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Revealed: The targets the NHS no longer has to meet
NHS England has shelved priorities on long covid and diversity and inclusion – as well as a wide range of other areas – in its latest slimmed down operational planning guidance, HSJ analysis shows.
NHSE published its planning guidance for 2023-24, which sets the national “must do” asks of trust and integrated care systems, shortly before Christmas. It was significantly shorter than any previous years, at 20 pages, compared to between 30 and 60 previously, resonating with government’s professed desire to reduce NHS micromanagement. It also comes as NHSE looks to reduce its own staffing, especially in national programmes, and is cutting national funding pots.
HSJ has analysed objectives, targets and asks from the 2022-23 planning guidance which do not appear in the 2023-24 document. The measures on which trusts and systems will no longer be held accountable for include [see article for full list]:
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Improving the service’s black, Asian and minority ethnic disparity ratio by “delivering the six high-impact actions to overhaul recruitment and promotion practices”
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Increasing the number of patients referred to post-covid services, who are then seen within six weeks of their referral
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Several requirements on staff, including to “continue to support the health and wellbeing of our staff, including through effective health and wellbeing conversations” and “continued funding of mental health hubs to enable staff access to enhanced occupational health and wellbeing and psychological support”
Source: Health Services Journal, 4 January 2023
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Dog sniffs out more than 250,000 illegal cigarettes in North Wales
More than 250,000 illegal cigarettes and 20kg of illegal rolling tobacco were seized last month from shops and storage locations following raids across North Wales.
Officers from Trading Standards, Immigration Enforcement, Intellectual Property Office and North Wales Police took part supported by tobacco detection dog Billy from WagtailUK.
As well as the large quantities of illegal tobacco recovered, officers seized £20,000 worth of illegal vapes, along with a quantity of counterfeit perfume. In total, two premises have been closed down and one individual was arrested and investigations remain ongoing.
Roger Mapleson, lead officer for tobacco from Trading Standards Wales, said: “Smoking kills over 5,000 people in Wales every year, and half of all long-term smokers will die as a direct consequence of their habit. Illegal tobacco is cigarettes or rolling tobacco that has been smuggled and where no duty has been paid. This means it can be sold for less than half the price of legitimate tobacco in the informal economy creating a significant problem in our communities. It makes it much easier for children to access tobacco and acquire a lifelong addiction and it makes it much harder for existing smokers to quit. The results of these raids demonstrate how effective joint operations can be. Illegal tobacco is distributed and supplied through organised criminal networks - this is often linked to other criminal activity and brings crime into our local communities.”
Source: North Wales Chronicle, 4 January 2023
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Fewer people in Wigan are smoking as rising number turn to e-cigarettes
Office for National Statistics figures recorded the lowest proportion of smokers in the UK to date, with e-cigarettes playing a "major role" in the decline.
The data shows 13.9% of people aged over 18 in Wigan were smokers in 2021, down from 17.1% the year before. It was also a fall from 17.7% five years ago. Last year, a further 27.4% of adults in the area were ex-smokers while 58.8% had never smoked. Men in Wigan smoked more than women, with 17.2 % taking up cigarettes, while 10.6% of women smoked.
Hazel Cheeseman, deputy chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, welcomed the overall fall in smoking levels, but said the Government must not become "complacent".
Ms Cheeseman added that without a new tobacco plan from the Government, "the vision of being smoke free by 2030" will not be met.
The ONS said the increase in people taking up e-cigarettes has played a "major role" in the fall, with a separate survey finding 7.7% of those aged 16 and over in Great Britain last year used an e-cigarette daily or occasionally. The survey found the proportion of vapers was highest among current cigarette smokers (24.6%) and ex-cigarette smokers (14.8%), with only 1.7% of people who have never smoked reporting that they vaped.
Source: Wigan Today, 6 January 2023
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Opinion: Booze is 10% ethanol, 90% marketing so maybe it’s time to try Dry January
Writing for the Guardian, columnist Arwa Mahdawi, argues that our taste in alcohol is heavily influenced by marketing the for the product and suggests that this is the reason why there has been a huge increase in the number of celebrity affiliated alcohol brands over the last few years.
Mahdawi explains that whilst Grey Goose, for example, is often seen as a premium vodka brand, its creator sourced it from France as this is generally associated with luxury and doubled the price of their main competitor. This successful marketing resulted in it being seen as the premier vodka brand, despite a lab analysis finding very little difference between Grey Goose, a home-made vodka and a very cheap brand of vodka.
Mahdawi cites studies, such as a 2008 US study that found when someone was told a wine was more expensive, they would enjoy it more, even exhibiting increased activity in the part of the brain associated with pleasure.
Mahdawi concludes that marketing actions are highly effective at guiding our tastes, going as far as to say that alcohol is “90% marketing”.
Source: The Guardian, 4 January 2023
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Tributes to North East Professor Sir Michael Rawlins who fought to protect patients from medicine side-effects
The Chronicle Live pays tribute to Professor Sir Michael Rawlins who has passed away at the age of 81:
"Professor Sir Michael Rawlins an Emeritus Professor at Newcastle University who was the founding chair of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), died aged 81 in Darlington on New Year's Day. Over a lengthy career in pharmacology he was a champion for patient safety and ensured patient voice was at the heart of decision-making.
In addition to leading NICE for 12 years, he also chaired the board of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for six years to 2020, and was president of the Royal Society of Medicine for two years.
He retained connections to Newcastle University throughout his career - having first been appointed to a professorship at the university in 1973. He was a member of the university's council and four years ago opened its school of pharmacy. During the 1980s he also had a role advising what was then the Newcastle District Health Authority."
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The King’s Fund: The health policy year in review 2022
The King’s Fund looks back over health policy events and changes that occurred in 2022, including the publication of the Khan Review of smoking in June and NHS hospital admissions attributable to smoking.
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