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
National News
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Government has one year left to save the NHS, warns BMA chief - The Guardian 12th January 2007
The government has only a year to save the NHS and maintain its status as a free service funded by taxation, the leader of Britain's 120,000 doctors warned yesterday. James Johnson, chairman of the British Medical Association, said the period of record growth in the health budget was due to come to an end next year. If Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, did not correct the "idiocy" of the competitive market she created in the NHS, there would be overwhelming pressure for fundamental reform.
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BMA warns of 'slimmer' NHS - The Times 12th January 2007
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One year to save NHS, warns BMA chairman - The Telegraph 12th January 2007
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One year to save NHS, doctors say - BBC Health News 11th January 2007
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Watchdog refuses to allow hybrid embryos - The Guardian 12th January 2007
British scientists were yesterday denied permission to create controversial human-animal hybrid embryos until doubts over the ethics and scientific value of the research are addressed.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said it was deferring a decision on whether to grant licences to teams from King's College London and Newcastle University until a wide-ranging consultation on the issue concluded in the autumn.
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Public to be consulted over 'hybrid' embryos - The Independent 12th January 2007
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Fertility watchdog delays ruling on animal-human embryo research - The Times 12th January 2007
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Watchdog won't rule out creating human-animal embryos - Daily Mail 11th January 2007
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Public debate on hybrid embryos - BBC Health News 11th January 2007
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Nurses accused of putting paperwork before care - The Guardian 12th January 2007
Patients are being put at risk by appalling conditions on hospital wards, a senior consultant says today in the British Medical Journal. Katherine Teale, a consultant anaesthetist at Hope hospital in Salford, Greater Manchester, accuses some nurses of neglecting basic care in favour of paperwork. Doctors are accused of not spending enough time on wards.
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Mental illness is not just about life experiences - The Guardian 12th January 2007
'The more well adapted you are to our crazy society, the crazier you will be," writes Oliver James (Sanity's shining light, December 19). Working in the NHS, I could buy that. I'm generally on James's side for his observations on the problems of modern life, and his enthusiasm for sensible treatments such as cognitive analytic therapy. However, his attack on psychiatry and the concept of mental illness is mischievous and misleading. Psychiatry does have a legitimate part to play - a limited part, but an important one.
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Warning issued over cannabis adulterated with glass beads - The Guardian 12th January 2007
Drug campaigners have warned that a batch of cannabis adulterated with tiny glass beads which they say could pose a risk to health has flooded the UK market. Anecdotal reports suggest it is being sold in almost every part of the country. The charity Drugscope is issuing a warning. "We want to make people aware of it from a public health point of view. If you are smoking this stuff and taking it into your lungs it's not good news."
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Letters: Carrot and chip for food industry - The Guardian 12th January 2007
As down-to-earth Yorkshire folk, despite Matthew Fort's comments (So you fancy chips with everything? Go ahead, January 11), we would like to invite him up to Scarborough to see exactly what goes on in the production process of the oven chip. It was disappointing to read his description of McCain Rustic Oven Chips as "extruded polystyrene". Our oven chips are simply prepared, using potatoes that are only washed, peeled, cut, lightly fried in sunflower oil and then frozen.
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Both left and right are in a pickle over how to pay for the old and disabled - The Guardian 12th January 2007
People get angry when their inheritance goes on care-home charges, but the alternative is more tax to meet desperate need
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Sick pay: Massive rise in GPs' salaries worsens NHS cash crisis - The Independent 12th January 2007
The average GP now earns £118,000 a year. This is a staggering rise of 63% in three years. And it gets better: instead of having to care for patients all day, every day, they are now just responsible during office hours (weekdays only). Is it any wonder the NHS is unwell?
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Flesh-eating bug killed leading economist - The Times 12th January 2007
A leading economist died within 24 hours of contracting necrotising fasciitis, the infection known as the “flesh-eating bug”. David Walton, who was a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, died at the age of 43 on June 21 at Cheltenham General Hospital. Doctors had watched helplessly as the infection spread across his body. Warren Doherty, who was among those treating him, told an inquest in Gloucester yesterday that the infection “spread before our eyes, down the thigh, growing up towards the shoulder and chest. The necrosis was progressing in front of us and it was clear that he would die.”
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Short cut to predicting a heart attack - The Times 12th January 2007
Scientists have discovered a chromosomal clue that may point to a person’s risk of developing heart disease. The key is in the length of the telomeres — stretches of DNA on the ends of chromosomes, like caps on shoelaces.
