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A class of drugs widely prescribed for people suffering from dementia is leading to the premature deaths of thousands of patients every year, according to research published today. Campaigners branded the continued use of the sedatives, called neuroleptics, a national scandal after a five-year study revealed that people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia are twice as likely to die if they are prescribed them.
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Alzheimer’s patients controlled by drugs that ‘worsen symptoms and shorten life’ - The Times 30th March 2007
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Why sedatives 'are making Alzheimer's patients die early' - Daily Mail 30th March 2007
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'Chemical cosh' early death risk - BBC Health News 29th March 2007
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Many staff would not want to be patients in own hospitals - The Guardian 30th March 2007
Many NHS hospital staff would not be happy with the standard of care they would get if they were patients at the place they work, the government's health watchdog said today after the world's biggest survey of employee opinion. After interviewing more than 128,000 staff in NHS trusts across England, the Healthcare Commission survey found only 42% would be happy with standards at their own establishment. A quarter said they would be definitely unhappy and 34% did not have a view. The study, which showed continuing concern about lack of handwashing facilities and abuse of NHS staff, raised doubts about the effectiveness of the government's drive to create a patient-centred NHS.
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Staff wouldn't be treated at their own hospital - The Telegraph 30th March 2007
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Two in five NHS staff do not trust their own hospital - Daily Mail 30th March 2007
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NHS staff 'would not be patients' - BBC Health News 29th March 2007
A hospital has been fined £80,000 after a man who had recovered from leukemia died after contracting legionnaires' disease just days before he was due to be discharged. After months of chemotherapy, Daryl Eyles had been told he was in remission and could plan to leave hospital when he contracted legionnaires' disease from a hospital shower head and died.
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Hospital fined for Legionnaires death of patient - The Telegraph 30th March 2007
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Hospital fined over shower death - BBC Health News 29th March 2007
On April 1, much of the responsibility for the £6.2bn NHS National Programme for IT, parts of which are two years late, will pass from NHS Connecting for Health (CfH) to strategic health authorities (SHAs). The National Programme for IT local ownership programme will include the transfer of staff to SHAs from five super-regional "clusters" run by CfH as local delivery arms. According to a document released earlier this month by the North-East SHA, this might include redundancies.
I wish Marcel Berlins had been at the Lancet's launch of its report this week on adolescent health (G2, March 28). We did not conclude "that today's teenagers are the first in history to be less healthy than their parents". We did not add to the "avalanche" of negative media coverage (I hope). What our report tried to do was to present both the risks and opportunities young people face today. We argued that adolescents are an increasingly marginalised and neglected group in our society. Pilloried as a social threat by some and trivialised as in need of a good hug by others, we have stigmatised and patronised young people for too long.
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The public worry more about Spanish donkeys than child poverty - The Guardian 30th March 2007
Thicker and faster fall the hammer blows on Labour. Some wounds are strangely self-inflicted, but others are accidents. One hundred thousand more children falling back into poverty this week was an unexpected car crash, not just for poor families but for the politics of the moment. Here is even worse news: inequality grew again and is now back up to the level when figures were first collated (the Gini coefficient) back in 1961.
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Cancer specialist: 'Let NHS patients pay for their treatment' - The Independent 30th March 2007
A leading cancer specialist has warned that NHS patients risk losing out on an imminent revolution in cancer treatment unless they are allowed to pay towards the cost of their care. Professor Karol Sikora, an expert in the management of cancer at Imperial College London, said at least six powerful cancer drugs would become available over the next year, costing at least £60,000 a year per patient. The "designer" cancer drugs, similar to Herceptin, are among the first to offer targeted therapy for cancers of the breast, lung, kidney and bowel.
To its supporters, a cup of green tea offers a worried world a welcome panacea. It protects the heart, cuts the risk of fatal illness, blocks cancer, boosts liver function and provides hope to Alzheimer's victims. It even helped Jade Goody slim down to a size 10. New research this week went so far as to suggest that it might one day be instrumental in the battle against HIV and Aids. But is it too good to be true?
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The head of the national crime agency has said UK's drugs strategy is "making no difference" and needs a radical new approach. Sir Stephen Lander, the chairman of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca) - described as Britain's answer to the FBI - admitted that when it comes to the fight against drugs "we are not winning so we must try something else as well".
