Health e-news Friday 28 August

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Health E-News is a weekly update on policy and guidelines from organisations including NICE and individual Royal Medical Colleges, and news and views on health related subjects and research from trusted sources such as The King’s Fund, Cochrane, The Health Foundation, the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care.

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COVID-19 guidance and policy

Joint vision for eye care services during and beyond COVID-19

The College of Optometrists and The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) have developed a joint vision for the two professions to continue to work together to support the delivery of safe and sustainable eye care services in England. The vision sets out three key principles and recommendations for the development and governance of high quality eye care service. The three principles are: balancing visual loss due to delays against the risk of acquiring COVID-19; decisions about the most effective patient care being made by the appropriate clinician, and; all pathways to be underpinned by the highest standards of joint optometry and ophthalmology clinical governance.

COVID-19 related news

Study offers more detailed picture of COVID-19 risk factors and outcomes in children

Findings, published in the BMJ, of an observational study of 651 children and young people (aged less than 19 years) with COVID-19 admitted to hospitals across England, Wales and Scotland between 17 January and 3 July 2020, offer further details of the symptoms, risks and outcomes of the virus in children. The nationwide study highlights that a very small number of children (six) died, and that those children most at risk of requiring intensive care are babies under one month old, and children aged 10 to 14 years. In common with adults, the study found that obesity, and black ethnicity were factors that increased the risk of requiring intensive care.

New measures to support development and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines announced

The government has outlined a number of measures that will allow the safe future mass rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine. These include an expansion of the trained workforce that can administer vaccines, in order to increase access; and giving the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) powers to consider approving use of a vaccine ahead of a full product licence; providing that robust clinical trials demonstrate its safety and effectiveness. Linked with these proposals, a consultation is seeking views on the safe distribution of potential COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

Other news

RCN launches fresh campaign for nursing pay rise

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has launched a new ‘Fair pay for nursing’ campaign, seeking an immediate pay rise of 12.5% for all NHS nursing staff. The RCN highlight that the pay rise is needed to: provide safe and effective patient care for all people of the UK by addressing the staffing crisis within nursing; recognise the skill, accountability and expertise of a safety critical profession; and recognise that the salaries of nursing staff have not kept pace with increases in the cost of living. The campaign page also notes the political nature of health care funding in its call for action to address the years of inadequate support for nurses.

RCPCH on declining vaccination rates in the UK

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) considers some of the factors that are contributing to the ongoing trend of declining vaccination rates in the UK. The piece highlights some of the potential barriers that prevent access to vaccines; considers the significant role of misconceptions, misinformation and belief; and in light of the pandemic, also discusses the impact of disruption to routines and the development and distribution of new vaccines.

NHS Confederation calls for inspections to be paused until after winter

The NHS Confederation has written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, calling for the routine inspections of hospitals and other health care providers to be put on hold until after winter. Pausing inspections, the organisation says, will enable hospitals and other providers to focus on the backlog of treatment that has built up, as well as address issues like staff exhaustion, while also managing the ongoing threat from coronavirus. A recent report by the NHS Confederation makes the case for learning from the present moment, and asks questions of what governance and regulation of healthcare could look like if bureaucracy were reduced.

NHS Providers report on meeting the needs of everyone

A report from NHS Providers, ‘Getting it right for everyone: Meeting the needs of people with a learning disability and autistic people in NHS services’ looks at the longstanding structural inequities faced by people with a learning disability and autistic people, and the further  impact of the pandemic upon these inequalities. Drawing upon interviews with leaders in trusts providing good and outstanding learning disabilities and autism services, the report sets out in detail the common themes behind high quality care, offering detailed case studies of how they have succeeded.

NICE guidance

Clinical guideline

CG134 Anaphylaxis: assessment and referral after emergency treatment Updated

Diagnostics guidance

DG40 High-sensitivity troponin tests for the early rule out of NSTEMI

Medtech innovation briefing

MIB224 FebriDx for C-reactive protein and myxovirus resistance protein A testing

Quality standard

QS196 Community pharmacies: promoting health and wellbeing

QS197 Faltering growth

NIHR alerts

Screening for lymphoedema after breast cancer surgery could identify women likely to benefit from compression sleeves

The weekly break from dialysis is harmful to patients with kidney failure

Statistics

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