As the countdown to the next UK election begins, the King's Fund has identified three priorities to improve public health.
The national action would be taken by the future government to fix the "NHS and social care" in the country.
The health policy think tank said it would prioritise "improving access to out-of-hospital care", making "careers in health and social care" more attractive
and tackling the biggest risk factors affecting people's health.
It highlighted that workforce crisis is one of the biggest challenges faced by the National Health Service (NHS) and social care services in England while
citing "years of poor planning and fragmented responsibilities" as the reason for widespread staff shortages.
As per the King's Fund's data, there were more than 125,000 vacancies across the NHS workforce in England in October 2023, not including primary care vacancies
such as GPs, and 152,000 vacant posts in the adult social care workforce.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak appointed Conservative MP for North East Cambridgeshire Steve Barclay as secretary of state for health and social care on 25 October
2022.
He previously held the same role between 5 July and 6 September - after Sajid Javid resigned as health secretary.
As head of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) his responsibilities will include "overall financial control and oversight of NHS delivery and
performance" as well as "oversight of social care policy".
Mr Barclay was succeeded by Thérèse Coffey, who thanked her "great ministerial team" at the DHSC in a Tweet, before taking up her new responsibility as environment
secretary in the new cabinet.
As head of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) his responsibilities will include "overall financial control and oversight of NHS delivery and
performance" as well as "oversight of social care policy".
Mr Barclay was succeeded by Thérèse Coffey, who thanked her "great ministerial team" at the DHSC in a Tweet, before taking up her new responsibility as environment
secretary in the new cabinet.
Former pharmacy minister Steve Brine was on Wednesday (November 2) elected chair of the influential Health and Social Care Committee, the cross-party
parliamentary group that scrutinises the work of the Department of Health and Social Care and its associated public bodies.
The Conservative MP for Winchester won 253 out of 432 votes beating off four other contenders for the role - Stephen Hammond, Dr Caroline Johnson, Anne Marie Morris
and James Morris - in a four-stage election in which MPs voted by ranking candidates in order of preference. Dr Johnson, who was Mr Brine's main challenger, bagged
148 votes in the final round.
An election for a new chair of the Health and Social Care Committee was triggered following the resignation of Jeremy Hunt MP who was appointment as chancellor of
the exchequer on October 14.
Issuing a statement after his election, Mr Brine said: "I welcome the opportunity as chair to continue the calm, measured work of Jeremy Hunt and to examine new
solutions to support the NHS to enable it to continue providing the services that we all depend upon."
Navigating social media as a professional in the spotlight can be daunting, with people risking their careers for what they post. We've compiled some best practice policies to adhere by regarding social media as a healthcare professional.
Community Development and Health Network (CDHN) in Northern Ireland has announced that eight applicants were selected in the latest round of Level One funding for the Building the Community-Pharmacy Partnership (BCPP) programme.
Funded by Northern Ireland's Health and Social Care Board, BCCP supports communities and community pharmacists to work in partnership to address the social
determinants of health and health inequalities.
"The projects will engage across the life course working with new parents, young men and older people to empower them to take control of issues affecting their health and wellbeing. Covid recovery remains a common theme across all applications, as communities focus on addressing the impact of the pandemic on social isolation, physical and mental health."
Applications for the Level Two funding of the BCCP's Round 42 will close on 24 March 2022. For information on the programme or for some support with your application, please contact a member of the BCPP team on 028 3026 4606.
Social anxiety and its allied depression are very common in every other individual nowadays. It is given the third rank by the connoisseurs who deal with a psychic disorder or say mental health. US Government epidemiological statistics unveil that at any given time the % of people suffering from social anxiety is 7% and in certain or under specific conditions the % of social suffering due to anxiety goes higher to 13% of the population at any given time...
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) have issued a joint enforcement notice about
the 'illegal' advertising of Kenalog injections on digital platforms.
The notice warns all organisations offering Kenalog as a 'hay fever treatment' to stop advertising it in any of their social media or website advertising.
"Kenalog is a prescription-only medicine (POM), which must not be directly or indirectly advertised to the public. Kenalog is not licensed for the treatment of hay
fever in the UK, although it is offered by some beauty and aesthetics clinics, under the personal responsibility of an individual prescriber, and advertised widely
on social media," said MHRA.
