April 2023 Edition

In Casebook this time: mental health support (or the lack of it!) in rural areas, the threat and ongoing challenge of the pandemic, from a number of vistas along with a scary story about Ticks and some interesting reflections on our recent activities in the National Centre Update. We also include some further reading from Casebook members.

NEWS COMMENTARY

‘Buckling’ NHS fails to treat 250,000 children with mental health problems

I suspect a location analysis would show a significant number of the children profiled in this article will be based in rural settings it tells us:

A quarter of a million children in the UK with mental health problems have been denied help by the NHS as it struggles to manage surging case loads against a backdrop of a crisis in child mental health.

Some NHS trusts are failing to offer treatment to 60% of those referred by GPs, the research based on freedom of information request responses has found.

The research carried out by the House magazine and shared with the Guardian also revealed a postcode lottery, with spending per child four times higher in some parts of the country than others, while average waits for a first appointment vary by trust from 10 days to three years.

Full article: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/apr/16/buckling-nhs-fails-to-treat-250000-children-with-mental-health-problems

Lloyd’s of London offers to insure NHS for unexpected costs such as pandemic

The first of three pandemic related articles this week and in many senses the most novel….

The head of Lloyd’s of London has offered to strike a world-first deal with the UK government to help the NHS meet unexpected increases in costs triggered by major events such as another pandemic.

John Neal, who runs the world’s largest insurance market, where 76 firms operate, floated the possibility of providing bespoke insurance contracts to the struggling health service, as well as government cover for floods or droughts caused by the climate crisis, when he met the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, for the first time last month.

“One of the challenges the government has is around peak demand in the NHS relative to NHS budgets,” said the Lloyd’s of London’s chair, Bruce Carnegie-Brown.

“If we can provide an insurance solution that effectively funded the NHS if it breaches its capacity, or budget issues, then it would show the insurance industry responding in a positive way to something that was caused by an exogenous event,” he said. “Obviously things like a pandemic might cause very dramatic increases in demand on the NHS and its resources.”

Full article: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/apr/16/lloyds-london-offers-insure-nhs-unexpected-costs-pandemic

Top Scientists warn “The next pandemic is coming and we’re not ready.”

It sounds as if amidst all the other trials and challenges facing our healthcare system we are letting our guard down! This article tells us:

The UK is not ready for the next global pandemic because public services are being dismantled and key research is being defunded, experts have claimed.

More than three years after the global outbreak of coronavirus, top scientists have warned that the UK is no better prepared for a pandemic than it was in 2020.

They say another epidemic on the scale of Covid-19 is inevitable, but that disinvestment in infection-monitoring services, dismantling of key infrastructure, and the state of the NHS mean the country is “losing ground”.

Full article: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/uk-not-prepared-pandemic-covid-b2319165.html

Mapped worst areas in the UK covid amidst fears over new Arcturus variant

There is a significant cohort of rural dwellers in the North East and this article gives considerable cause for concern for Casebook readers. It tells us:

England’s North East currently has the highest Covid infection rate of any UK region, according to new figures from the Zoe Health Study app.

Nearly 1.25 million people are currently thought to have symptomatic coronavirus in the UK, according to the Zoe Covid study, whose estimates are based on users self-reporting symptoms and test results.

This is down from a recent peak of nearly 1.5 million suspected symptomatic infections a fortnight ago, which itself was below previous highs of more than 1.6 million over New Year and in mid-October.

The ongoing study, run by King’s College London, found that rates of daily new symptomatic infections are highest in England’s North East, where there are potentially as many as 2,188 new daily cases per million people, based on data from Wednesday.

There are estimated to be up to 1,716 new cases per million in the West Midlands, which is followed closely by Scotland and the North West.

These infection rates contrast with an upper estimate of 1,301 new daily cases per million people in the South East. Overall, there were estimated to be more than 81,000 new symptomatic cases of Covid in the UK on Wednesday, according to Zoe app data.

The study is among the most reliable trackers of infection levels in the UK, not least since the end of the Office for National Statistics’ figures stopped last month, leaving Britain “completely in the dark”.

