Health Management and Policy Alert

Strategies to reduce inequalities in access to planned hospital procedures

Midlands Decision Support Network -
This report follows on from a previous publication which described how people living in more deprived areas have poorer access to planned hospital care than their more affluent counterparts. This report aims to provide practical support for those keen to address the issues. It looks at how much additional care, and of what type, would be required to ‘level-up’ access to planned hospital procedures. It also looks at the interventions that exist that might help reduce inequities.

• Report
• Midlands Decisions Support Network - publications

Medical emergencies in eating disorders: guidance on recognition and management

Royal College of Psychiatrists -
This report finds that signs that someone with an eating disorder is dangerously ill are often missed by healthcare professionals due to lack of guidance and training. The research finds that hospital admissions for eating disorders have increased by 84 per cent in the last five years reaching a total of 24,268 admissions. Children and young people with eating disorders are the worst affected with a rise of 90 per cent in the five-year period. This guidance is aimed at frontline staff so that people with eating disorders needing urgent care can be identified and treated earlier.

• Guidance
• Appendices
• Royal College of Psychiatrists - press release

Tackling antimicrobial resistance 2019 to 2024: addendum to the UK's 5-year national action plan

Department of Health and Social Care - 

This policy paper sets out changes to the commitments in Tackling antimicrobial resistance 2019 to 2024: the UK’s five-year national action plan, in its third year of delivery. The changes reflect lessons learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic and progress that has already been made.

• Policy paper
• More detail

The impact of dementia on women: how women are disproportionately affected across their lives and what needs to change.

Alzheimer's Research UK - 

Dementia became the leading cause of death for UK women in 2011. Two in three people with dementia (65 per cent) are women, and longer life expectancy alone does not explain this disparity. Women are also more likely to care for a loved one with dementia – making up around two thirds of unpaid carers. Yet across medical research, data from women is too often missing. And in the lab, female dementia researchers are less likely to move into senior roles than men. This report calls for action to tackle dementia’s disproportionate impact on women and to ensure women can make a full contribution to research, both as participants and as researchers.

• Report
• More detail

Supporting residents, addressing inequalities

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) -
This joint report published by ASH and the Housing Learning and Improvement Network, sets out the case and opportunities for addressing smoking in social housing. It outlines the case for reducing rates of smoking in the social housing sector as part of social landlords’ health and wellbeing activity and aims to equip the social housing and public health sectors with the information required to collaboratively progress action on smoking and improve the support available to residents who smoke. It also makes recommendations to central government to better support local action on this issue.

• Report
• ASH - publications

The potential legacy of the pandemic on mortality

Covid-19 Actuaries Response Group - 

The impact of Covid-19 on mortality can be broadly split into three categories: direct impacts; indirect impacts; and wider social and economic impacts. Indirect impacts represent excess deaths due to stresses on the health system or changes in the health-seeking behaviour of individuals. These are the focus of this bulletin. At this stage of the pandemic, the mortality impacts are shifting from direct to indirect. Analysing emerging data can help to identify the magnitude of these impacts and the extent to which they are asymmetric across the population. If care pathways do not rapidly return to pre-pandemic levels, then the Covid-19 pandemic will affect the standard of healthcare, morbidity and mortality across the UK for years to come.

• Bulletin
• More detail

 

Key findings from Healthwatch England’s national dental polling in 2022

Healthwatch England - 

A representative poll of 2,026 adults based in England on attitudes to NHS dentistry shows that half of the adults in England find dental charges unfair amid escalating living costs. Forty-one per cent of respondents said they found it difficult to book an NHS dental appointment, whilst one in five (20 per cent) couldn’t access all the treatments they needed. Healthwatch England has warned decision-makers that NHS dentistry is in desperate need of reform.

• Key findings
• Press release

Addressing the noncommunicable disease (NCD) burden in prisons in the WHO European Region: interventions and policy options

World Health Organization Europe -
The aim of this brief is to shed light on the scale of the noncommunicable disease (‎NCD)‎ burden in prisons and the unique challenges they present for individuals and society both during and following incarceration. The brief also highlights best practices, interventions and policies to address NCDs and their risk factors in the prison context, while also noting special considerations for their implementation in specific contexts and settings.

• Policy brief
• World Health Organization Europe - publications

WHO European regional obesity report 2022

World Health Organization Europe -
Overweight and obesity affect almost 60 per cent of adults and nearly one in three children in the WHO European Region. Recent estimates suggest that overweight and obesity is the fourth most common risk factor for noncommunicable diseases in the Region, after high blood pressure, dietary risks and tobacco. This report examines the growing challenge and impact of obesity in the Region and focuses on managing obesity throughout the life course and tackling obesogenic environments. It also considers more recent challenges, including problematic digital marketing to children and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on obesity prevalence.

• Report
• World Health Organization Europe - press release

Health and prosperity: introducing the Commission on Health and Prosperity

Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) -
This report warns that the UK’s deep health inequalities and ineffective policies mean people are living shorter lives, with more years spent in poor health, and face greater barriers to staying in and getting on at work. It calls for a new post-pandemic approach to the nation’s health to ensure people can enjoy living healthy lives longer and to improve the nation’s economy. A new cross-party Health and Prosperity Commission is being launched to explore how good health can be the foundation for a fair and prosperous economy.

• Report
• IPPR - press release