Welcome to the Podcast of Another 15 Minutes, Health News from the Fade Library. Full links to the articles detailed can be found at www (dot) fade the blog 2 (dot) blogspot (dot)com
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National News
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Revealed: the 11 government ministers fighting NHS cuts - The Guardian 13th January 2007
At least 13 members of Tony Blair's ministerial team have campaigned over the last few months against closure of services at NHS hospitals used by their constituents, a Guardian survey has revealed. The hitherto unrealised scale of opposition within the government's ranks to the consequences of NHS reform reflects the difficulty Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, faces in selling her policies to the nation. Many Labour backbenchers are also showing their dissent by making campaigns to save accident and emergency departments or maternity services the focus of their constituency activities.
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The MP, the health secretary, and an unresolved conflict - The Guardian 13th January 2007
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Tricks of the trade - The Guardian 13th January 2007
David Nicolson Director of the Institute of Optimum Nutrition. If you are in good health I would kick off with a one-day fast, just drinking water and herb tea. This is a fairly stringent approach, and you shouldn't fast unless you're under the supervision of a doctor or nutritional therapist.
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Ethicists fear free-for-all in animal-human transplants - The Guardian 13th January 2007
A government decision to scrap a committee which regulates animal-to-human transplants has drawn condemnation from ethicists who fear there could be a free-for-all in xenotransplantation. But the government insisted last night that the move last month was a response to a lack of interest in research into the transplants after it became clear that the science was not going to provide the answer to the shortages in donor organs.
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NHS will 'run out of funds for best drugs' - The Times 13th January 2007
Patients face much tougher rationing of treatments and restricted access to breakthrough drugs if the Government does not rethink its plans for health spending, the NHS’s treatment regulator has told The Times. Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, the head of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), cited treatments ranging from new life-saving drugs to free food for the elderly in nursing homes as examples of care that could suffer if ministers slowed the rate of spending, as expected.
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When caring clashes with costs - the nasty business of being NICE - The Times 13th January 2007
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£243,000 for health boss paid off by trust in debt - The Times 13th January 2007
An NHS Trust that was £5 million in deficit paid off a former director with a £243,000 golden handshake. Iheadi Onwukwe, 41, was given the payoff when he left his post as director of public health at Eastbourne Downs Primary Care Trust after what is believed to have been a dispute with a senior colleague.
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£243,000 payoff for NHS boss after three weeks in the job - Daily Mail 12th January 2007
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MP angry at £243,000 NHS pay-off - BBC Health News 13th January 2007
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First test-tube baby in the world gives birth – without IVF - The Times 13th January 2007
Louise Brown, who was the world’s first test-tube baby, has given birth to a child, believed to be a boy, it was reported last night. Ms Brown, 28, conceived without the aid of in-vitro fertilisation. She and her husband, Wesley Mullinder, 37, were reported to be “over the moon” at the birth.
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First test-tube baby becomes a mother - Daily Mail 12th January 2007
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Dentist removed teeth of grumbling patient - The Times 13th January 2007
A dentist who pulled out an elderly woman’s teeth without anaesthetic “to teach her a lesson” has been struck off. David Quelch left the retired nurse, who was 87, with blood pouring from her mouth from two extractions after she had complained to her doctor about the quality of previous treatment by the dentist.
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Salmonella found in salad pack - The Times 13th January 2007
Thousands of salad packs have been withdrawn from supermarkets and corner shops after salmonella was found in one during routine testing. Technicians at Soleco UK, a salad-packing company at Lichfield, Staffordshire, discovered the bug on watercress in a pack of mixed salad leaves. As salmonella can be fatal to the elderly, the young and people with immune deficiencies and other medical conditions, the company ordered the recall of 7,000 bags on sale as own-brands at the Co-op and Budgens and under the Florette label at shops.
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Tesco claims new direct sales policies will be 33 per cent cheaper - The Telegraph 13th January 2007
Tesco started selling medical insurance this week, aiming to use its marketing power to push down costs and raise the number of people who can afford this form of financial protection. The supermarket claims that its policies, provided in conjunction with established insurer Axa PPP healthcare, will cost up to a third less than those from traditional insurers.
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Healthy lifestyle brings healthily full wallet - The Telegraph 13th January 2007
Insurers are developing policies that reward keeping fit, not smoking and not making claims, says Peter Pallot. People who rate their own health as above average will understandably avoid private medical insurance, even if they can afford it.
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Goa malaria advice causes confusion - The Telegraph 13th January 2007
An outbreak of malaria cases in Goa has prompted the Health Protection Agency (HPA) to modify new guidelines which had told visitors to the area that they no longer needed medication against the disease. The guidelines from the HPA, an independent body that advises the National Health Service, were published earlier this month as news of the malaria cases emerged.
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Doctors call for NHS to treat gamblers - The Telegraph 13th January 2007
Doctors are expected to call next week for more money for the NHS to treat the rising number of people with a gambling addiction. A report from the Board of Science of the British Medical Association (BMA) was called for by doctors last summer because of the numbers of adults and young people whose gambling was out of control.
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£2.5m lesson in how to wash your hands - The Telegraph 13th January 2007
Now, pay close attention. There are apparently 10 stages involved in washing your hands — so you need your wits about you. To help you with the timing, officials have suggested that you may want to sing Happy Birthday To You, twice in a row.
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Twice as many are tempted by nip/tuck - Daily Mail 12th January 2007
The number of women willing to go under the knife to improve their looks has doubled in two years, according to research. Around a third say they are 'favourably disposed' to having a little work done to improve on what nature has given them.