Full article: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/covid-cases-uk-arcturus-india-latest-b2319087.html

Warning as deadly tick borne virus detected in several areas of the UK

Ticks make my flesh creep and this article shows the importance of taking care when out and about in rural settings it tells us:

A deadly tick-borne disease that can cause meningitis is “likely” to be present in the UK, health officials have warned after cases were spotted across the UK.

A confirmed case of tick-borne encephalitis (TBEV) was found in Yorkshire last year, and a probable case was also detected in the Loch Earn area of Scotland in 2022.

A joint UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and Defra committee said the virus has also been seen in the Hampshire/Dorset and Norfolk area, but may also be present in other parts of England as the tick species which carries the virus is widespread in the UK.

Encephalitis is an uncommon but potentially deadly condition in which the brain becomes swollen.

It can cause a range of illnesses from completely asymptomatic infection, to mild flu-like illness, to severe infection in the central nervous system such as meningitis or encephalitis.

Full article: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/tick-borne-encephalitis-virus-tbev-b2315304.html

MEMBERS ARTICLES

We’d love to hear from you - share what you’re proud of
We have four great articles from members this month, see below. If you have something, you would like us to feature in a future edition, please let us know by clicking here to send us an email.

National Centre for Remote and Rural Medicine Conference
Changing Practice, Changing Outcomes, 7 - 8 June 2023, Lake District, UK           

New speaker announced:
Dr Pete Hodkinson First UK specialty registrar and now Consultant in Aviation and Space Medicine and member of the European Space Agency Medical Board.

“Overview of space medicine” Overview of specialty, medical considerations to get in to space and what if things go wrong in space.

Find out more:
Hear from some of the most inspirational practitioners in the field of urgent, remote and rural medicine, including Simon Yates, veteran of over seventy mountain expeditions, Dr Lucy Coulter, Endurance22 Medical Expedition Doctor, Dr Chris Press, first on the scene at the Manchester Arena bombings and Major General Tim Hodgetts, Surgeon General, Head of the Army Medical Services.

International, National, Regional  Dementia  Conference June 23rd 2023 live at the University of Plymouth – Free to attend

Please see below the website link to book your place for the 2023 Free with food the Plymouth National, International and Regional Perspectives of Dementia Conference .

The conference will be held at the Plymouth University Rolle Marque on the 23 June 2023 from 0830 -1600.

Chaired by Angela Rippon CBE and David Fitzgerald B.B.C the aim of the conference is to share international, national, and regional thoughts on dementia care and research which have the potential to open up new ways of developing fresh perspectives and ground-breaking solutions that help overcome the challenges faced by people living with dementia and carers every day in their lives.

As they say please book early to avoid being disappointed at not being at this star line up of International, National and Regional speakers:

• Professor Sube Banerjee MBE, Professor of Dementia and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth – 'Neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia – the drugs don’t work'
• Professor Iva Holmerová, founder of Czech Alzheimer Society and former Alzheimer Europe Chairperson
• Katy Kerr, National Associate Postgraduate Dental Dean Workforce
• Kate Lee, CEO, Alzheimer’s Society
• Professor Bart De Strooper and Dr Adrian Ivinson, UK Dementia Research Institute – 'The organisation and achievements of the UK DRI'
• Professor Edgar Kramer, Professor of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Peninsula Medical School, Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth
• Irina Shevchenko, Founder and Director of "Nezabutni" charitable foundation Kyiv, Ukraine and Ian Sherriff BEM, Academic Partnership Lead for Dementia, University of Plymouth – 'Dementia support in the Ukrainian war'
• Dr Katrin M Seeher, World Health Organization
• Major General (Rtd) Nick Caplin CB, Chief Executive, Blind Veterans UK and Dr Tom Zampeiri, Director of Government Relations, Blind Veterans America
• Kirsty Baxter, UK Government – 'Major Conditions Strategy'
• Dr Rupert Jones, – 'Dementia and cognitive impairment in the maritime industry'
• Dr Sara Imarisio, Head of Strategic Initiatives, Alzheimer’s Research UK – 'How ARUK charity is funding research to accelerate drug discovery and deliver treatments for people with dementia diseases'
• Emma Bone, Operations Manager, BRACE Dementia Research
• Angela Rippon CBE and David Fitzgerald, BBC interviewing people with dementia and their carers – 'The voice of dementia'
• Poems by Professor Anthony Caleshu, School of Society and Culture, University of Plymouth and Alison Birket will read their poems specially written for the day.