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Spy poison found in 103 people - The Times 12th January 2007
More than 100 people were contaminated with polonium-210 as the result of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the Health Protection Agency has said. The former KGB agent was poisoned with a huge dose of the radioactive substance in November. Investigations into his death continue, but no one has been charged.
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How finding a dentist came to be such a pain in the gum - The Telegraph 12th January 2007
In Tony Blair's Britain, you are more likely to bump into a Mormon than a dentist. And how many Mormons have you met recently? Right, you get my starting point. Finding a dentist – especially an NHS dentist – in New Labour's healthcare utopia is a pain in the gum. There are more than 60 million of us; and just over 20,000 of them. Now, let's drill a little deeper. When was the last time you went to a dentist who was British? Tough one, eh? My idea of hell is dental surgery, so I'm not exactly a season ticket-holder at the local practice. Even so, I haven't been worked on by a British dentist for nearly 25 years. My daughter, who is 18, has never been to one.
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Surgery delay as NHS trusts stall on bills - Daily Mail 11th January 2007
The NHS payments system is approaching meltdown as bosses delay operations and quibble over bills. Hospitals are being ordered not to operate on non-urgent cases for four months because hospitals will not be paid if patients are treated faster than national targets.
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Common cold virus could destroy cancer tumours - Daily Mail 11th January 2007
The common cold could be used in a ground-breaking treatment to fight cancer, scientists said last night. Human trials starting this year will attempt to kill cancers by using viruses like the common cold to infect the tumour.
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Cold virus to aid cancer patients - BBC Health News 11th January 2007
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One in five fertility clinics failing to meet basic standards - Daily Mail 11th January 2007
Poorly performing fertility clinics could be putting patients at risk, according to a new league table showing the UK's best and worst. One in five clinics fail to meet the basic standards expected, and just five of the 78 listed scored top marks.
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Dieters shun 'quick fix' slimming foods for healthy eating - Daily Mail 11th January 2007
Dieters are shunning manufactured slimming foods and instead embracing natural ways of shedding pounds, a study reveals today. Sales of meal replacements such as low calorie milkshakes and cereal bars have plunged as they are increasingly regarded as a "quick fix" that will not lead to long term weight loss.
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Wonder organ transplant solution - BBC Health News 12th January 2007
Scientists and transplant surgeons in Edinburgh have developed a new preservative which should improve the success rate of organ transplants. They have produced a new solution which prevents blood clots inside the organ, making it more likely that the transplant will work.
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Family elated after drug approved - BBC Health News 12th January 2007
A family has been given new hope with the formal licensing of a drug which will help their sons who have the rare genetic condition Hunter Syndrome. Up until now, no cure was in sight for the life-threatening disease affecting Samuel and Oliver Stevens, aged seven and five, from Farnham, in Surrey.
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Scientists decode sex bug genes - BBC Health News 12th January 2007
Scientists have unravelled the genetic code of an organism that causes millions of sexually transmitted infections every year. Trichomonas vaginalis is a parasite that can cause an painful infection, Trichomoniasis, in both men and women.
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Mental health care 'must improve' - BBC Health News 12th January 2007
A major spending boost is needed if mental health care is to meet the government's expectations for 2010/11, a charity has warned. Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health examined the resources needed to meet the government's 10-year National Service Framework.
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Call for faith-based NHS services - BBC Health News 12th January 2007
The NHS should provide more faith-based care for Muslims, an expert says. Muslims are about twice as likely to report poor health and disability than the general population, says Edinburgh University's Professor Aziz Sheikh.
International News
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Harvard's bridge of sighs - The Guardian 12th January 2007
A bridge next to Kevin Eggan's laboratory overlooks one of the most concentrated zones of scientific firepower in the world: North Yard, the science hub of Harvard. The bridge, a recent construction in glass and steel, was intended to facilitate collaboration between two research teams. On one side is the lab run by Dr Eggan, an assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology who specialises in human embryonic stem cell research. On the other is the Bauer Centre for Genome Research, which focuses on genes. Working together, the teams started devising projects to analyse the genetics of human embryonic stem cells, with Dr Eggan's team generating the cells on one side of the bridge and their DNA being analysed on the other side.
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EU to ban imports of wild birds - BBC Health News 11th January 2007
The trade in wild birds is to be permanently banned across the European Union starting in July, EU animal health officials have decided. The move will replace a temporary ban imposed by Brussels in 2005 as part of measures to prevent outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.
