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Labour health ministers' obsession with Nye Bevan cannot hide their failure to learn from history. The regularity with which politicians invoke history and "tradition", particularly in the field of health, would suggest that policy making is infused with the lessons of history. But my research, based on interviews with health policy advisers, suggests that most politicians have only a tenuous grasp of history. They draw on it as a source of cliches to promote policy; but limited use is made of historical interpretation to inform the policy development process.
George Monbiot (June 19) does a disservice to mothers and babies with his patronising polemic about the perils of bottle-feeding. He implies that giving a hungry baby a bottle is tantamount to child abuse. This is a cruel message for a mother who is desperate to feed and comfort her baby and whose breasts have clearly not picked up the message about what they "should" be doing.
Jon Barrick, chief executive, the Stroke Association The charity started life in 1898 as the National Association for the Prevention of Consumption and Other Forms of Tuberculosis. How do you reconcile the charity's history with its focus today?
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In sharp contrast to their US counterparts, Britain's baby boomers are not yet ready to embrace positive ageing, it seems. Launched last May with investment of £5m, Heyday, a membership organisation aimed at the over-50s, was "a step too far too fast", its parent and backer, Age Concern, admits. The venture hoped to attract 300,000 members, for a subscription of £26 each. Benefits include a magazine published six times a year, and offers on goods and services. But its membership stands at 44,000 and the majority of members are aged between 65 and 80.
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Alison Benjamin: Voluntary sector and the dangers of hype - The Guardian 20th June 2007 New Story
The report reveals that voluntary organisations are not as good as the rhetoric would have us believe. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a government with a public service is in need of a charity to make its delivery more flexible, responsive and customer friendly. But a report today from the National Consumer Council (NCC) blows apart the belief that voluntary organisations show higher levels of responsiveness.
Jonathan Naess doesn't look like your typical mental health service user. But that is precisely the point. With his sharp suits and designer specs, the corporate finance lawyer reckons he is more typical than people think - and he has come out of the closet to prove it. Naess is founder of Stand to Reason, a new charity aiming to fight the discrimination and stigma faced by users of mental health services and to challenge their stereotype. I
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Gordon Brown went head to head with David Cameron over "self-help" for NHS patients yesterday with a strong hint that there would be more money for the health service in the autumn. The prime minister-in-waiting said he would make the NHS his top priority when he took over from Tony Blair next week, with a hint that increased funding would be announced in the three-year comprehensive spending review.
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Longer prison sentences for violent thugs on railways and buses - The Times 20th June 2007
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More than eight million people are victims of domestic abuse, the British Medical Association reported yesterday. Its study estimated that three in 10 women and one in five men suffer the problems, while 750,000 children routinely witness it. But the experts said that the figures are likely to be "grossly underestimated".
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Domestic abuse is a hidden epidemic, warns the BMA - The Independent 20th June 2007
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Domestic abuse is a hidden epidemic, warns the BMA - The Independent 20th June 2007
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A mother of five died in front of her family after falling ill on a flight home from a holiday in Spain. Lesley Birds, 41, had a fit and stopped breathing minutes after take-off with her husband and three of their children.
More than a million children have mental health problems, a doubling of the number in a generation, devastating research reveals today. An epidemic of disorders ranging from depression, anxiety and anorexia to violent delinquency has struck one in ten youngsters.
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Mental problems among young 'twice 1930s level' - The Times 20th June 2007
David Cameron will today vow to sweep away all targets in the Health Service and give millions of patients the power to decide how they should be treated. Cameron wants more choice, less targets in NHS In his most significant series of policy pledges yet, the Tory leader will also set out plans for new front-line "super-doctors" to decide how most of the NHS budget is spent.
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Health of patients will set GP pay - Tory plan - The Guardian 20th June 2007
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Pay cuts if leading doctors fail under Tory plan - The Telegraph 20th June 2007
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Tories to let ex-smokers jump queue - The Times 20th June 2007
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It was a straightforward piece of advice which appeared to do a generation of Britons no harm at all. But the classic advertising slogan 'Go to Work on an Egg' is far too dangerous for modern-day audiences, it seems. Advertising watchdogs have banned the catchphrase, claiming it fails to promote a varied and balanced diet.
Fewer than one in three women are saving enough money in pensions or other investments to stave off an impoverished old age. Disturbing research suggests millions of elderly women will be forced to rely on the State pension and means-tested benefits.
Blood cancer patients could gain an extra year of life with a new pill - but they may be unable to get hold of it. Revlimid was licensed for use in the UK yesterday by European drug regulators. However, campaigners fear that the £4,200-a-month treatment will be denied to NHS patients on cost grounds.
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EU-cleared cancer drug seeks NHS approval - The Telegraph 20th June 2007
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Drinks firms will be banned from encouraging people to "down it in one" under new marketing rules published today. Products described as shooters or slammers are likely to fall foul of industry body the Portman Group's revised code of practice.
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Code aims to curb speed drinking - The Guardian 20th June 2007
Every Tuesday Britain's leading nutritionist, Jane Clarke, explains how to eat your way to health. This week Jane shares her advice on ways to ease bloating and how many meals to eat a day: As a busy nurse, my meal times are almost always restricted to what I can eat quickly - usually sandwiches. However, I am increasingly suffering from bloating, which I think is linked to bread. How can I replace bread, while satisfying my (very) healthy appetite?
Patients will be asked to write "customer reviews" of their hospital on a new Government website. The site - dubbed a MySpace.com for NHS trusts - invites patients to score their experiences.
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From curing back pain to helping you cope with diabetes - a new breed of "super shoes" boast all sorts of health benefits. But are they as good as they claim? Gone are the days when shoes simply offered your feet protection from the elements. A new generation of "super" shoes claims to offer a range of benefits, from correcting your posture to getting rid of cellulite, and even relieving the symptoms of diabetes and arthritis.
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Can goats' blood help beat MS? My mother is walking proof it can - Daily Mail 19th June 2007
When her mother, Diana, began taking an unlicensed experimental drug made from goats' blood for multiple sclerosis, you might imagine Jackie Llewellyn-Bowen would have had a few nagging doubts. But if she did, these were quickly allayed. 'Three weeks after she started taking it, I went to my parents' home. My mother was standing in the hallway,' says Jackie, wife of Laurence Llewellyn- Bowen.
Parents who smoke are passing on high levels of dangerous chemicals found in cigaretes, new research has found. Babies with at least one parent who smokes have five times more cotinine, a nicotine byproduct, in their urine than infants whose parents are non-smokers.
A new scan could save thousands of lives by predicting heart attacks or strokes before they happen. The technique involves combining two existing scanning methods to look for what doctors call 'hot plaques'.
A new NHS computer will carry all your most intimate medical details. Will it be safe from snoopers? Your doctor doesn't think so: Amid the furore over waiting lists, budget cuts and filthy hospital wards, the NHS's revolutionary £12 billion technology system looked like a guaranteed patient-pleaser.
It takes cleanser, moisturiser, make-up and a favourite lipstick to ensure the average woman is ready to face the world. But a daily routine like this leaves her with more than a polished appearance. She also absorbs almost 5lb of chemicals through her skin every year. Some of the man-made compounds have been linked to cancer, while others may irritate the skin or even cause it to age prematurely.
Leukaemia is the cruellest childhood cancer. But these sisters, who live in its shadow, may help doctors defeat it: Once a month, the phone rings in the Murphy household bringing vital news from a hospital laboratory. And every month, so far, the family has breathed a collective sigh of relief. Waiting to find out if their four-year-old daughter Isabella is developing childhood leukaemia has become a way of life for the Murphys.
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I was too fat for my op - so I swallowed a balloon to get slim - Daily Mail 19th June 2007
Many patients are being denied surgery, including joint replacements, because they are overweight. John May, 68, a retired Army corporal from Manchester, underwent stomach balloon surgery privately in order to lose weight for his NHS operation.
A pen device is allowing patients with rheumatoid arthritis to inject themselves with medicine that, until now, had to be given in hospital. Small enough to fit into a pocket, it has a hidden needle to inject a drug, called Humira, that fights the pain and inflammation that damages joints.
A government committee is expected to make a recommendation on whether girls in the UK should be vaccinated against the virus that causes cervical cancer. But it is unclear when the programme might begin - if it wins the support of the panel of experts.
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Girls of 12 to have cervical cancer jab - The Telegraph 20th June 2007
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The number of abortions carried out in England and Wales rose by 3.9% to 193,700 in 2006. There was also a rise in the under-16 abortion rate, to 3.9 per 1,000 women, and among under-18s to 18.2 per 1,000. Abortion has been increasing since it was legalised 40 years ago - there were 22,000 legal terminations in 1968.
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Abortions increase by 4% in one year - The Guardian 20th June 2007
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Teen pregnancy fuels record abortion rates - Daily Mail 19th June 2007
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Best docs 'culled' by new system - BBC Health News 19th June 2007
The best qualified doctors are among the hardest hit by a new recruitment process which has left thousands without jobs, a campaign group claims. Some 45% have yet to receive posts through the controversial MTAS system, according to a small survey of 1,300 doctors by the newly formed Fidelio.
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Selection of doctors 'damaging to Britain' - The Telegraph 20th June 2007
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'They told me a PhD didn't count' - BBC Health News 19th June 2007
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Tory review targets public health - BBC Health News 19th June 2007
More emphasis should be put on tackling public health issues like obesity, drugs, smoking and alcohol, says a Conservative health policy review. It proposes measures to strengthen the Chief Medical Officer's office, with a separate budget for public health - and all government departments involved.
