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NHS patients who complain about a poor standard of care are at risk of being victimised, health inspectors warn today after the first national audit of the complaints system in England. The Healthcare Commission said it launched the review after becoming increasingly concerned about how hospitals and primary care trusts respond when patients criticise the behaviour of staff or conditions in hospitals or GP surgeries.
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Health trusts reprimanded for ignoring patients’ complaints - The Times 8th October 2007
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NHS trusts 'failing to handle complaints' - The Telegraph 8th October 2007
A Briton has become the first European to contract a rare and potentially fatal mosquito-borne virus which attacks the central nervous system. Michael Nicholson, 35, was in a critical condition in a coma in the Western General hospital in Edinburgh last night after contracting the eastern equine encephalitis virus, also known as Triple E, while holidaying on the east coast of the US.
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Briton in coma after mosquito bite in US - The Times 8th October 2007
A third of teenage girls admit they are on a diet or have recently tried to lose weight, according to a survey today which also reveals the ignorance of children of both sexes about what they need to eat to be healthy.
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Teenagers 'not eating enough' - The Independent 8th October 2007
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Gina Ford, the childcare guru known for her routine-driven methods, has weighed into the war being waged against the hardline television nanny Claire Verity, claiming her techniques could put young lives at risk. A full-scale battle between the two baby experts is now looming after Ford wrote a letter protesting about Verity - who has cared for the babies of Mick Jagger, Jack Nicholson and Sting - to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).
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Doctors chastise TV’s babycare guru because of fears over cot deaths - The Times 6th October 2007
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TV nanny Claire Verity criticised by rival - The Telegraph 8th October 2007
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TV nanny Claire Verity criticised by rival - The Telegraph 8th October 2007
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UK Muslims warned: don't drink poisonous 'holy' water - The Observer 7th October 2007
British muslims are being warned that criminal gangs are operating a multi-million pound illegal racket selling them fake holy water wrongly labelled as having come from Mecca. The black market trade in fake 'Zam Zam' water - named after the 14ft-deep well in the holy city in Saudi Arabia from where the genuine substance flows - is becoming a serious concern for health officials.
Ara Darzi says the £12bn IT update for NHS systems will be reviewed to ensure it provides real clinical benefit (Health reforms, October 5). In April 2006, 23 professors of computing and systems wrote to the Commons health committee saying the project was showing symptoms that had preceded the failure of other major IT projects, and calling for an independent review to maximise the chances of success. The following week we met the director of Connecting for Health, Richard Granger, who agreed that a constructive review could be helpful, but it never happened.
In 2002, when I was in my mid-20s, I went down with a severe cold and was in bed for a couple of days. I was feeling lousy, with a headache and stiff neck, so a GP friend looked in on me to check that I was OK. Neither of us recognised my symptoms as anything more than a bad bout of flu.
My mother has been summoned to a new department of the NHS. Orthotics is so new to me I don't know what it is or why she's been summoned. But it is obviously important. I've had to move the appointment twice and they swiftly pursue me with alternative dates. My guess is that it's something to do with her knees, which have become increasingly creaky. She's always shocked when they crack as she gets up and down. "Did you hear that!" she says indignantly. "My bones!"
Alan Johnson, the health secretary, alarmed health unions yesterday by opening up a new market for the management of NHS services worth up to £70bn. He approved a list of 14 private companies that would be available to help primary care trusts in England evaluate the health needs of local people and buy appropriate services. If the trials succeed, the companies may influence the commissioning of services ranging from family planning to chiropody.
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With election fever taking over Britain, the choices of people up and down the country are brought into focus for a different reason today. Marking World Hospice and Palliative Care Day is more than recognising the wonderful work that the sick and dying receive from dedicated professionals. It is recognising that the latest research shows that over a half of complaints about the NHS are about end-of-life care. It is recognising that 57% of people want to die at home but only 20% do so. Dignity in Dying is marking today, as are many other campaign groups and charities, by calling on the government to increase the funding and availability of palliative care to everyone who wants it. There may well be numerous opportunities for politicians to discuss the future of the NHS in coming weeks and months - they must make real patient choice at the end of life a top priority.
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Public health: The hidden menace of mobile phones - The Independent on Sunday 7th October 2007
Research into the link between regular handset use and disease reveals the risks rise significantly after 10 years, despite official assurances that they are safe.
The Government should reverse its decision to downgrade cannabis possession to end the widespread confusion over how to enforce the law, senior police officers said yesterday.
