How exactly will Reeves's funding boost fix the NHS?
There will be a £29 billion real-terms increase in day-to-day spending for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), with its annual budget reaching £232 billion by 2028-29. The budget for the NHS in England alone will rise to £226 billion. Government spending on health and care will have doubled in a decade. The DHSC budget will eclipse the national income of Portugal and more than 40p in every government pound will be spent on the NHS.
There was a strong sense of déjà vu listening to the Chancellor, as she reflected a growing fiscal orthodoxy.
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Medical News Today
20 minutes ago
- Medical News Today
A guide to exercises for your 50s and beyond
As a person ages, it is important to stay as physically active as possible. This helps maintain muscle mass and improve overall health. Certain exercises, such as walking, cycling, and yoga, are low impact activities and may be easier for adults over 50 to maintain. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that adults get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week and at least 2 days of strength training each week. As a person reaches 65 years old and over, the CDC recommends also including activities to improve balance.A person could divide these into sessions of 30 minutes per day, 5 days per activity can include walking, cycling, swimming, and dancing. A person always needs to speak with a healthcare professional before beginning a new exercise shows there are numerous benefits of walking, especially as a person ages. Walking can decrease a person's risk or severity of several health issues, including: cardiovascular diseasediabetescognitive (thinking ability) impairmentIt can also improve mental health, sleep, and longevity. The United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) also notes that even a brisk 10-minute walk can build stamina, burn excess calories, and improve heart health. Walking tipsStart slow and increase the distance gradually. Wear comfortable shoes. Make it a habit to make it easier to walk more. Add variety to walks to keep them interesting. Join a walking group. A brisk walk is about 3 miles per hour, which is a bit faster than a stroll. A person can tell whether they are walking briskly if they can still talk but cannot sing.»Learn more: Health benefits of brisk walkingCyclingCycling can offer various health benefits for participants, especially older adults. A 2023 review of older adults notes that cycling can help by:reducing blood pressureimproving heart healthimproving mental healthimproving cardiorespiratory healthreducing body fat and massResearch from 2017 also found that cycling may help reduce the risk of falls in older adults. It is a low impact activity, which means it does not put excess strain on the joints. Tips for cyclingFind the right bike that helps with comfort and mobility. Mix up the types of rides by incorporating varying intensity, duration, and frequency. Be consistent. The more riding a person does, the more they will be able to do. Start slow and gradually increase the duration and intensity of rides. Cycling is a low impact activity, meaning it does not put excess strain on the joints. »Learn more: Cycling for older adultsYoga The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) states that yoga can benefit people by:improving general wellness, including: reducing stressimproving mental and emotional healthimproving sleepimproving balancerelieving pain, such as: neck painmigraine and tension-type headachespain related to knee osteoarthritishelping with weight loss and maintenancemanaging anxiety and depressionrelieving menopause symptomsTips for yogaStart with chair gentle the poses and flows as necessary. Listen to your body. Take a beginner's class. Focus on your breathing. Practice regularly. »Learn more: Chair yoga for older adults Tai chiTai chi is low impact training that aims to improve: flexibility strengthbalancebody awareness It also helps reduce feelings of anxiety and stress and increase NCCIH notes that tai chi may help prevent falls in older adults and in those with Parkinson's disease. The organization also states that this activity may help reduce pain, such as:fibromyalgialower back painknee osteoarthritisrheumatoid arthritisTips for tai chiFind a qualified instructor or online videos for beginners. Start slow and listen to your body. Dress comfortably. Modify the movements to seated ones if necessary. »Learn more: Health benefits of tai chiAquatic exercisesThe CDC notes that aquatic exercises, such as swimming, can help improve mood. It also states that water-based exercises can increase the quality of life in older adults, decrease disability, and increase bone health in postmenopausal can also often exercise for longer in the water without increasing muscle and joint pain, making aquatic exercises suitable for those with arthritis. Tips for aquatic exercisesJoin a water aerobics class. Check with Medicare to see if it will cover aquatic therapy. Join a gym or YMCA with a pool and go for regular lap swims. Spend time in a pool doing aquatic stretches, strengthening exercises, and aerobic exercises. »Learn more: Aquatic exercises for older adultsStrength trainingThe CDC recommends that older adults add 2 days of strengthening activities