"Now, advertisers must ensure that all references to Kenalog in the text, images or emojis on social media are removed, as well as commonly-used descriptive phrases
for the jab such as 'hay fever injection' or hay fever jab' or any account names, testimonials or memes by 29 August 2022."
After this date, the CAP's compliance team will remove non-compliant ads using targeted software and those who continue to promote it may be referred to the MHRA for
further enforcement action.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) today (19 October) issued its official response to an evaluation conducted by an independent expert panel
from the Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) regarding government commitments in the pharmacy sector.
The joint agreement between DHSC, NHSE, and CPE (Community Pharmacy England) under a five-year plan commitment to review the funding model, however, the current
status is "continue to monitor and discuss progress".
The government has claimed that the panel's rating has "not been met" and still "requires improvement".
However, the funding "remains subject to affordability and consultation with the sector on the activity that can be delivered within that funding envelope".
"Not possible for pharmacists to check whether prescriptions issued from overseas registered prescribers have been issued in a similarly safe and effective
way," the new Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care) Karin Smyth said during a recent parliamentary written response.
At a recent session on Monday, July 29th, at the House of Commons, MP Cat Smith raised an important question directed at the Secretary of State for Health and
Social Care.
Smith, who represents Lancaster and Wyre, and has been an MP continually since 7 May 2015, inquired about whether the Department of Health and Social Care had
conducted a comparative assessment of the UK's stance on prescribing puberty blockers for treating gender incongruence in comparison to other European countries.
Responding to the questions, MP Karin Smyth emphasised on the significance of the Cass Review and described it as one of the most thorough examinations
conducted across the globe on gender identity services for children and young people.
The Professional Records Standards Body (PRSB), which develops information standards for health and social care records, has appointed Professor Reecha
Sofat as the new Chair.
She will assume the role at the end of October 2024, succeeding Professor Maureen Baker CBE, who will step down after seven years as Chair of the PRSB.
A Clinical Pharmacologist, Professor Sofat has held many leadership roles across the NHS, academia and scientific societies.
Professor Sofat is Breckenridge Chair of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Liverpool. She practices general internal medicine and is also an Associate
Director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Data Science Centre (DSC) which is led by Health Data Research UK (HDRUK).
With a passion for data science and extensive clinical and research insights, Professor Sofat is focused on embedding research into routine health and social care.
She said: "I am passionate about using the rich health data that is already collected across NHS and social care to better understand the causes and consequences
of disease and improve health outcomes.
It has, therefore, become very important for all types of businesses in all the sectors to leverage the technique of social media marketing to attract the millennials and genzers. This will not only increase the sales but help you build a chain of loyal customers.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has created a new NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN) to support the successful delivery of health and
social care research in England.
The network, which will start operating from next year, will play a critical and active role in implementing government policies.
It will support in implementing the Life Sciences Vision, the Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery vision, and policy for life sciences research and development.
The new network would be mainly working on growing the amount of commercial clinical research as its key strategic ambition.
Also, NIHR RDN will be responding to the findings of the Lord O'Shaughnessy review, which set out a clear blueprint for how the UK can return to its global
leadership role.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has welcomed the appointment of Michael Matheson MSP as Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care in
Scotland.
Commenting on the announcement Laura Wilson, Director of RPS Scotland, said: "I would like to congratulate Michael Matheson on being appointed to this position.
NHS recovery is vitally important, and pharmacy has a huge amount to offer this agenda.
"Our current priorities include enabling pharmacists to take leadership of prescribing in all care settings, tackling health inequalities and advocating for change,
implementing shared patient records between healthcare professionals to provide high-quality, person centred and safe patient care, improving pharmacists' wellbeing
and tackling the climate emergency by encouraging sustainable and green prescribing across Scotland.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in recent response to the questions asked by members of the House of Lords addressed the concerning trend
of pharmacy closures in rural areas across the UK.
Led by The Bishop of St Albans, inquiries focused on the number of community pharmacies that had ceased operations over the past five years and the ongoing
financial challenges faced by those remaining in rural regions.
Lord Markham, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care, provided insights into the stark reality confronting rural communities.
Highlighting data as per Guide to applying the Rural Urban Classification to data (2019-2023) Markham illustrated the significant closure rates of rural
pharmacies compared to the limited number of new openings between 2019 and 2023.
The figures revealed a fluctuating trend over the past five years, indicating a dynamic landscape within rural pharmacy provision.
