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NHS told to raise its game on IPC or face omicron-driven surge in hospital infections

The NHS must apply Covid infection prevention and control measures more robustly if it is to avoid a steep rise in infections within healthcare settings, a senior doctor at NHS England has said.

The warning came from NHS England national clinical director for antimicrobial resistance and infection prevention and control Mark Wilcox during a webinar for NHS leaders.

He said that the effectiveness of the vaccination programme had led “understandably” to the NHS being more relaxed when it came to Covid IPC.

However, he warned that “the effectiveness of the vaccines has diminished substantially with respect to two doses” because of the omicron variant, and that “if we carry on with the level of IPC that we have been lulled into then we will see very significant problems with nosocomial infection”.

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Source: HSJ, 14 December 2021

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COVID-19: Coroners call for changes after highlighting avoidable deaths during pandemic

Coroners in England are demanding changes in a series of reports highlighting how the struggling healthcare system’s responses to the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to patients’ deaths.

Coroners are obliged to write a report recommending action in any cases where they believe that this is necessary to prevent future deaths. Reports now emerging suggest that factors in deaths during the pandemic include the move by GPs to telephone consultations, the requirement for vulnerable patients to attend hospital appointments alone, and the lack of safeguards for patients in care homes.

The replacement of in-person appointments by telephone consultations reduced GPs’ ability to pinpoint patients’ needs, the coroners said, and the absence of family members from consultations with vulnerable patients meant that clinicians were often unable to get a full picture of their needs.

An example is in the Yorkshire and Humber region which saw an increased incidence of children with severe nutritional anaemia in 2020, resulting in two deaths. Maya Zab, who died aged 11 months, was one of the two. Language barriers had caused missed opportunities for primary carers to see Maya, but this was compounded by the pandemic, said Ian Pears, coroner. The “stay at home” message resulted in fewer one-to-one consultations and meant that healthcare professionals were unable to spot signs of her condition, while the limitation of social contact meant that other professionals and friends were unable to report concerns.

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Source: BMJ, 8 December 2021

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NHS trusts criticised over system that films mental health patients in their bedrooms

NHS trusts are facing calls to suspend the use of a monitoring system that continuously records video of mental health patients in their bedrooms amid concerns that it breaches their human rights.

Mental health charities said the Oxevision system, used by 23 NHS trusts in some psychiatric wards to monitor patients’ vital signs, could breach their right to privacy and exacerbate their distress.

The call comes after Camden and Islington NHS foundation trust (C&I) suspended its use of Oxevision after a formal complaint by a female patient who said the system amounted to “covert surveillance”.

The Oxevision system allows staff to monitor a patient’s pulse and breathing rate via an optical sensor, which consists of a camera and an infrared illuminator to allow night-time observation.

It includes a live video feed of the patient, which is recorded and kept for 24-72 hours, depending on the NHS trust, before being deleted. Oxehealth, which created the system, said it was not like CCTV because staff could only view the video feed for about 10-15 seconds during a vital signs check or in response to a safety incident.

The system, which is also installed at Exeter police station custody suite and an Oxfordshire care home, can alert staff if someone else has unexpectedly entered a patient’s room or if they are in a blindspot, such as the bathroom, for too long.

Alexa Knight, associate director of policy and practice at Rethink Mental Illness, said: “While we appreciate that the motivation for putting surveillance cameras in people’s bedrooms stems from the need to protect them, to do so without clear consent is unjustifiable and this pilot should be suspended immediately.”

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Source: The Guardian, 13 December 2021

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Hundreds face six-hour booster jab queue as rollout to all adults begins

Hundreds of Britons faced many hours-long queues to receive their coronavirus booster jab in a day of chaos that saw lateral flow tests run out on the government website and the NHS site struggle with the surge in booster bookings.

It comes as Boris Johnson opened the booster jab programme to all adults in a bid to offer the third dose to all over-18s by the end of December, bringing his original target forward by one month.