to their regular physical activity types of exercises that can help strengthen muscles are yoga and tai chi. A person can strengthen their muscles at home or at the gym through:working with resistance bandslifting weightsdigging in the gardenperforming exercises that use body weight for resistance, such as situps and pushupsTips for strengthening exercisesStart slow and gradually build up repetitions. Do strengthening exercises to the point where it is difficult to do another repetition without help. Choose activities that work all the major muscle groups, including: hips legsbackchestabdomenshouldersarmsTry to perform at least one set of strengthening exercises. For more benefits, try to do 2 to 3 sets.A repetition is one complete movement of an activity. A person can aim for 8 to 12 repetitions per exercise, which comprises a for fitnessDance has various benefits as a physical activity. For example, research shows that dancing can improve endurance and muscle strength in older health benefits include: mobilitycardiovascular healthbalance and reduced risk of fallsenergy and flexibilitycognitive functionmuscle strength and staminaTips for dancingCheck local community centers, YMCAs, or community colleges for dance classes geared toward local dance studios, either for all-ages dance classes or age-specific with the SilverSneakers program if they have Medicare YouTube for online dance instructions.»Learn more: Dancing for older adultsSummaryPhysical activity is an important part of aging. It can help reduce the risk of conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. It can also improve mental health and overall people age, they may find that low impact physical activity may be easier to do regularly. This may include walking, yoga, tai chi, aquatic exercises, or aging resourcesTo discover more evidence-based information and resources for healthy aging, visit our dedicated hub.
BBC News
22 minutes ago
- BBC News
New services planned to reduce hospital pressures
More people needing medical attention in Oxfordshire will be treated at home or in a community setting, under new plans announced by health joint plan between Oxfordshire's health and social care services, called the Better Care Fund, will prioritise spending on treatment options closer to year's fund amounts to £80.6m, which is part of a wider annual shared health and social care fund of more than £500m. The fund, pooled between the local NHS and Oxfordshire County Council, previously focused on improving discharge rates from hospitals. Dan Leveson, director for places and communities for Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (ICB), said: "What we really want to do is get all the support in and around people, at home and in their communities, so that we can avoid people going in to the hospital in the first place."With health and social care partners reporting a 20% reduction in the average length of a hospital stay in Oxfordshire, money is now being prioritised to reduce the number of avoidable admissions into Leveson said: "There is a percentage of people at the moment who are admitted into hospital for non-urgent admissions, that if we had different care, if we had access to hospital at home, district nursing, social care and reablement, then they can stay home."Yearly NHS spending for Oxfordshire is estimated to be between £1.5bn to £2 include to further develop Oxfordshire's single point of access for community services, making it easier to access services like home nursing visits and intermediate care rather than going directly to region's urgent community response system will also be expanded to offer an alternative to paramedics taking people to hospital when they can be better cared for at neighbourhood teams will be broadened, with teams specialising in areas including physiotherapy and community nursing being able to provide hospital-level treatment at a more local level, alongside the already established Hospital at Home service. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
NHS earwax removal must be available to all
Your article about ear health (Get plugs and never remove wax at home, 24 June) didn't reflect the huge impact on some people's lives of the withdrawal of NHS earwax removal services in many areas. Cornwall is one of the areas of the country where you now have to pay privately to have earwax safely removed. The cost of this can be considerable for those on limited incomes, which causes some to undertake dangerous procedures themselves to clear their wax, or go to an unregulated and possibly dangerous practitioner, or simply live with reduced hearing. The double whammy is that you can't get an NHS hearing check – and thus NHS-funded hearing aids if you need them – or access to other treatment unless you have had your earwax removed at your own expense. RNID, the national hearing-loss charity, has published a report, Stop the Block, highlighting the issue. As your article rightly says, people need good hearing to stay socially connected. Without good-quality social interactions, people can become withdrawn, isolated, depressed and ill. The withdrawal in many areas of this apparently minor service to remove earwax is having a serious impact on some people's lives. The free NHS service must be reinstated for BlundyWest Cornwall HealthWatch Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
