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News Archive

December 2020

National Midwifery Council’s response to the Ockenden Report.

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December 2020

Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine approved by UK regulator

The Guardian reports the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved by the UK medicines regulator, opening up the possibility of rapidly scaling up vaccination against Covid-19, especially for elderly people in care homes. The Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine   only requires normal refrigeration at 2-8C and is easily transported, therefore rollout to GP practices and care homes will be quicker. The UK has ordered 100 million doses, of which 4 million are expected to be available within the next few days. Meanwhile, BBC Online reports Margaret Keenen, who was the first person in the world to be given the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, has received the second dose three weeks after the first. 

The Guardian Report.
BBC Online Report.

December 2020

Covid-19: Essex declares major incident over virus cases

BBC Online and Sky News Online report a major incident has been declared in Essex amid fears the number of Covid-19 cases could overwhelm the county’s health services. The Essex Resilience Forum said “growing demand” was putting  significant stress on hospitals and social care settings. Separately, The Independent reports concerns are mounting over the number of Covid-19 patients being admitted to hospitals in London as another NHS trust in the capital issued an urgent warning over its oxygen supplies.

BBC OnlineReport
Sky News Online Report
The Independent Report.

December 2020

Donna Ockenden appears before The Health Select Committee 15th December 2020

Today, 15th December 2020 as the Chair of the Independent Maternity Review at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust Donna Ockenden was asked to appear before the  Health Select Committee  at  The Houses of Parliament. Donna was invited to answer questions from the Select Committee on our first report published on Thursday. Donna’s piece runs from 0952hrs   to 1027 hrs  but before and after that there is some very interesting information on maternity services.

Link to Parliamentlive.tv

December 2020

Landmark Moment As First NHS Patient Receives Covid-19 Vaccination

The biggest vaccine campaign in NHS history started today (8th December 2020)  A 90-year-old grandmother Margaret Keenan became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination following its clinical approval. At 6.31AM   Margaret was vaccinated by Nurse May Parsons at her local hospital in Coventry. NHS nurse May Parsons said it was a “huge honour” to be the first in the country to deliver the vaccine to a patient.

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December 2020

Deborah Sturdy appointed as the first Chief Nurse for adult social care

Nursing Times reports that Professor Deborah Sturdy is appointed as England’s first-ever chief nurse for adult social care. Professor Sturdy will begin in her new role before the end of the year and will be employed by the Department of Health and Social Care  (DHSC.) She is taking on the job as a temporary measure to support and guide the social care workforce through the difficult winter ahead, according to the DHSC.

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November 2020

The Chief Operating Officer of the North Wales Community Health Council, Geoff Ryall Harvey comments on the recent decision for BCUHB to exit ‘Special Measures’ and become subject to ‘Targeted Intervention’  by Welsh Government

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November 2020

NHS England: One-to-one nursing rule for patients in intensive care suspended 

NHS England has announced the temporary suspension of the one-to-one rule for nursing staff treating critically ill Covid-19 patients. The relaxation has been agreed with the British Association of Critical Care Nurses and comes amid concern that intensive care units, which went into the pandemic already short of nurses, are being hit by staff being off sick or isolating.

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November 2020

COVID-19: 30,000 NHS staff off sick or self-isolating, warns NHS England chief

About 30,000 NHS staff are self-isolating or off work due to COVID-19, according to NHS England’s chief executive. Sir Simon Stevens said the numbers underlined the need to control the spread of COVID-19 to protect the health service and its capacity to offer care. ‘We’ve got about 30,000 NHS staff who are either off with coronavirus or having to self-isolate – that has an impact,’ he said. 

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November 2020

RCN calls on government to ensure safe staffing levels for nurses this winter

The RCN has called on the government to ensure nurses can work safely this winter amid grave concerns about staffing shortages. Gaps in the workforce were putting enormous strain on nursing teams and placing intolerable pressure on senior nursing leaders as the NHS faces the twin challenges of winter and COVID-19, the RCN said. The college also warned that nurses could burn out and patient safety could be compromised if local staffing plans failed to consider the numbers of registered nurses available to deliver safe care.

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November 2020

Covid-19 spreading faster in England than ‘worst-case scenario’, documents showSAGE reports estimates of 85,000 deaths from Covid-19 over the course of winter. It follows latest figures which show there are around four times as many people catching Covid-19 than anticipated.

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November 2020

NHS Covid app failed to record potential exposures due to error
Error with the NHS Covid-19 app has left potentially thousands of people unaware that they were exposed to the coronavirus and needed to self-isolate. More than 19 million people have downloaded the English contact-tracing app since 24 September, but it has had the wrong settings to record whether these people were close enough to each other to transmit the coronavirus. 

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