This section of the website contains news and information on topical health issues.
The Department of Health, in partnership with the Audit Commission and the Local Government Association, commissioned this external review to better understand how to strengthen support to local partners in using local i ...
The South West Public Health Observatory (SWPHO), in partnership with the Department of Health South West, has published a report on the impact of winter cold on health - Fighting Winter Cold in the South West: Reducing ...
The latest Local Alcohol Profiles for England (LAPE) have been released by the North West Public Health Observatory at the Centre for Public Health. These profiles contain 23 measures of the burden that alcohol has on lo ...
The Child and Maternal Health Observatory (ChiMat) is a national public health observatory established to provide wide-ranging, authoritative data, evidence and practice related to children's, young people's and maternal ...
The NHS Information Centre has published the results of the Health Survey for England 2007. The Health Survey is a series of annual surveys designed to measure health and health-related behaviours in adults and children ...
The prospect of a prenatal test for autism, allowing couples to choose whether to have a baby with the condition, is coming closer. And with it also comes the possibility of a prenatal drug treatment being developed.
The UK is named as one of the worst countries in Europe for measles, dashing global hopes to eradicate the disease by 2010.
Following an evaluation and review of the Children's Care, Learning and Development Apprenticeship and Advanced Apprenticeship framework, minor changes have been made to the framework and these were approved by the Appre ...
Almost one in ten children are victims of online sexual threats and bullying, according to a survey for the BBC.
You are invited to consult on the draft National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Psychological Therapies.
The congress will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, situated in the heart of the city of Cape Town from 14 - 16 September 2009. CHI calls for participation of experienced professionals committe ...
Guidelines which came into force yesterday prioritise the welfare of children within the UK immigration system.
“Parents who limit their smoking to the garden could still be harming their children,” warns The Daily Telegraph. The newspaper says this is because children can inhale toxins which remain on the clothes, hair and skin a ...
“Low levels of the stress hormone cortisol marks out children at higher risk of developing chronic fatigue syndrome as adults,” reported the BBC today (6 Jan 09). It said that if children with low levels of cortisol are ...
As children's services undergo further change this is a timely book, the third in the Working Together for Children series, writes Steve Rogowski. It is well-designed, illustrative, clear and easy to read.
An ambitious new advertising campaign by the Department of Health to help mums, dads and families eat well, move more and live longer has launched on TV, billboards and magazines. Experts say without any intervention 90 ...
This consultation seeks views on four sets of regulations required to implement the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008.
The Government’s new Take Up Taskforce is asking local authorities and their partners to show how they are tackling child poverty by supporting parents to take up tax credits and benefits.
Care provided by a foster carer approved under Fostering Services Regulations in relation to children other than those for whom he or she acts as foster parent is currently included within definition of qualifying childc ...
The Northern and Yorkshire Cancer Registry and Information Service (NYCRIS), is pleased to announce the publication of a set of PCT factsheets, covering all PCTs which constitute the Yorkshire, Humber and Yorkshire Coas ...
Every morning at precisely 10 am Joe (not his real name) gets a text message from his clinician, asking how he is feeling.
From the data received the medical team can plot his mood swings, monitor how his medication ...
Young unemployed adults need more help to deal with mental health problems, the Prince's Trust charity has warned...
Pub and club-goers are being offered Chlamydia home test kits in an effort to get more under-25s tested.
The trial is being offered in three areas in London - central Ealing, Southall and Greenford.
Children's Secretary Ed Balls should resolve to cut down on new initiatives in 2009 while boosting the morale and pay of the children's workforce, according to sector leaders
The government has launched a healthy living campaign in a bid to stem rising obesity rates in England.
Plans to recruit 20,000 volunteers who will link together the generations across Britain are announced today by Minister for the Cabinet Office Liam Byrne.
Parents are to be issued with government guidelines on letting their children drink alcohol at home.
US teenage virgins who pledged to abstain from sex until they were married had sexual behaviour in the next five years similar to that of teenagers who had not taken an abstinence pledge, a study has shown (Pediatrics 20 ...
The number of young people admitted to hospital with liver disease linked to alcohol has soared, figures for England show.
Doctors have warned that hospitals in England are unprepared for a cut in junior doctors' hours due next year.
A UK baby has become one of the youngest to undergo an operation using glue to reduce the size of a brain tumour.
An independent review into the use of restraint in the juvenile secure estate released last week stopped short of calling for painful techniques to be banned, but it recommends major changes to how they can be used.