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GP salaries rocket to £118,000 - Daily Mail 12th January 2007
Family doctors have seen their salaries rise to an average £118,000 as other parts of the NHS are forced to cut jobs and services, a survey has shown. It represents a pay rise of 63 per cent in three years.
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You can jump the queue by paying for your NHS operation - Daily Mail 12th January 2007
A cash-strapped NHS hospital is offering patients the chance to pay for operations to avoid a lengthy wait. Family doctors are being asked to tell those needing hip and knee replacements they can jump the queue by paying thousands for 'routine' surgery.
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Patients can pay for NHS surgery - BBC Health News 12th January 2007
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Lung cancer vaccine to be tested - BBC Health News 13th January 2007
A large-scale trial to test a vaccine against the most common form of lung cancer has been launched. More than 1,300 patients worldwide will help test Stimuvax, which in preliminary trials substantially increased survival time for many.
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£20m to plug health research gap - BBC Health News 13th January 2007
Research to prevent serious illness will be boosted by a £20m fund to encourage public health projects. The money will create up to five "Centres of Excellence", helping recruit experts and provide facilities.
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Push for over-the-counter Viagra - BBC Health News 12th January 2007
The anti-impotence pill Viagra could be available over-the-counter drug, it is reported. The drug's maker Pfizer says it is considering submiting an application to European regulatory authorities to clear it for sale in pharmacies.
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Mental health drugs overused - BBC Health News 12th January 2007
Up to one in three mental health patients are being over-prescribed drugs, says the Healthcare Commission. A report found mental health patients were more likely to have problems with medicines than those in other trusts.
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Memory man to attempt uphill race - BBC Health News 12th January 2007
A man who awoke with complete amnesia is to compete in the Bupa Great Winter Run 2007 after discovering he used to run marathons. Paul McGale, 45, of Mitchell Street, Leith, spent a month lying in a coma following a fall in November 2005.
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International News
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Return of syphilis as men rely on prostitutes - The Times 13th January 2007
An increase in single Chinese men visiting prostitutes has contributed to a resurgence of syphilis in China, a disease that had been all-but eradicated from the country 30 years ago. A study published in The Lancet indicates that the number of syphilis cases in China increased to 6.5 per 100,000 people in 1999 from less than 0.2 per 100,000 in 1993.
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Breakthroughs, tips and trends - The Times 13th January 2007
IT’S A frightening thought, but crucial nerves are hard for surgeons to see and thus easy to cut by mistake. Now German scientists are developing an alarm system remarkably like the child’s electronic game, Operation: it listens to individual nerves and goes off if an accident is about to occur.
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Two die of bird flu in Indonesia - BBC Health News 13th January 2007
Two women in Indonesia have died after contracting bird flu, health officials have confirmed, raising the country's total number of human deaths to 61. A 27-year-old woman from the capital, Jakarta, died in hospital on Friday evening, officials said.
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Cheshire and Merseyside News
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Concern over mental health centre plan for hospital site - Southport Visiter 12th January 2007
ANGRY residents fear a planned mental health centre could be used to house sex offenders and drug addicts, despite denials from the organisation preparing to run it. Proposals to build nearly 100 houses and flats and a new mental health complex on the former site of the Southport General Infirmary were agreed at a meeting at Southport Town Hall on Wednesday evening.
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Multi-million pound plans for hospital site to begin - Midweek Advertiser 10th January 2007
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Dad's fury at son's nine hour hospital wait - Ellesmere Port Pioneer 11th January 2007
A FATHER is furious that his teenage son was forced to wait nine hours to have his broken arm treated. Patrick Gilmore, of Chester Road in Whitby, rushed 13-year-old Connor to the A&E department at the Countess of Chester Hospital after he fell off his bike on Tuesday of last week.
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GPs quit over patients’ care - Midweek Advertiser 10th January 2007
BOTH medical directors of the Southport & Formby Out of Hours Service have resigned over fears about patient safety. Dr Graeme Allan and Dr Peter Entwistle are reported to have quit their posts due to serious concerns over the company which runs the out-of-hours GP cover across Merseyside.
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Cumbria and Lancashire News
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Attacks on 999 crews increase - Lancashire Telegraph 12th January 2007
THE number of homes in East Lancashire being added to the ambulance service's violence black list is on the rise, an emergency boss has said. As ambulance staff suffer an increasing number of assaults, more homes are being "flagged" as potentially dangerous, said health chief Dr Richard Fairhurst.
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Greater Manchester News
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Prof rejects calls for 'faith-based' NHS care - Manchester Evening News 12th January 2007
A MANCHESTER University professor has rejected calls from a fellow academic for the NHS to provide "faith-specific" care for Muslims. Professor Aneez Esmail criticised the ideas put forward by Edinburgh University professor Aziz Sheikh who had suggested allowing male infant circumcision throughout the NHS and providing better access to Muslim prayer facilities for patients and doctors.
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130 Royal Bolton Hospital jobs to go - The Bolton News 12th January 2007
UP TO 130 more jobs could be axed at the Royal Bolton Hospital. NHS chiefs have announced plans to privatise some medical services. It means many initial tests in ear, nose and throat, urology, gynaecology, general surgery and orthopaedics will not be carried out at the hospital.
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Fight goes on to save baby unit services - Bury Times 12th January 2007
Bury's two MPs and council bosses met North West health chief Mike Farrah vowed to continue the fight against the closure of Fairfield Hospital's maternity department and special care unit. They formally rejected the Making it Better decision and vowed to continue the campaign to keep maternity services at Fairfield.
Full links to the articles detailed can be found at www(dot) fade the blog 2 (dot)blogspot (dot)com, This has been a Podcast of Another 15 Minutes ... Health News from the Fade Library.
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