The NHS has today issued a call for 100,000 people to sign a pledge saying they will look in on an elderly friend or neighbour this winter. Each winter thousands of people in England die as a result of cold weather. Most are over 75 and most of these deaths could be avoided. Hundreds of […]

The detailed Winter Health Check plans put in place by the NHS have been outlined by Dame Barbara Hakin. NHS England’s Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive explained: “We have pulled out all the stops to get ready for this winter. We started planning earlier than ever before and we have taken steps to […]

A further £150 million will be distributed around England to help hospitals maintain their A&E services over winter. This is in addition to the £250 million targeted to the most at-risk areas in September. The distribution of the extra £150 million will include those communities that are not deemed the most at-risk, to bolster and […]

This weekly summary offers an overview of the system and pulls together information on waiting times in A&E, ambulance response times, daily situation reports from the NHS, and information on flu rates. Winter health check report Nov 2013  

NHS England today launches its Winter Health Check with senior clinicians urging people to take early advice on health problems. The advice is particularly aimed at those who are very young, the elderly and frail or those who have existing health problems. A key way of addressing this winter’s pressures on hospital A&E departments is […]

“Look after yourself this winter. If you know someone who is frail or elderly or has a serious health problem, then help look after them too.  Help or encourage them to go to their pharmacy or GP before one problem leads to another and they end up in hospital.” Senior clinicians at NHS England today […]

Public Health England has published the Cold Weather Plan for England for 2013. The plan aims to prevent avoidable harm to health, by alerting people to the negative health effects of cold weather, and enabling them to prepare and respond appropriately. The Plan, developed in partnership with NHS England, the Local Government Association and the […]

PHE’s national seasonal flu campaign launches this week, encouraging uptake of the flu vaccine amongst the most at-risk groups. The campaign is particularly aimed at adults (under 65) and parents of children (4-17) with long term health conditions and pregnant women. For the first time we are also targeting parents of 2-3 year olds encouraging […]

NHS England has today welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement that local health and care systems are to receive £250m to ensure the NHS is better prepared for winter. The money will be targeted at local systems which will benefit the most from the extra funding.  NHS England, Monitor, the NHS Trust Development Authority and the […]

Communications assistant at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Lee Rayner created a video to raise awareness about the importance of flu vaccinations and encourage all staff to get the inoculation to help protect patients and visitors and help to ensure services run smoothly and efficiently throughout the winter months. But what he did was […]