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Syphilis rates 'soaring in China' - BBC Health News 12th January 2007
A new report published in a leading medical journal suggests China is seeing alarming and rising rates of the sexually transmitted disease, syphilis. The Lancet reports that China - which virtually eliminated syphilis in the 1960s and 70s - is now seeing the disease return with alarming intensity.
Cheshire and Merseyside News
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City hospitals in cancer care row - Liverpool Echo 11th January 2007
A BITTER battle for the future of Liverpool’s breast cancer services will be re-ignited tonight. Members of the public will have their say on who should handle treatment and surgery at a meeting.
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Success for first marrow clinic - Liverpool Echo 11th January 2007
THE FIRST lifesaving bone marrow clinic of 2007 got off to a flying start yesterday. A worldwide search for a donor for Southport siblings Ella and Sam Wright continues and 15 new potential lifesavers did their bit to help.
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Walking hope at last for Callum - Liverpool Echo 11th January 2007
THREE-YEAR-OLD Callum Boan could take his first steps today. The toddler will undergo potentially life-changing botox surgery at Cromwell Hospital in London that could finally allow him to walk.
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Fury at fertility clinic's ranking - Liverpool Daily Post 11th January 2007
FERTILITY experts at Liverpool Women’s Hospital last night rounded on a health organisation for ranking it near the bottom of league tables for the treatment it provides. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has published a list showing the poor performance of some UK fertility clinics.
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On target in MRSA battle - Liverpool Daily Post 11th January 2007
ONE of Merseyside's main hospital trusts is back on track with its fight against MRSA, regional health officials have confirmed. St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust, named in November as one of eight trusts in the region to be 'at risk' of missing MRSA reduction targets, is now on top of the battle.
Cumbria and Lancashire News
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Talks over ambulance 999 call centre - Carlisle News & Star 11th January 2007
CUMBRIAN councillors are to meet colleagues from across the north west to discuss plans to close ambulance control rooms. The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) wants to scrap Cumbria’s control room and route 999 calls to Preston.
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Bid for new chemist to serve Harrington - Carlisle News & Star 11th January 2007
HARRINGTON could have a new community chemist if Allerdale councillors give plans the green light. FC Whelan Ltd, which incorporates Workington Health Centre and Maryport Health Centre, bought 25 Church Road last September, and has submitted plans to create a pharmacy and dispensary on the ground floor.
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Awareness of self-harm - Carlisle News & Star 11th January 2007
NORTH Cumbria’s self-injury support group is planning to hold two events to raise awareness about why people self-harm.
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Health chiefs refuse to pay for expensive new drug - Lancashire Telegraph 11th January 2007
HEALTH chiefs who turned down a terminally ill man's plea for a costly cancer drug were urged to pay for it by a cancer expert, it has been revealed. Professor Robert Hawkins, an oncologist at the Christie Hospital, Manchester, said Keith Ditchfield had shown an "encouraging response" to Naxavar and urged him to be given it on the NHS.
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Health leader 'hard to replace' - Lancashire Telegraph 11th January 2007
A HEALTH boss who announced her shock retirement will be difficult to replace, East Lancashire's top health chief has said. Jo Cubbon, chief executive of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said Trust chairman, Christine Kirk, will be missed by staff.
Greater Manchester News
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Brave cancer girl suffers tumour blow - The Bolton News 11th January 2007
A YOUNG cancer sufferer has been given the devastating news that more tumours have been found on her spine and in her brain. Gemma Feeney, aged 28, of Deane, learned last week that scans had revealed more tumours on her spine, and a shadow on her brain could be another cancerous growth.
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Managing long-term health conditions - The Bolton News 11th January 2007
PEOPLE living with a long-term health condition are being invited to take part in a free course to help them manage it their more effectively. The Expert Patient's Programme is for people suffering with conditions such as arthritis, asthma, back pain, diabetes, epilepsy, chronic heart disease, multiple sclerosis and depression.
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Work on £9m health centre is under way - The Bolton News 11th January 2007
WORK has started on a multi-million pound health centre in one of Bolton's most deprived communities. The first sod has been cut at the £9 million pound Crompton Health Centre, on Crompton Way, Hall i'th' Wood.
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Nurses accused of putting paperwork before care - The Guardian 12th January 2007
Patients are being put at risk by appalling conditions on hospital wards, a senior consultant says today in the British Medical Journal. Katherine Teale, a consultant anaesthetist at Hope hospital in Salford, Greater Manchester, accuses some nurses of neglecting basic care in favour of paperwork. Doctors are accused of not spending enough time on wards.
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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