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Five years ago Mal Sheldon became the first Labour mayor in Melton Mowbray's history. Mr Sheldon, 49, joined the Labour Party in 1994 and served on Melton Borough Council for 12 years, the last four as Labour group leader. He announced yesterday that he was defecting to the Conservatives, saying that it would be "dishonest" to campaign for Labour in May given his increasing anger at the party's record in government.
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Aircrew who endure jet lag repeatedly can suffer problems with menstrual cycles, a reduction of brain power and transient psychotic disorders, according to a review. Passengers who cross time zones less frequently are less likely to have serious problems, but they usually suffer sleep disturbance and changes in body function, a team from the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences at John Moores University in Liverpool say in The Lancet. Athletes often find that their performance is reduced after crossing multiple time zones.
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SUNDERLAND A local authority has been accused of an “outrageous abuse of power” by ordering staff to change their clothes if they want to smoke in public. The diktat has been issued by councillors in Sunderland as part of a crusade to turn the local authority into a smoke-free city.
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It is the answer to many a diner’s prayer in Britain and on the Continent: a way to eat chips and maintain a healthy heart. A new blend of cooking oil, which exploits the healthy properties of the grape seed, is being hailed by French scientists as a breakthrough in the quest for the fast-food industry’s holy grail.
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One child in 25 at secondary school in England has taken cocaine, heroin or another class A drug, according to a report commissioned by the Department of Health. The figures would mean 128,000 pupils aged 11 to 15 have been involved with the drugs.
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Fewer teens using drink and drugs - BBC Health News 29th March 2007
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Fewer teens using drink and drugs - BBC Health News 29th March 2007
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GPs and consultants should have their salaries cut if they fail to achieve targets or increase productivity, an economist said yesterday. Alan Maynard, professor of health economics at York University, argued that "demerit awards" do "concentrate people's minds".
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Doctors 'should face salary cut' - BBC Health News 29th March 2007
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Doctors 'should face salary cut' - BBC Health News 29th March 2007
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The senior surgeon who has presided over the system for appointing junior doctors has been reported to the General Medical Council (GMC). Prof Alan Crockard, an eminent neurosurgeon, has been the national director of the Department of Health's programme, Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) and its online application service, the Medical Training and Application Service (MTAS), since 2004.
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Having spent all day searching in vain for an NHS dentist, I listened with interest to the responsible minister on the Jeremy Vine show. I was amazed to hear her telling the nation that everything was fine and that we all had access to NHS dentistry. Does the Government know anything at all about what is going on in the country?
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Sales of a £17 Boots brand anti-ageing cream have soared by 2000 per cent following an independent study showing it reduces wrinkles. Many stores have run out of the 'No7 Protect & Perfect Serum' after the product was featured on a BBC Horizon programme on Tuesday.
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A university graduate died after doctors misdiagnosed the rare brain disease he was suffering from as a hangover, an inquest heard. Experts claimed John Mealey, 23, could have survived had medics realised he was suffering from herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) - a rare virus which causes swelling of the brain.
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A hospital criticised for its "chaotic and despicable" care of three elderly patients had been deficient for a number of years, a report says. Coroner John Pollard attacked Tameside General Hospital following inquests into the deaths of three patients.
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Conservatives have promised better hospitals and schools and more affordable homes in their Welsh assembly election manifesto. Tory leader David Cameron joined party assembly leader Nick Bourne for the launch near Mold, Flintshire.
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Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is offering counselling to victims of domestic abuse and one woman, a 32-year-old professional woman, tells north east reporter Ken Banks how she escaped an abusive marriage. Silhouette of woman Victims are being encouraged to seek help at hospital I was married for 10 years and, with hindsight, there were warnings before we got married.
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Durex has launched its first UK recruitment drive for thousands of condom testers. The condom maker wants a panel of 5,000 people who are single, married, or in couples to report their experiences of using its condoms and lubricants.
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Frequent flyers 'risk own health' - BBC Health News 29th March 2007New Story
Frequent air travellers, such as cabin crew who repeatedly take long-haul flights, risk ill health, a study says. As well as the obvious jet lag encountered with crossing multiple time zones, an out-of-kilter body clock can trigger psychotic and mood disorders.
