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2nd<\/sup> Nov\u2019s industry mag Cover\u2019s Annual Protection & Health Summit Conference<\/span> <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 held at The Brewery in Central London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This industry day was superbly introduced with a truly inspirational speech by Alan Chambers MBE, serial North & South Pole explorer! Key points noted were –<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next Andy Manson from Aegon suggested that \u201cthe UK financial market is broken\u201d, advising that the intermediary\u2019s role is to \u201cmake their clients happier!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n An excellent piece next up from VitalityHealth\u2019s Dr. Kaly Tyron flagged some excellently researched stats regarding lifespan, including \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n A speaker from Guardian Brokers then confirmed some interesting Vaccine stats \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n Likely polarisation due to cultural superstitions, with less trust of a foreign govt.\u2019s initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Next up was Vitality\u2019s Commercial Head, Pippa, who summarised more interesting pandemic stats as detailed in their new \u2018Healthy Hybrid\u2019 brochure \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pippa concluded that \u201cit would be a bumpy road back to the office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Covering Mental Health next, this seminar highlighted that we are taught to \u2013 read, write & speak, during our lives, however normally receiving no formal training to LISTEN! Even though we spend 42% of our time doing so. \u201cListening is how we get the information that we need, although most are busy thinking about what they want to say next\u201d. Concluding that the power of silence is to be emphasised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n 9th<\/sup> Nov\u2019s <\/em><\/strong>Time<\/em><\/strong> <\/span>magazine\u2019s article entitled \u2018Many COVID-19 Survivors Still Can\u2019t Smell or Taste. Treating Them Isn\u2019t Easy.<\/em><\/strong><\/span>\u2019<\/em><\/strong> – Carolyn Hinds, aged 38, is quoted as \u201cbarely able to smell anything, with her sense of taste remaining warped, with sweet things leaving a strange after-taste, salty foods upsetting her stomach, with spice making her lips tongue burn, however tasting nothing. After 10 months doctors have stated that they are still at a loss as to how to treat her. \u201cI\u2019m kind of thinking that this is how it will be forever\u201d Hinds says. \u201cThat capability to partake in this simple pleasure of life really starts to weigh upon people and detracts from their overall quality of life, even leading to depression, anxiety & social withdrawal\u201d says Dr. Zara Patel, a head & neck surgeon, as well as a smell-loss expert from Stanford University. \u201cSmell is also linked to a number of important subconscious processes, like choosing romantic partners and parent-child bonding.\u201d Patel further explains that loss of smell can also affect safety concerns like \u201cnot noticing that food has gone bad or failing to smell smoke when there\u2019s a fire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n 16th<\/sup> Nov\u2019s BBC News<\/span> <\/em><\/strong>reported \u2018Why the NHS is Struggling like Never Before\u2019<\/em><\/span> – <\/em><\/strong>When the pandemic hit, about a quarter of adults in the UK were living with chronic illnesses. With support & care disrupted, and with Covid making people more isolated & less active, their health has subsequently suffered. According to those working within the NHS, they are now turning up to hospital in even greater numbers. This, as much as Covid itself, is driving the rise in demand upon the NHS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Newcastle\u2019s Royal Victoria hospital, they are seeing more frail elderly people being admitted as well as significant numbers of people with alcohol and mental health related problems. Like at nearly all hospitals, A&E waiting times have worsened and quality of care is suffering, with patients spending hours on trolleys due to an unavailability of beds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The service was struggling before the pandemic hit, with targets routinely being missed in all parts of<\/p>\n\n\n\n the UK. The NHS was being run \u201cat its limit\u201d, says Chris Hopson, of NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, who continues that \u201che believes that the NHS is heading for the most difficult winter in its history.