE officers to heart attack callouts due to paramedic shortage The NHS is staring down the barrel of one of its worst winters on record with a triple whammy of Covid, flu and the cost of living crisis set to batter understaffed hospitals, the new Health Secretary warned today as it emerged police officers are being sent to ambulance callouts amid a paramedic shortage. The Daily Mail

Charities call for action as drug deaths more than double in Northamptonshire

Charities call for action as drug deaths more than double in Northamptonshire 
Drug-related deaths more than doubled in Northamptonshire last year, stark new figures show.

Northamptonshire Police is in the middle of a 12-week surge on its ‘Matters of Priority’ which includes focus on drug harm.

But charities have criticised the Government over a lack of action on drug deaths with experts calling the latest figures an “utter disgrace”. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Guidance on the preparation of integrated care strategies

Guidance on the preparation of integrated care strategies This guidance is aimed at integrated care partnerships. This document contains: an introduction, two sections of statutory guidance on the preparation of the integrated care strategy including involvement and content, a section of non-statutory guidance relating to the publication, and a review of the integrated care strategy. Department of Health and Social Care

Independent report: Single dose of HPV vaccine: JCVI concluding advice

Independent report: Single dose of HPV vaccine: JCVI concluding advice The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's (JCVI) concluding advice on a one-dose schedule for the human papillomavirus (HPV) immunisation programme. Department of Health and Social Care

UK monkeypox case numbers begin to plateau

UK monkeypox case numbers begin to plateau The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published the latest technical briefing, which shows early signs that the outbreak is plateauing.

As of 4 August, there are 2,859 confirmed and highly probable cases of monkeypox in the UK.

Analyses of the current UK outbreak shows that monkeypox continues to be transmitted primarily in interconnected sexual networks of gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men (GBMSM). The median age of confirmed cases in the UK was 37 years old. In England, 73% are known to be London residents over the course of the outbreak. UK Health Security Agency

Covid infections continuing to fall around the UK

Covid infections continuing to fall around the UK Covid infections are continuing to fall in the UK, dropping by more than half a million in a week, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Roughly 2.6 million people had the virus in the week to 26 July, compared to 3.2 million the previous week.

The number of people in hospital with the virus is also decreasing. BBC News

See also:

• Covid infection rates in England plunge by another fifth The Daily Mail
• Long Covid more common in people who are unemployed and not seeking work The Daily Mail

NHS demands cannot wait for new prime minister, says health secretary

NHS demands cannot wait for new prime minister, says health secretary The NHS in England cannot wait for a new prime minister to be in post to tackle the the emergency crisis it faces, the health secretary has warned.

Steve Barclay said hospitals could see "very serious challenges coming down the track" in the autumn and winter from flu and another Covid wave.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he said he was preparing for "reasonable worst-case scenarios". BBC News

Extent of struggle to find NHS dentist revealed by far-reaching BBC research

Extent of struggle to find NHS dentist revealed by far-reaching BBC research Nine in 10 NHS dental practices across the UK are not accepting new adult patients for treatment under the health service, a BBC investigation has found.

Our research shows no dentists taking on adult NHS patients could be found in a third of the UK's top-tier councils.

And eight in 10 NHS practices are not taking on children. BBC News

Infected blood scandal victims in line to get £100,000

Infected blood scandal victims in line to get £100,000 Payments of £100,000 will be made to victims of the contaminated blood scandal, the government is expected to announce this week.

Boris Johnson wants payments, recommended by a public inquiry, to be made to more than 4,000 survivors "as soon as possible", said Downing Street.

Thousands of people contracted HIV or hepatitis C in the 1970s and 80s through NHS treatments. BBC News