COVID-19: New testing centre to fast-track variant vaccines Vaccines tailored to tackle COVID-19 variants are to be accelerated through new state-of-the-art labs, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced Highest alcohol deaths in England and Wales for 20 years The number of deaths linked to alcohol in 2020 was the highest since 2001, data from the Office for National Statistics shows District nurse qualifications rise by nearly a quarter The annual figure of district nurses qualifying in 2020 rose from 554 to 675, equating to an overall increase of 22% from 2018/19, the Annual District Nurse Education Report from the QNI has found COVID-19: 50 million doses of vaccine administered in UK More than 34 million people have had at least one jab while 15 million have had both doses of the vaccine, the Department of Health and Social Care has announced Calls for investment in midwives’ pay Investing in midwifery services also means improving pay conditions, the Royal College of Midwives has said as part of International Day of the Midwife celebrations NHS England head Simon Stevens to step down Sir Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, has announced that he will stand down and become a peer Antimicrobial resistance a ‘silent pandemic’ Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock has warned of the dangers of antibiotic resistant bacteria in a speech at a United Nations Summit COVID-19: Public inquiry into pandemic handling called for A major inquiry into the government’s decisions during the COVID-19 has been urged by UNISON Social care: An ‘urgent transformation’ is needed Reforms to social care comparable to the foundation of the NHS are needed after the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been told Air pollution: Calls for change to law A coroner has called for a changes to air pollution laws after the death of a nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah COVID-19: Vaccine uptake in over-50s reaches 95% Approximately 95% of those aged over 50 in England have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination, data from NHS England shows RCN launches education strategy to support professional development The RCN has created a three-year strategy to help nurses continue their professional development, the organisation has announced Thousands join as popular conference goes online PCN Live, the leading educational event for primary care nurses organised by Practice Nursing and Independent Nurse, saw more than 1000 nurses join the virtual event as it went online for the first time COVID-19: Antivirals Taskforce launched A new Antivirals Taskforce will identify innovative home treatments for UK patients who have been exposed to COVID-19 to stop the infection spreading and speed up recovery time, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced Can the Buurtzorg Model of nursing transform the NHS? Could a Dutch system of nursing, based on autonomy and building relationships, provide key solutions to challenges in the NHS COVID vaccine ‘does not invalidate Ramadan fast’, Muslim community told Muslim health care professionals and Islamic scholars have released guidance to say the COVID vaccination does not break the Ramadan fast ‘Vast majority’ of nursing staff receive first vaccine More than nine in 10 respondents to an RCN survey have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and nearly two-thirds (62%) have received both doses COVID-19: UK moves into next phase of vaccine roll-out People aged 45 to 49 are now being invited to book their vaccination appointments, the Department of Health and Social Care has announced NMC releases proposals to modernise community and public health nursing education standards The standards, which provide guidelines for almost 725 000 nurses and midwives in the UK, were last updated 15 years ago and it is hoped they can be improved through the input of a variety of healthcare professionals RCN celebrates credentialing 1000 advanced nurse practitioners A thousand nurses have been recognised by the RCN as advanced practitioners, just three years after the programme began COVID-19: End-of-life care ‘not seen as essential’ during pandemic Palliative and end of life care was compromised because services were not seen as 'frontline NHS' during the pandemic, a report from Marie Curie has claimed COVID-19: Under-30s to be offered alternative to AstraZeneca vaccine Patients aged 29 and under will be offered a different vaccine to the AstraZeneca jab, due to a small risk of blood clots, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has announced COVID-19: 5 million people receive second dose of vaccine More than 5 million people in the UK have received their second dose of a coronavirus vaccine, with nearly one in 10 UK adults having now received both doses, the Department of Health and Social Care has announced COVID-19: Half possess antibodies in the UK Approximately 50% of people in the UK now have antibodies against COVID-19, either through infection or vaccination, according to the Office for National Statistics COVID-19: Mental health recovery plan announced A plan to improve the provision of mental health services in the UK after the pandemic has been announced by the Department of Health and Social Care
