New Section
UK Health News
New Story
Public health officials last night issued an appeal for parents to vaccinate their children against measles, amid fears of an outbreak during the new school term. The move follows a surge in children diagnosed with the disease over the summer, with cases more than trebling in the past 11 weeks.
Additional Story
Parents urged to vaccinate their children as measles returns - The Independent 31st August 2007
Additional Story
Additional Story
Days when hundreds of children died from disease should not be forgotten - The Times 31st August 2007
Additional Story
Additional Story
MMR plea by doctors as measles cases treble in 11 weeks - Daily Mail 31st August 2007Additional Story
Additional Story
Additional Story
Measles 'surge' prompts warning - BBC Health News 30th August 2007
New Story
NHS heading for record £1bn surplus - The Guardian 31st August 2007
The NHS will underspend by a record-breaking £1bn this year, according to government projections released yesterday. Gordon Brown said the marked turnaround in the health service's financial record - from a £500m deficit in 2006, meant more money to plough back into the NHS. But the head of the doctors' professional body accused the government of sacrificing health care to balance the books. Health unions said the savings had caused a lot of "unnecessary pain".
Additional Story
Surplus of £1bn in NHS is welcomed by Brown - The Independent 31st August 2007
Additional Story
Desperate measures create £1bn NHS profit - The Times 31st August 2007
Half of the most serious cases of childhood infections, such as meningitis, are being missed because of failures in out-of-hours care, according to a senior doctor. Parents were being told to take feverish children home by junior staff, and many felt they could not "impose" on their doctor by returning when their children's conditions worsened, while staff on the NHS Direct phone lines were not experienced enough to diagnose properly, he said.
Additional Story
Out-of-hours changes ‘mean serious child illness is missed’ - The Times 31st August 2007
Additional Story
Meningitis children at risk from 'dial-a-doctors' - The Telegraph 31st August 2007
Additional Story
Fatal childhood illnesses 'missed by inexperienced' staff covering for GPs out-of-hours - Daily Mail 31st August 2007
Summer ended yesterday - at least it did for Treasury officials. Any of them still indulging in the traditional August pastime of blue-skies thinking will have noticed an abrupt change of gear when their new and unobtrusive boss, Alistair Darling, kicked off the intensive phase of preparation for the biggest day of his career.
Additional Story
Additional Story
Additional Story
There are ways of saving money and keeping friends - The Times 31st August 2007
Additional Story
Additional Story
New Story
Flu pandemic 'could kill 650,000' - The Guardian 31st August 2007Additional Story
Additional Story
New Story
Up to 650,000 people could die in England and Wales if there were a flu pandemic, according to a Home Office document that outlines plans for dealing with an outbreak, including measures for mass burials and refrigerated storage of bodies.
New Story
Nearly 5,000 more midwives will be needed by 2012 if the Government is to meet its target for maternity services, the Royal College of Midwives said yesterday. The college has increased its target from 3,000 because of a rising birthrate, which has exceeded government estimates, and a reassessment of present shortages.
New Story
The first day of school is widely held to be more traumatic for mothers than their children, who often skip off without a backwards glance. But the fear and anxiety felt by children as the big day looms have been hugely underestimated, according to a new study.
New Story
"Healthy" ready meals are fuelling a growth in the convenience food market, with British consumers eating the most in Europe, a new report shows. Research from the market analysts Mintel says ready meals are still in vogue but are more likely to appeal now to the health conscious rather than the couch potato.
New Story
White people living in the UK's second biggest city are likely to find themselves in a minority in 20 years' time, according to researchers. A team of demographers from Manchester University has claimed that the number of white people living in Birmingham will be overtaken by the number of those with other ethnic origins by 2027.
New Story
Unborn babies are at risk because women are so stressed about commuting, a survey claims today. Midwives warned that women were under pressure from high living costs and long journeys to work, with some even turning to drink to calm down.
Coffee has enjoyed a recent boom in Britain, with 70 million cups drunk daily and a coffee shop on every street corner in the UK. But the rapid growth in coffee consumption has also caused a growing number of health problems from itchy skin to headaches, an allergy testing company has claimed.
New Story
People holidaying in exotic places without being vaccinated is causing a rise in dangerous diseases like typhoid, warn doctors. And low air fares could be fuelling the problem, they claim.
Women who have ovaries removed before the menopause could be increasing their risk of both Parkinson's Disease and memory problems, research suggests. Removing one or both ovaries at a young age doubled the risk.
Too many terminally ill people are suffering "needlessly uncomfortable and distressing" deaths, a report from the national hospice charity claims. The Help the Hospices study said services for the dying and support for their families were "inadequate".
New Story
Out-of-hours healthcare warning - BBC Health News 29th August 2007
Patient care has not been improved as a result of doctors' surgeries ceasing to provide out-of-hours services, an overwhelming majority of GPs believe. A study by public spending watchdog Audit Scotland found just 11% of GPs felt the changes had helped patients.
New Section
International Health News
New Story
Climate change and an increasing population could trigger a global food crisis in the next half century as countries struggle for fertile land to grow crops and rear animals, scientists warned yesterday. To keep up with the growth in human population, more food will have to be produced worldwide over the next 50 years than has been during the past 10,000 years combined, the experts said.
Lack of clean drinking water and poor sanitation has led to 5,000 people in northern Iraq contracting cholera. The outbreak is among the most serious signs yet that Iraqi health and social services are breaking down as the number of those living in camps and poor housing increases after people flee their homes.
