Public Health

Current awareness updates

Prostate cancer.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE); 2021.
[This quality standard covers managing prostate cancer in people referred to secondary care or having follow-up for prostate cancer in primary care. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement. In December 2021, changes were made to align this quality standard with the updated NICE guideline on prostate cancer.]

Combined adult and paediatric respiratory clinical assessment service (RCAS) hubs for acute respiratory infection.
NHS England and NHS Improvement; 2021.
[This document supports systems to plan for a likely rise in respiratory infections (for example, Covid-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and other infections) this winter.]

Our Vision for the Women’s Health Strategy for England.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2021.
[Analysis of call for evidence consultation response has informed development of this document, which is published alongside the consultation response. This document sets out the government’s vision and the publication of the strategy will follow in 2022.]

Children and young people’s mental health:eighth Report of Session 2021–22.
House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee; 2021.
[This report calls for urgent action to prevent mental health services slipping backwards as a result of additional demand created by the pandemic and the scale of unmet need prior to it. MPs found that despite progress in numbers of young people receiving treatment, it was unacceptable that more than half with a diagnosable condition pre-pandemic do not receive the mental health support they need.]

Public Health

Current awareness updates

Weight management tier 2 interventions and their effectiveness.
Carried out by Frankie Marcelline from Sussex Health on 2/12/2021
[This evidence search report looks for recent evaluations and reports on the effectiveness of weight management tier 2 interventions for families, adults and children. A starting point might be Public Health England’s 2020 summary: Weight management services during COVID-19: phase 1 insights. Another source is Heggie’s: Tackling reporting issues and variation in behavioural weight management interventions.]

Brain tumours (primary) and brain metastases in adults.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE); 2021.
[This quality standard covers diagnosing, monitoring and managing any type of primary brain tumour or brain metastases in adults (aged 16 or over). It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.]

Urinary incontinence in women.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE); 2021.
[This quality standard covers managing urinary incontinence in women (aged 18 and over). It covers assessment, care and treatment options. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.
It does not cover urinary incontinence in women with neurological disease. In December 2021, changes were made to align this quality standard with the new NICE guideline on pelvic floor dysfunction.]

Pelvic floor dysfunction: prevention and non-surgical management.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE); 2021.
[This guideline covers the prevention, assessment and non-surgical management of pelvic floor dysfunction in women aged 12 and over. It aims to raise awareness and help women to reduce their risk of pelvic floor dysfunction. For women who have pelvic floor dysfunction, the guideline recommends interventions based on their specific symptoms]

Management of acute respiratory illness in prisons and places of detention.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[This guidance will assist in the management of outbreaks of acute respiratory illness in prisons and places of detention. The guidance covers risk assessment, testing recommendations, antiviral therapies and when an outbreak can be declared over. An associated flow chart gives information for management depending on whether COVID-19 and/or influenza have been detected.]

BCG vaccination and SCID screening: patient pathway.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[Flowchart showing the Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccination and SCID screening patient pathway (updated 09 December 2021)]

Optimising chronic wound care: a human and financial necessity.
Penfold J. British Journal of Healthcare Management 2021;27(11):269-271.
[Comment highlights the importance of evidence-based practice in wound care to reduce the burden on patients and healthcare services.]

Active Lives Children and Young People Survey: Academic year 2020-21.
Sport England; 2021.
[This report contains a full year of coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions, including comparisons back to summer term 2020, when school sites were closed to most pupils for much of the period. The proportion of children and young people in England who are active remains unchanged compared to 12 months ago. However, inequalities have increased and for some groups of children and young people, in particular teenage girls and Black children are the least likely to be physically active.]

What science has shown can help young people with anxiety and depression.
Wellcome; 2021.
[This report summarises what we’ve learned about the evidence for ‘active ingredients’ of effective interventions for youth anxiety and depression – these are the aspects of interventions that make a difference in preventing or managing anxiety and depression.]

Project ADDER.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2021.
[Information on Project ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery), the government’s pathfinder programme combatting drugs misuse.]

Global Drug Survey (GDS) 2021 Global Report.
Global Drug Survey (GDS); 2021.
[The focus is on how COVID-19 changed people’s drug using behaviours especially with regard to alcohol, cannabis and cocaine, how people balance reducing harm and maximizing pleasure when using drugs, and whether microdosing has moved beyond those seeking to improve creativity and work performance to self-treatment for mental health issues.]

Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK: registered in 2020.
Office for National Statistics (ONS); 2021.
[Deaths caused by diseases known to be a direct consequence of alcohol misuse by sex, age, region and deprivation.]

From harm to hope: A 10-year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives.
Home Office, Department of Health and Social Care, Ministry of Justice, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education, and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities; 2021.
[This policy paper sets out the government’s 10-year plan to cut crime and save lives by reducing the supply and demand for drugs and delivering a high-quality treatment and recovery system. Commitments are made across the government to break drug supply chains while simultaneously reducing the demand for drugs by getting people suffering from addiction into treatment, and deterring recreational drug use.]

