This week in health – 1 February 2019

This week one of the main stories has been about social prescribing. We also cover what might happen within in the NHS with a no deal Brexit. And cancer screening backlog and antibiotic resistance.

NHS to introduce social prescribing

NHS England has announced it will recruit 1,000 more employees to support GPs. Their role will be to support and encourage people with long-term health conditions to join an exercise group or dance class where they don’t necessarily need a GP appointment as they don’t need medication.

talkhealth’s free support programmes

talkhealth offers programmes for patients and caregivers that fit with NHS England’s social prescribing initiative. These are free ss for people with chronic health conditions. They offer practical information and guidance around self-management of long-term health conditions.

More information about talkhealth’s support programmes can be found here

Operations could be cancelled if there’s a No Deal Brexit

NHS trusts have said they could run out of vital medicine if there is a no deal Brexit.

Dr David Rosser of University Hospitals Birmingham  said that even though the NHS have been stockpiling medicines, there could still be shortages because of unprecedented logistical and distribution challenges that have not ever been faced before.

If there is a shortage of medicines, then some operations could be cancelled. The Department of Health have said that planning for a no deal Brexit is ongoing.

Read more about a no deal Brexit and cancelled operations here

The truth about antibiotics – BBC documentary with Angela Ribbon

Earlier this week, Angela Rippon hosted a BBC documentary about antibiotic resistance. If you missed it then it’s worth catching up on iPlayer.

What was  clear is that we can all help in the fight against resistance to antibiotics. Firstly, we should only be prescribed antibiotics when we really need them. They are not suitable for treating coughs and colds, for example.

Also washing our hands thoroughly will help to stop the spread of germs. A medic on the programme said we need to wash our hands for a minimum of 20 seconds. We need to make sure we wash in between our fingers and around our nails with a normal soap. This will kill the bugs and help prevent us from spreading germs.

Cervical cancer screening not meeting targets

According to the National Audit Office cervical cancer screening didn’t meet targets last year. And neither did screening for bowel or breast cancer. There is also a backlog of over 100,000 smear tests where patients are still awaiting results.  Results are only reaching about half of women tested.

Read more about the backlog of cervical cancer screening results here

This story is a good opportunity to remind you of some key online clinics we are running. You can talk with medical experts for free on the following topics:

Despite the widespread snow, we hope you are warm, well and healthy. Be safe and have a good weekend!

  

talkhealth

This is the talkhealth blog spot, where we post on a wide range of health conditions, topics, issues and concerns. We post when we see something that we believe is of interest to our visitors. Our posts do not reflect any particular view or standpoint of talkhealth, but are merely to raise attention and awareness.

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