PHE Daily Status Updates
Public Health England is publishing daily updates about the status of COVID-19 in the UK, at 2pm, and these updates are available here.

COVID-19 the latest guidance from the Department of Health and Social Care

• Online isolation notes launched – providing proof of coronavirus absence from work
  People unable to work for more than seven days because of coronavirus (COVID-19) can obtain an isolation note through a new online service.
• Coronavirus (COVID-19): hospital discharge service requirements
  This guidance sets out how health and care systems and providers should change their discharging arrangements and the provision of community support during the coronavirus situation.
• Ibuprofen use and Coronavirus (COVID-19) 
  There is currently no strong evidence that ibuprofen can make coronavirus (COVID-19) worse.
• Crucial medicines protected for coronavirus (COVID-19) patients 
  More than 80 medicines used to treat patients in intensive care units have been banned from parallel export from the UK.
• Coronavirus (COVID-19): scientific evidence supporting the UK government response 
  The national and global response to the spread of COVID-19 continues to develop quickly and our collective knowledge of the virus is growing by the second.
• Procurement Policy Note 02/20: Supplier relief due to COVID-19 
  This Procurement Policy Note (PPN) sets out information and guidance for public bodies on payment of their suppliers to ensure service continuity during and after the current coronavirus, COVID-19, outbreak.

COVID-19 and Older patients – Evidence based resources
British Geriatrics Society- Has compiled a list of resources including relating to COVID-19 and older people includes:

• Coronavirus and Older people: BGS Resource https://www.bgs.org.uk/resources/resource-series/coronavirus-and-older-people
• ‘Coronavirus: Managing Delirium in Suspected Cases’- https://www.bgs.org.uk/resources/coronavirus-managing-delirium-in-confirmed-and-suspected-cases
• ‘COVID 19 and Medicines advice for older people’  https://www.bgs.org.uk/resources/covid-19-and-medicines-advice-for-older-people

PHE International Epidemiology Daily Evidence Briefing
These briefings contain evidence from journal articles, both published and in press/preprints. (Please note that preprints are preliminary reports of work that have NOT been peer-reviewed. They should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behaviour and should NOT be reported in news media as established information.)

The evidence is organised into 7 themes (diagnostics and genomics, epidemiology and clinical, infection control, treatment, social sciences, miscellaneous, and modelling). Below are links to the last 5 issues:

• 19th March 2020
• 18th March 2020
• 17th March 2020
• 16th March 2020
• 13th March 2020
• 12th March 2020

Further COVID-19 guidance for the NHS workforce – NHS Employers

The second part of new COVID-19 guidance for the NHS workforce is now available, to help you provide protection and support for your staff.
The guidance on pay, terms and conditions will be published shortly.

Intensive Care Society: Wellbeing Resource Library

New wellbeing resource pack from the Intensive Care Society for dealing with extraordinary situations such as COVID-19 and everyday working in critical care. While these posters are designed for multi-professional teams working in ICU they are also relevant to staff across the NHS.

The posters prompt the reader(s) to consider:

• Tips for approaching self-care
• How to manage personal wellbeing
• What we can do to improve our workplace
• When to ask for help

Health Service Journal roundup

• Hospital’s critical care unit overwhelmed by coronavirus patients 
  A major London hospital has declared a “critical incident” due to a surge in patients with coronavirus.
• Mapped: The uneven spread of coronavirus deaths 
  Two-thirds of all coronavirus-related deaths have been recorded by just 17 trusts, a map of fatalities produced by HSJ from government figures reveals.
• Coronavirus deaths cluster appears in the West Midlands
  A second coronavirus spike appears to be emerging in the West Midlands, with one of the region’s trusts now reporting nine deaths from the illness.
• Trusts criticise ‘completely chaotic’ covid-19 supply response 
  Several trust procurement leads have expressed frustration with the government’s response to covid-19, with HSJ being told of shortages of crucial personal protective equipment, unpredictable deliveries and a lack of clarity from the centre
• National body says it’s eased controls on some PPE equipment
  A national procurement body says it has eased restrictions on the supply of certain personal protective equipment after a wave of criticism from trusts.

COVID-19 emergency bill

The Department of Health and Social Care has published What the coronavirus bill will do.  The bill will contain emergency measures to give ministers powers to take the right action at the right time to respond effectively to the progress of the coronavirus outbreak

NICE guidance

• NICE guidance

• Medtech innovation briefings

Statistics

• Direct Access Audiology waiting times  – January 2020
• Diagnostic Imaging Dataset  – November 2019
• Psychological Therapies: reports on the use of IAPT services, England – December 2019 Final including reports on the IAPT pilots and Quarter 3 2019-20 data
• Quarterly epidemiological commentary: mandatory MRSA, MSSA and Gram-negative bacteraemia, and C. difficile infection data (up to October to December 2019)
• Recorded Dementia Diagnoses – February 2020
• Referral to treatment waiting times statistics for consultant-led elective care – January 2020
• Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI) – Deaths associated with hospitalisation, England – November 2018 – October 2019
• Waiting times for suspected and diagnosed cancer patients – January 2020
• Mumps: notifications and confirmed cases by oral fluid testing in England, 2013 to 2019 by quarter
• Measles notifications and confirmed cases by oral fluid testing 2013 to 2019
• Shingles vaccine coverage report to end of June 2019 and annual 2018 to 2019 coverage: England

Chairing more than one Trust Board

NHS Providers has published Chairing more than one trust board. This briefing highlights the potential benefits and risks of more than one trust sharing a chair.