Category: NHS

Public Health

Current Awareness

Bringing baby home: UK fathers in the first year after the birth Father Institute, June 2022

(This review of empirical evidence about UK fathers and fatherhood in the first postnatal year, explores who fathersare; what they do as caregivers, and what influences this; what impact they have (on children and mothers); and how services engage with them. The review finds that NHS systems are not set up to engage with, assess and support new fathers, despite clear evidence that there is a strong case for routine engagement with them in the perinatal period.)

Public attitudes towards institutions involved in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic King’s College London

(According to this international study of six countries three in four (74 per cent) people in the UK think the government is motivated by building or protecting its own reputation when it comes to Covid-19, while six in ten (61 per cent) believe it is motivated by making lots of money in relation to the pandemic. However, majorities in other nations share the same perceptions. These perceptions also extend, although to a lesser extent, to scientists involved in tackling coronavirus.)

Investigating factors associated with loneliness in adults in England National Centre for Social Research (NatCen)

(The DCMS commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to explore factors associated with loneliness in adults in England. The research investigated: the characteristics of those at risk of loneliness; whether the risk factors for loneliness have changed over time; whether any factors predict the alleviation of loneliness over the short term; and the relationship between loneliness and mental wellbeing.)

Make Every Contact Count (MECC) for Menopause training session The Royal Society for Public Health

(MECC for Menopause is aimed at front line health, social, wellbeing, care staff and volunteers, who have direct contact with women accessing services. It aims to raise awareness within the workplace as women often find it difficult to discuss menopause related health problems. This session is delivered by Health Education England and Royal Society for Public Health on Wednesday 13th July 2022.)

Royal College of Psychiatrist

Eliminating inappropriate out of area placements in mental health

Source: Royal College of Psychiatrist

The government’s deadline to eliminate inappropriate out of area placements for adult acute patients by the end of March 2021 has now been missed by a full year. Sometimes hundreds of miles away from home, patients are unable to access their usual support networks while at their most vulnerable, often finding their care seriously disrupted, with long-term implications for their recovery. The NHS spent £102 million on inappropriate out of area placements in the 12 months up to and including March 2022 – the equivalent to the cost of the annual salary of more than 900 consultant psychiatrists. This briefing sets out the urgent action the NHS should take to ensure all patients get the care they need from properly staffed, specialist services in their local area.  

Data saves lives

Reshaping health and social care with data

Source: The King’s Fund

This strategy sets out the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s vision for how data will be used to improve the health and care of the population in a safe, trusted and transparent way. It provides an overarching narrative and action plan to address the current cultural, behavioural and structural barriers in the system, with the ultimate goal of having a health and care system that is underpinned by high-quality and readily available data. The strategy also marks the next steps of the discussion about how we can best utilise data for the benefit of patients, service users, and the health and care system.

Nursing under unsustainable pressures

Staffing for safe and effective care in the UK

Source: The King’s Fund

In March 2022, the RCN invited nursing and midwifery staff from across the UK to give their experiences of the last time they were at work. There were 20,325 responses to the survey. Eight in ten (83 per cent) said there weren’t enough nursing staff to meet all patient needs safely and effectively on their last shift. Just a quarter (25 per cent) of shifts had the planned number of registered nurses. Less than one in five (18 per cent) said they had enough time to provide the level of care they’d like. Read the report here.

How does the NHS work and how is it changing?

The King’s Fund Animation

Watch The King’s Fund new animation to discover the key organisations that make up the NHS and how they can collaborate with partners in the health and care system to deliver joined-up care.

Watch here: How does the NHS in England work and how is it changing? | The King’s Fund (kingsfund.org.uk)

Beds in the NHS

Royal College of Emergency Medicine Acute Insight Series

This report shows that an additional 13,000 staffed beds are required in the NHS across the UK to drive meaningful change and improvement. Meaningful change and improvement would constitute a significant improvement in A&E waiting times, ambulance response times, ambulance handover delays, and a return to safe bed occupancy levels.

