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Doctors face independent scrutiny in GMC shake-up - The Guardian 22nd February 2007
Doctors will lose the privilege of self-regulation under a raft of government proposals designed to shore up public confidence in the medical profession following a series of scandals. A government white paper on the regulation of doctors and other healthcare professionals yesterday set out its vision of a new-look General Medical Council, which will be smaller, have equal numbers of doctors and lay members, and will hand over disciplinary decisions to an independent tribunal.
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'We can help each other' - The Guardian 22nd February 2007
In 1967, Mollie Craven, the mother of a heroin addict, wrote an article in the Guardian appealing to readers to start a self-help group for addicts and their families. Now, 40 years later, Addaction is Britain's leading drug charity.
It's a quiet morning in a quiet road just off Mare Street in Hackney, east London. Drop-in hours are not until the afternoon, but already people are arriving at the doors of Addaction Hackney Community Drug Service, one of Addaction's 70-plus British treatment centres - there's even one in the shadow of Manchester prison, poised to catch the newly free when the pull of old haunts becomes almost irresistible.
Why are we asking this question now? Yesterday the Government's fertility watchdog, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), announced that women should be allowed to donate their eggs for medical research altruistically. They did not consider whether women should be paid for their eggs, as this is outlawed under existing regulations, but some scientists think they should. The only payment allowed is compensation for travel and other expenses and for time off work, similar to the conditions for jury service. The maximum compensation payable is £250.
The NHS is set to break even this year, redeeming the promise made by Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary. But figures released yesterday covering the third quarter of the 2006-07 financial year paint a mixed picture.
A conman used bogus qualifications bought on the internet to pose as an expert forensic scientist in hundreds of civil and criminal cases including rape, armed robbery, drugs offences, unexplained death and death by dangerous driving. Gene Morrison, 48, a Jamaican-born father of nine, who called himself Dr Morrison, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice, perjury and obtaining money and property by deception at Minshull Street Crown Court. He faces a jail term when he is sentenced today.
Two iconic images of human life - a 12-week foetus "walking" in the womb, and the snap of Louise Brown, the first IVF baby - have been joined by another that is no less poignant or significant. The feet of Amillia Taylor, in all their tiny, wrinkled perfection, were seen dwarfed by the fingers of the nurse who was gently holding them. Just 9.5 inches long, and weighing less than 10 ounces when delivered at 21 weeks and six days, the photograph was one of several released when Amillia, now four months old, made her debut as the "world's smallest surviving baby".
Thousands of health care therapists will face a system of profession standards and regulation for the first time, under plans unveiled by the Government yesterday. Psychologists, counsellors and psychotherapists will have to reach fixed standards of proficiency and could be struck-off in the same way as doctors if complaints are unpheld by independent adjudicators.
If you're facing a problem you can't get your head around, you might be told to sleep on it. Now scientists have shown that the advice is more than just an old wives' tale. Apparently sleep strengthens the memory and helps the brain extract themes and rules from the masses of information we soak up during the day.
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120,000 more to die in a decade as legacy of asbestos reaches a peak - Daily Mail 21st February 2007
More than 120,000 people will be killed by a lung cancer timebomb caused by exposure to asbestos in the 1960s and 70s, experts have revealed. Tens of thousands of workers and their families were given a shocking warning on Tuesday that they face a painful death from the untreatable condition.
Over-protected children are likely to seek out danger when they escape the confines of home or school, experts have warned. They become so bored that they look for exciting ways to amuse themselves - such as playing on building sites or railway lines.
The UK-wide programme to screen school children for tooth decay should be scrapped because it does not improve dental health, government experts say. A trial of 17,000 children found those from poor backgrounds benefit least from screening despite having much higher rates of dental disease.
Patients are to be screened for tuberculosis (TB) after a health care worker was diagnosed with the disease. Patients who have attended the renal dialysis unit at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital are being offered tests.
The government is to unveil its New Deal for Carers which will see £33m used for measures to help people who care for elderly or disabled relatives. Most of the money - £25m - will go to local authorities to fund emergency respite care for people who need a break from the demands of their role.
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The parents of 24,000 children in northern Pakistan refused to allow health workers to administer polio vaccinations last month, mostly because of rumours that the harmless vaccine was an American plot to sterilise Muslim children. The disinformation - spread by extremist clerics using mosque loudspeakers and illegal radio stations, and by word of mouth - has caused a sharp jump in polio cases in Pakistan and damaged global efforts to eradicate the disease.
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An "epidemic" of counterfeit therapeutic drugs is sweeping south-east Asia, costing hundreds of thousands of lives as victims take them under the mistaken belief that they are receiving vital treatment for their illnesses. A British doctor working in the Laotian capital, Vientiane, found that most of the anti-malarial medicines tested in a sample were sophisticated fakes, often displaying holograms on the packaging, originally aimed at making counterfeiting difficult.
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From the pockets of his billowing white robe, Gambia's president pulls out a plastic container, closes his eyes in prayer and rubs a green herbal paste into the ribcage of his patient. He then orders the thin man to swallow a bitter yellow drink, followed by two bananas. "Whatever you do there are bound to be sceptics, but I can tell you my method is foolproof," Yahya Jammeh says, surrounded by his bodyguards inside his presidential compound as he prepares to treat more patients. "Mine is not an argument, mine is a proof. It's a declaration. I can cure Aids and I will."
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Ethiopia is refusing to declare a suspected outbreak of cholera an epidemic despite the deaths of 684 people and infection of nearly 60,000 others in less than a year. Fearful of affecting revenue from food exports and tourism, the government is insisting that the disease is acute watery diarrhoea - a symptom of cholera - and maintains it is under control.