Child of the North: building a fairer future after Covid-19.
NIHR Northern Health Science Alliance; 2021.
[This report paints a stark picture of inequality for children growing up in the north of England post-pandemic compared with those in the rest of the country. It looks at a wide range of factors, from child poverty to children in care, to build up a picture of ‘The Child of the North’. It sets out 18 clear recommendations that can be put in place to tackle the widening gap between the north and the rest of England.]

Children and young people’s mental health: Eighth Report of Session 2021–22.
House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee; 2021.
[Report highlights that the problems identified can only be addressed by government departments, local government and the health system acting together to promote good mental health and prevent new crises emerging. It recommends setting up a Cabinet sub-committee.]

Covid 19

Current awareness updates

COVID-19 lockdowns and school closures: what’s the impact on youth mental health?
The Mental Elf; 2021.
[Douglas Badenoch appraises a recent cross-sectional survey study, which looks at COVID-19 partial school closures and mental health problems.]

Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern: variant risk assessments.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[Risk assessment dated 09 December for Omicron variant added.]

Consensus statements on COVID-19.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[Updated 10 December 2021: UKHSA has added the EMRG’s consensus statement for 24 November 2021 to its website.]

Resilience and recovery following COVID-19.
McIntosh B. British Journal of Healthcare Management 2021;27(11):263-264.
[The healthcare sector has a crucial role to play in the wider economic and social recovery of society following COVID-19. Events since March 2020 have highlighted the need to see health and public services as a crucial investment, not an afterthought.]

An evaluation of a virtual COVID-19 ward to accelerate the supported discharge of patients from an acute hospital setting.
Swift J. British Journal of Healthcare Management 2021;27(12):1-9.
[The virtual ward appeared to assist with earlier discharges, had a low rate of clinically necessary re-admissions, and seemed to reduce costs without compromising patient safety. The authors believe that this intervention could be applied across other NHS trusts facing similar capacity issues as a result of COVID-19.]

Nudging healthcare professionals to improve treatment of COVID-19: a narrative review.[Abstract]
Vilhelmsson A. BMJ Open Quality 2021;10(4):doi: 10.1136/bmjoq-2021-001522.
[Conclusion: Evidence suggests that different nudging techniques can be used in clinical settings as simple, cost-effective strategies to fight COVID-19, reduce complications for intubated patients, improve hand hygiene, increase vaccination rates and avoid unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions. These strategies could be important in the continued handling of the pandemic, which will not be over until the whole world reaches herd immunity from vaccination…]

COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing COVID-19 NICE guideline.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE); 2021.
[This guideline covers the management of COVID-19 for children, young people and adults in all care settings. In December, NICE added new recommendations on COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis. NICE revised their statement about the Omicron variant in the recommendation on casirivimab and imdevimab.]

COVID-19 vaccination: resources for schools and parents.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[17 December 2021: Added version 3 of the guidance for schools and guidance for parents.]

COVID-19: guidance for first responders.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[Updated advice for first responders (as defined by the Civil Contingencies Act) and others where close contact may be required as part of their normal duties.]

COVID-19: infection prevention and control (IPC).
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[17 December 2021: Added UK IPC Cell consensus statement in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. Added paragraph to main IPC guidance on risk assessment and use of RPE in response to Omicron variant.]

Covid 19

Current awareness updates

COVID-19: infection prevention and control (IPC).
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[November 2021 Updates: 1) Guidance broadened to include seasonal respiratory infections; 3 COVID-19 specific pathways removed; section on the hierarchy of controls added; physical distancing advice updated. 2) Updated to clarify text on aerosol generating procedures. 3) Dental appendix broadened to include seasonal respiratory infections; 3 COVID-19 specific pathways removed and replaced with respiratory and non-respiratory pathways.]

COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing COVID-19
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE); 2021.
[In November, NICE added a new recommendation on ivermectin.]

Daily Insight: Another test for NHS staff.
HSJ: Health Service Journal (Daily Insight) 2021;:7031436.
[A letter sent by Chris Whitty, Ruth May and Susan Hopkins has strengthened expectations on NHS staff who have just returned from abroad. NHS workers returning from any non red-list country must have a negative PCR test before returning to work. Also: New guidance has recommended that trusts relax the segregation of patients according to covid-19 risk. There is likely to be a developing picture on infection control guidance over the next few weeks in light of the Omicron variant. 30 November.]

Frequently asked questions: Demonstrating Covid-19 and vaccination status.
House of Commons Library; 2021.
[This briefing paper provides answers to frequently asked questions about demonstrating Covid-19 status (otherwise called Covid-19 status certification) and use of the NHS Covid Pass in England.]

Covid-19 status certification.
House of Commons Library; 2021.
[Covid-19 status certification (also referred to as a “vaccine passport”) has been proposed as a means of reducing the risk of transmitting the Covid-19 virus in a number of settings. This briefing explores the Government’s policy on certification. It also provides discussion on the scientific evidence and other issues associated with the use of certification.]

