Daily publication of Covid-19 admissions and bed occupancy data – 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.

COVID-19 vaccination: information for healthcare practitioners, PHE (updated 11th January 2021).
This document about the vaccination programme is intended for healthcare staff involved in delivering the programme. It includes detailed information on: the background of the programme the vaccines (as they become available) vaccine recommendations and eligibility contraindications and precautions vaccine administration issues. Update in this version (published 11th January 2021) – guidance updated: details on page 4.

Update 11 Jan: Covid hospital patients hit 30,000 as third wave surges in west and north. – HSJ
The number of covid positive patients in English hospitals passed 30,000 on Sunday.

Principles for conducting virtual consultations with children and young people, RCPCH (updated 5th January 2021)
The principles described in this guidance aim to support clinicians who are consulting virtually with patients to provide care in a way that is in the best interests of children and young people, whilst protecting both from the risks associated with virtual consultations.

The UK response to Covid-19: use of scientific advice – House of Commons Science and Technology Committee
This report analyses of the way the government has received, and applied, scientific evidence and advice during the first period of the coronavirus pandemic up to autumn 2020. It considers the nature and function of official scientific advisory structures, the transparency of scientific advice, and the use of data in informing the UK’s Covid-19 response.

New NHS Vaccination Centres Open Their Doors Today – NHS England
The NHS is opening its newest front in the fight against COVID-19 with the activation of the first seven NHS Vaccination Centres to jab people aged 80 and over, along with health and care staff, from today. The seven large-scale sites, capable of delivering thousands of the life-saving jabs each week, will be followed by dozens more.

Are we doing enough to support experienced internationally educated nurses (IENs) to transition successfully into work in the UK NHS? – Evidence-Based Nursing blog
The NHS is facing a staffing crisis amongst all clinical healthcare professionals; with estimated registered nurse vacancies in excess of 41,000. To help fill these vacant posts, many healthcare organisations are recruiting internationally educated nurses (IENs). An estimated 5,000 are IENs needed to improve staffing levels and provide a quality service and the number of IENs (including midwives) joining the NMC register currently stands at 2,824, and therefore falls short of this figure.  The uncertainty created by Brexit is one factor that has affected the number of IENs registering with or leaving the NMC, with a decrease in the number of registrants from within the European Economic Area (EEA) from previous years.  However, numbers of registrants from outside of the EEA has increased by 5.55% since 2018. The Covid-19 pandemic may also result in a reduction of available nurses due to depletion in the donor country’s workforce and economic damage caused by the pandemic and the imposed travel restrictions may result in migration being a less desirable option.