St Thomas’ Vaccination Centre in Westminister confirmed a wait time of six hours for a booster jab, The Independent was told, with queues snaking around the building.

The hospital trust warned the public of a “high demand” for walk-in appointments causing extended waiting times.

Operations manager Ria Burke, 25, who had been waiting in the queue for 20 minutes, said: “It’s the first day my age group is allowed to get jabbed and I live locally.

“I’d like to not endanger my family at Christmas. This is my third jab. I watched the prime minister’s announcement last night and it was a good sign post but I think like a lot of other people I was just waiting for the portal to open.”

At Essentials Pharmacy in Covent Garden, Grace Whiley, 26, had been waiting in the queue for an hour and a half. She said: “It was a last-minute decision, I work round the corner and my age group can’t book til Wednesday. I just want to get it done. I’m pregnant so I want to be as protected as possible.”

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Source: The Independent, 13 December 2021

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Surgery 'may have played role in woman's death'

An inquest into whether a pioneering surgery technique played any role in a Gloucestershire woman's death has opened.

Jacqui Kingston, from Marshfield, died on 16 March 2020 after having mesh fitted for a prolapsed bowel at Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

On Monday an inquest opened at Avon Coroner's Court examining whether the surgery performed by colorectal surgeon Tony Dixon contributed to her death. It is due to run until Thursday.

Pathologist Edward Sheffield told the hearing that the use of the mesh for a prolapsed bowel - which was fitted in 2016 - may have contributed to her death.

The inquest heard that Mrs Kingston was a fragile patient with many underlying health conditions who developed complications.

Mr Dixon was dismissed by the North Bristol NHS Trust in 2019 after dozens of his patients were told they should have been offered alternative treatment first.

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Source: BBC News, 13 December 2021

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COVID-19: Build on success of vaccination programme in reaching ethnic minority groups, report recommends

Lessons learnt in relation to increasing uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine among ethnic minority groups should now be applied to the booster programme, a government progress report recommends.

This includes continuing to use respected local voices to build trust and to help tackle misinformation, the report from the government’s Race Disparity Unit says. Such approaches should also be carried over to the winter flu and childhood immunisation programmes and be applied to the work to tackle longer standing health disparities.

In June 2020 the minister for equalities was asked to look at why COVID-19 was having a disproportionate impact on ethnic minority groups and to consider how the government response to this could be improved. This latest report is the final one of four.

Taken together the reports identified that the main factors behind the higher risk of COVIDd-19 infection for ethnic minority groups include occupation, living in multigenerational households, and living in densely populated urban areas with poor air quality and high levels of deprivations.

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Source: BMJ, 3 December 2021

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Doctor with Long Covid found to have multiple blood clots in his brain

A doctor who became very unwell with COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic was later found to have multiple blood clots in his brain which could easily have killed him.

Dr Ian Frayling started suffering with a "bone-cracking" fever, muscle pain and a "cough like no other" in March 2020, weeks before the national lockdown was announced by the UK and Welsh governments.

His condition then took a turn for the worse when he started experiencing problems with his breathing and encountering such extreme brain fog that entire days would pass him by.

The 62-year-old said his "frightening" range of symptoms, which also included irritable bowel syndrome, disruptive sleep and difficulty with coordination, persisted for many months and left him a fatigued shell of his former self.

After sharing his story with WalesOnline 12 months ago, Dr Frayling was invited to meet the Senedd's health committee in March 2021 to give evidence of his battle with Long Covid. It led to a respiratory consultant reaching out to him and offering him a full clinical assessment at the University Hospital Llandough.

Not only did she find problems with his heart and blood pressure, which were to be expected, but a referral for CT scans in May 2021 revealed that he was living with several blood clots in his brain which were very likely to be attributed to the after-effects of coronavirus. It meant suffering a catastrophic stroke was highly likely.

After being given the deeply distressing news, Dr Frayling said his mind began turning to other people with Long Covid who may be experiencing similar neurological symptoms but are waiting many months to be referred to see a specialist doctor by their GP.

"The consultant used her clinical skills and expertise [to properly assess me and give me a CT scan]. I'm one of the lucky ones. A GP can't directly send people off for these kind of tests, so there could be thousands of people with Long Covid, just like me, who aren't getting the help they need and are just being fobbed off."

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Source: Wales Online, 28 November 2021

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Mothers and babies at risk as vital health services in England stay shut

Mothers and babies are being put at risk as vital health checks and support services remain shut months after lockdown was lifted, health professionals and charities have warned.

Face-to-face services for new families stopped when lockdown began in March last year and have not come back in many parts of the country. Now experts fear the spread of the Omicron variant and the reintroduction of some restrictions means the reopening will be delayed further.

Missing services include drop-in baby-weighing clinics, tongue-tie clinics, face-to-face breastfeeding support and council-run baby classes and playgroups.

Experts have accused the government of failing to prioritise the needs of a generation of babies and their parents, with cost-cutting and a shortage of midwives and health visitors blamed for the closures.

Health visitor drop-in clinics are “no longer running” in nearly a third of areas, and around 28% of newborn checks are being carried out via phone or video call, according to the No One Wants to See My Baby report by charities the Parent-Infant Foundation, Home-Start UK and Best Beginnings.

The Institute of Health Visiting said different interpretations of government guidance meant some areas had brought back full services while others had not, creating a “postcode lottery of support for families”.

It questioned official advice that routine checks could continue to be done via video and telephone calls, warning there was no evidence these were “safe or effective”.

Executive director Alison Morton said: “Alongside the concerns of parents, there is a growing body of evidence that childhood conditions and disabilities are being missed, and vulnerable babies and young children are being harmed, as they are invisible to services when these assessments are not completed face to face.”

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Source: The Guardian, 12 December 2021

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Blood supplies could soon become ‘critical,’ NHS warns

NHS stocks of blood may become “critical” this winter, a regulator has warned, as Covid and higher than average winter rates of cold and flu risk donation levels.

The NHS Blood and Transplant authority declared a major incident at the end of October after its supply of blood supplies dropped to critical levels, nationally.

The regulator’s supply was at risk of dropping to below two days’ supply across the country, when it aims to have at least five days at all times.

This is the second time the regulator, which is responsible for blood donation supplies to the NHS, has declared a critical incident in the last 12 months.

The last time the regulator declared an incident over low stocks was due to bad weather and snow in 2018 during the “beast from the east” storm and in Cornwall in 2019, which resulted in decreased donation levels.

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Source: The Independent, 12 December 2021

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Hospital trust must 'immediately improve' services

A hospital trust has been told to "immediately improve" its maternity and surgical services.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) made unannounced inspections in September and October at four of the hospitals run by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.

Inspectors raised concerns about staff shortages, skills training and risk management.

At the trust's four maternity services, inspectors found departments "did not have enough staff to keep women and babies safe" and staff were "not up to date" with training.

Infection prevention measures in surgical services at the Royal Sussex County Hospital were "not consistently applied" and managers were not running services well, inspectors noted.

The report also said morale was low and often staff "did not have time to report incidents".

The trust said it has taken "urgent action" to make improvements.

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Source: BBC News, 10 December 2021

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Long Covid among staff adding to healthcare pressures, say NHS leaders

NHS bosses have warned the high prevalence of long Covid among staff is adding to rising healthcare pressures, amid growing concern that the new omicron variant could further drive infections and absences in the workforce.

Some 40,000 (3.26%) of healthcare workers in the UK are estimated to have long Covid, according to the Office for National Statistics. This figure has risen by 5,000 since July.

Many will be unable to work, though others are continuing to work despite their debilitating symptoms, experts say.

