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** 5 July 2022
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** UK
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** Three-month cancer waits top 10,000 for the first time (#1)
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** Kellogg's loses court case over sugary cereal supermarket offers (#2)
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** Boris Johnson faces investigation into claims over 40 “new” hospitals (#3)
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** NHS leaders issue call to action over North East life expectancy (#4)
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** Parlimentiary Activity
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** Parliamentary questions (#5)
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** UK
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** Three-month cancer waits top 10,000 for the first time
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** Patients with suspected cancer are not supposed to wait more than two months from a referral. However, information shared with the Health Services Journal (HSJ) shows that of the 313,000 people on the national cancer waiting list, just over 10,000 had waited 104 days or more. Breast, skin and lower gastro-intestinal cancers saw the biggest increases in long waiters.

Information about three-month cancer waits is not made public on a regular basis. NHS England publishes data for the total backlog of patients waiting over 62 days but does not make public the regional or trust-level results or reveal how many patients are waiting three months or more.

One senior figure in cancer policy told HSJ the backlog position was “awful” and “a reflection of a worsening trajectory overwhelming diagnostic capacity in particular”. The news comes shortly before the expected release of the Government’s 10-year Cancer Strategy this month.

Michelle Mitchell, chief executive at Cancer Research UK, called on the government to increase the resources available for cancer services. She told HSJ: “Despite the tireless work of NHS staff, people affected by cancer are facing unacceptably long waits for vital tests and treatment.”

Mitchell added: “The health and social care secretary has set out bold ambitions for the plan, which is expected in the coming weeks. It’s time for the whole government to commit the vital investment and accountability for it to be a cancer plan that delivers for everyone.”

Source: HSJ, 5 July 2022
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** Kellogg's loses court case over sugary cereal supermarket offers
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** Kellogg's will not be allowed to promote sugary cereals in supermarket special offers, a court has ruled. In-store promotions on food and drink high in fat, salt or sugar will be restricted under new rules for England. Food giant Kellogg's had taken the government to court arguing the rules did not take into account the nutritional value of added milk.

But the Royal Courts of Justice ruled in favour of the government. Kellogg's said it was "disappointed".

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it strongly welcomed the judgement as location promotion restrictions were expected to deliver more than £57bn of health benefits. A spokesperson for the DHSC said: "Together with the volume price restrictions, these changes will protect children up and down the country from products high in saturated fat, sugar or salt".

Source: BBC News, 4 July 2022
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** Boris Johnson faces investigation into claims over 40 “new” hospitals
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** The official watchdog for government spending is to launch an inquiry into Boris Johnson’s claim that 40 new hospitals will be built by 2030, as concerns grow in Whitehall that the pledge is unaffordable and has been greatly oversold to the public.

In a move that could prove hugely embarrassing for the prime minister, the independent National Audit Office (NAO) has decided to conduct a “value for money review” into the entire scheme, which was a cornerstone of the Conservative party’s 2019 general election manifesto.

In a letter to the shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, who had raised questions about delays and the resulting rising costs of the scheme with the NAO, its top official, Gareth Davies, the comptroller and auditor general, said he was already preparing a full value for money review.

Davies also said that he had taken “particular” note of the “implications of delay for increasing costs at this time of high inflation and the matter of whether all projects truly meet the classification of “new hospitals’”. Davies said he would be reporting back in 2023.

Source: The Guardian, 2 July 2022
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** NHS leaders issue call to action over North East life expectancy
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** The North East is "way behind the rest of the country" when it comes to healthy life expectancy and preventable mortality, according to a report presented to NHS leaders.

As of 1^st July, NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) across the North East were replaced by the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS). As part of this shift, a new Integrated Care Board is now in charge of decision-making in the region's health service.

The first meeting of the new board took place last week, with the health inequalities faced by people across the area high on the agenda. In a report to the board, local leaders made a "call to action" - describing the "stark challenges facing the communities we are proud to serve".

The report laid out plans for a focus on the most deprived 20% of people to tackle the issues like smoking, cardiovascular disease and teenage pregnancy. The report also highlights how "despite relatively small pockets of prosperity, much of the poor health in the North East and North Cumbria is driven by a century of declining prosperity".

ICS CEO, Sam Allen, said: "While things won’t change overnight, and the year ahead will be one of transition for the new organisation – this is an important milestone for our region and enables us to move forward on our journey to deliver our ambitious plans to improve the health of our communities. It presents a new momentum for combining our collective resources and expertise so we can make faster progress to tackle key issues we have been grappling with for many years such as the long-standing inequalities and poor health that still exist in the region, as well as doing more to prevent ill-health in the first place."
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**
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** Source: Chronicle Live, 4 July 2022
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Read Article ([link removed] )


** Parlimentiary Activity
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** Parliamentary questions

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** PQ1/2: Electronic Cigarettes

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** Asked by Alexander Stafford, Conservative, Rother Valley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made about the potential negative health effects of smoking disposable e-cigarettes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people (a) in total, (b) under the age of 18 and (c) who have never smoked cigarettes that were hospitalised with symptoms stemming from the use of e-cigarettes in the last year.

Answered by Maggie Throup, Minister for Public Health

Although not risk free, e-cigarettes or vapes, including disposables, are less harmful than smoked tobacco. A Cochrane Review, ‘Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation’, found that the rate of adverse events reported for vapes is similar to that of nicotine replacement therapy. This Review is available at the following link:

[link removed] ([link removed])

Through the current Tobacco Control Plan for England, the former Public Health England commissioned annual independent reports on vaping in England. The final report in this series will be published by the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities shortly. The report will include systematic reviews of the respiratory, cardiovascular and cancer risks from vaping, in addition to reports on the risks from fires, explosions and poisonings.

Any suspected adverse drug reaction (ADR) occurring after using a vaping product is reported to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). From 22 September 2020 to 22 September 2021, the MHRA received 50 suspected ADR reports associated with vaping use, with one report concerning an individual under the age of 18 years old. There have been seven reports concerning those aged under 18 years old in the last four years.

Source: Hansard, 4 July 2022

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PQ1 transcript ([link removed] )
PQ2 transcript ([link removed] )
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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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