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European Union figures released this week make grim reading for British men, 22% of whom, we are told, are obese. But it is Malta that has the dubious honour of heading the league table. Here, a quarter of men are at least 20% over their healthy maximum weight.
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A set of quintuplets, four boys and a girl, have been born in a territory with one of the highest birth rates in the world. The four, who are all healthy, were delivered by Caesarean section. Layla Abu Nofal, 25, had hormone treatment to help her conceive. Her husband Muhammad, 28, a policeman, said that they had been expecting four but the fifth was a surprise. They have a son, 6 and a daughter, 5. Two years ago another woman in Gaza had sextuplets. (AP)
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For some it is an instrument of torture, for millions of others around the world a glorious outlet for unrecognised musical genius. But the world of karaoke has been stricken by a fearful epidemic that threatens to silence Japan’s bars and the caterwauling of millions of amateur vocalists.
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Their physicality and sex appeal seduced Gauguin and Somerset Maugham, but the people of the South Pacific are now the fattest in the world. Islanders who once criss-crossed the world's largest ocean are now barely able to fit into their canoes, let alone paddle them vast distances.
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The U.S. government has ordered stronger warnings to be carried on the labels of an asthma "wonder" jab widely available in the UK. The move comes after some users developed a delayed and potentially life-threatening reaction to Xolair, which was licensed in the UK in 2005.
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A pregnancy hormone may help repair the damage to nerves caused by multiple sclerosis, Canadian research suggests. The Journal of Neuroscience study, by the University of Calgary, may explain why MS tends to go into remission while women are pregnant.
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Women who were underweight when they were born are at greater risk of severe pre-eclampsia in pregnancy, a Swedish study involving 6,000 women suggests. The risk is particularly pronounced if their mothers had pre-eclampsia when pregnant with them, researchers say.
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Most-premature baby allowed home - BBC Health News 21st February 2007
The world's most-premature baby has finally been allowed to leave a Miami hospital, four months after being born weighing just 280 grams (10 ounces). The hospital said Amillia Taylor, who spent less than 22 weeks in the womb, was "healthy and thriving".
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Cheshire and Merseyside News
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PEOPLE With diarrhoea and vomiting are being asked to stay away from Accident and Emergency and GP surgeries to save the lives of the elderly and vulnerable The Health Protection Agency (HPA) North West is urging people to refrain from visiting friends and relatives in hospitals and residential care homes and stay away from work or school until they have been symptom free for at least 48 hours.
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SOUTHPORT and Ormskirk hospital has the lowest rate of MRSA infections in the country according to latest figures. Over the five and a half years that Trusts have had to report figures to the Department of Health, the Southport and Ormskirk Hospital Trust has reported the lowest percentage rate of any General Acute Trust in the country and a total of only 57 cases in the whole of that time.
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A DIABETIC mother-of-three who gave birth on her living room floor says she was told by a hospital to stay at home. Amanda Antrobus, of Wood Street, Crewe, went into labour with her third child, Ben, and rang Leighton Hospital to let them know she was coming in.
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A NEW specialist service for people with brain injuries has been opened in Liverpool. Redford Court Lodge will provide continuing rehabilitation for five people with acquired brain injury who have a range of physical disabilities and complex health needs.
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A MERSEYSIDE health trust has said it will continue its costly legal war against a journalist despite criticism from a senior judge. Mersey Care NHS Trust’s bid to get Robin Ackroyd to expose the mole at Ashworth secure hospital who disclosed Moors murderer Ian Brady's medical records was thrown out at London’s Appeal Court.
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HOSPITAL workers have left management in no doubt about their feelings on the introduction of staff car parking charges. The result of a consultative ballot on staff at Warrington Hospital is a resounding no'.
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Hospital offer to meet family - Warrington Guardian 21st February 2007New Story
WARRINGTON Hospital has confirmed to the Warrington Guardian that Billy Beff was transferred to Clatterbridge for cancer treatment. But it was unable to disclose why Billy's family were not told.
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Cumbria and Lancashire News
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No hospital visit if you’re unwell! - Carlisle News & Star 21st February 2007
HOSPITAL visitors are being urged to stay away if they are suffering from any of the winter illnesses which are currently rife in the community. It follows a new outbreak of diarrhoea and vomiting at the Cumberland Infirmary, which has left some wards closed for almost a week and led to operations being cancelled.
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Greater Manchester News
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A FRAUDSTER who conned the courts for almost three decades by posing as a forensic psychologist without qualifications was today found guilty of a host of deception charges. Gene Morrison, 48, of Hyde, Cheshire, left school with no qualifications but bluffed his way through hundreds of court cases, conning judges, barristers, solicitors and police into believing he was qualified.
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Conman posed as scientist - The Times 22nd February 2007
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THE Manchester Evening News can today reveal the identity of the hospital technician at the centre of a massive heart scan blunder. Akinjide Akinleye, also known as Jide, misread up to a fifth of heart scans he carried out at Fairfield Hospital, according to an independent report out today.
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THE accident and emergency department at the Royal Bolton Hospital is the second busiest in Greater Manchester, new figures reveal. More than 25,000 people were seen in casualty at the hospital in the last three months of last year.
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A CAMPAIGNER who has battled for nearly 20 years to discover why haemophilia sufferers became infected with hepatitis C or HIV has welcomed an inquiry into the tragedy. David Fielding was given tainted blood products in transfusions by the NHS which gave him hepatitis C and destroyed his liver.
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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