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** 7 September 2020
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** UK
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** COVID-19: At least six English NHS trusts could be overwhelmed this winter (#1)
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** North West: Illegal tobacco market exposed in lockdown raids (#2)
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** BBC Radio 4 Profile: Simon Case (#3)
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** International
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** France: Changes in cigarette prices (#4)
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** Republic of Ireland: Donnelly wants ban on €250m menthol cigarettes market made more ‘robust’ (#5)
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** UK
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** More than 100 NHS trusts in England could be at or above full capacity this winter if they faced a second wave of coronavirus admissions on top of the usual seasonal workload, with figures suggesting that dozens would have 10% fewer beds than needed.
The Guardian compared each trust’s 2019/20 winter capacity against the number of beds they needed for COVID-19 patients in April when an average of 16,000 beds was required for coronavirus patients per day, and May, by which time lockdown and physical distancing had reduced the number requiring hospitalisation.
Even if COVID pressures are closer to May’s lower levels, 79 of 132 trusts (60%) could reach capacity with seven trusts oversubscribed by at least 10% compared with last year. Six trusts could be overwhelmed in either scenario, meaning that some NHS hospitals would struggle to accommodate all seriously ill patients needing admission. The analysis excluded extra capacity provided through Nightingale hospitals or the private sector due to a lack of available data, and does not account for those who might have been reasonably expected to have been taken to hospital with or without a COVID-19 diagnosis.
Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “... It is not just the usual winter pressures, nor even just the very real concern about another spike which could disrupt efforts to restore services. The reality is that those delivering frontline services are having to work with significant infection control measures to contain the virus, including PPE and social distancing, both of which reduce productivity. They are also having to cope with staff shortages and, frankly, there are some pretty exhausted clinical and support staff who have managed through this traumatic period.”
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Source: The Guardian, 7 September 2020
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** Trading Standards has released the details of some recent seizures, to show the public that any cheap tobacco bought during the lockdown and touted as ‘duty-free’, often sold under the counter in local shops, is illegal tobacco.
Kate Pike, the lead on tobacco at Trading Standards North West, said: “We visited this shop after receiving intelligence that illegal tobacco was being sold. We found illegal tobacco behind a locked door in a grubby stairwell. A sliding hatch went through to the shop, so illegal tobacco could be passed through to whoever was behind the counter. We found a staff house where lots of people were sleeping on the floor - this is the real human cost of ‘cheap’ cigarettes or tobacco. We are working with partners across Greater Manchester to drive down the illicit trade. If you know where illegal tobacco is for sale, please get in touch. We will take action wherever and whenever we find illegal tobacco being sold.”
Tobacco bought on the illegal market is likely to be the result of organised criminal activity with links to human trafficking, the drugs trade and loan sharks, bringing crime into Greater Manchester communities and exploiting vulnerable people. Dealers will also sell the products to children, which can lead to them getting addicted to smoking.
Andrea Crossfield, the ‘making smoking history’ lead at the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, added: “Illegal tobacco might seem like a bargain, but it comes at a high price to our kids and our communities. Legal or illegal, all tobacco contains a toxic cocktail of chemicals which will kill one in two long term smokers. Illegal cigarettes are often responsible for getting children started on this lethal addiction, because of their availability at pocket money prices and because dealers don’t care who they sell to. The crackdown on illegal tobacco is part of Greater Manchester’s wider efforts to cut smoking rates and make smoking history for future generations.”
Source: Manchester Evening News, 1 September 2020
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** Listen to BBC Radio 4 profile of Simon Case, newly appointed Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.
Source: BBC Radio 4, 5 September 2020
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Listen to podcast ([link removed])
** International
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Many cigarette brands have risen in price 10-20 centimes, linked to increasing tax aimed at raising the average pack price to €10 this year. Some firms opted to lower their margins, so Winston Connect Blue has gone down from €9.50 to €9.40. The popular Marlboro Red, which was already €10, is unchanged.
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Source: The Connexion, August 2020
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** The Irish government says it wants the four-month-old European ban on menthol cigarettes strengthened to stop tobacco companies side-stepping it. The Health Service Executive (HSE), which polices the 20 May menthol cigarette ban that outlawed the €250 million market for them in the Republic, also says it is “actively investigating” tobacco companies here over the issue.
Japan Tobacco International (JTI), the maker of Silk Cut, has admitted it still adds some menthol to products including a new Silk Cut Choice Green that was among a suite of new brands it introduced into the Irish market after the ban. Sales data shows that JTI’s new brands had taken up more than 5% of the Irish cigarette market in their first month.
After complaints from anti-smoking groups and rival tobacco companies that retired their menthol blends, the HSE said in June it would co-operate with European authorities on the issue. However, minutes for a June online meeting of the commission’s expert group on tobacco policy show that the HSE, which participated in the meeting to represent Ireland, appears not to have complained about the issue.
Stephen Donnelly, the Minister for Health, insisted that the directive is “being reviewed at EU level” and said he would strongly support any revisions to the directive that would ensure that the provision in relation to the menthol ban is “robust.”
Source: The Irish Times, 4 September 2020
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