A woman has been charged with child endangerment and public intoxication after she allegedly allowed her five-year-old son to drive her car. When Holly Schnobrich's Mitsubishi car screeched to a halt near her home in Lafayette, Indiana, on Saturday night, neighbours said they discovered her son behind the wheel.
A British student died from a nosebleed on holiday because of the "incompetence and arrogance" of Spanish doctors, it was claimed yesterday. Experts told an inquest that William Hall would have stood a 98 per cent chance of surviving if he had received proper treatment.
New Story
Only ten minutes on a mobile could trigger cancer, scientists believe - Daily Mail 30th August 2007
Mobile phones can take as little as ten minutes to trigger changes in the brain associated with cancer, scientists claimed yesterday. They found even low levels of radiation from handsets interfere with the way brain cells divide. Cell division encourages the growth of tumours.
Rates of incurable lung disease are higher than previously thought, a study across 12 countries suggests. Tests in almost 9,500 adults aged over 40 found one in 10 had chronic obstructive respiratory disease (COPD), which causes breathing difficulties.
New Story
World facing 'arsenic timebomb' - BBC Health News 30th August 2007
About 140 million people, mainly in developing countries, are being poisoned by arsenic in their drinking water, researchers believe. Speaking at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) annual meeting in London, scientists said this will lead to higher rates of cancer in the future.
New Section
Cheshire and Merseyside Health News
New Story
TWO troubled hospital trusts in the region are finally back in the black after years of financial strife – but they must still pay off hefty “historic” debts. North Cheshire trust - which runs the general hospitals in Warrington and Runcorn – is forecast to turn a £6.6m deficit in 2006-07 into a £3.5m surplus in this financial year.
A HOSPITAL nursing assistant from Liverpool stole a dying war veteran’s wallet to pay a phone bill, a court heard yesterday. Veronica Harold, 47, could now face a jail sentence after she admitted helping herself to 83-year-old Albert Davies’s wallet while it was inside his bedside locker at Fazakerley hospital.
Additional Story
New Story
A MASS screening programme to find and treat bowel cancer earlier will be launched in Halton next month. Bowel cancer is the third most common form of cancer and affects about 200 people in Halton and St Helens each year.
BUILDERS at Crewe Cancer Unit are working flat out to make up for time lost during one of the wettest summers on record. Torrential downpours have forced the team to down tools on several occasions, holding back the final stages of putting up the £2m structure at Leighton Hospital.
CAMPAIGNERS demanding better parking at Leighton Hospital have slammed as 'ridiculous' a suggestion more staff should cycle to work along South Cheshire's most dangerous road. Parking problems have blighted the hospital for months while work on major building projects has been carried out, although this week the NHS Mid Cheshire Hospitals Trust said it was reopening 150 spaces in a bid to ease congestion.
A TOUGH summer drink-driving campaign has led to an increase in positive breath tests. Cheshire police have been using information provided by residents in Ellesmere Port and across the county to target drink-drivers.
ORMSKIRK Hospital has a new mural featuring images from the classic movie ‘The Wizard Of Oz’. The mural at the children’s unit was possible thanks to a £8,000 donation from North West children’s charity MedEquip 4 Kids with a further £2,000 raised by the staff and from donations.
ARTHRITIS sufferers could get pain relief from a new generation smart drug if doctors decide they qualify for treatment. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has approved the use of MabThera after it was found to reduce rheumatoid arthritis symptoms by more than 50 per cent in a third of patients treated.
New Story
Coroner calls for safer hospital beds after patient dies - Warrington Guardian 30th August 2007
WARRINGTON Hospital has pledged to look into the possibility of introducing new beds after a fall contributed to the death of a 78-year-old man. Sidney Turner, a retired teacher from Longbarn, died of heart failure on January 30 - less than two hours after he fell from his hospital bed and fractured his skull.
New Section
Cumbria and Lancashire Health News
New Story
Private hospitals facing delay - Lancashire Telegraph 30th August 2007
BLUEPRINTS to provide general surgery and orthopaedic procedures at a range of private hospitals sites across Lancashire have been delayed. The hold-up for the £500 million independent sector treatment centres deal, with Swedish healthcare giant Capio, is the second postponement affecting joint NHS and private sector deals in a month.
New Section
Greater Manchester Health News
New Story
BURY South MP Ivan Lewis has welcomed the shake-up of the region's maternity services - despite it resulting in the closure of Fairfield Hospital's baby unit. The health minister said the changes would in effect guarantee the future of the hospital and he predicted that they would be welcomed by the majority of his constituents.
Additional Story
Additional Story
New Story
STREET drinking could be banned throughout Bolton in a bid to crackdown on booze-fuelled crime and anti-social behaviour. Alcohol is already banned on streets in the town centre, The Haulgh, parts of Westhoughton, Horwich, Blackrod and Little Lever, and the area around the Reebok Stadium.
Four in 10 maternity units in England are failing to do enough to promote breastfeeding. A study for UNICEF UK said the health of mothers and babies was being put at risk by the failure to implement minimum standards of care.
People can have their say on health issues at an event being held in Bolton next month. Bolton Primary Care Trust and the Care Together Forum of Bolton Council for Voluntary Services have organised the day.
New Story
White people 'a minority by 2027' - The Telegraph 31st August 2007
White people living in the UK's second biggest city are likely to find themselves in a minority in 20 years' time, according to researchers. A team of demographers from Manchester University has claimed that the number of white people living in Birmingham will be overtaken by the number of those with other ethnic origins by 2027.
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.
