Category: Current Awareness

Covid 19

Current Awareness Updates

Specific COVID-19 messaging targeting ethnic minority communities.
EClinical Medicine, The Lancet; 2021.

(The proportion of ethnic minority groups accepting vaccines remains low. A culturally appropriate COVID-19 information and messaging platform is urgently required (Fig. 1). The messaging should be clear in style and content, conveying simple, easy to understand, visual, consistent, and generic to all communities, ethnic groups, cultures, and faiths. Trust between healthcare staff and communities is essential for the success of any COVID-19 intervention.)

Mental health policy in England.
House of Commons Library; 2021.

(This briefing examines the Coronavirus Act 2020 and the potential impact on human rights. It also looks at the impact of the pandemic on population mental health, including for specific groups such as BAME communities. It briefly sets out resources to support population mental health and wellbeing during the pandemic, including specific mental health support for the health and social care workforce.)

COVID-19 vaccination: accelerating second doses for priority cohorts 1-9
NHS England & NHS Improvement; 2021.

(Letter from Emily Lawson (SRO Vaccine Deployment, NHS England and NHS Improvement), Dr Nikki Kanani (Medical Director for Primary Care) and Eleanor Kelly (LA CEO advisor). In response to advice from the independent JCVI, the Government sets out further action aimed at tackling rising cases of the COVID-19 B1.617.2 variant.)

Communicating with patients about COVID-19 vaccination: evidence-based guidance for effective conversations to promote COVID-19 vaccine uptake (2021).
World Health Organization (WHO); 2021.

(This training module is designed to equip health workers (HWs) with knowledge, skills, confidence and resources to help them in their role to recommend the COVID-19 vaccine. It is tailored to specific patient positions on vaccination and provides a structured approach to assist HWs with interpersonal communication during COVID-19 vaccination consultations.)

Pandemic Pressures: How Greater Manchester equalities organisations have responded to the needs of older people during the Covid-19 crisis.
Ambition for Ageing; 2021.

(This report highlights a number of recommendations for service commissioners, funders and contractors to contribute to future emergency planning and responses. It recognises the expertise of equalities organisations in understanding and meeting the needs of the communities they represent, and to involve them in coproducing emergency planning and responses.)

Characteristics and predictors of acute and chronic post-COVID syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
EClinical Medicine, The Lancet; 2021.

(A significant proportion of individuals experience lingering and debilitating symptoms following acute COVID-19 infection. NICE have coined the persistent cluster of symptoms as post-COVID syndrome. The aim of this review was to detail the prevalence of clinical features and identify potential predictors for acute and chronic post-COVID syndrome.)

Resource of the Month

Royal Marsden Manual Online

The Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures has been the definitive, market-leading guide to clinical nursing skills for over three decades. This indispensable guide sets the gold standard for nursing care, providing the procedures, rationale, and guidance required by qualified nurses to deliver clinically effective, patient-focused care with expertise and confidence.

The Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures:

  • Provides content written by nurses for nurses
  • Empowers nurses to become informed, skilled practitioners
  • Reflects current procedures and changes in modern adult nursing practice
  • Includes procedures supported by up-to-date evidence with detailed rationales for each step of each procedure
  • Considers the clinical governance around procedures and nursing practice
  • Integrates NMC 2018 ‘Future Nurse: Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses’ guidance
  • Contains new content on ‘Self Care and Wellbeing,’ helping nurses to care for themselves emotionally and physically

Access the manual here and log in using your OpenAthens login details. For help with this please email the library team academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk

Please feel free to download our resource of the month poster and share with your team or within your department.

Public Health

Current Awareness Updates

Care homes: visiting restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic House of Commons; 2021

(This report calls on the government to make the existing requirements for individualised assessment for visits mandatory by laying its draft regulations, as soon as possible. Government guidance now makes clear that care home providers should not impose blanket bans on visiting but should instead conduct individualised risk assessments for each resident. However, without statutory force, there is no legal recourse for residents to require their providers to implement the guidance.)

Racism and discrimination: the experience of primary care professionals in the Humberside region Humberside LMC: April 2021

(This report highlights discrimination faced by staff and patients from ethnic minority backgrounds in general practice. It finds that respondents reported experiences of discrimination in a wide range of areas such as training, working patterns and complaints, and it calls for a zero-tolerance approach to tackle racism in all its forms. )

Pandemic patient experience II: from lockdown to vaccine roll-out The Patient’s Association; April 2021

(In 2020, patients told the Patients Association about their experiences of living with health and care needs during the Covid-19 pandemic. Their testimony painted a bleak picture in many ways. This follow-up survey (drawing on 453 responses, submitted over February, March and early April 2021) finds that many aspects of their experiences are not much better, and some are worse. Accessing general practice services remains difficult for many, and patients overall do not regard remote consultations as an adequate replacement for in-person appointments.)

Outpatient appointments intended but not booked after inpatient stays Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB); April 2021

(This investigation explores the patient safety risk of outpatient appointments that are intended but not booked following an inpatient stay. It also considers opportunities for building resilience into the process to ensure timely appointments. It concludes with two safety recommendations that are aimed at reducing the chance that patients will be lost after an inpatient stay and supporting the staff within trusts who are responsible for arranging appointments and tracking patients.)

Unemployment and mental health The Health Foundation; April 2021

(This analysis estimates that an increase of 900,000 people in unemployment expected by the end of the year, compared with before the pandemic, will lead to 200,000 more people with poor mental health in the UK. It acknowledges that while government action to reduce a rise in unemployment by extending the furlough scheme to September will support mental health, it suggests that the benefits system and employment support programmes currently fail to properly account for the mental health needs of those who are unemployed. It concludes that there is now an opportunity to ensure that efforts to tackle unemployment in the pandemic recovery are designed to better support mental health.)

Skin cancer awareness month toolkit Skin Cancer Foundation; May 2021

(A social media toolkit giving you downloadable skin cancer images and resources to help you share the facts during Skin Cancer Awareness Month)

Library Bulletin

Digital Mental Health

The latest edition of the Digital Mental Health bulletin, produced by Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust, is now available to view and download.

Digital-Mental-Health-bulletin-May-2021Download

Please contact the library: academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk for any support accessing of the articles.