Knowledge @lert for Tuesday 15th December
Weekly publication of Covid-19 admissions and bed occupancy data (to 10th December) – NHS England
This file contains Covid data on measures of hospital admissions and the number of beds occupied by Covid patients and the number of MV beds (beds capable of supporting mechanical ventilation) occupied by Covid patients. The file provides trust level information from 1st August up to the latest week. This trust data is consistent with the daily release of admissions data, which is at regional and national level.
A guide to promoting health care workforce well-being during and after the Covid-19 pandemic – Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
This guide provides ideas and lessons learned to improve the wellbeing of the health care workforce, including actions that individuals, leaders, and organisations can take to support the health care workforce during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. It aims to support health care leaders at all levels with actionable tools for combatting health care workforce burnout, fatigue, and emotional distress.
Reforming the finances of the NHS – The King’s Fund
A new financial architecture for the NHS requires coherence and balance, and a recognition that any national financial strategy will be heavily mediated by the quality of local relationships. Our new long read discusses how lessons from the recent history of NHS finances can help the system plan for the future.
The government’s approach to test and trace in England: interim report – National Audit Office (NAO)
This is the first of two reports which will form part of review of test and trace during the Covid-19 pandemic. This interim report provides an overview of test and trace services for addressing COVID-19 in England, including how the government’s approach has developed, and how it managed performance and capacity in the period from May to October 2020. It finds that that overall NHS test and trace had achieved a rapid scale-up in activity in respect of both testing and tracing, and had built much new infrastructure and capacity from scratch. However, issues with implementation and potentially the initial choice of delivery model mean that it is not yet achieving all its objectives.
The Department of Health and Social Care mandate to Health Education England: April 2020 to March – Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
The government’s mandate to Health Education England is a requirement of the Care Act 2014. The mandate sets out the strategic objectives of the government in the following areas, for which HEE has responsibility: workforce planning, education and training.
Transparency data: DHSC: gender pay gap report and data 2020 – Department of Health and Social Care
Data from the Department of Health and Social Care on the difference in employees’ average earnings from April 2019 to March 2020.
Lessons learned in staff engagement during COVID-19 – NHS Employers
In this case study, we explore how Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has modified its local tools to gain feedback from staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Guidance: Testing for coronavirus before hospital – Department of Health and Social Care
Sets out how and when to get tested for COVID-19 before a hospital procedure.
National guidance for the management of children with bronchiolitis and lower respiratory tract infections during COVID-19, RCPCH (updated 14th December 2020)
These recommendations on the management of children with bronchiolitis and lower respiratory tract infections in hospital settings during COVID-19 are for clinicians to support winter planning in partnership with local infection control prevention teams. Updated 14 December 2020 The table below shows how prevalence has changed between the initial peak.
Statement to Parliament: Sharp rise in coronavirus numbers and a new variant – Department of Health and Social Care
The Health and Social Care Secretary spoke to the House of Commons about the coronavirus situation, vaccinations and new areas to be put into Tier 3.
Recent NICE Guidance
| ReStore Soft Exo-Suit for gait rehabilitation | MIB239 | 15 December 2020 |
| Cytosponge for detecting abnormal cells in the oesophagus | MIB240 | 15 December 2020 |
| Venetoclax with obinutuzumab for untreated chronic lymphocytic leukaemia | TA663 | 09 December 2020 |
| Liraglutide for managing overweight and obesity | TA664 | 09 December 2020 |
| Upadacitinib for treating severe rheumatoid arthritis | TA665 | 09 December 2020 |
| Evoke Spinal Cord Stimulator for managing chronic neuropathic or ischaemic pain | MIB238 | 08 December 2020 |
HSJ Roundup (contact the Hanely Library for the full version of these articles)
Cancer waiting list has almost doubled, leak reveals The waiting list for cancer patients has almost doubled over the last seven months, according to internal NHS data which has never been made public.
NHSE director: government has ‘absolute duty’ to hold public inquiry into handling of covid ‘Scared’ health and care staff who ‘put themselves on the line’ during the covid pandemic are owed a ‘duty’ by government to hold a public inquiry into how it was handled, a senior NHS England director has declared.
Board go-ahead for merger to create UK’s largest trust The merger of two foundation trusts to create the UK’s largest healthcare provider was approved.
Chair of troubled FT to resign after CEO’s sudden departure The chair of a troubled acute trust in Greater Manchester has announced his resignation, a month after its chief executive announced her sudden departure.
Hospital acquired covid infections hit record high The number of covid-19 infections likely to have been acquired in hospital are rising again for the first time in three weeks and their proportion of all cases has reached record levels for the second wave, HSJ can reveal.
36 trusts see covid admissions rise by 20pc plus in a week Thirty-six hospital trusts saw covid-19 admissions grow by more than a fifth last week, of which more than half have at least 10 per cent of beds occupied by covid patients.
10 new hospital vaccine sites revealed Ten more hospitals are to start giving the Pfizer covid vaccine, including two in coronavirus ‘hot spots’.
36 trusts see covid admissions rise by 20pc plus in a week Thirty-six hospital trusts saw covid-19 admissions grow by more than a fifth last week, of which more than half have at least 10 per cent of beds occupied by covid patients.
Chair of troubled FT resigns after CEO’s sudden departure The chair of a troubled acute trust in Greater Manchester has announced his resignation, a month after its chief executive announced her sudden departure.
Trusts should have ‘oversight’ of neighbouring providers, says damning safety review A report into 250 cases of poor maternity care at a scandal hit trust has found ‘a lack of kindness and compassion’ from midwifery staff.