\u201d This is not just about the past couple of years though \u2013 the situation has been a decade in the making, with UK public spending running at little more than 30% of the average spend since the formation of the NHS in 1949, since 2010. A&E waiting times are now at their worst levels since records began nearly 20 years ago, with 25% waiting longer than the govt. directive of 4 hours to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n 17th<\/sup> Nov\u2019s A.M.I.I. (Association of Medical Insurers & Intermediaries) Annual Summit Conference <\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u2013 held in Westminster, Central London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kicking off this PMI dedicated day was the privilege of Aviva Healthcare\u2019s MD Steve Bridges, who cited that \u201cthe NHS has thus far only recovered to around 50% of pre-pandemic levels\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A genealogical doctor gave an interesting speech citing that women\u2019s medications need to be prescribed at lesser levels to men\u2019s as they have different metabolisms, as an example, generally having lower alcohol tolerances. Women are also more likely to suffer during their lives from mental health issues due to the effects of the menopause. This medical professional who works in the NHS, stated quite bluntly that \u201cthe NHS is a disaster zone at the moment, with staffing issues due to Brexit escalating, and will therefore become much worse next year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The talk of this superb PMI industry integrity ensuring day belonged to psychiatrist Dr. Judith Mohring who grabbed the audience\u2019s attention by describing the pandemic as NUTS!<\/p>\n\n\n\n N<\/em><\/strong>ew<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n U<\/em><\/strong>npredictable<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n T<\/em><\/strong>hreat to ego<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n S<\/em><\/strong>ense of control lost<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Judith maintained that we\u2019re at the beginning of a mental health shadow pandemic, with 40% of the workforce reporting worsened mental health, whilst 1.1 million now suffering from Long Covid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n 22nd<\/sup> Nov\u2019s Guardian <\/span><\/em><\/strong>newspaper ran an article entitled \u2013 NHS to give therapy for depression before medication under new guidelines<\/span>; <\/em><\/strong>Millions of people with mild depression in England should be offered therapy, exercise, mindfulness, or medication before being prescribed anti-depressants, according to the first new NHS guidelines in more than a decade, drafted by The National Institute for Health & Care Excellence. (NICE) According to The Office for National Statistics (ONS) about 1\/6 (17%) of adults experienced some form of depression this past summer, compared to pre-pandemic levels of just 1\/10. (10%) Younger men & women were found to be more likely to be affected. Figures from the NHS Business services Authority show that more than 20 million anti-depressants were prescribed between October & December 2020 \u2013 Representing a 6% increase compared with the same three month period in 2019. 24th<\/sup> Nov\u2019s Cover<\/span> <\/em><\/strong>magazine\u2019s report from Vitality with their \u2018Next Best Action\u2019 launch –<\/span><\/em><\/strong>incentivising good health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With a personalised data driven approach designed to provide members with the one action that would have the biggest impact upon their future health. This initiative uses data science coupled with Vitality\u2019s understanding of individual health risks to predict which action is likely to have the most significant improvement to a member\u2019s health and long-term lifespan. It then recommends a personalised plan including tailored support via newly created pathways. So concluding the year that was 2021, just when we were daring to focus upon the seasonal end of year\/new year break, this new reportedly more virulent strain called \u2018Omicron\u2019 rears it\u2019s ugly head, identified by world class SA virologists, escalating more rapidly than the previous \u2018Delta\u2019 variant \u2013 Probably being an inditement upon wealthier nations having not done enough to adequately address the immunisation of poorer countries where just 6% reportedly have had 1 dose, compared to 54.4% globally. With the Spanish-Flu viral pandemic of 1919 lasting 2 years till 1921, let\u2019s embrace one final likely lockdown, having temporarily once again enjoyed some \u2018conditioned\u2019 relative freedom of movement & travel, being a more challenging time for our immune systems anyway, battening down the \u2018health-hatches\u2019 folks, with an end to this dreadful ordeal squarely on the horizon hopefully! Until 2022 please keep well & safe, watching out for family, friends & neighbours, particularly the more vulnerable at this time of year. Keep <\/em>warm, safe & well,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kind regards,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daniel P. Donoghue, <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Managing Director Welcome to the last issue of your favourite health news read for 2021 good people! As autumn rapidly morphs into winter with parts of the country [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6,15,16,28,40],"class_list":["post-249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-bupa","tag-health","tag-health-news","tag-nhs-treatment","tag-times-newspaper"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
We were then treated to a PMI Panel suggesting that more headway is being made in the corporate space with insurers transferring certificates electronically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Surrey Circle Health
Specialist PMI Broker<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Health](\"https:\/\/staging.surreycirclehealth.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/disaster.jpg\")
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