first emerged, the Department of Health and Social Care did not know how many care homes were operating in England. The former minister said responsibility for pandemic planning in care homes “formally fell to local authorities” through each local resilience forum, but when the virus struck and he asked to see those plans, only two were in place and they were “wholly inadequate”.
Mr Hancock admitted his department did not have in place a “single coherent plan” to identify vulnerable users of social care, that a central plan to share data between public and private care providers and emergency services was not yet in place, and there was no single national guidance for pandemic preparedness in the sector. Former head of Public Health England, Duncan Selbie, later admitted to the inquiry: “Social care was just not on our radar… there’s no getting away from that.
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Matt Hancock Reportedly Told To 'Go Away' By Families Bereaved By CovidThe former health secretary did not have an easy time at the public Covid Inquiry today.
Source: HuffPostUK - 🏆 108. / 51 Read more »
Antidepressant drug prescription and incidence of COVID-19 in mental health outpatients: a retrospective cohort study - BMC MedicineBackground Currently, the main pharmaceutical intervention for COVID-19 is vaccination. While antidepressant (AD) drugs have shown some efficacy in treatment of symptomatic COVID-19, their preventative potential remains largely unexplored. Analysis of association between prescription of ADs and COVID-19 incidence in the population would be beneficial for assessing the utility of ADs in COVID-19 prevention. Methods Retrospective study of association between AD prescription and COVID-19 diagnosis was performed in a cohort of community-dwelling adult mental health outpatients during the 1st wave of COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Clinical record interactive search (CRIS) was performed for mentions of ADs within 3 months preceding admission to inpatient care of the South London and Maudsley (SLaM) NHS Foundation Trust. Incidence of positive COVID-19 tests upon admission and during inpatient treatment was the primary outcome measure. Results AD mention was associated with approximately 40% lower incidence of positive COVID-19 test results when adjusted for socioeconomic parameters and physical health. This association was also observed for prescription of ADs of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. Conclusions This preliminary study suggests that ADs, and SSRIs in particular, may be of benefit for preventing COVID-19 infection spread in the community. The key limitations of the study are its retrospective nature and the focus on a mental health patient cohort. A more definitive assessment of AD and SSRI preventative potential warrants prospective studies in the wider demographic.
Source: BioMedCentral - 🏆 22. / 71 Read more »