Workplace health: long-term sickness absence and capability to work: draft quality standard, NICE
This DRAFT quality standard covers how to help people return to work after long-term sickness, reduction of recurring sickness, and prevention of moving from short-term to long-term sickness absence. Registered stakeholders have until 11th Jan to comment.

Regulatory approval of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19, MHRA
Information about the COVID-19 vaccine, approved by MHRA on 2 December 2020. The Information for healthcare professionals document is a description of a medicinal product’s properties and the conditions attached to its use. It explains how to use and prescribe a medicine. It is used by healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses and pharmacists.

Understanding long COVID, NHS Confederation 
This briefing provides an overview of what is currently known about long COVID, including the symptoms, incidence among people who have been infected with COVID-19 and how the government and NHS are responding.

New guidance on health and wellbeing conversations for facilitators, NHS Employers 
New guidance to support health and wellbeing conversations has been published by NHS England and NHS Improvement, conversations

Critical care services in the English NHS, The King’s Fund
This article was originally published in April 2020 and was updated in November 2020. This briefing brings together information on critical care services in England to highlight the important role these services play. A second wave of Covid-19 and looming winter pressures mean that NHS staff and services will continue to be tested to their limits over the coming months.

The NHS Explained: How the Health System in England Really Works, The King’s Fund
Get a detailed understanding of the NHS – its inner workings, current and future challenges, and how it all fits together. (free e-learning)

Health and wellbeing interventions in healthcare: a rapid evidence review – Institute for Employment Studies
NHS Employers commissioned the Institute for Employment Studies to investigate the evidence-base of health and wellbeing interventions used in healthcare and their implications for wellbeing outcomes. The findings add to current knowledge about wellbeing interventions that are commonly implemented, if there is any evidence of their efficacy, and what future research still needs to be undertaken in this area.

Estimating the cost of growing the NHS cancer workforce in England by 2029 – Cancer Research UK This study aimed to understand the increase in Health Education England’s future budget, beyond existing trends based on current levels of investment, required to recruit and train more staff to increase the NHS cancer workforce by 45 per cent by 2029 in England. Cancer Research UK commissioned RAND Europe and the University of Cambridge, partners in the Cambridge Centre for Health Services Research, to carry out the research underpinning this report.

Consultant workforce shortages and solutions: now and in the future – British Medical Association
The NHS workforce faces a perfect storm of consultants choosing to retire earlier, a significant proportion approaching retirement age and a growing trend of younger doctors walking away from their career. Covid-19 added significant additional pressure on the workforce with doctors working long hours, in new settings, whilst risking their own lives. Now the NHS is facing a growing backlog of unmet need on top of the existing staffing and resourcing shortages. This report sets out the actions government and employers need to take, now and in the future, to ensure consultants are retained in the NHS.

Assessment of mental health services in acute trusts programme: how are people’s mental health needs met in acute hospitals, and how can this be improved? – Care Quality Commission
This report reviews the findings from over 100 acute hospital inspections. It looks at how well people with mental health needs were cared for across emergency departments, acute medical wards, maternity wards, and children and young people’s services. It also tries to identify where trusts, and the wider system, needs to improve.

Day surgery for children and young people – Royal College of Nursing
This publication highlights the specific needs of children and young people undergoing day surgery, outlining pre- and post-operative aspects of care and preparation, parental involvement and facilitating discharge.

NICE Gudance