The Green Party has previewed its upcoming manifesto with a bold proposal for the National Health Service (NHS) and social care system, promising an
unprecedented level of investment to restore and enhance these critical services.
By 2030, the Greens aim to inject over £50 billion annually into health and social care, accompanied by an additional £20 billion capital investment to modernise
healthcare infrastructure.
Green Party Co-Leader Adrian Ramsay emphasised the urgency of these reforms, stating, "Our NHS is at breaking point following 14 years of underfunding."
"Patients are stuck in hospital corridors, people can't see their GP or NHS dentist when they need to, and staff are severely overstretched."
The manifesto highlights a comprehensive approach to revitalising the NHS, including:
The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) celebrated achievements of its members during the pandemic at its first annual 'ball and award' ceremony held last week in London.
To highlight the important role played by pharmacy teams, the association representing community pharmacy businesses with multiple branches, introduced two award categories - for patient safety and social care.
Stephen Walls from H I Weldricks won the Patient Safety Awards and Sandeep Dhami, Nadia Hussain and Sachin Basandrai from MW Phillips won the Social Care Award.
Congratulating the winners, Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of AIMp, said that community pharmacy teams "have worked tirelessly to deliver patient care throughout the pandemic." David McNicol, head of sales at AAH Pharmaceuticals, noted that the country and community pharmacy witnessed the toughest 18 months, and the gathering provided an opportunity to discuss ongoing challenges.
The government has launched a new campaign over social media and radio today (January 10) to encourage pregnant women to take their first, second and third dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
Joined by experts at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), the campaign highlights the risks of the infection and benefits of vaccination.
According to the latest data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Covid-19 vaccinations are safe for pregnant women.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) chief scientific adviser professor Lucy Chappell, said: "We have extensive evidence now to show that the vaccines are safe and that the risks posed by Covid-19 are far greater," calling upon pregnant women who have yet to have their jabs.
The campaign will also run testimonies of pregnant women who have had their jabs.
A new study has shown that Covid-19 can spread between unmasked people at a distance of more than two metres even outdoors.
A team of engineers from the University of Cambridge used computer modelling to quantify how droplets spread when people cough.
They found that the two-metre rule was arbitrary and that social distancing alone was not enough to stop the spread of the virus.
The team also found that individual coughs vary widely, and that the 'safe' distance could have been set at anywhere between one to three or more metres.
The results, published in the journal Physics of Fluids, suggest that social distancing is not an effective mitigation measure on its own, and underline the importance of vaccination, ventilation and masks.
With a trusted army of loyal fans on social media, the Nordic liquid iron supplement, BlueIron, is set for a refreshed look and big ambitions under a new distribution agreement.
Lanes Health, the family-owned business known for its passion and expertise in manufacturing and supplying natural and herbal remedies, has acquired the distribution rights for the Finnish brand.
As part of the deal, Lanes Health has been working to refresh the packaging and website, as well as developing a robust marketing campaign involving advertising,
digital, social media, PR and influencer relations.
A liquid iron supplement formulated with Nordic blueberries, BlueIron provides iron which is highly bioavailable and fast working. With the added benefit of a patented micro-encapsulated form of iron, it is easily absorbed and gentle on the stomach.
Iron is an essential mineral used by our bodies for many health benefits, it is important for making red blood cells, transporting oxygen around the body, supporting energy metabolism, maintaining cognitive function and reducing tiredness and fatigue.
The government has earmarked £200 million to enhance NHS resilience and expedite patient care during the upcoming winter season. This extra amount will
bolster the health service during its busiest period, while protecting elective care so we can keep cutting waiting lists, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said.
On August 13, the Prime Minister and Health and Social Care Secretary met with clinical leaders and NHS Chiefs to strategise and refine planning for urgent and
emergency care, while prioritising the preservation of waiting list targets for the upcoming winter season.
"Patients can be reassured that I will always back the NHS, so that those who most need help and support will get the care they need," Sunak said. "Winter is
the most challenging time for the health service, which is why we've been planning for it all year - with huge government investment to fund new ambulances, beds
and virtual wards."
"This £200 million investment, assured by the Department of Health and Social Care as new and additional funding, should aid NHS leaders in their preparations and
mitigation for what will be a seriously difficult winter period," said Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of NHS Confederation. "The priority now is swift allocation
of funding to local systems for optimal utilisation."