New data looking at the pandemic from the past 12 months has found children are at extremely low risk of becoming very ill or dying from Covid-19.
Those who were living with disabilities or chronic illness were also found to have a very low risk, despite being considered at most risk.
Scientists from four different universities (UCL, York, Bristol and Liverpool) have said their studies on children are the most comprehensive yet, finding hospital stays a rarity.
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Source: BBC News, 08 July 2021
On 6th July the government published a new Health and Care bill detailing new proposals and a package of reforms to the UK health and care system.
However, the bill does not make ministers accountable for NHS workforce planning.
The Royal College of Nursing has long campaigned for ministers to be legally accountable. RCN Acting General Secretary & Chief Executive Pat Cullen has said "“Ducking the question of workforce accountability will also make it even harder for the government to deliver on the pledge of 50,000 more nurses – vital for the delivery of safe care to patients.”
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Source: Royal College of Nursing, 06 July 2021
New data has revealed patients waiting for more than two years for elective surgery has grown by nearly half in one month, HSJ reports.
Calls from The Independent Healthcare Providers Network has asked the government to set out a plan on how patients can access care, detailing how 20,000 fewer appointments went ahead in May 2021. However, NHSE have said despite there being fewer appointments, productivity has increased since restrictions were eased.
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Source: HSJ, 09 July 2021
999 calls soar as patients experience record waiting times in the back of ambulances.
The Independent has seen a leaked brief from the West Midlands Ambulance Service and has found patients have been waiting for hours outside hospitals, meaning ambulances could not respond to any emergency 999 calls.
Ambulance staff have also faced hours of delays resulting in at least four hours or more at the end of their 12 hour shift.
The briefing in June said "“This current situation is unacceptable and leads to fatigue, poor morale, has impacts on patient safety and potentially non-compliance with the Working Time Directive.”
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Source: The Independent, 9 July 2021
Newly released documents have revealed Sage modelling from two weeks ago has underestimated hospital admissions by more than a third.
Estimations were made by government modelling, predicting there would be about 275 daily hospital cases in England by 6 July, however, on 7 July figures have shown it was around 461.
Dr Stephen Griffin, from the University of Leeds has said "“While we can’t say for sure that hospitalisations might follow this precise trajectory, it seems likely that they will track the exponential growth in cases we are seeing. Thus, as many are predicting, the dropping of restrictions on July 19 represents an unacceptable and unnecessary risk,”.
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Source: The Times, 10 July 2021
A frontline respiratory consultant has said, “Healthcare professionals are deeply anxious about the impact of relaxing restrictions further given the current surge in Covid cases. To do away with risk-mitigating measures like social distancing and wearing of masks is incomprehensible to many of us. I feel anxious and frustrated".
Hospitals in Yorkshire and North of England may also be experiencing a fourth wave. Dr Nick Scriven has told The Guardian, “Us up north are experiencing a fourth wave in community cases, with an uptick in hospital cases. Although numbers are not massive it’s both frightening and upsetting for staff as ICU cases are rising with unvaccinated people, either as they are young or by choice or both. There is to me a growing feeling that vaccination makes this almost preventable.”
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Source. The Guardian, 9 July 2021
A pattern in rouge antibodies has been found by Imperial College London scientists which may lead to a blood test for the condition within 6 to 18 months.
Leading the team at Imperial College London, Professor Danny Altmann has said the 'work will lead to a test which could be done in a doctor's surgery'. However, he is concerned with the lifting of lockdown restrictions on 19th July.
Long Covid is not yet fully understood with no current diagnostic test yet available for the illness. However, a range of symptoms have been listed which include fatigue, breathlessness, muscle pain and headaches.
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Source: BBC News, 12 July 2021
A year on from the vaginal mesh scandal and ministers have failed to take action. The new health secretary Sajid Javid has been called on to intervene by families, lawyers and campaigners and has been asked to implement recommendations made by the Cumberlege Inquiry.
Emma Hardy, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Surgical Mesh Implants has said “Women deserve better than the government’s refusal to implement the Baroness Cumberlege recommendations. The recommendations will not only make life better for those living with mesh complications, but they will also improve patient safety for everyone in the future.”
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Source: The Independent, 08 July 2021
The Care Quality Commission has downgraded another maternity unit over 'blame culture' and concerns over safety.
After an inspection was carried out, Salisbury Foundation Trust , which was downgraded from 'good' to 'inadequate' has been told it must make improvements after concerns were raised about safety and leadership of the maternity unit.
Head of hospital inspection at the Care Quality Commission, Amanda Williams has said: “Following our recent inspection of Salisbury District Hospital’s maternity services, we found that women and babies using the service received effective care and treatment which met their needs most of the time. But most of the time is not good enough.
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Source: The Independent, 10 July 2021
NHS staff have faced abuse by members of the public after demanding their second dose of the jab earlier than 8 weeks so they can go on holiday.
A doctors has said covid-19 vaccinators are experiencing aggression and threats from people and after one incident, police had to be called over fears for safety.
Chair of the Royal College of GPs, Professor Martin Marshall has said: “It is understandable that people want to be fully vaccinated as soon as possible. But it is entirely unacceptable for anybody working on the Covid vaccination programme, be it in GP-led sites, mass vaccination centres or hospital centres, to be at the receiving end of verbal abuse and intimidation.
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Source: The Guardian, 10 July 2021
Health secretary Sajid Javid has warned NHS waiting lists will soar amid the incoming third wave of coronavirus.
Thousands of patients are on hold for at least 2 minutes before their 999 calls are answered, The Independent has revealed. Mr Javid has also been told by officials the situation will get worse in the coming weeks.
Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Javid has said "Hearing that figure of 13 million, it has absolutely focused my mind, and it’s going to be one of my top priorities to deal with because we can’t have that."
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Source: The Independent, 11 July 2021
Spire Health Care in Bristol and the Mercy Hospital in Missouri have been awarded contacts by the Scottish government to perform surgical mesh removal for Scottish women, with costs for travel and surgery covered by the hospitals, the BBC reports.
Each procedure has been estimated to cost between £16,000 and £23,000, with contracts to remove the mesh outside of Scotland expected to start later in the summer.
Marian Kenny, 62, from Glasgow has said, "It has given me and lots of other women hope - and that's not something I've had in my life for quite some time."
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Source: BBC News, 12 July 2021
The RCN council has agreed to support the principles behind a petition, started by RCN Professional Nursing Committee member Alison Leary, calling for the title of 'nurse' to be protected and reserved for those who are registered.
Whilst the term 'registered nurse' is protected in law, the term 'nurse' is not, meaning anyone can call themselves a nurse, regardless of whether they have the appropriate qualifications or not. The RCN believes the title should be protected in order to help protect the public and ensure accountability.
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Source: RCN, 12 July 2021
In November last year, Unison and RCN raised concerns with NHS Forth Valley chief executive Cathie Cowan amid bullying claims made by emergency department staff at Forth Valley Royal Hospital.
In light of the reports of bullying, a review was commissioned and leaked details revealed junior doctors were left unsupervised on shifts, nurses and doctors had said they are 'battle-weary', and many senior staff members have resigned their posts.
Karren Morrison, Unison Forth Valley health branch secretary has said: ‘Last year, concerns were being raised by our members who worked in, or who had previously worked in the ED. Staff talked to us about feeling bullied and intimidated, being frightened to speak up, concerns about the delivery of safe patient care, high staff turnover and other issues.’
Read full story (paywalled).
Source: Nursing Standard, 12 July 2021
Researchers at Imperial College London have found a pattern of rouge antibodies that may allow a simple blood test to diagnose Long Covid in the next 6 to 18 months.
Currently, there is no diagnostic test for Long Covid and the condition is not yet fully understood, and with the rise in cases, it is not yet known if the vaccination can protect patients from getting long-term symptoms.
However, leading the research team at Imperial College London, Professor Danny Altmann believes the research could allow for a test to be performed in a GP surgery. And regarding the rising cases, Professor Altmann has said "If we're heading into a phase of 100,000 cases per day, and, we're saying that 10-20% of all infections can result in long Covid, I can see no certainty that we're not brewing those long Covid cases despite having a vaccinated population,"
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Source: BBC News, 12 July 2021
As restrictions are due to lift on the 19th July and the mandatory face masks mandate moving to recommended, Scotland have said they will keep the mandatory rule.
BMA Council Chair, Dr Chaand Nagpaul has called the decision to lift restrictions 'irresponsible and perilous', with Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation saying there was "a real risk that dropping the restrictions including to wear masks, especially in health care settings and to socially distance will lead to a significant COVID-19 surge which will place even more strain on a system struggling to cope".
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Source: Medscape, 13 July 2021
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