Comparison of sociodemographic and health-related characteristics of UK Biobank participants with the general population

UK Biobank is a population-based cohort of 500,000 participants recruited between 2006 and 2010. Approximately 9.2 million individuals aged 40-69 years who lived within 25 miles of the 22 assessment centres in England, Wales and Scotland were invited, and 5.4% participated in the baseline assessment. The representativeness of the UK Biobank cohort was investigated by comparing demographic characteristics between non-responders and responders. Sociodemographic, physical, lifestyle and health-related characteristics of the cohort were compared with nationally representative data sources. UK Biobank participants were more likely to be older, women and to live in less socioeconomically deprived areas than non-participants. Compared with the general population, participants were less likely to be obese, smoke, drink alcohol on a daily basis and had fewer self-reported health outcomes. Rates of all-cause mortality and total cancer incidence (at age 70-74 years) were 46.2% and 11.8% lower in men, and 55.5% and 18.1% lower in women, respectively, than the general population of the same age. UK Biobank is not representative of the sampling population, with evidence of a ‘healthy volunteer’ selection bias. Nonetheless, the valid assessment of exposure-disease relationships may be widely generalizable and does not require participants to be representative of the population at large

A Scoping Study To Explore The Application And Impact Of Grading Practice In Pre-registration Midwifery Programmes Across The United Kingdom.

Grading of practice is a mandatory element of programmes leading to registration as a midwife in the United Kingdom, required by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. This validates the importance of practice by placing it on an equal level with academic work, contributing to degree classification. This paper discusses a scoping project undertaken by the Lead Midwives for Education group across the 55 Higher Education Institutions in the United Kingdom which deliver pre-registration midwifery programmes. A questionnaire was circulated and practice tools shared, enabling exploration of the application of the standards and collation of the views of the Lead Midwives. Timing and individuals involved in practice assessment varied as did the components and the credit weighting applied to practice modules. Sign-off mentor confidence in awarding a range of grades had increased over time, and mentors seemed positive about the value given to practice and their role as professional gatekeepers. Grading was generally felt to be more robust and meaningful than pass/refer. It also appeared that practice grading may contribute to an enhanced student academic profile. A set of guiding principles is being developed with the purpose of enhancing consistency of the application of the professional standards across the United Kingdom

Rolling back the prison estate: The pervasive impact of macroeconomic austerity on prisoner health in England

Prisons offer policymakers an opportunity to address the pre-existing high prevalence of physical and mental health issues among prisoners. This notion has been widely integrated into international and national prison health policies, including the Healthy Prisons Agenda, which calls for governments to address the health needs of prisoners and safeguard their health entitlement during imprisonment, and the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 concerning reducing inequality among disadvantaged populations.However, the implementation of the austerity policy in the United Kingdom since the re-emergence of the global financial crisis in 2008 has impeded this aspiration. This interdisciplinary paper critically evaluates the impact of austerity on prison health. The aforementioned policy has obstructed prisoners’ access to healthcare, exacerbated the degradation of their living conditions, impeded their purposeful activities and subjected them to an increasing level of violence.This paper calls for alternatives to imprisonment, initiating a more informed economic recovery policy, and relying on transnational and national organizations to scrutinize prisoners’ entitlement to health. These systemic solutions could act as a springboard for political and policy discussions at national and international forums with regard to improving prisoners’ health and simultaneously meeting the aspirations of the Healthy Prisons Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals

Report by the NHS Drug Advisory Service on services for problem drug users in the Northumberland Health District

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:6024.882(HAS/SSI--(90)D.46) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Report by the NHS Drug Advisory Service on services for problem drug users in the Barnsley Health District

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:6024.882(HAS/SSI--(90)D.39) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Report by the NHS Drug Advisory Service on services for problem drug users in the Milton Keynes Health District

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:6024.882(HAS/SSI--(90)D.45) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Report on services for elderly and mentally ill people in the Pontefract Health District

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:6024.8835(HAS/SSI--(89)E/MI.2) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Building on success A vision for finance staff in the modern NHS 'Helping deliver the NHS Plan'

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:m01/25632 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

South Yorkshire health inequalities atlas A report of the Directors of Public Health in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield

Mini CD-ROM attached to inside front coverAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:Vm02/50253 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

NHSnet

Supplement to update the NHS-wide Networking Strategy (IMGE E5155)Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:GPC/08598 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo