Health Policy InsightHealthcare management online analysis and intelligence
Health Policy InsightThe prime minister was not aware that the former US ambassador had failed the vetting process, according to Downing Street
Swinney says this is a manifesto for the whole of Scotland.
He confirms that the SNP would argue for the Scottish power to have more control over energy policy (still largely reserved to Westminter). He says:
The problem is not that we do not have the energy. The problem is that Westminster has the power. This election is our opportunity to take those powers and put them into Scotland’s hands.
Continue reading...Data shows 85% of those infected in the state have been not vaccinated against measles as dozens are hospitalized
Utah has emerged as a major center of measles infections in the US, as an outbreak that has been building for some time continues to expand.
State officials reported a total of 602 measles cases on Wednesday tied to an outbreak that started last year and is still ongoing, including 19 newly identified infections, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (Cidrap). Recent exposures have been reported at several preschools and elementary schools.
Continue reading...The lack of a unified digital repository for patients and healthcare workers means that key medical changes are often missed. But the NHS can learn from US intelligence sharing
Will Parman is the winner of the The Guardian Foundation’s 2026 Emerging Voices award (19-25 age category), recognising young talent in political opinion writing
As she battles cancer, my mum fears that she will forget to tell her consultant something important. Like many people with complex and chronic health needs, she clutches a Post-it note with 10 bullet-pointed symptoms, such as “cannot stand” and “spasms”. It is her companion during stressful appointments. We rehearse her list before we enter, and worry that we deviated too much when we leave.
Even then, her peer-reviewed lists, sometimes on the back of envelopes, are inadequate when her condition may change day to day. Each list, too, must be tailored for each of her consultants – many lists get lost in her tall pile of notes and letters. I hate those car rides home when we’re upset that we didn’t say something important, fearing the consequences of this omission. In a health system in which people can wait more than a year for an appointment, you wonder how meticulous these Post-it notes need to be to convey every change in their medical condition since the initial referral letter. It raises the question of how many people have experienced this unsettling ride home.
Will Parman is the winner of the The Guardian Foundation’s 2026 Emerging Voices award (19-25 age category), recognising young talent in political opinion writing
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Continue reading...Heather Hallett hails scheme but urges ministers and health services to promote better vaccine awareness
The UK’s Covid vaccination programme was “an extraordinary feat” which developed and delivered protective jabs in record time, but work is now needed to rebuild trust in vaccines and ensure better access before the next pandemic, an official inquiry has found.
Heather Hallett, the chair of the statutory inquiry into the pandemic, said the vaccine rollout and the identification of an inexpensive steroid that saved the lives of thousands of UK patients, were “two of the success stories” of the pandemic.
Establishing a pharmaceutical expert advisory panel to oversee the UK’s preparedness to develop, procure and manufacture vaccines and therapeutics.
Producing targeted vaccination strategies and communications to increase vaccine uptake and reduce inequalities.
Improving monitoring and evaluation of vaccine uptake and delivery to ensure efforts to boost uptake are effective.
Helping regulatory bodies to access healthcare records for ongoing safety monitoring of new vaccines and therapeutics, and
Assessing the vaccine damage payment scheme as soon as possible.
Continue reading...Transfer of medical services from hospital to former Wilko store is improving healthcare access and boosting footfall
It is a revolution that might just save the NHS – and the high street. Imagine being able to have your eyes tested, mole examined or get an appointment with a consultant without going to your local hospital – and maybe fit in some shopping or a cinema visit afterwards.
That, increasingly, is what people in Barnsley are doing after an unprecedented relocation of medical services from the district general hospital into a purpose-built outpatients centre in the Alhambra shopping centre, which is getting a new lease of life thanks to the experiment.
Continue reading...Data assessed from 17 clinical trials of anti-amyloid drugs found no ‘meaningful effect’ on cognitive decline
Drugs that have been hailed as a gamechanger for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease make no noticeable difference to patients, according to an extensive review.
The analysis of clinical trials in people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia found that the effects of anti-amyloid drugs on cognition and dementia severity over 18 months were “trivial”, with improvements in functional ability “small at best”.
Continue reading...Safety charity warns deaths are rising overall and closely linked to deprivation
People in the north of England are twice as likely to be killed in accidents than Londoners, with accidental deaths clearly linked to deprivation, a report has found.
The research, from safety charity the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), highlights vast regional differences in accidental deaths, which have also seen an overall increase.
Continue reading...Dr Helen Holt and Dr Peter Davis respond to an article by Polly Toynbee on the latest round of strikes by resident doctors
Polly Toynbee is right that it is time to stop the doctors’ strikes (Both doctors and the government are handling this strike badly – that’s why there is no end in sight, 10 April). She suggests that doctors are not feeling the pain of industrial action, but this is far from true. We are anxious about our patients and their cancelled appointments and procedures; we are exhausted covering work that we are not familiar with; and those being paid overtime for shifts they don’t want to do are uncomfortable about the financial impact on the NHS.
Many of us reluctantly supported industrial action at the beginning, with a government that wasn’t listening – wanting to support junior colleagues whose pay had fallen far behind contemporaries. Now we see how divided and conflicted resident doctors are too, and we long for a resolution. We recognise that the strikes are harmful. Communication and diplomacy are skills we pride ourselves on, and politicians have never needed them more than now. Diplomacy is the way to resolve this crisis for our NHS as well.
Dr Helen Holt
Consultant physician and chair of the medical staff committee, University Hospitals Dorset
Toilet tissue | Bumphone jazz | Discontinued products | A classic crossword clue | Practice v practise
In the 1970s, to save money, a London psychiatric hospital replaced soft toilet tissue with Izal medicated toilet roll (Letters, 13 April). Therapists conducting successful sessions for outpatients with compulsive disorders were surprised by a sudden increase in relapse rates, until they realised that each sheet contained the exhortation “Now wash your hands”. Its use was discontinued.
Prof David C Sanders
Mortain, France
• Izal toilet paper made excellent tracing paper, but it also made a superb sound in a comb and paper. One member of a jokey interval band at the original Concorde Jazz Club in Southampton played an Izal bumphone to great effect!
David Witt
Malmesbury, Wiltshire
