'She is a safe place': 'Most caring' nurse retires from Northampton General Hospital after 49 years of service

'She is a safe place': 'Most caring' nurse retires from Northampton General Hospital after 49 years of service An orthopaedic nurse, who has been described as “the most caring”, has retired from Northampton General Hospital after 49 years of service. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Children’s mental health services 2021-2022

Children’s mental health services 2021-2022 This report looks to understand what is happening in children’s mental health provision. Using new figures sourced from NHS England and NHS Digital, it examines spending on children’s mental health, numbers of children referred to and accessing CYPMHS and waiting times between referral and treatment (having a second contact with CYPMHS)

This data is the first available since services were widely re-opened after the pandemic and shows a surging demand for help. 

The welcome progress that has been made in recent years on improving children’s access to the right support is struggling to keep up with this demand – with waiting times increasing in the first time in years. Children's Commissioner

See also:

• Three-quarters of children detained under mental health act are girls, new report warns The Independent

Joining the dots: a blueprint for preventing and managing frailty in older

Joining the dots: a blueprint for preventing and managing frailty in older This document sets out seven system touchpoints and outcomes that should be considered when planning and commissioning health and social care for older people, alongside twelve actions that systems should take to create the conditions for high-quality integrated care for older people. The blueprint is aimed primarily at system leaders and commissioners of health and social care services for older people. It is hoped that it will assist these senior decision-makers to understand and implement the core features of age-attuned integrated care for older people. British Geriatrics Society

Most vulnerable to be offered spring COVID-19 booster

Most vulnerable to be offered spring COVID-19 booster The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has confirmed its advice for a 2023 spring coronavirus (COVID-19) booster programme.

In January 2023, the committee advised preparations should begin for potential booster programmes in spring and autumn this year, with further details to be announced at a later date. UK Health Security Agency

See also:

• Independent report: Spring 2023 COVID-19 vaccination programme: JCVI advice, 22 February 2023 Department of Health and Social Care
• Covid booster jab to be offered this spring BBC News
• Vulnerable people in UK to be offered spring Covid booster vaccine The Guardian
• Covid booster vaccine to be offered to elderly and vulnerable The Independent
• COVID booster vaccine to be offered to most vulnerable Sky News

Government to consider radical new approach to prevent life-threatening cardiovascular disease

Government to consider radical new approach to prevent life-threatening cardiovascular disease People across England stand to benefit from a project to identify radical new approaches to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) and reduce pressure on the NHS, following the appointment of Prof John Deanfield as Government Champion for Personalised Prevention Department of Health and Social Care

Optimising personalised care for adults prescribed medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms: framework for action for integrated care boards (ICBs) and primary care

Optimising personalised care for adults prescribed medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms: framework for action for integrated care boards (ICBs) and primary care NHS England working in partnership with integrated care system (ICS) leads and representatives, has devised a framework actions to help systems develop plans that can support people who are taking medicines associated with dependence and withdrawal symptoms. 

The actions will support ICSs to deliver on their four key objectives of: improving outcomes in population health and healthcare; tackling health inequalities in outcomes, experience and access; enhancing productivity and value for money; and helping the NHS support broader social and economic development.

Weight loss drug semaglutide approved for NHS use

Weight loss drug semaglutide approved for NHS use A weight loss jab that has gained popularity in the US has been approved for use by the NHS in England.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) concluded semaglutide, marketed as Wegovy, is safe, effective and affordable.

Delivered via an injection into the skin, the drug makes people feel fuller and more satisfied, so they eat less. BBC News

See also:

• NICE recommended weight-loss drug to be made available in specialist NHS services National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
• Experts warn weight loss drug semaglutide isn't a miracle fix The Daily Mail
• 'Game-changing' weight loss jab 2.5x stronger than Ozempic will be rolled out on NHS in weeks The Daily Mail
• 'Game changer' weight loss jab to become available on NHS The Daily Mail
• NICE recommends semaglutide for use in obesity GPonline
• Yes, England’s new weight-loss drug kills your appetite – but as I know, it comes at a cost The Guardian
• What is Wegovy, the ‘game changer’ weight loss drug? The Independent

Childhood infection ‘linked to risk of respiratory disease death as an adult’

Childhood infection ‘linked to risk of respiratory disease death as an adult’ Contracting a respiratory infection such as bronchitis or pneumonia during childhood is associated with a higher risk of death from a respiratory illness as an adult, research suggests.