A premature birth can cause lasting impairment to the child's sensory powers, research suggests.
The fees trusts must pay to the NHS Litigation Authority for its clinical negligence scheme are to shoot up by more than half.
“Playing ball games as a teenager can cut the chances of going on to suffer from brittle bones,” says The Daily Telegraph. The newspaper says weight-bearing sport strengthens the bones and keeps them healthy for a furthe ...
Making the contraceptive pill available without prescription will not cut the UK's high teen pregnancy rate, a GP says.
Children from the most deprived homes are more likely to need intensive care than their wealthier counterparts, say researchers.
German paediatricians are asking the government to relax confidentiality laws to give them the legal power to report cases of suspected child abuse without informing parents
CWDC, in conjunction with the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), will be refreshing the CAF and lead professional guidance in early 2009.
CWDC are looking for practitioners and managers from across ...
Researchers in the Netherlands fear that Dutch babies "may not be getting the start they should" after data have shown that perinatal mortality continues to compare badly with the country’s European neighbours.
The government's plans for an overhaul of maternity services are in disarray because hospitals have not received tens of millions of pounds of extra funding for urgently needed improvements, the country's top midwife war ...
Action for Children will launch its first ever advertising campaign on New Year's Day, focusing on how the charity's services have transformed the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged young people.
Midwifery and nursing have achieved excellent results in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), according to UK deans and heads of midwifery, nursing and other health professions.
Essex County Council has announced plans to appoint 60 new frontline social workers to reduce the burden on its child protection teams.
A range of statistics relating to population and migration have been released by ONS, the Home Office, the Department for Work and Pensions and the General Register Office for Scotland. These include International Migrat ...
November issue
The Department of Health has published 'Understanding detailed patient experience data: toolkit for analysts'. The Department of Health has developed a Patient Experience First Steps Diagnostic Tool to aid understanding ...
This reference volume presents statistics on live and still births occurring annually in England and Wales. Statistics for births in previous years are included to show trends in fertility. The publication covers birth ...
'Mortality Target Monitoring (infant mortality, inequalities) - Update to include data for 2007' has been published by the Department of Health. This is the latest annual update on infant mortality rates, with data upda ...
The London sexual health needs assessment has been published by London Health Observatory. This is the first pan-London needs assessment. It was commissioned by the London sexual health programme and comprises:- London ...
The Department of Health has published 'Putting prevention first: vascular checks, risk assessment and management; impact assessment'. Vascular diseases include heart disease, strokes, diabetes and kidney disease. A univ ...
The population of the UK is growing at the fastest rate since the 1960s, increasing on average by 0.5% each year. The fastest growing age group is those aged 85 years and older, who now represent just over 2% of the popu ...
The 2008 update of the HPI has just been released and can be accessed through the new look website.The Health Poverty Index (HPI) is a web based tool that allows geographical areas and different ethnic groups to be compa ...
The latest national statistics on conceptions produced by the Office for National Statistics were released in November 2008 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
The Department of Health has published 'Tackling health inequalities 2005-07 policy and data update for the 2010 national target'. This document provides an update on progress to meet the health inequalities national tar ...
Winter 2008 release
The 21st Century Mortality Files are a record of mortality in England and Wales from 2001 onwards. They are designed to complement the Twentieth Century Mortality CD-ROM. The files consist of an aggregated database of de ...
Figures published by the Office for National Statistics show that survival continues to vary widely between different types of cancer. Over 96% of men diagnosed in England in 2000-2004 with cancer of the testis survived ...
This report from the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) provides analyses for patients diagnosed in two five-year time periods 1995-99 and 2000-04 for 23 of the more common cancer sites or groups, and for an ove ...
The Information Centre has published 'National Child Measurement Programme: results from the school year 2007/08'. Established in 2005, the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) weighs and measures children in Rece ...
The Kings Fund have published 'Commissioning and behaviour change: Kicking Bad Habits final report'. The report suggests that the NHS will fail to tackle the rising tide of obesity and tobacco related illnesses unless i ...
The latest issue of Population Trends has been released by the Office for National Statistics
The latest national statistics on deaths registered in 2007 produced by ONS were released in November 2008 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
The Department of Health has published 'The NHS in England: The operating framework for 2009/10'. The operating framework sets out a brief overview of the priorities for the NHS next year. It is accompanied by annexes (s ...
One in four parents have reduced their working life to spend more time with their family, according to a government study that also charts the rise of "relay parenting" whereby mums and dads parent in shifts to fit aroun ...
