From the beginning of September, the NHS will be rolling out a new vaccination for respiratory syncytial virus, also known as RSV. This marks a big step forward in protecting older people aged 75 to 79 and newborn babies, not only in the run up to winter but all year round. RSV is an incredibly […]
Dr Jo Black is one of NHS England’s two Associate National Clinical Directors for perinatal mental health, working alongside Dr Giles Berrisford, the clinical lead at the Birmingham Perinatal Mental Health Service at BSMHFT. Here she discusses her reasons for taking the role, the challenges ahead, and the partnerships being formed to deliver this vital […]
Patients with severe inherited blood disorders will be offered stem cell transplants on the NHS that could cure their condition and help avoid life-long blood transfusions. Thalassaemia is a rare disorder that affects the production of haemoglobin in the blood, leading to severe anaemia and debilitating tiredness, with patients needing to have blood transfusions every […]
England’s top midwife is urging expectant mums to get the COVID-19 vaccine after new data shows the overwhelming majority of pregnant women hospitalised with the virus have not had a jab. The new figures, released today, also reveal that no pregnant women with both doses of the vaccine had been admitted to hospital. Since May, […]
The opportunity Four decades ago, the first cases of HIV were diagnosed in the UK. At that time, coupled with societal prejudice against affected people and communities, very little was known about the virus, including how to test for it, how it was transmitted and how to treat it. As a result, the average survival […]
Maternity services in England must become safer, more personalised, kinder, professional and more family-friendly. That’s the vision of the National Maternity Review, which today (Tuesday) publishes its recommendations for how services should change over the next five years. The NHS England commissioned review – led by independent experts and chaired by Baroness Julia Cumberlege – […]
Thousands of patients with COVID-19 who are most likely to be admitted to hospital are receiving a cutting-edge NHS antiviral treatment at home that improves symptoms “within hours”. Game-changing COVID treatments, which cut the risk of serious illness from the virus and have been praised by at-risk patients as “brilliant”, have been provided to more […]
Premature babies are to be routinely offered a “life-changing” treatment to prevent blindness on the NHS for the first time, the head of the health service has announced today. The drug, ranibizumab, could save the eyesight of babies born with a condition known as retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), which affects blood vessels in the retina, […]
Following the publication of the Next Steps on the Five Year Forward View, which detailed the work underway to expand perinatal mental health services with four new mother and baby units (MBU), mum Katy Chachou talks about her experience and the specialist support she received in a mother and baby unit in Birmingham. I first […]
Valentine’s Day romance leads to a jump in pregnancies, new figures from NHS England show. With love in the air, there was a 5 per cent rise in conceptions around the most romantic day of the year, according to the data gathered to help the NHS provide the best possible care for mums-to-be and their […]