Sunday 25 June 2023:
Hot News! Local hospitals under fire. More appalling strikes planned in July. All Covid vaccinations stop on 30 June. SWF healthcare review ready. Covid Public Inquiry has begun. More dangerous strikes planned.
Amber Heat Danger Alerts continue in place for some of the coming fortnight. wh.alerts.eoe@ukhsa.gov.uk . Significant impacts likely on everyone’s health from high temperatures. Bringing: increased mortality particularly for 65+ age group, vulnerable people, and young people; increased demand for healthcare services; excessive hospital and care homes’ temperatures; reduced delivery of services due to effects on workforce & infrastructure; indoors overheating.
CQC inspection report says parts of our local hospitals were inadequate in January & February. In the worst of the winter crisis, Basildon, Broomfield & Southend Hospitals were short staffed, didn’t provide all patients with safe care, didn’t comply with all welfare standards, weren’t able to provide all services and had overly long waiting lists. Urgent steps are being taken to improve things. The whole country cannot recruit enough doctors, nurses, carers and volunteers. Local NHS providers can only do so much; long term national action is essential. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-65892076 . Our Chair spoke to BBC Essex on 16 June: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0fprj36 @ 3.09.40 – 3.19.05 .
JUNIOR DOCTORS will strike for the longest in NHS history between Thursday 13 July and Tuesday 18 July. HOSPITAL CONSULTANT DOCTORS are balloting for strike on 20 & 21 July. RCN NURSES are balloting about more strikes by them. These disputes must be settled immediately and it’s the Government’s responsibility to make this happen. Patients suffer serious delays, waiting lists and workloads increase, and tackling NHS backlogs is delayed.
Covid Spring Vaccination boosters stop at the end of June. Only 55% of people eligible and needing this have taken it up. If you’re in the 45% who haven’t, health experts strongly advise you to get it before it’s too late.
First and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine also stop on 30 June. If you haven’t had any Covid vaccinations or are only recently eligible, reaching 12 years old or have moved into a vulnerable category, health experts strongly advise you to book and get them before it’s too late.
Book at nhs.uk/get-vaccination or phone 119 for avaccination centre jab before the end of June to get it done.
Our Survey of some healthcare services provided by SWF and Dengie Primary Care Network has finished. The results are analysed, the report finished, and it will be published by the end of June. Look out for the headlines in the next Focus Issue.
The UK Covid Inquiry opened with public hearings about Resilience & Preparedness. The Chair, Baroness Hallett, calls everyone to share our pandemic experiences. She’ll report on 4 modules as she goes along. The following Modules are: Core-UK decision-making & political governance; Impact of Covid on healthcare; and Vaccines & therapeutics. https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/ . The Inquiry has already been told that UK public services were depleted when Covid hit.
Dr Chris Smith, Consultant Virologist at Addenbrookes Hospital & Cambridge University, and Professor Christine Pagel, Operational Research Professor, at UCL, on BBC 5Live (with Adrian Chiles, 14 June https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001n74f 12.05-33.40) say Covid remains very serious and still with us. Around 20,000 people have died with it this year, 60% directly due to Covid and 40% with Covid as a contributory factor. Best estimates are that up to 1million people have Covid every week. Long-Covid is increasing. Absences from work continue at high levels. Recovery takes a long time. For health and welfare information contact SWF Health & Social Care Group on swfhealthsocial@outlook.com or leave a voicemail on 01245 322079 .
SWF Health & Social Care Group 