NHS and industry join forces on next generation of hospitals

NHS trusts and construction partners have signed agreements to deliver the next phase of the New Hospital Programme.

• NHS trusts and construction partners sign agreements to deliver next generation of hospitals
• Long-term partnerships mark a major milestone for New Hospital Programme
• Patients, taxpayers and industry to benefit from collaborative, more efficient approach

Eleven significant long-term partnerships have today been signed to deliver new hospitals across England from Manchester to Cornwall and the east of England. The confirmed

Tobacco and Vapes Bill will save lives – Nesbitt

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has welcomed the NI Assembly’s support for Northern Ireland’s inclusion in the UK Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

The Minister was speaking following a vote on a Legislative Consent Motion (LCM) to include Northern Ireland in the UK Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

The Bill will create a smoke free

Criminals denied £7.5m in profits from the illegal trade in medicines

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) last year stopped criminals making more than £7.5 million linked to the illegal trade in medicines. 

Person holding seized medicines in MHRA storeroom. Credit: MHRA

As part of the crackdown on criminal profits, more than 17 million doses of illegally traded medicines, with a potential street value of more than £40 million, were taken out of circulation last year by the MHRA and its law enforcement partners. These included painkillers, sleeping tablets and erectile dysfunction treatments.  

Andy Morling, who heads the MHRA’s

Monkeypox cases confirmed in England – latest updates

 Latest updates on cases of monkeypox identified by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

From:

UK Health Security Agency

Latest

Four more cases of monkeypox indentified by UKHSA

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has detected 4 additional cases of monkeypox, 3 in London and one linked case in the north east of England.

The 4 new cases do not have known connections with the previous confirmed cases announced on 14 May and the case announced on 7 May.

Investigations are underway to establish links between the latest 4 cases, who all appear to have been infected in London. All 4 of these cases self-identify as gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men (MSM). 

Currently, common contacts have been identified for 2 of the 4 latest cases.  

There is no link to travel to a country where monkeypox is endemic, and exactly where and how they acquired their infections remains under urgent investigation, including whether they have further links to each other.

Those patients needing medical care are all in specialist infectious disease units at

UK EMT gets key health facilities in Solomon Islands COVID-ready

Solomon Islands key health facilities on Malaita, Western and Choiseul provinces have been supported and equipped to respond to subsequent waves of COVID-19.

From:

British High Commission Honiara

Frontline health staff at Kilu'ufi hospital on Malaita province in a practical training session delivered by the UK Emergency Medical Team.

This was made possible through the UK Government’s deployment of its Emergency Medical Team (EMT) who were in the country over the last nine weeks. The UK Government-funded deployment includes experts in emergency medicine, critical care and risk communications and is managed by the British NGO UK Med.

The nine weeks have been busy for the UK EMT 10-member team as they have been supporting Kilu’ufi, Atoifi, Gizo, Taro and Sasamunga hospitals in getting

Surge testing to be deployed in targeted areas in Wandsworth

Further targeted areas will have additional testing made available to control and suppress the potential spread of the COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa.

From:

Department of Health and Social Care

Working in partnership with the local authority, additional testing and genomic sequencing is being deployed to targeted areas within Wandsworth (SW11 and SW15), where the COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa has been found.

The increased testing is being introduced in

Foster, O’Neill and Swann hail vaccination programme success

The continued success of our Covid-19 vaccination programme will guide us to brighter days, the First Minister, deputy First Minister and Health Minister have said.

Ministers pictured during their visit to the vaccination centre at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald.

The Ministers were speaking during a

Relaunch of the Act FAST campaign to improve stroke outcomes

New data suggests that people put off seeking help for stroke during pandemic.

From:

Public Health England

The Act FAST campaign urges everyone to take immediate action on seeing any stroke symptoms to save lives – the NHS is open.

Data from the lockdown period of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic last year show that admissions to hospital for stroke fell – a 12% drop between March and April 2020.

Stroke is a medical emergency and anyone

NHS launches ‘Op Courage’ veterans’ mental health service

Armed forces veterans suffering a mental health crisis will receive specialist care as part of a new Op Courage service.

From:

Cabinet Office, Office for Veterans' Affairs, and Johnny Mercer MP

Doctors, nurses and other NHS staff will work with military charities to provide therapy, rehab services and, in extreme cases, inpatient care to hundreds of former soldiers, sailors and RAF personnel each year.

Those needing urgent help will receive a same

Scotland: Second doses given to more than half of care home residents

The injection gives people longer lasting protection.

Scotland’s vaccination programme has delivered second doses of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine to more than half of care home residents.

In total, 17,258 care home residents (58% of

Free rapid tests for all businesses for regular workplace testing

All businesses in England are now able to sign up to the government’s free COVID-19 workplace testing programme.