Health professionals are being urged to be on the look out for signs of domestic abuse. A British Medical Association report warns domestic abuse is on the increase, and needs urgent attention. The report concludes that many cases of domestic abuse still go unreported, and that some victims do not realise that violence against them is a crime.
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Doctors to ask patients: Are you a battered wife? - Daily Mail 19th June 2007
The widow of a man who travelled abroad to end his life has called for assisted suicide to be decriminalised. Michelle Bennett's husband Paul, whose Motor Neurone Disease left him paralysed and in constant pain, decided to die in a Swiss clinic. In May 2006 Mr Bennett, of Morriston, Swansea, travelled to the Dignitas clinic in Zurich with his family.
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Brown heckled over NHS pay rise - BBC Health News 18th June 2007
Gordon Brown has defended the decision to stagger a pay rise for NHS staff, amid heckling at a union conference. The prime minister-in-waiting has been criticised for giving a 2.5% pay award in two stages. He was met with shouts of "rubbish" as he told the Unite conference that by November, there would be a 5% rise for the average nurse.
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International News
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The reputation of flu drug Tamiflu suffered a fresh blow yesterday when the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche and its Japanese partner announced new clinical trials to establish whether there is a possible link between the antiviral and dozens of deaths and injuries among Japanese teenagers.
Holiday swimming pools are putting the health of millions of Britons at risk amid evidence they contain up to 30 different bugs. The majority of pools in sunshine resorts are laced with bacteria that creates a potential health hazard.
Baby boomers seemed to have it all, not only enjoying a degree of affluence and security denied to earlier generations (and arguably to those since), but also looking younger and fitter than their years. There are also a lot more of them around - baby boomers (those born between 1945 and 1963) now outnumber people under 16 for the first time.
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Sporty men less likely to suffer from osteoporosis in old age than women - Daily Mail 19th June 2007
Regular exercise can stave off osteoporosis in men as well as women, researchers say. They found that sporty men are less than half as likely as their couch potato counterparts to suffer a broken hip in old age.
Decisions over who to test for a high-risk breast cancer gene should not be made solely on the basis of family history, US research suggests. Predictions as to whether a woman may develop hereditary breast cancer are often reached by counting the number of female relatives with the disease.
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Heart survival 'higher in obese' - BBC Health News 20th June 2007
Obese heart attack and angina patients are more likely to survive after treatment, a study suggests. Researchers found obese patients were less than half as likely to die in the three years after treatment as patients with a normal body mass index
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Cheshire and Merseyside News
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THE Hargreaves Centre will house child protection teams specialising in helping children and their families overcome domestic violence, as well as a team helping pregnant substance and alcohol abusers care for their children. There4me.com, a pioneering online advice and support service for 12-16 year-olds will also be based there.
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MERSEYSIDE NHS Trusts are bucking the national trend, according to records submitted to the Healthcare Commission. While a quarter of England’s 394 trusts declared they had not met one or more of three core hygiene standards, just one of 20 trusts in Merseyside admitted it had not complied.
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Sale of regional hospitals gives Bupa a £1.44bn lift - Liverpool Daily Post 19th June 2007
TWO private hospitals in Merseyside and Cheshire are among those being sold by healthcare giant Bupa in a private equity deal worth £1.44bn. The sale consists of 25 acute care hospitals and one treatment centre, which have been bought by European firm Cinven. Included in the sale are Murrayfield, in Wirral, and North Cheshire Hospital, in Warrington.
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Cumbria and Lancashire News
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Psychiatrist ‘should not have released gunman’ - Lancashire Telegraph 19th June 2007
A CONSULTANT psychiatrist has been accused of serious professional misconduct for discharging a patient who later shot a man dead. Dr Shashank Chattree gave permission for Mark Harrington to be discharged from Queen's Park Hospital in October 2001, a hearing of the General Medical Council was told yesterday.
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Greater Manchester News
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NEW evidence highlighting the risks to babies of second-hand cigarette smoke has been published by researchers. Children with at least one parent who smoked were found to have more than five times the level of a toxin than those who did not.
TRAFFORD Primary Care Trust (PCT) is drawing up plans to improve sexual health services - and it wants residents to help with the work. Health bosses say that these services have changed dramatically over recent years, and so too has the demand. To ensure that residents are able to access the services quickly when they need them and to offer more choice, the PCT is now looking at ways of providing an increased number of services locally.
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Nurse suspended 'for speaking out' - Manchester Evening News 19th June 2007
A SENIOR nurse suspended after organising industrial action has accused health bosses of trying to curb her union activities. Karen Reissmann, a community psychiatric nurse for 25 years, was suspended by Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust (MMHSCT) for bringing its reputation into disrepute.
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Many patients are being denied surgery, including joint replacements, because they are overweight. John May, 68, a retired Army corporal from Manchester, underwent stomach balloon surgery privately in order to lose weight for his NHS operation.
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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