“Trust leaders have told us they are concerned about the prevalence of long Covid amongst health and care staff,” said Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers.

“Staff who are unwell need time to recover with support. But this may worsen unavoidable absences and sickness levels in the NHS at a time when pressures on the health service are mounting.”

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Source: The Independent, 9 December 2021

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Police drop manslaughter investigation into trust

A trust will not face a second prosecution over the death of a baby seven days after a chaotic birth at one of its hospitals, unless new evidence emerges.

Kent police had been looking into incidents at the maternity services department of East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust. These incidents include the death of Harry Richford, who was born at Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Hospital in November 2017. A coroner found a string of failures in his care amounted to neglect.

The trust pleaded guilty to failing to meet fundamental standards of care and was fined £733,000 in a case brought by the Care Quality Commission earlier this year.

But detective chief superintendent Paul Fotheringham, head of major crime at Kent Police, said: “After careful consideration and following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, we took the decision that a criminal investigation would not be undertaken at this time as there is no realistic prospect of conviction against any individual or organisation based on the evidence currently available."

In a statement, Harry’s family said: “We are disappointed that Kent Police, in collaboration with the CPS special crime unit in London, have not been able to take forward a charge of corporate manslaughter for Harry at this time. They have assured us that they will keep an open mind on this matter, and any other appropriate charges as and when new evidence is brought before them.

“We believe that the Kirkup inquiry and investigation may allow them to revisit a raft of charges on behalf of harmed babies in east Kent in due course. Only when senior leaders are properly held to account, will there be lasting change.”

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Source: HSJ, 9 December 2021

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Scathing review slams West Suffolk’s ‘intimidating’ hunt for whistleblower

West Suffolk Foundation Trust’s investigation to find a whistleblower was “intimidating…flawed and not fit for purpose”, according to a damning review which is highly critical of the organisation’s leadership.

The long-awaited review, published today, was triggered by ministers back in January 2020 following allegations that trust directors had ordered staff to give fingerprints and handwriting samples during a “witch hunt” for a whistleblower.

The review, led by Christine Outram, has corroborated many of the allegations.

It concluded trust leaders’ investigation to uncover the identity of the author of an anonymous letter sent to a patient’s family was “intimidating, flawed and not fit for purpose… impractical and unwise.”

It said: “The decision to use fingerprinting and handwriting analysis in an NHS hospital, in the context of an anonymous letter and where no crime has been committed, was highly unusual and without doubt extremely ill-judged.”

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Source: HSJ, 9 December 2021

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How hiring district nurses may reduce pressure in the NHS

Is hiring more district nurses the smartest way to tackle the NHS care crisis as overstretched staff claim they are quitting hospitals due to intolerable pressure?

District nurses are the unsung backbone of the NHS – going in to people’s homes to perform everything from wound dressings to support at the end of life. Yet what was once a thriving district nurse workforce has, over the past decade, been decimated. 

An ever-increasing caseload, limited resources and far more complex and challenging health needs have left them burnt out and fed up. As a result, they’re leaving in droves – at a time when we need them more than ever.

The number of people dying at home is up by one third since before the pandemic, and those who do make it into hospital for care are discharged faster than ever to free up beds, long before they’ve made a full recovery.

Ministers have tabled some ambitious ideas to address the vital need for at-home care, including a wave of new community health hubs, or more video appointments. But none are a quick fix, nor are they proven to solve the problem. Recruiting more district nurses could help alleviate these pressures, say experts, as well as tackling what threatens to be a spiralling crisis in community care. But this might be harder than it sounds.

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Source: Mail Online, 13 November 2021

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NHS staffing ‘crisis’ as nursing vacancies rise by almost 20% in three months

Vacancies for nurses and midwives in Scotland have increased by almost 20% in just three months, new figures show.

Official figures revealed that at the end of September the whole time equivalent (WTE) of 5,761.2 posts were unfilled across the NHS – a rise of 18.9% from the WTE total of 4,845.4 that was recorded at the end of June.

The rise in vacancies comes at the same time as health service staffing reached a record high, with the NHS employing the equivalent of 154,307.8 full-time workers as of September 30 – 5.2% higher than a year ago.

However, opposition leaders warned the health service, which is coming under ongoing pressure as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, is facing a “staffing crisis” this winter.

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman and deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “Across our NHS services are on the brink of collapse, and things will only get worse as the cold weather bites.

“This staffing crisis at the heart of this catastrophe has unfolded entirely on Nicola Sturgeon’s watch and will jeopardise the ability of services to remobilise and cope with demand.

“Looking at the state of services in Scotland, we can all only hope we don’t get sick this winter.”

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Source: The Independent, 8 December 2021

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Mother calls for stillbirth inquest law change

"You hear his heartbeat and the next thing you know, you've got nothing."

A woman whose son was stillborn has said she wants to change the law to enable an inquest to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.

Katie Wood's son Oscar was stillborn on 29 March 2015, but under law in England and Wales, inquests for stillborn babies cannot take place.

A consultation was put out by the UK government in March 2019, but the findings have yet to be published. The UK government said it would set out its response in due course, but this delay was criticised by the House of Commons justice committee in September.

Katie and her family said they have never received satisfactory answers about why Oscar died.

Her pregnancy, while challenging, had not given any serious cause for concern.

An investigation by the Aneurin Bevan health board found a number of failings in Katie's care.

A post-mortem examination suggested a condition known as shoulder dystocia, where the baby's shoulder becomes stuck during birth, may have contributed, but this is rarely fatal.

The health board said it conducted a serious incident investigation into Oscar's death and added: "Whilst we seek to find answers during any investigation, in some cases, a full understanding around the cause of death may not always be achieved and we accept the unavoidable distress this may pose for families."

Clinical negligence and medical law specialist, Mari Rosser, says allowing coroners to look into the reasons for a baby's death is long overdue.

"Currently parents who suffer a still birth can have the circumstances investigated, but the circumstances are investigated by the health board and of course that's less independent," she said.

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Source: BBC News, 9 December 2021

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UK’s renewed Covid fight must not come at cost of cancer patients, say medics

Health experts have expressed fears over the impact tighter Covid restrictions in England could have on cancer patients as alarming new figures reveal that the number taking part in clinical trials plummeted by almost 60% during the pandemic.

Almost 40,000 cancer patients in England were “robbed” of the chance to take part in life-saving trials during the first year of the coronavirus crisis, according to a report by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), which said COVID-19 had compounded longstanding issues of trial funding, regulation and access.

Figures obtained from the National Institute for Health Research by the ICR show that the number of patients recruited on to clinical trials for cancer in England fell to 27,734 in 2020-21, down 59% from an average of 67,057 over the three years previously. The number of patients recruited for trials fell for almost every type of cancer analysed.

Health experts said the relentless impact of Covid on the ability of doctors and scientists to run clinical trials was denying many thousands of cancer patients access to the latest treatment options and delaying the development of cutting-edge drugs.

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Source: The Guardian, 9 December 2021

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Patient harm now ‘a continuing theme’, says cash-strapped trust

Incidents including a cardiac arrest where an ambulance took more than an hour to arrive and the patient died have prompted trust chiefs to suggest they cannot prevent patient harm under their current funding levels.

A report to the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) said patients suffering harm due to delayed ambulance response times “is a continuing theme due to the unprecedented demand the service is currently experiencing”.

The report said the trust is trying to secure additional funding from commissioners, which would “reduce the likelihood of a similar incident for other patients in future”.

NEAS has upheld several recent complaints made by families or patients about the harm being caused by delayed response times, but suggested the levels of demand on the service meant there was nothing it could have done differently.