The Health Poverty Index (HPI) is a web based tool that allows geographical areas and different ethnic groups to be compared in terms of their 'health poverty'. A group's 'health poverty' is a summary measure of both th ...
“Childhood obesity is determined before the age of five,” says The Daily Telegraph. The newspaper says a new study has found that the majority of seriously overweight children gained much of their excess weight before th ...
The annual health check will be scrapped next year and replaced with "periodic reviews" of commissioners and providers, the Care Quality Commission has announced.
Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust told to improve its maternity unit.
Parliament's joint committee on human rights will hold a short inquiry into children's rights in the New Year.
Sexual health charity Brook aims to combat the annual December peak in under-18 conception rates with a poster campaign.
The number of children admitted to hospital due to alcohol has risen with those living in rural and isolated areas worst affected, official figures have revealed. The data from the North West Public Health Observatory ha ...
The government's IT system for social workers is putting children at risk, University of Nottingham researchers have found. The research, based on a two-year study of five local authorities in England and Wales, found th ...
Children's minister Beverley Hughes has complained to Unicef after a report claimed that England was meeting only half of the organisation's minimum requirements for quality childcare. The Unicef Report Card - 'the child ...
Children’s Secretary Ed Balls announced an investigation to tackle poor information to parents of children with special educational needs, the failure of some Local Authorities to comply with their SEN duties and lack of ...
The DNA of around 70 under-10s will be "immediately" removed from the police database but under-18s will continue to be added.
The NMC has produced the following position statement to clarify the information in our standards and advice, and to help nurses and midwives make the most of new technologies when prescribing.
From April 2009, all pregnant women will be entitled to the Health in Pregnancy Grant (HiPG). The HiPG is a universal one-off payment available to expectant mothers from the 25th week of pregnancy. It will be an expected ...
New research to be published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology has found that the 'Lac-test', a tool which measures the lactate concentration in vaginal fluid, may be highly effective in pre ...
The number of children receiving at least one dose of the MMR jab by the age of five has reached 95% for the first time in Scotland.
Childhood obesity is set before the age of five, research suggests. Compared to children in the 1980s, today's youngsters are fatter and most of their excess weight gain happens before school age. This suggests initiativ ...
Babies are born with a strong motivation to communicate with us, to understand and to be understood, a new study from researchers at the University of Dundee has shown.
The European Commission has launched a consultative green paper setting out the challenges that it thinks national health services will face in the coming decades, particularly with regard to workforce issues.
A £12 million action plan to improve services for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs was launched today by Health Secretary Alan Johnson and Children's Secretary Ed Balls.
The pla ...
Lewis, currently director of children's services at Enfield Council, also in London, will take up his post on 1 January, 2009 and he has been appointed for three years...
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has announced a £200m fund to support the co-location of social care, health and education services for children.
The initiative was included in the recently published ...
The Government is to investigate a "lack of transparency" in the provision of services for children with special educational needs (SEN).
This is a transcript of the speech by Children, Young People and Families Minister Beverley Hughes in Manchester on 15 December 2008. She talks about tackling the problem of child poverty in the region, which has one of ...
The Government is putting nearly five million pounds behind an overhaul of the use of restraint on young people in secure settings.
The number of children given at least one dose of the MMR jab by the age of five reaches 95% for the first time in Scotland.
The approach to the restraint of young people in young offender institutions, secure training centres and secure children’s homes (under-18 secure estates) is to be overhauled, the Government announced today. The reform ...
Presents combined data, analysis and interpretation of sexually transmissible infections including HIV among black African and black Caribbean people in the United Kingdom.
This publication follows the launch of the Healthcare Commission's annual health check performance ratings earlier this month, which showed a significant improvement in the performance of the NHS.
The Information Centre have published an interactive map which describes different tools and resources linked to each element of the commissioning cycle.
Researchers from the Universities of Bristol and Sheffield have created an atlas of death which charts the geographical pattern of mortality in Great Britain. The full colour atlas shows the wide variation in death rates ...
Nine towns have won the opportunity to lead the way in helping their residents live healthier lives as part of the new Change4Life movement, Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced today.The "Healthy Towns" - Dudley, Hal ...
Mid-2007 Lower Layer and Middle Layer Super Output Area Population Estimates were published today on the National Statistics website as experimental statistics. The estimates will shortly also be available on the Neighbo ...
WOMEN living in the most deprived areas of England are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer than their affluent counterparts according to a report presented by national cancer director Professor M ...