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A leading doctor has said that the NHS is set to miss the Long Term Plan’s target for improving stroke care by several years. Professor Martin James, a trustee of the Stroke Association and clinical director of the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme, said that lack of infrastructure investment and extra staff trained meant the Government would miss its thrombectomy target.
In 2019 the NHS Long Term Plan set a target to treat 10% of stroke patients with thrombectomy, the mechanical removal of clots in the brain, by 2022. However, the number of patients treated with thrombectomy has stalled at about 2%, with a gradual increase in 2019 which peaking at around 2.2% since falling to 1.8% by 2020, according to a paper presented at the World Stroke Congress. More recent data shows that in the second quarter of 2021 there were 23,282 strokes entered into the national stroke audit system but just 527 thrombectomies performed.
Source: Health Service Journal, 10 November 2021
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Three Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) have announced new chief executive officers for their NHS integrated care boards (ICBs). Dorset, along with Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon & Wiltshire (BaNESSW), together with Gloucestershire ICSs are the first three systems to announce their new CEOs. More appointments are expected across the country imminently although it is understood that a substantial minority of ICBs have failed to appoint a CEO and will need to recruit again.
ICBs will be the part of ICSs which make most of the executive decisions and control NHS resources, including taking on the function of clinical commissioning groups. The new CEOs will be “chief executive designates”, confirmed in post if the Health and Social Care Bill is passed. The CEO roles replace the ICS lead roles which most systems have in place, some of which only recruited recently. Recruitment for the 42 ICS CEO roles started in the autumn run by NHS England. Advertised salaries ranged from “up to £270,000” for some and down to £197,500 for others.
Sue Harriman, current CEO of Solent Trust, will join BaNESSW from February. She has led Solent for seven years, seconded in February 2021 to the COVID-19 vaccination deployment programme as chief operating officer for six months. Patricia Miller, who has been CEO of Dorset County Hospital FT for seven years, will take the helm at Dorset ICS. The current executive of the One Gloucestershire ICS, Mary Hutton, will take on the chief executive role for the Gloucestershire ICB.
Source: Health Service Journal, 11 November 2021
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Health chiefs in NHS England have warned that patient safety is being put at “unacceptably high” risk because of severe staff shortages making it difficult to cope with soaring demand from a record high treatment backlog. Nine out of 10 NHS chief executives, chairs, and directors this week reported that pressures have become unsustainable and sounded “alarm bells” over a lack of doctors, nurses, and health workers, with at least 90,000 vacancies across the health service.
The warnings came in response to a survey of 451 NHS leaders in England conducted by the NHS Confederation. Results show that 88% of leaders think that the demands on their organisation are unsustainable and 87% believe a lack of staffing in the NHS is putting patient safety and care at risk. The greatest areas of concern for leaders were primary care and urgent and emergency care.
The most endorsed recommendation by health leaders in the poll was for urgent extra support for social care, particularly for more effective discharge arrangements. As many as one in five beds in some hospitals are occupied by patients who are medically fit to be discharged but do not have a package of social care lined up allowing them to leave hospital.
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A new study has found that Canada’s ban on menthol cigarettes appears to have led to more smokers quitting or cutting down as overall cigarette sales dipped after the law was implemented. Researchers found that the menthol ban in October 2017 led to a reduction in overall cigarette sales of 4.6% when compared to sales from the previous year.
The research was published on Tuesday 9 November in the journal JAMA Network Open. Erika Sward, assistant vice president of national advocacy for the American Lung Association, says the findings provide "valuable information" on what could happen if the United States enacted a menthol cigarette ban. Public health advocates have long pushed for a menthol ban in the US as the products are more likely to appeal to kids and marketing has targeted people of colour.
Source: UPI, 10 November 2021
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A Quebec judge has ruled that smoking onstage in Quebec City theatres does not count as a form of artistic expression. Representatives from three Quebec City theatres had appealed their $500 (£297) fines given for smoking on stage, claiming that the fines violated freedom of expression. Quebec judge Yannick Couture ruled against the three on Tuesday 9 November, saying that the issue was not if actors could play characters who smoke but how they portray smoking onstage.
Couture wrote that while Quebec law allows actors to portray characters who smoke or to simulate smoking, "the ban is on the [actual] projection or inhalation of smoke from a tobacco product in a public place." Smoking during a theatrical performance "is not expressive content because no message is conveyed." Quebec's Tobacco Control Act states that any products “put to one’s mouth to inhale any substance that may or may not contain nicotine” are forbidden in “enclosed spaces where activities of a sports or recreational, judicial, cultural or artistic nature are presented”.
In all three cases, actors smoked cigarettes containing the herb sage rather than tobacco. However, Couture said that theatres could find other ways to depict smoking, including special effects, noting that they regularly find ways to show other illegal activities onstage, like drug use.
Source: National Observer, 11 November 2021
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Philippines' Department of Health has distanced itself from remarks made by the Philippine delegation at the 9th Conference of Parties of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) which praised the tobacco industry, calling some of their products “salutary” and a “source of good” and lauding tobacco tax revenues.
“The statements made by the Philippine delegation negate the very principles of the WHO FCTC and undermine the progress the Philippines has made to curb tobacco use,” said the Department of Health on Wednesday 10 October. The Department denounced praise for the tobacco industry's role in raising tax revenues, noting that in 2011 the estimated cost of tobacco-related diseases was ₱177bn (£2.6bn) per year, seven times higher than the total tax revenue from tobacco products.
Source: CNN Philippines, 11 November 2021
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PQs 1 & 2: Smoking: Young People
Asked by Rachel Maskell, York Central
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that young people have access to comprehensive smoking cessation services.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help prevent children from taking up (a) smoking or (b) vaping.
Answered by Maggie Throup, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
The current Tobacco Control Plan for England has an objective to reduce the number of 15 year olds who regularly smoke from 8% to 3% or less by the end of 2022. The latest available NHS Digital data from 2018 shows a prevalence of 5.3%. This data also shows that approximately 25% of 11 to 15 year olds had ever used an e-cigarette, but regular use of e-cigarettes (use at least once a week) remained low at 2% with occasional use (using an e-cigarette sometimes, but less than once a week) at around 4%.
Informing children about the dangers of smoking and vaping is part of the statutory health education curriculum. Local stop smoking services are available to anyone, including young people. We continue to monitor e-cigarette use and smoking among young people.
PQ3: Electronic Cigarettes: Research
Asked by Rachel Maskell, York Central
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will commit to supporting research into the long-term impact of e-cigarettes on public health.
Answered by Maggie Throup, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities will continue to monitor the evidence base of research on e-cigarettes, including their long-term impact on health. The next review will be published in spring 2022, including analyses on flavourings, cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular disease as well as trends in youth and adult behaviours.
PQs 4 & 5: Smuggling
Asked by Robert Goodwill, Scarborough and Whitby
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what positions the UK Government plans to take on the agenda items being discussed at the WHO Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products in November 2021; and if he will make a statement.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the EU's common positions ahead of the WHO's Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products; and whether the UK delegation plans to support those positions at that meeting in November.
Answered by Helen Whately, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury of United Kingdom
The UK is a Party to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (the Protocol), which supports our objective to improve international coordination to tackle tobacco fraud at all points in the supply chain.
The UK position on the various agenda items at the coming Meeting of the Parties (MOP) to the Protocol is being determined in advance of the meeting and will take account of how best to achieve this objective and whether the proposals being put forward are likely to be the most effective.
No assessment has been made of any Party's final detailed position for the MOP. However, the objectives of all Parties within the Europe region of the Protocol are often closely aligned.
The Government does not plan to make a statement.
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.
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