In one example, a woman in her 50s died from a cardiac arrest shortly after arrival to hospital after NEAS took 62 minutes to respond to a 999 call. NEAS had designated the woman, who had a history of heart attacks, a category two response – which should aim to arrive within 18 minutes on average.

"All ambulance trusts have been seeing significant patient harm and the mainstream press have been strangely silent about this."

"That it has got the stage where patients are routinely dying and being harmed while the resources are available, but tied up waiting outside hospitals, is truly maladministration on a grand scale."

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Source: HSJ, 9 December 2021

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NHS report reveals decade of failings in care of vulnerable man

A vulnerable man detained for 10 years was failed by a system meant to care for him, an independent NHS investigation has found.

Clive Treacey, a man who lived his life in the care of NHS and social care authorities, experienced an “unacceptably poor quality of life”, and was not kept safe from harm before his death at just 47.

The findings of the independent review, The Independent and Sky News can reveal, have concluded Mr Treacey’s death was “potentially avoidable” and comes after years of his family “fought” for answers.

His family are now pursuing a second inquest into his death after the review found a pathologist report and post-mortem used by coroners did not follow guidelines, along with new CCTV footage from the night he died.

NHS England commissioned the review, under the Learning Disability Mortality Review Programme, in January 2020 – three years after Mr Treacey’s death and after his family was initially denied a review.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Mr Treacey’s sister, Elaine Clark said: “We have fought on because Clive deserved nothing less. He spent his entire life being incarcerated and so did we, his entire family. He didn’t matter. His voice didn’t matter. His human rights didn’t matter. His life choices didn’t matter. The system and its people believed he did not matter and nobody in it had enough ambition to do anything differently."

“Well Clive did matter. It matters what happened to him. It matters that it’s still happening to other people. And it matters that nothing seems to be changing we are one family but there are many others like us.”

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Source: The Independent, 9 December 2021

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Most adolescents dying by suicide or harming themselves known to health services

Around 80% of adolescents who died by suicide or who had self-harmed had consulted with their GP or a practice nurse in the preceding year, shows new research.

The large study of 10 to 19-year-olds between 2003 and 2018, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, also puts forward a series of proposals to deal with the problem.

The study, funded by the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (NIHR GM PSTRC), a partnership between The University of Manchester and The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA).

It showed that 85% who later took their own lives consulted with their GP or a practice nurse at least once in the preceding year; the equivalent figure was 75% for those youngsters who harmed themselves non-fatally.

Lower than expected rates of diagnosis of psychiatric illness, around a third in both groups, were probably down to a lack of contact with mental health services, rather than an absence of psychiatric illness, argue the research team. Depression was by far the commonest of the examined conditions among both groups, accounting for over 54% of all recorded diagnoses.

Also, while suicide was more common in boys, non-fatal self-harm was more common in girls. Two-thirds of adolescents who died by suicide had a history of non-fatal self-harm.

And while self-harm risk rose incrementally with increasing levels of deprivation, suicide risk did not.

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Source: The University of Manchester, 7 December 2021

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Doctors and nurses vent anger as unvaccinated Covid cases delay vital operations

The NHS has a backlog of 5.8 million waiting for surgery and specialists are increasingly frustrated at how the unvaccinated have left them unable to tackle it.

Doctors and nurses have told of their anger and frustration at not being able to treat seriously ill patients as new figures show that more than 90% of Covid sufferers requiring the most specialist care are unvaccinated.

While the success of the vaccination rollout has reduced the overall impact of COVID-19 on hospitals, intensive care clinicians from across England have spoken out over the continuing pressure they are under.

Between 20% and 30% of critical care beds in England are occupied by Covid patients and three-quarters of those have not been vaccinated, according to the latest data up to July this year.

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Source: The Times, 4 December 2021

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USA: Safety alert issued over age-related COVID-19 vaccine mix-ups

Three pharmacy and medication safety organisations are warning clinicians about a reported increase in age-related COVID-19 vaccine mix-ups.