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International News
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A new combination vaccine for meningitis and five other diseases affecting children in the developing world is to be filed with European medicine regulators. The vaccine is part of a drive by the World Health Organisation to encourage greater investment and research by Western drugs companies to defeat killer diseases in poor countries.
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Fish oil appears to add an extra benefit against heart attack, above that given by statins, research in Japan has shown. The addition of the fish oil supplement, that contains eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), to the daily diet of more than 9,000 older people with elevated cholesterol reduced the risk of a heart attack by 19 per cent.
Many chemicals currently used in hair dyes could be a health risk, experts warned yesterday. Scientists advising the European Commission tested 46 hair dye ingredients and found a "considerably high proportion" were "skin sensitisers" and could trigger allergies.
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Patients are buying an experimental cancer drug over the internet, it has been reported. The drug, called DCA, has been shown to shrink tumours in rats but tests on humans are years away.
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Cheshire and Merseyside News
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A MAN died after doctors at Merseyside’s top brain hospital mistook a bug for the after-effects of booze. John Mealey, 23, was suffering from the rare brain-attacking virus herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) when he was admitted to Fazakerley hospital.
Ten doctors mistook killer brain disease for hangover - Daily Mail 29th March 2007
A SOUTHPORT hospital which has looked after patients for 112 years finally shuts its doors this week. General hospital care at Southport general infirmary will cease to exist on Saturday as the last three departments move out of the historic building.
DOZENS of vital hospital jobs could be transferred to India and the Philippines. Bosses at Southport and Ormskirk trust are considering farming out the medical secretary posts to Asia as they battle a £15m deficit.
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Borough children run a high risk of obesity - Runcorn & Widnes Weekly News 29th March 2007
A HIGH percentage of Halton's primary school children are at risk of being dangerously over-weight. Widnes and Runcorn is included in a list of towns in Cheshire and Merseyside which have the highest obesity rates - a staggering 17.43% of all Halton children measured are over-weight.
Aircrew who endure jet lag repeatedly can suffer problems with menstrual cycles, a reduction of brain power and transient psychotic disorders, according to a review. Passengers who cross time zones less frequently are less likely to have serious problems, but they usually suffer sleep disturbance and changes in body function, a team from the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences at John Moores University in Liverpool say in The Lancet. Athletes often find that their performance is reduced after crossing multiple time zones.
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Frequent flyers 'risk own health' - BBC Health News 29th March 2007
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Cumbria and Lancashire News
HEALTH bosses have decided to build a new mental health hospital to serve central and West Lancashire – but they don’t know where yet. It could be placed in any area including Ormskirk, Skelmersdale, Chorley or Preston.
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THE group behind plans for a new children’s respite centre in Wigton have stressed that it will not be a hospice. Instead, the Siskyn centre will provide overnight respite care for children with long-term disabilities, including autism.
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Children’s hospice fears competition from rival - Carlisle News & Star 28th March 2007
ORGANISERS of the high-profile Jigsaw Appeal fear a new children’s hospice planned for Wigton will pose direct competition for the centre they are building. Sheila Goodliffe, chief executive of the Eden Valley Children’s Hospice in Carlisle, is calling for urgent talks with representatives to ensure services are not duplicated.
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Greater Manchester News
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NEW homes for medical staff are to be created next to the Royal Bolton Hospital as part of a new housing development. Bolton Council is inviting tenders for a new development on the site of former sheltered flats for homeless families at Clare Court, in Exeter Avenue, Farnworth.
YOUNGSTERS on a hospital children's ward had their playtime fun washed away after a burst water pipe destroyed thousands of pounds worth of toys. The pipe burst in the playroom at Fairfield General Hospital in Bury where all the ward's toys and play equipment are stored, including a television, DVD player, DVDs and games consoles along with specialist equipment for children with special needs.
A FURTHER 27 beds at Fairfield Hospital are to be axed as the Pennine Acute Trust continues to battle multi-million pound debts. The total number of beds which have closed at the Rochdale Old Road hospital will total 55 following the closure of 28 beds last year.
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Last push to back the baby unit - The Bolton News 29th March 2007
BACK the baby unit once again - that is the plea from Bolton's health chiefs. The review panel responsible for making the final decision on whether Bolton will be named as one of three super-centres in Greater Manchester for neonatal, maternity and children's services are calling for local people to have their say.
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.