Responding to violence against women and children during COVID-19: impact on service provision, strategies and actions in the WHO European Region (2021).
World Health Organization (WHO); 2021.
[A new report published by WHO/Europe shows that helplines providing support to women and children experiencing violence saw a spike in calls during the first 9 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data in the new report was collected between January and September 2020, a time in which millions of people in the WHO European Region were confined to their homes because of lockdowns or other restrictive measures.]

UK vaccine response to the Omicron variant: JCVI advice.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2021.
[Advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant. This statement sets out the JCVI’s advice on extending the UK COVID-19 vaccination programme to offer booster doses to adults aged 18 to 39 years, and second doses to children and young people aged 12 to 15 years.]

Public Health

Current awareness updates

Alcohol is one of the biggest risk factors for breast cancer.
World Health Organization (WHO); 2021.
[Alcohol is classified as a Group 1 human carcinogen by IARC. It is causally linked to 7 types of cancer. Besides female breast cancer, it increases the risk of developing oral cavity (mouth), pharynx (throat), oesophagus (gullet), liver, larynx (voice box) and colorectum (large intestine and rectum) cancers. There is no safe level of alcohol consumption. The risk of breast cancer increases with each unit of alcohol consumed per day.]

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy)/chronic fatigue syndrome: diagnosis and management.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE); 2021.
[This guideline covers diagnosing and managing myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy)/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) in children, young people and adults. It aims to improve awareness and understanding about ME/CFS and when to suspect it, so that people are diagnosed earlier. It includes recommendations on diagnosis, assessment and care planning, safeguarding, access to care and managing ME/CFS and its symptoms.]

Eligible for a free flu vaccine this winter? Don’t wait, book it.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[With flu and COVID-19 expected to be in wide circulation together this winter, UK Health Security Agency is urging more people than ever to get their free flu vaccine, if they are eligible. In this blog the UK Health Security Agency answers some common questions about this year’s flu season.]

The use of wearables and health apps and the willingness to share self-collected data among older adults.
Seifert A. Aging and Health Research 2021;1(3):100032.
[The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which older adults utilize mobile health tracking tools in everyday life and their willingness to share the collected health-related data with doctors, health insurance companies, or research institutions. 75.0% of the participants used at least one mobile device; 22.9% used health-related apps. Participants were more often willing to share their data with doctors than with health insurance companies or researchers.]

Changes in childhood experimentation with, and exposure to, tobacco and e-cigarettes and perceived smoking norms: a repeated cross-sectional study of 10–11 year olds’ in Wales.
BMC Public Health; 2021.
[Children’s experimentation with and exposure to tobacco, and their perceptions of smoking as a normative behaviour, have continued to decline alongside growth in exposure to e-cigarettes. Although a large majority of pupils reported they minded people smoking around them, there was some evidence of diminishing disapproval of secondhand smoke since 2007.]

Understanding Sexual Aggression in UK Male University Students: An Empirical Assessment of Prevalence and Psychological Risk Factors.
Sexual Abuse; 2021.
[University-based sexual aggression is an international public health issue; however, to date, there have been no formal assessments of the prevalence or psychological indicators associated with the proabuse behaviors of the most common perpetrators at UK universities: heterosexual male students.]

Patients as team members: Factors affecting involvement in treatment decisions from the perspective of patients with a chronic condition.
Health Expectations; 2021.
[From the patients’ perspective, this study shows that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to involving patients more actively in their healthcare journey. Strategies aiming to enhance active patient involvement among patients with a chronic condition should consider this diversity in perspectives among these patients.]

Lead exposure in children: surveillance reports (from 2021).
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[Results of laboratory-based surveillance of elevated blood lead concentrations in children in England.]

Seasonal flu vaccine uptake in children of school age: monthly data, 2021 to 2022.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[Cumulative vaccine uptake data for the childhood seasonal flu programme in England.]

Review: Physical activity interventions for the mental health and well-being of adolescents – a systematic review. [Abstract]
Hale GE. Child and Adolescent Mental Health 2021;26(4):357-368.
[Rates of physical activity decline throughout adolescence, and evidence indicates that this has an adverse impact on psychological health. This paper aims to synthesise available evidence for physical activity interventions on the mental health and well-being of young people (11-19 years) from the general population.]

Telehealth interventions: remote monitoring and consultations for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). [Abstract]
Janjua S. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2021;7:CD013196.
[BACKGROUND: Face-to-face visits with health professionals can be hindered by severity of COPD or frailty, and by people living at a distance from their healthcare provider and having limited access to services. Telehealth technologies aimed at providing health care remotely through monitoring and consultations could help to improve health outcomes of people with COPD.]

Strategies to improve smoking cessation rates in primary care. [Abstract]
Lindson N. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2021;9:CD011556.
[OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of strategies intended to increase the success of smoking cessation interventions in primary care settings. To assess whether any effect that these interventions have on smoking cessation may be due to increased implementation by healthcare providers.]

Living with dementia: my life, my goals.
Alzheimer’s Society; 2021.
[A new self-help guide for people living with dementia. The guide helps people with dementia achieve their goals step-by step. It was created by researchers from the GREAT trial in collaboration with people living with dementia.]