Public Health

Current awareness updates

Campaigning to eliminate drink spiking.
Stamp Out Spiking UK; 2022.
[This campaign offers anti-drink spiking resources and solutions that help people to stay safe, with a mission to raise awareness and promote personal safety issues, by providing people with information and a practical means of protecting themselves, and ultimately, to stamp out drink spiking.]

Delivering safe, face-to-face adult day care.
Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE); 2022.
[Supporting care managers, social workers, commissioners and providers, with activities. The latest updates to the guidance include: Infection control and testing; vaccination information; and changes to restrictions due to Omicron.]

Recent increase in group B meningococcal disease among teenagers and young adults.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2022.
[Teenagers and young adults are urged to look out for symptoms and check that they have received all routine vaccinations. Recent data and analysis shows that in autumn 2021 there was an increase in the number of cases of meningococcal disease in teenagers and young adults, mainly caused by group B meningococcal disease (MenB) – with the majority among university students.]

Focusing on men’s health: it’s time for a national strategy.
Baker P. British Journal of Nursing 2022;31(1):50-51.
[It is surely time for a men’s health strategy in the UK. Or, rather, a strategy for each of the UK’s nations. Seven other countries—including our nearest neighbour, Ireland—already have men’s health strategies or policies. The UK Government has also signed up to World Health Organization (WHO) Europe’s regional men’s health strategy (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2018). A Women’s Health Plan for Scotland was published in August and a women’s health strategy for England is being developed.]

Stop Abuse Together.
Cabinet Office; 2022.
[Tool to help parents, carers, teachers or other professionals working with children, to spot the potential signs of child sexual abuse and where to go for support. This website brings together advice and resources to help you keep the children in your life safe.]

NHS Leadership Academy

How might leadership roles evolve in integrated health and care systems?

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

This report for the NHS Leadership Academy explores some of the implications of the long-term plan and its supporting plans on leadership within local health and care systems, the roles that may emerge over time, and what knowledge, skills and support leaders need in the future. The report provides an overview of research carried out to better understand how leadership roles are changing in the health and social care sector, especially in collaborative and integrated health and care systems.

For more information click here.

Public Health

Current Awareness Updates

Syphilis: Public Health England action plan.
Public Health England (PHE); 2021.

(Addressing the increase in syphilis in England.)

The obesity paradigm and the role of health services in obesity prevention: a grounded theory approach.[Abstract]
Pearce C. BMC Health Services Research 2021;21(1):111.

(The aim of this research was to examine whether and how hospital and community-based health services incorporate adult obesity prevention into policy and practice. An alternative systems-level approach is needed to align health service responses with contemporary approaches that address obesity prevention as a complex problem.)

The impact of household energy poverty on the mental health of parents of young children.
Journal of Public Health; 2021.

(Energy poverty increases the likelihood of depression in parents. These findings merit policy attention since a mental health burden is in itself important, and more widely, parental well-being can influence child development and outcomes.)

Raising awareness of funding for vulnerable two-year-old children.
Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE); 2021.

(SCIE is helping the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY) to raise awareness about the 15 hours funded early years provision, particularly to more families who are vulnerable. This programme improves the health, learning and development of disadvantaged two-year-old children as well as being beneficial for the parent.)

‘Do No Harm’: Lived Experiences and Impacts of FGM Safeguarding Policies and Procedures, Bristol study.
FORWARD UK; 2021.

(The research reveals worrying evidence that FGM safeguarding policies are inadvertently causing a great deal of harm to families, communities and young girls, both in Bristol and potentially across the UK. Their targeted and heavy-handed approach have increased scrutiny, suspicion and stigmatisation of families in many areas of their lives, from schools, to healthcare, to overseas travel.)

Still not safe: the public health response to youth violence.
The Children’s Commissioner; 2021.

(This report assesses how effectively existing infrastructure within local authorities is being used to deliver a public health approach to preventing gang involvement and youth violence. The Children’s Commissioner concludes that two years on from her last report into this issue and a year after the Prime Minister promised to ‘cut the head off the snake’ of county lines, thousands of children are still not being kept safe.)

Dementia profile: February 2021 update.
Public Health England (PHE); 2021.

(Updated statistics on dementia prevalence, hospital admissions, care and mortality, at the national and subnational geographical areas in England. The dementia profile is designed to improve the availability and accessibility of information on dementia. The data is presented in an interactive tool that allows users to view and analyse it in a user-friendly format.)

Health and Care of People with Learning Disabilities 2019-20.
NHS Digital; 2021.

(The most recent release of the 2019-20 Health and Care of Learning Disability Publication. These are aggregated data on key health issues for people who are recorded by their GP as having a learning disability, and comparative data about a control group who are not recorded by their GP as having a learning disability.)

Statistics on Drug Misuse, England 2020.
NHS Digital; 2021.

[This report presents newly published information on hospital admissions attributable to drug-related mental health and behavioural disorders and on hospital admissions attributable to poisoning by illicit drugs.

The report also provides links to information on drug misuse among both adults and children from a variety of sources, including the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System and the Crime Survey for England and Wales (date range:01 Apr 2019 to 31 Mar 2020)]