Children who had a lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) by the age of two were almost twice as likely to die prematurely between the ages of 26 and 73 years from respiratory diseases, the study suggests. The Independent

See also:

• Early childhood lower respiratory tract infection and premature adult death from respiratory disease in Great Britain: a national birth cohort study (open access) The Lancet

Home Office unable to say when emergency services network will launch

Home Office unable to say when emergency services network will launch The Home Office is still unable to say when a planned communications system for Great Britain’s blue light services will be operational, despite spending almost £2bn on the project, the Whitehall spending watchdog has said.

The proposed emergency services network (ESN), first announced in 2015, was supposed to have replaced the ageing Airwave system for police, fire and ambulance services in England, Scotland and Wales by 2020. The Guardian

Nurses and midwives should be able to approve abortions, UK study concludes

Nurses and midwives should be able to approve abortions, UK study concludes Nurses and midwives should be able to approve abortions, a study funded by the NHS has urged, in what would be one of the biggest shake-ups of regulations in more than 55 years.

If adopted, a rule that stipulates that abortions have to be authorised by two doctors would be scrapped. The Guardian

See also:

• Abortion law should change to reflect current practice, study suggests Shaping Abortion for Change
• NHS nurses and midwives should be able to approve abortions, report argues Evening Standard

War on cancer is FAILING: Ministers could push back crucial target once again

War on cancer is FAILING: Ministers could push back crucial target once again The NHS won't meet a key cancer target for another year, bosses expect.

Government plans set out that the number of cancer patients starting treatment within two months of an urgent GP referral should return to pre-Covid levels by March 2023.

Knock-on effects of Covid saw the backlog of patients waiting beyond 62 days spiral to a record high of 34,000 last summer — more than double levels seen before the pandemic struck. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Key cancer waiting time target set to be missed in England BBC News

NHS whistleblower sacrifices his career to secretly capture brutal reality of dire 999 service

NHS whistleblower sacrifices his career to secretly capture brutal reality of dire 999 service The brutal reality of working in Britain's ailing emergency service has been laid bare by an eye-opening new documentary which shows how deadly delays have become commonplace.

Raw footage — captured during the darkest days of the NHS's busiest ever winter — shows overflowing A&E wards, with corridors jampacked of patients who have spent 20-plus hours waiting to be seen. The Daily Mail

Supporting high-quality perinatal mental health care

Supporting high-quality perinatal mental health care This resource, drawn from an evidence review, provides a strengths-based action template to enable and inform high-quality care for families impacted by perinatal mental health (PMH) problems, enabling individuals to come together and plan “what good looks like” for them, as practitioners, services, professions, organisations, pathways, networks, and systems. The resource (produced with the Maternal Mental Health Alliance) highlights: why improving PMH care is crucial; what good care looks like to both practitioners and families with lived experience; and ten principles of best practice. Institute of Health Visiting

Protected learning time

Protected learning time This guidance sets out the RPS's recommendations for protected learning time (PLT). PLT is needed to give professionals time to develop clinical and non-clinical capabilities across the pharmacy workforce, particularly around education and research as well as leadership. A wider workforce plan for the pharmacy profession needs to be developed in each of the three nations and these need to contain several elements which will enable pharmacists, in all sectors, to develop professionally. Royal Pharmaceutical Society

NHS health teams to refer lonely and isolated patients for check in and chat service

NHS health teams to refer lonely and isolated patients for check in and chat service Over a thousand volunteers have signed up to provide friendly phone calls for patients in England who are vulnerable, isolated or lonely, as the NHS Volunteer Responders programme reintroduces its Check in and Chat service.

GPs, pharmacists, and other healthcare workers are being encouraged to request Check in and Chat support for patients who are socially isolated or would benefit from a phone call and a bit of encouragement – with an option to request just a one-off call or a series of calls. NHS England

NHS consultants ready to strike, warns British Medical Association

NHS consultants ready to strike, warns British Medical Association Consultants in England are ready to strike after a consultative ballot by the British Medical Association (BMA) showed support for industrial action.