From: Department of Health and Social Care

• Workplace testing now available to all businesses, including those with fewer than 50 employees
• Business encouraged to register interest by 31 March to access free workplace testing
• Regular testing will be a vital part of the government’s roadmap to cautiously ease restrictions

As part of the government’s roadmap to cautiously lift restrictions, businesses of all sizes, including those with fewer than 50 employees, can register from today to order free lateral flow tests for their employees.

Around 1 in 3 people with coronavirus don’t

We’re on our way to a million doses – Swann

Health Minister Robin Swann has praised the work of all those involved in the Northern Ireland vaccination programme as the number of doses delivered rose to more than 600,000.

The latest running total shows 609,798 vaccines administered. Of these, 568,011 are first doses and 41,787 second doses.

The Minister said: “These figures, which

Coronavirus (Covid-19) Infection Survey Northern Ireland – 20 - 26 February 2021

The Department of Health today published the next in the series of weekly results from its COVID-19 Infection Survey (CIS).

The findings set out in this report relate to modelled positivity estimates for Northern Ireland for the week up to the 26 February 2021. The aims of the CIS are to estimate how many people have the infection and the number of new cases that occur over a given time as well as estimating how many people have developed antibodies to COVID-19.

The survey over time will help track the

Community testing highlights hidden cases

More than 10,000 tests for people without symptoms.

More than 10,000 tests have been carried out on people without coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms since 18 January, according to the latest Public Health Scotland figures.

Of those, 251 (2.4%) tests were positive for the virus, despite people showing no symptoms, and they were asked to self-isolate to avoid unknowingly passing on the virus to those around them. 

As of Thursday 4 March, there are 24

COVID-19: Inequalities widen for poorest young people in developing countries

COVID-19 could reverse important gains in educational attainment and future life chances for young people in developing countries - particularly the poorest and most vulnerable, according to Oxford-led research.

Despite many young people in developing countries now returning to education or employment, interrupted learning, less reliable work, food shortages and significant mental health issues are widening inequalities, according to a COVID-19 phone survey from the long-standing Young Lives research team.

This latest research shows that, despite encouraging signs, many young

Health Minister launches Mental Health Champion Recruitment Process

Health Minister Robin Swann today launched his Department’s recruitment competition seeking to appoint a permanent Mental Health Champion for Northern Ireland.

Launching the competition the Minister said: “From the moment I took office I was clear that improving the mental health outcomes of the population of Northern Ireland was one of the top priorities for me as Minister.

“Despite the emergence of other high

Equine Infectious Disease Alert – Outbreak of EHV-1 in Spain

Northern Ireland’s equine owners are being urged to fully adhere to new guidelines aimed at protecting the sector, following an outbreak of a very aggressive strain of Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) across Europe.

The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) has cancelled international events scheduled to take place in 10 countries across continental Europe with immediate effect and until 28 March 2021. 

Initial studies suggest that the rapidly

New data show vaccines reduce severe COVID-19 in older adults

New data show both Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines significantly reduce severe COVID-19 in older adults.

From: Public Health England

Today Public Health England (PHE) has submitted a pre-print of a real-world study that shows that both the Pfizer and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines are highly effective in reducing COVID-19 infections among older people aged 70 years and over. Since January, protection against symptomatic COVID, 4 weeks after the first dose, ranged between 57 and 61% for one dose of Pfizer and between 60 and 73% for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

The pre-print article:

• compares the rate of vaccination in symptomatic people aged over 70 years of age who test positive for COVID-19, compared to those who test negative
• compares the rate of hospitalisation in

Infected Blood: bereaved have not been forgotten - Swann

Health Minister Robin Swann has announced annual financial support for those bereaved as a result of NHS contaminated blood.

The annual payments will be made to people registered on the Northern Ireland Infected Blood Payment Scheme who have not been infected by contaminated blood but have been left bereaved following the death of a spouse or partner who contracted Hepatitis C or HIV after receiving NHS-supplied infected blood or blood products in Northern Ireland.

Minister Swann said: “When I took up

All households with children of school aged to get rapid COVID-19 tests per person per week

Whole families and households with primary school, secondary school and college age children, including childcare and support bubbles, will be able to test themselves twice every week from home as schools return from 8 March. Tests can easily be ordered and collected from local sites, or administered through workplace testing programmes.

From: Department of Health and Social Care

• Regular, rapid testing will be offered to households, childcare and support bubbles of primary, secondary and college age children and young people
• In line with the government’s roadmap, the latest expansion of asymptomatic testing will support the national priority to get children back to school
• Rapid test kits will be available to collect from more than 500 locations, or through workplace testing and local community testing services

Testing will continue to be a vital part of our