Invitation to Patient Information Forum webinar on shared decision making

At this webinar on 26 April we will be sharing the findings of a co-production project to remove barriers to shared decision making, which ran throughout 2022 in the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board.

We worked with the My Life Choices lived experience panel, healthcare professionals and the personalised care team to develop resources to support shared decision making for people experiencing joint pain (musculoskeletal conditions).

Speakers will discuss practical solutions to help patients and professionals get the most from limited appointment times, which can be applied nationally.

Recruiting - Oak Professor of Remote, Rural and Coastal Healthcare Systems

We have just embarked on a search with the Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS) for the inaugural Oak Professor of Remote, Rural and Coastal Healthcare Systems and thought of you as an excellent source of advice.

KMMS is a new and cutting-edge medical school, a collaboration between the universities of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church, strategically located at the frontline of the significant health and care challenges faced by rural and remote communities. The School seeks to appoint a stand-out candidate who will advance systems-level research into rural and coastal healthcare. They may come from a broad remit of academic disciplines, including but not limited to economics, public policy, and management, but will bring a grounded understanding and appreciation for the key issues and will have contributed research to the field. International candidates are both welcomed and encouraged.  Access the advert and candidate pack at the following links:

- Candidate Pack - Oak Professor of Remote, Rural and Coastal Healthcare Systems
- Ad copy - KMMS Remote and Rural Health

NATIONAL CENTRE UPDATE

Just a brief summary of our activities over the last few months:

In addition to its ongoing core services and the achievements set out in our most recent impact card the Centre has recently:

• Submitted evidence to the Hewitt Review on the Governance of ICBs
• Submitted evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on Primary and Community Care
• (https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/b045d84d-d524-4db8-894a-116d287da9bc)
• Supported the operational planning for the new £8.6 million coastal clinical trials facility in Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire
• Begun detailed plans for the implementation of the Rural Health and Care toolkit with the health systems in Devon and Northamptonshire along with a shared approach to the application of a rural version of the toolkit with Rural Community Network in Northern Ireland
• Held more detailed research and collaboration discussions with the Nuffield Trust in relation to the evolution of policy in relation to rural health and care

The Centre has a major planning and development session organised for June 2023 and we would be pleased to receive any thought from members on key priorities prior to that event. These can be sent in the first instance to:
[email protected]

Campus for Future Living
Casebook readers will be interested to learn that the £8.6 million clinical trials and medi-tech Campus for Future Living in Mablethorpe is seeking an operator. Due to market failure in the area, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for a commercial operator with an interest in clinical trials and medical research to acquire a lease on highly favourable terms. We have already begun exploring potential sub-tenants and the facility which will be completed by March 2024 will come with tenants and projects already committed and significant international scope for business development and growth. The local PCN, Medical Technology Facility at Nottingham Trent and University of Lincoln have all signed an MoU committing to support the development of the facility. In addition to two fully equipped labs capable of supporting trials the Campus facility has 7 dedicated bedrooms to enable remote working in the field. We have a prospectus which is available to potential operators, please email [email protected] if you would like to receive more details.

Spread the word
If you know of other organisations that you think would benefit from joining the Rural Health & Care Alliance, please click here to email us and let us know.

RURAL SERVICES NETWORK

Up to date news on Health and Care
The Rural Services Network provides a useful source of themed news content and data. Check out the latest news on Health & Wellbeing and Vulnerability, where you’ll find articles on a diverse range of rural issues affecting rural communities. You might also find this research on Over 65 Population Projections useful too.

Latest from RSN Member Insights
RSN Member Insights is the place to discover the statistics that define communities within our membership.  It is regularly updated with new analyses, and these will be highlighted in the 'What's New' section of the RSN's Weekly Rural Bulletin. The Rural Bulletin also provides a selection of the most rurally topical news items, so do subscribe and encourage your colleagues to subscribe to what is an invaluable weekly periodical.

To make a suggestion of data that would benefit you by being included in the Member Insights section, please email Dan Worth, our Research and Performance Analyst, at [email protected].

The Rural Health & Care Alliance is a membership organisation administered by the Rural Services Network on behalf of the National Centre for Rural Health & Care.  Explore the RHCA service below: