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News
NHS confirms COVID jab now offered at every eligible care home in England
Official figures later today are expected to confirm that the NHS has now offered the COVID-19 vaccine to residents at every eligible care home with older residents across England. In a major milestone for the NHS vaccination programme, nurses, GPs and other NHS staff have offered the life-saving jab to people living at more than […]
Chief Nursing Officer appoints first-ever adviser for care home nursing
England’s most senior nurse has appointed the lead on health and wellbeing for Chelsea Pensioners as her advisor on improving support for care home nurses. Professor Deborah Sturdy OBE will provide the chief nursing officer for England, Ruth May, with expert advice from those nurses working to deliver the high-quality clinical care for people living […]
Rapid NHS response teams to help people stay well at home
Expert rapid response teams will be on hand within two hours to help support older people to remain well at home and avoid hospital admissions, under new plans outlined by the NHS today. Local health service and council teams will begin the roll out of Urgent Community Response teams from April, as part of the […]
Older people encouraged to ditch “stiff upper lip” approach to mental ill health
NHS England and Age UK have joined forces in a campaign to encourage older people to access treatment for mental health conditions, as new analysis shows a majority of older people do not seek help. New data reveals that more than six in 10 people in the UK aged 65 or over have experienced depression […]
New NHS online training to help people get home from hospital quicker
NHS England and Health Education England have today launched ActNow, an e-learning tool developed for health service and care staff to help them reduce hospital delays for patients. Nearly 350,000 patients currently spend over three weeks in acute hospitals each year. Many of those are older people who are often frail, and while a short […]
New NHS plan to help patients avoid long hospital stays
Action to help tens of thousands more people avoid lengthy spells in hospital is being rolled out nationwide as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. NHS doctors, nurses and other staff are being encouraged to ask themselves ‘Why not home? Why not today?’ when planning care for patients recovering from an operation or illness, […]
Army of NHS experts brought in to care homes to tackle over-medication
An army of experts have been recruited by NHS England to help prevent care home residents being given too many medicines as part of a package of measures to improve older people’s health and care in the NHS Long Term Plan. Care home residents are prescribed an average of seven medicines a day, with many […]
Jo Cox Foundation backs campaign to end loneliness
The sister of MP Jo Cox is backing an anti-loneliness campaign to help 30,000 people avoid health and wellbeing problems that can come from feeling and living alone. The campaign, backed by the Foundation set up following the murder of the former MP for Batley and Spen in 2016, is one of a range of […]
Older patients spared dementia and falls by NHS tech roll-out
Digital checks that can prevent dementia and falls in older people, and save lives through diagnosis of sepsis, are among a range of tools being made available in hospitals across the country, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. One in eight hospital patients is affected by delirium, which can make people unsteady on […]
Care home pharmacists to help cut overmedication and unnecessary hospital stays for frail older patients
NHS England has today announced plans to recruit and deploy hundreds of pharmacists into care homes to help reduce overmedication and cut unnecessary hospital stays. Around 180,000 people living in nursing or residential homes will have their prescriptions and medicines reviewed by the new pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. Elderly care home residents often have one […]