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News Archive

November 2020

Watchdog investigating national rise in stillbirths  

National review has been launched by regulators because of an increased number of stillbirths during the first wave of Covid-19. It comes as the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch is investigating 40 intrapartum stillbirths which took place between April and June this year, when the country experienced the first wave of Covid-19. During the same three months in the previous year, 24 stillbirths were reported. 

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November 2020

Carers ‘worn out’ by virus and need services backUnpaid carers in Wales are “worn out” and need support services lost during the coronavirus pandemic to return. It comes as research by Carers Wales found that some unpaid carers are reporting 10 times the rate of mental health problems of other parents. The legal right for carers’ needs to be assessed was suspended as part of Covid-19 rules – and the Welsh Government is consulting on whether it should resume. 

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November 2020

PM warns of virus deaths ‘twice as bad’ as spring 

Prime Minister is expected to warn MPs in Parliament that Covid-19 deaths could be twice as high over the winter as they were in the first wave of the pandemic. Boris Johnson will make a statement in Parliament today following his announcement on Friday that England will enter a lockdown for four weeks from Thursday 5 November to Wednesday 2 December 2020. 

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October 2020

Night shift nurses ‘most ill-served’ by hospital food facilities

An independent review of hospital food has made a number of recommendations on how NHS trusts can provide more nutritious meals to both staff and patients, as well as focus on food safety and impacts on the environment. Led by a panel of advisers and chaired by Philip Shelley, catering lead for Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, the review said staff on night shifts were among the “most ill-served” when it came to hospital food. 

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October 2020

PHE chief nurse calls for action to protect children in second wave

The needs of children and young people were overlooked in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the chief nurse at Public Health England has warned. Viv Bennett said action was needed to “reverse the harm” caused to CYP due to Covid-19 going forward and called on every nurse to play a part. Speaking at the Queen’s Nursing Institute annual conference last week, Ms Bennett said most of the impacts on children and young people were “indirect” and related to lockdown and social distancing measures.

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October 2020

Heavy toll on minorities was result of inequality 

Review has concluded that black, Asian and minority ethnic communities have suffered disproportionately during the pandemic as a result of decades of structural discrimination. Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon, who led the review, said that inequalities within government, the healthcare system, and the housing, employment and education sectors meant that BAME people had been overexposed to the virus.

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October 2020

Ministers accused of failing to address impact of coronavirus on ethnic minorities

Public Health England review found that ministers had failed to bring in measures to reduce the disproportionate impact of Coronavirus on ethnic minorities, despite warnings that action was needed. 

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October 2020

 ‘No stigma’ in nurses seeking mental health support, CNOs urge
The most senior nurses in the UK spoke out to acknowledge the psychological stress placed on the nursing profession by Covid-19 and assured staff they will face ‘no stigma’ for asking for help. Speaking at a nursing conference, Ruth May, Professor Jean White, and Professor Charlotte McArdle, chief nursing officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively, cited the mental health and wellbeing of nurses as a key concern and priority going into the second wave of the coronavirus crisis. 

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October 2020

Pregnant women still forced to have hospital scans alone

Pregnant women are still having to undergo vital maternity scans alone in London hospitals as a result of Covid restrictions — including those who fear they may have miscarried. Partners were banned from attending routine checks during the pandemic’s first peak. Research by the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services found that half of London NHS trusts who provided information had imposed restrictions — and at least two planned to continue doing so.

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October 2020

Infection control experts issue open letter on care home visiting during Covid 19 pandemic 

Group of experts in nursing and infection prevention and control (IPC) is today warning against the use of IPC measures as a “rationale” for stopping safe and compassionate visits in care homes during the Covid-19 pandemic. In a new open letter published in Nursing Times, the specialists say that preventing people from visiting loved ones in social care settings in the name of the IPC is a “misinterpretation and at times even abuse” of IPC principles.

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October 2020

COVID-19: concerns over ICU nurses’ mental health as admissions rise

The report notes that British Association of Critical Care Nurses chair Nicki Credland said she was aware of cases of nurses who work in intensive care units (ICUs) being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder and others being admitted for mental health treatment as a result of their experiences treating patients during the pandemic. 

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October 2020

Regulator warns existing inequality ‘fault lines are becoming chasms’

A report says the government must immediately deliver a new deal for social care with major investment and better terms for workers, the Care Quality Commission has said. The regulator warned that the sector was “fragile” as it braces for a second wave of infections. In a challenge to ministers, the CQC’s chief executive, Ian Trenholm, said overdue reform of the care sector “needs to happen now – not at some point in the future”

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