Public Health

Current Awareness Bulletin

Systemic racism, not broken bodies: an inquiry into racial injustice and human rights in UK maternity care Birthrights, May 2022

(This year-long inquiry heard testimony from women, birthing people, health care professionals and lawyers outlining how systemic racism within maternity care – from individual interactions and workforce culture through to curriculums and policies – can have a deep and devastating impact on basic rights in childbirth. The report sets out five actions maternity services should take to drive forward concrete change. Please note that free registration is required to read this report)

Support at the end of life: the role of hospice services across the UK Eilís Keeble, Sarah Scobie and Rachel Hutchings, May 2022

(Covid-19 created huge disruption to end of life care services, with many thousands more people dying at home than previously. Hospices play a vital role supporting people and their families at the end of life, but little is known about how these services are being delivered and the issues they are grappling with. This analysis, based on a survey carried out by Hospice UK, provides a picture of a sector undergoing rapid change in the face of fast-changing circumstances.)

Drug misuse prevention review Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), May 18 2022

(The ACMD was commissioned in December 2021 to provide advice on preventing drug use among vulnerable groups of people, and how those groups can be prevented both from first using and from developing dependence on drugs. This report explores the factors that contribute to vulnerability, then examines general principles and specific approaches to prevention that are supported by the available evidence. It also considers the need for the delivery of interventions to be embedded properly in the wider system and context if their potential is to be achieved.)

Recruiting young people from care into NHS careers NHS Employers, May 19 2022

(The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA) Looked After Children re-employment programme supports young people with a background in care and unaccompanied asylum seeker children, providing opportunities in NHS roles such as health care support, administration and ancillary. It was developed in partnership with NHS England and NHS Improvement, Next Step and The Prince’s Trust.)

Medical emergencies in eating disorders

Guidance on recognition and management

Source: The King’s Fund

This report finds that signs that someone with an eating disorder is dangerously ill are often missed by health care professionals due to lack of guidance and training. The research finds that hospital admissions for eating disorders have increased by 84 per cent in the past five years, reaching a total of 24,268 admissions. Children and young people with eating disorders are the worst affected, with a rise of 90 per cent in the five-year period. This guidance is aimed at frontline staff so that people with eating disorders needing urgent care can be identified and treated earlier.

Digital Health

Supporting patients

Source: The King’s Fund

Putting patients first: championing good practice in combatting digital health inequalities

This report focuses on digital health inequalities and the impact that digital exclusion is having on health in the UK. It highlights different reasons for disparities in a person’s ability to access and use digital health technology and provides insights into the severity of the UK’s digital inequalities. It looks at four case studies demonstrating unique ways to combat digital health inequalities and improve access, and use of digital health technology for patients.

Patient engagement with digital health care: lessons from the Care City test bed

Health apps and digital tools have the potential to help alleviate some of the huge pressures the NHS faces from Covid-19, the backlog of care and rising demand. But introducing these tools into health care and supporting people to use them is never a quick fix, and they will not work for everyone. This summary provides a set of lessons for ensuring digital health innovations are applied in optimal ways for the people using them. The findings are based on a large-scale evaluation of digital technologies being implemented in health and social care in east London.

Lunch and Learn

Recovery college and wellbeing

Thank you to everyone who attended our May lunch and learn session with Suzie Smith who talked us through what goes on in the recovery college. She discussed the importance of working with NHS volunteers and how people can get involved with the college. There are a wide range of courses held for free by the college focusing on both mental health aspects and life skills (how to cope financially with the rising costs of living). If you or anyone you know may be interested then make sure you get in touch with Suzie or the Recovery College. They are open Monday to Friday 9-4:30 and are based at Minerva in Deepdale.

If you would like to catch up on the session, please feel free to watch our recording here:

Library-Lunch-and-Learn-May-2022-20220518_120334-Meeting-Recording-1Download

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