Health Policy InsightHealthcare management online analysis and intelligence
Health Policy InsightImperial College scientists analysed health records before and after introduction of air pollution reduction zones
Low emission and clean air zones attract controversy whenever they are proposed, but there is growing evidence that they work in improving air quality. The Bradford zone was followed by a reduction of about 25% in GP visits for heart and breathing problems and survey data shows that the central London zone was followed by a reduction in the likelihood of a person taking sick leave.
Now analysis of health records has found emergency admissions to hospital reduced after the introduction of the T-charge and ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez) in central London.
Continue reading...Doctors say therapy that genetically modifies person’s T-cells could offer cure for chronic autoimmune disease
Five lupus patients in England are in remission after being treated with a revolutionary therapy that genetically modifies their own cells, in a medical breakthrough that could offer people a cure, doctors have said.
CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapy involves removing a type of white blood cell also called T lymphocytes, which are crucial for hunting out infected or damaged cells, and engineering them to spot and destroy disease. The T-cells are then fed back into the patient via an infusion to reset their immune system.
Continue reading...One-off programme to begin in July after recent MenB outbreaks in Kent, Dorset and Berkshire killed three people
Teenagers in their final school year and young people starting university will be offered two doses of a vaccine to protect them against meningitis B, the government has announced.
The one-off vaccination programme, which will begin in late July, comes after an unprecedented outbreak of meningitis B in Kent earlier this year along with clusters of cases in Dorset and Berkshire that, together, led to the deaths of three young people.
Continue reading...New Farm Bill places caps on non-US foods; nutritionists say it restricts availability of healthy meals for kids
School nutrition workers and advocates have “lots of concerns about bananas”, said Erin Ogden, policy associate for federal child nutrition programs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
Bananas are nutrient-dense foods that many children like. That makes them popular offerings in school cafeterias, since any healthy food that a kid will eat prevents waste and ensures that child isn’t eating either nothing or something less wholesome instead.
Continue reading...Regulator approval means patients who meet criteria will be able to purchase tablets with private prescription
Patients in the UK will soon be able to buy the Wegovy weight-loss pill, the medicines regulator announced on Thursday.
It is the first GLP-1 receptor agonist tablet for weight-loss to be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), making the UK the third country to authorise the pills, behind the US and the United Arab Emirates.
Continue reading...When I started nursing at 21 we were able to deliver timely, good care. That has become nearly impossible
Sophie (not her real name) is a member of the Royal College of Nursing and a senior A&E nurse in a hospital in the south of England
I began my career as an A&E nurse in 2010, when I was 21. It was a completely different world. If a patient needed immediate attention, there was easily the capacity for two nurses to look after them straight away. The NHS target of seeing patients within a four-hour window wasn’t something we gave much thought to, as it was pretty much a given that a patient would be admitted, transferred or discharged within that time. I don’t ever recall seeing a patient and feeling awful about how long they had waited.
It’s amazing to think how common it used to be for emergency departments to be almost empty at times in the evenings. As well as being much needed respite from the demands of the job, it was also a valuable time to learn from more senior colleagues. Nurses with decades of experience would take new recruits under their wings and help us practise our skills. That time is when I learned to plaster limbs and dress wounds. I wish I could do the same for my junior colleagues now. We used to be able to give timely, good care – now it has become near impossible.
Sophie (not her real name) is a member of the Royal College of Nursing and a senior A&E nurse in a hospital in the south of England
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Continue reading...Data published for the first time recorded 2,241 daily cases of A&E corridor care, with 699 patients also treated in other inappropriate settings
Almost 3,000 patients a day in England are receiving care in hospital corridors due to an unavailability of beds in A&E units across the country, according to official figures.
Corridor care occurs when a patient receives treatment in a setting that is clinically inappropriate and is deemed to be undignified and unsafe.
Continue reading...London, the east of England and the West Midlands have highest number of cases, as UKHSA urges families to get children vaccinated
Two children in England have died from measles, health officials say, as data shows more than 100 new reported cases in the last fortnight.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Thursday that two children had died this year, one from “acute measles” and the other from the “late effects of measles”.
Continue reading...There’s a downside to too much convenience: it harms our bodies
There is a seductive fantasy being floated by AI executives that all the efficiency their products will bring us will lead to humans finally returning to their essential, best selves. Picture it: when this day arrives, we’ll spring from our chairs, push aside our keyboards and, supposedly, do all things we’ve been meaning to do: hike, cook and finally take a pilates class.
It’s true – AI has already taken some workday drudgery, such as reading and writing contracts, presentations and quarterly reports, off some people’s plates. Within a few years, we’re told, a team of invisible digital assistants will take over mundane domestic chores too: making medical appointments, renewing our car insurance and planning. The vision is enticing: finally, the moment when we can stop switching-switching-switching between screens and devices, put our health first and flourish. Unfortunately, if the history of innovation teaches us anything, it’s that labor-saving technology has rarely, if ever, triggered healthier habits.
Drive-throughs and microwaves did not lead to more time spent walking in nature. When escalators replaced stairs, email took over from walking over to talk to a colleague, and wandering through the video store was swapped out for streaming from the couch, few of us considered how these tiny conveniences would chip away at our physical health, year after more efficient year. A task that took almost no effort used to be described with the saying: “You hardly need to lift a finger.” Now, we literally lift a finger and – tap – the chore is done.