COVID-19: New testing centre to fast-track variant vaccines Vaccines tailored to tackle COVID-19 variants are to be accelerated through new state-of-the-art labs, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced
Highest alcohol deaths in England and Wales for 20 years The number of deaths linked to alcohol in 2020 was the highest since 2001, data from the Office for National Statistics shows
District nurse qualifications rise by nearly a quarter The annual figure of district nurses qualifying in 2020 rose from 554 to 675, equating to an overall increase of 22% from 2018/19, the Annual District Nurse Education Report from the QNI has found
COVID-19: 50 million doses of vaccine administered in UK More than 34 million people have had at least one jab while 15 million have had both doses of the vaccine, the Department of Health and Social Care has announced
Calls for investment in midwives’ pay Investing in midwifery services also means improving pay conditions, the Royal College of Midwives has said as part of International Day of the Midwife celebrations
NHS England head Simon Stevens to step down Sir Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, has announced that he will stand down and become a peer
Antimicrobial resistance a ‘silent pandemic’ Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock has warned of the dangers of antibiotic resistant bacteria in a speech at a United Nations Summit
COVID-19: Public inquiry into pandemic handling called for A major inquiry into the government’s decisions during the COVID-19 has been urged by UNISON
Social care: An ‘urgent transformation’ is needed Reforms to social care comparable to the foundation of the NHS are needed after the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been told
Air pollution: Calls for change to law A coroner has called for a changes to air pollution laws after the death of a nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah
COVID-19: Vaccine uptake in over-50s reaches 95% Approximately 95% of those aged over 50 in England have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination, data from NHS England shows
RCN launches education strategy to support professional development The RCN has created a three-year strategy to help nurses continue their professional development, the organisation has announced
Thousands join as popular conference goes online PCN Live, the leading educational event for primary care nurses organised by Practice Nursing and Independent Nurse, saw more than 1000 nurses join the virtual event as it went online for the first time
COVID-19: Antivirals Taskforce launched A new Antivirals Taskforce will identify innovative home treatments for UK patients who have been exposed to COVID-19 to stop the infection spreading and speed up recovery time, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced
Can the Buurtzorg Model of nursing transform the NHS? Could a Dutch system of nursing, based on autonomy and building relationships, provide key solutions to challenges in the NHS
COVID vaccine ‘does not invalidate Ramadan fast’, Muslim community told Muslim health care professionals and Islamic scholars have released guidance to say the COVID vaccination does not break the Ramadan fast
‘Vast majority’ of nursing staff receive first vaccine More than nine in 10 respondents to an RCN survey have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and nearly two-thirds (62%) have received both doses
COVID-19: UK moves into next phase of vaccine roll-out People aged 45 to 49 are now being invited to book their vaccination appointments, the Department of Health and Social Care has announced
NMC releases proposals to modernise community and public health nursing education standards The standards, which provide guidelines for almost 725 000 nurses and midwives in the UK, were last updated 15 years ago and it is hoped they can be improved through the input of a variety of healthcare professionals
RCN celebrates credentialing 1000 advanced nurse practitioners A thousand nurses have been recognised by the RCN as advanced practitioners, just three years after the programme began
COVID-19: End-of-life care ‘not seen as essential’ during pandemic Palliative and end of life care was compromised because services were not seen as 'frontline NHS' during the pandemic, a report from Marie Curie has claimed
COVID-19: Under-30s to be offered alternative to AstraZeneca vaccine Patients aged 29 and under will be offered a different vaccine to the AstraZeneca jab, due to a small risk of blood clots, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has announced
COVID-19: 5 million people receive second dose of vaccine More than 5 million people in the UK have received their second dose of a coronavirus vaccine, with nearly one in 10 UK adults having now received both doses, the Department of Health and Social Care has announced
COVID-19: Half possess antibodies in the UK Approximately 50% of people in the UK now have antibodies against COVID-19, either through infection or vaccination, according to the Office for National Statistics
COVID-19: Mental health recovery plan announced A plan to improve the provision of mental health services in the UK after the pandemic has been announced by the Department of Health and Social Care