The Institute for Safe Medication Practice's National Vaccine Errors Reporting Program said it's seen a "steady stream" of mix-ups involving the Pfizer vaccine intended for kids ages 5-11 and formulations for people 12 and older. ISMP said the reports involved hundreds of children and included young children receiving formulations meant for those 12 and up or vice versa.

The safety organisation said some errors were linked to vial or syringe mix-ups. In other situations, healthcare providers gave young children a smaller or diluted dose of the formulation meant for people 12 and up.

"Vaccine vials formulated for individuals 12 and up (purple cap) should never be used to prepare doses for the younger age group," the organisation said.

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Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 7 December 2021

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Covid PCR test market a ‘rip-off jungle’, says ex-chair of competition regulator

The former chairman of the UK competition regulator has condemned the market for PCR tests for travellers, describing it as a “rip-off jungle”.

After the reimposition of the requirement to take the tests on return from abroad, Lord Tyrie accused the government of once again allowing the companies offering PCR tests to manipulate the system by making them available at unrealistic prices.

“For this policy to get into a mess once might be seen as a misfortune but for it to resurface again after all the warnings over the summer would have to be described as carelessness,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “It was a scandal waiting to happen and it’s now happened and it needs very urgent action.”

Last week, the Guardian revealed that a slew of the cheapest deals on PCR tests had been removed from the government website amid concerns travellers were being misled by companies advertising the coronavirus testing service for less than a £1.

Private companies offering day two tests for travellers are listed on a government website for consumers to search. However, most of the deals were found to not be suitable for most travellers as they were often offered in only one location, on limited dates and only available to those who could attend in person.

“It appears that some of the worst practices – misleading online advertisements, overpricing, unacceptably poor service among them – are still widespread,” said Tyrie, the former head of the Competition and Markets Authority, and the ex-chair of the Treasury select committee.

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Source: The Guardian, 8 December 2021

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Mental health access frustration for deaf people

Deaf people are twice as likely to suffer mental health problems than those with hearing, a report has found.

The All Wales Deaf Mental Health and Wellbeing Group said help in Wales was behind the rest of the UK and it wants to see significant improvements.

It also described the inequalities faced by deaf people trying to access mental health support as "really frustrating".

The Welsh government said it would consider the findings of the report.

Ffion Griffiths, 23, from Neath, has been deaf since birth, and accessing child and adolescent mental health services in Wales has been a problem over the years. She had to travel to England to get the support she needed.

"It's really frustrating because deaf people in England have more opportunities," she said. It means they can be treated and get better quicker but for us, how can we do that?"

"How can we expect to recover if we don't have access to the services or any pathways for us to follow to get the treatment that we need in Wales?"

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Source: BBC News, 8 December 2021

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Britain’s drinking deaths rose at record rate in pandemic

Britain’s lockdown drinking habits may have had fatal consequences. Deaths caused by alcohol in 2020 increased by almost 19%, marking the biggest rise since records began, according to the Office for National Statistics.

There were 8,974 deaths from alcohol specific causes registered in the 12 month period, up from 7,565 deaths in 2019 – the highest year-on-year increase since the data series began in 2001. It bucks a trend in which fatalities from alcohol remained stable for the previous seven years.

In England, the number of people drinking more than 14 units a week increased after the first national lockdown, according to surveys by Public Health England (PHE), and has remained at similar levels since. As pubs shut, drinking at home soared, with off-licence sales of beer rising 31% and spirits 26% compared with 2019.

Dr James Tucker, the head of health analysis, said: “There will be many complex factors behind the elevated risk since spring 2020."

“For instance, Public Health England analysis has shown consumption patterns have changed since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which could have led to hospital admissions and ultimately deaths. We’ve seen increases in loneliness, depression and anxiety during the pandemic and these could also be factors. However, it will be some time before we fully understand the impact of all of these.”

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Source: The Guardian, 7 December 2021

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