Covid 19

Current awareness updates

Fairer foundations: How has the pandemic affected young people’s mental health? Infographic
The Health Foundation; 2021.

[This infographic highlights the unequal mental health effects of the pandemic among young people. Young people’s lives have been significantly impacted by the pandemic – disrupted schooling, lost employment and not being able to see friends. But the effects of the crisis have not been the same for everyone, including a divergence of mental health experiences.]

Coronavirus and depression in adults, Great Britain: January to March 2021.
Office for National Statistics (ONS); 2021.

[Analysis of the proportion of the British adult population experiencing some form of depression in early 2021, by age, sex and other characteristics. Includes comparisons with 2020 and pre-pandemic estimates.]

Care pathway and prioritization of rapid testing for COVID-19 in UK hospitals: a qualitative evaluation.[Abstract]
Hicks T. BMC Health Services Research 2021;21(1):532.

[This study sought to understand the care pathways in place in UK NHS hospitals during the first wave (March-July 2020) for identification of patients with COVID-19 and to learn lessons to inform optimal testing strategies within the COVID-19 National Diagnostic Research and Evaluation Platform (CONDOR). During the winter months, priority for provision of rapid testing at admission should be given to hospitals with limited access to laboratory services and single room availability.]

Adult social care and COVID-19 after the first wave: assessing the policy response in England: Our analysis of the national government policy response for social care between June 2020 and March 2021.
The Health Foundation; 2021.

[In this briefing, the Health Foundation analyse policies to support adult social care during the height of the second wave of the pandemic in January and February 2021, and in the months leading up to it. We provide a narrative summary of central government policies related to adult social care in different areas, such as policies on testing and support for the workforce. We also provide a summary of the latest publicly available data on the impacts of COVID-19 on adult social care.]

Happy to help: the welfare effects of a nationwide micro-volunteering programme.
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE); 2021.

[This paper estimates the wellbeing benefits from volunteering for England’s NHS Volunteer Responders programme, which was set up in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It found that active volunteers report significantly higher life satisfaction, feelings of worthwhileness, social connectedness, and belonging to their local communities. A social welfare analysis shows that the benefits of the programme were at least 140 times greater than its costs.]

Coronavirus Act report: May 2021.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2021.

[The seventh two-monthly report on which powers in the Coronavirus Act 2020 are currently active.]

Vivaldi study: results.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2021.

[Results for the Vivaldi study for antibody and cellular immune responses to coronavirus (COVID-19) in approximately 340 care homes.]

Deaths involving COVID-19 in the care sector, England and Wales: deaths registered between week ending 20 March 2020 and week ending 2 April 2021.
Office for National Statistics (ONS); 2021.

[Provisional figures on deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19), an investigation into wave 1 versus wave 2 within the care sector, in England and Wales.]

National Health Executive News

Volunteer initiative launched to combat NHS workforce shortage

A volunteering organisation has launched a new initiative which will help five NHS trusts in England. It will encourage the trusts’ volunteers to think about a long-term career in the NHS. The ‘Volunteer to Career’ programme is thought to tackle the workforce shortages in the NHS.

Podcast

What is the role of the NHS in tackling health inequalities?

Source: The King’s Fund

What is the role of the NHS in tackling health inequalities? | The King’s Fund

Helen McKenna talks with Dr Bola Owolabi, Director of Health Inequalities at NHS England and NHS Improvement, about the NHS’s spheres of influence, the power of gathering around a common cause, and whether the experience of the pandemic will lead to a step change in tackling health inequalities.

Listen to the podcast here.

Positive Practice in Mental Health Collaboration

Mental Health Awards 2021

These awards identify and disseminate positive practice in mental health services by working together across organisations and sectors, to facilitate shared learning, and to raise the profile of mental health with politicians and policy makers. Nominations are now open for 2021.

Visit: http://positivepracticemh.com/national-mental-health-awards-2020 to nominate a team, service or project.

NHS performance summary: December 2020-January 2021

Monthly round-up of the latest NHS performance data.

Source: KnowledgeShare

NHS England and NHS Digital have published the latest data on key activity and performance measures for December of last year and January of this year. Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Reports were also published for the first week of February, giving a more up-to-date analysis of how the NHS is coping this winter. They show some of these statistics and how they compare with previous trends.

Read the summary here.

NHS

Digital Playbooks

Source: KnowledgeShare Evidence Updates

The digital playbooks have been developed to support clinical teams to reimagine and redesign care pathways by showcasing tried and tested technologies to solve real-world problems. Explore the digital playbooks to find out about challenges faced by people working in different NHS organisations and discover their solutions and best practice. To access click here.

Playbooks are currently available for:

Cardiology
Respiratory
Dermatology
Musculoskeletal
Eye care

Reforming the finances of the NHS

Source: The King’s Fund- Health Management and Policy Alert

It is a time of transition in NHS finance. The planned recovery from years of deficits and debts that plagued parts of the NHS in recent years has been hit by the enormity of the Covid-19 shock. Alongside this planned recovery, the NHS has been moving away from its decades-long journey toward competition between individual organisations and using market-like approaches to improve performance, to a design based on collaboration and improving population health. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the NHS was working to restore financial health and deliver on fundamental reform; now, it must achieve these objectives with the added challenge of recovering from the damage of Covid-19.

A new financial architecture for the NHS requires coherence and balance, and a recognition that any national financial strategy will be heavily mediated by the quality of local relationships. The King’s Fund new long read discusses how lessons from the recent history of NHS finances can help the system plan for the future.

To read the article click here.

King’s Fund Podcast

Can the NHS be a truly flexible workplace?

‘How is it possible for a newly qualified nurse to work flexibly? How is it possible for a junior doctor to work flexibly? That was the thinking behind Flex NHS.’ In the latest episode of The King’s Fund podcast, they sit down with Kate Jarman, Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs at Milton Keynes University Hospital and co-founder of Flex NHS to discuss what working flexibly means in practice, communicating during Covid-19 and activism in the health service.

To listen to the podcast, click the image above.

The Strategy Unit

Working together for a healthier post- Covid future

Source- King’s Fund

This analysis, commissioned by the Healthier Futures Academy in the Black Country and West Birmingham, illustrates the effects that a Covid-driven recession could have on population health. It frames a discussion about how the NHS, with other local organisations, can more effectively address the causes as well as the effects of ill health.

To read the summary click here.