The union says consultants have seen pay cuts of 35% since 2008 once inflation is taken into account.

The BMA is now warning it will proceed to a formal ballot unless the government acts before 3 April. BBC News

See also:

• Consultants in England ‘ready to strike’, as BMA consultative ballot shows overwhelming support for industrial action BMA
• Pay, pensions and DDRB reform for consultants in England BMA
• NHS Confederation responds to BMA's consultants indicative strike ballot NHS Confederation
• NHS Providers responds to threat of strikes by consultants NHS Providers
• NHS consultants to be balloted over potential strike action Evening Standard
• Consultants back industrial action in preliminary ballot and could be on strike by spring GPonline
• Senior doctors in England prepared to strike over pensions and pay The Guardian
• Hospital consultants to be balloted over possible strike action The Independent
• Senior hospital doctors ‘ready to strike’ in England Pulse

Vitiligo: Controversial skin cream may come to UK

Vitiligo: Controversial skin cream may come to UK A controversial new treatment for a condition called vitiligo that can restore pigment to the skin might soon be offered on the NHS, if UK experts approve it.

Some call ruxolitinib a miracle cream because it can return skin's natural colour and get rid of whitened patches.

But it carries some potentially serious side effects. BBC News

Mothers denied gas and air in labour say their births were traumatic

Mothers denied gas and air in labour say their births were traumatic When Leigh Milner gave birth to her baby boy last month she was expecting "all the pain relief" but ended up with just paracetamol and describes her labour as absolutely unbearable.

The BBC journalist delivered her son Theo at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, one of several that have recently suspended gas and air due to fears midwives and doctors have been exposed to unsafe levels. BBC News

See also:

• Maternity units must only remove gas and air as a ‘last resort’ The Independent
• Mum reveals agonising labour after hospital suspended gas and air pain relief Sky News

NHS England imposes GP contract with focus on access

NHS England imposes GP contract with focus on access NHS England has imposed a contract on GPs to start next month, which includes more stipulations around access, but no extra funding.

The contract letter, which was sent to GPs today, was not agreed with the BMA GP Committee, who have already said they will be exploring all options following an imposition, including potential industrial action.

Under the new contract, GP practices will have to offer patients an ‘assessment of need’ on first contact and will ‘no longer be able to request that patients contact the practice at a later time’. Pulse

See also:

• Changes to the GP Contract in 2023/24 NHS England
• GP Contract Hub NHS England
• Anger over imposed GP contract that does ‘nothing to support general practice’ BMA
• NHS Confederation responds to NHS England's change to the GP contract NHS Confederation
• Patients must now get a GP slot or be referred elsewhere on the FIRST time they call The Daily Mail
• Imposed GP contract for 2023/24 overhauls access, IIF and child vaccination payments GPonline
• New GP contract ‘will see more GPs quit and patients wait longer for care’ The Independent
  
  

What have we learned from Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp messages? – podcast

What have we learned from Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp messages? – podcast More than 100,000 of the former health secretary’s phone messages have been leaked. What do they tell us about the way the government handled the pandemic?

The revelations have come thick and fast. There was the joke implying the health secretary believed Rishi Sunak’s “eat out to help out” scheme may have driven up Covid cases. There was the most senior civil servant describing the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, as a “nationally distrusted figure”. There was the reference to teaching unions as “absolute arses”. The leaked phone messages from Matt Hancock’s WhatsApp account have certainly had their share of surprises. The Guardian

See also:

• Hancock backed pressuring MP into voting for lockdown, messages reveal BBC News
• Matt Hancock blocked chief medic Chris Whitty's calls to ease isolation rules The Daily Mail
• A (partial) defence of Matt Hancock: leaders must be free to discuss policy in private The Guardian
• Hancock discussed blocking disability hub if MP opposed lockdown, messages reveal The Independent
• Leaked WhatsApps reveal government struggle over Covid ‘sex ban’ advice The Independent
• Hancock ‘discussed withholding learning disability hub if MP opposed lockdown’ ITV News
• Sir Chris Whitty warned public wouldn't stick to lockdown 'sex ban', leaked messages reveal Sky News
• Hancock took mistress to private dinners with US health sec - then tried to remove suggestion he invited her, leaked messages show Sky News