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A 72-year-old man has agreed to donate his sperm to his son and daughter-in-law after the nol London couple were unable to conceive a child through IVF, the Evening Standard newspaper reported yesterday. The sperm is being screened at the London Women's Clinic, where the couple, who are in their 30s and wish to remain anonymous, are being treated.
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Man, 72, donates sperm to father his own grandchild - The Times 6th October 2007
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Sperm donor, 72, to father his own grandchild - Daily Mail 5th October 2007
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Man donates sperm for grandchild - BBC Health News 5th September 2007
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Man donates sperm for grandchild - BBC Health News 5th September 2007
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One in three teenage girls is on a diet, according to research which suggests that many are starving themselves in an attempt to get thin. A study found that half of those dieting consumed fewer than 1,200 calories a day – 40 per cent less than the recommended daily intake for their age. Although only 14 per cent of teenage boys admitted dieting, a quarter of them consumed 800 calories a day. Teenage boys should eat 2,500 calories a day.
Your new book has given me more of a sense of calm with regard to my son, 4. I know that my behaviour has an impact on his, and am trying to be a lot more positive in communicating with him. However, nearly a year ago when he started at a nursery, staff complained that he was “invading other children’s space”.
New techniques in laser eye surgery could eliminate night vision problems and other undesirable side-effects of the treatment, enabling thousands more people to put aside their glasses and contact lenses.
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Drug giants restrict supply network in defiance of OFT investigation - The Times 8th October 2007
Three leading drug companies are set to ignore an ongoing Office of Fair Trading (OFT) competition inquiry by pressing ahead with sweeping changes to the way in which prescription medicines are distributed to patients across Britain.
Colin Howe has terminal cancer but is being denied a £3,500-a-month drug that could prolong his life. Should the NHS fund it?
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The $8 billion Nasa spends annually on space medicine research has brought a legion of benefits. Should Britain now pull its weight, asks Lois Rogers
What's the alternative? Complementary medicine and alternative health solutions to your problems
It's the drink of choice for West-Coast health fiends, and now it's coming over here It’s organic in the truest sense of the word, but the latest food fad from America is not without controversy. Raw milk – unpasteurised and straight from the cow – is billed by many as the ultimate tonic, higher in nutrients and disease-fighting compounds than regular milk, and linked to relieving all manner of ailments, from hay fever to irritable bowel syndrome. It is drunk by more than 100,000 health-conscious Californians, and New Yorkers apparently can’t get enough of it. Now farm shops in England and Wales, where it is sold in green-topped bottles, are reporting a sharp increase in demand.
Every year Alison Thorpe sees her daughter’s life getting tougher. A victim of severe cerebral palsy, the 15-year-old is too big for pastimes that used to bring her joy. Katie, who was born with the condition, used to adore horse-riding, says her mother. “Her face shone and she giggled in excitement. Now she’s too big to be lifted onto a horse. We regularly took her to theme parks such as Legoland, which she loved. She has outgrown the rides.”
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Disabled 15 year-old girl to lose womb - The Sunday Times 7th October 2007
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Mother challenged over hysterectomy for disabled daughter - The Guardian 8th October 2007
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Mother defends hysterectomy bid for daughter - The Independent 8th October 2007
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Controversy over girl’s hysterectomy - The Times 8th October 2007
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Mother wants disabled girl to have hysterectomy ‘to give her a better life’ - The Times 8th October 2007
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The mission had gone horribly wrong. As the British patrol prepared to set up an observation post in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, one of the men stepped on a landmine. As his comrades tried to help, picking their way through the minefield, a series of explosions ripped through the group, killing one and injuring another five.
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Cot death linked to babies who have suffered hearing damage - The Sunday Times 7th October 2007
Evidence to link cot death to hearing difficulties has been found by a British doctor working in America. A study by Daniel Rubens at the Seattle children’s hospital in Washington state suggests babies who suffer injury to their ears during birth are at higher risk of cot death. It raises the prospect that hearing tests for infants could be used to warn of a heightened risk of cot death, also known as sudden infant death syndrome (Sids).
Some Muslim medical students are refusing to attend lectures or answer exam questions on alcohol-related or sexually transmitted diseases because they claim it offends their religious beliefs. Some trainee doctors say learning to treat the diseases conflicts with their faith, which states that Muslims should not drink alcohol and rejects sexual promiscuity.
I have a problem with my left knee, which I believe is arthritis. I don’t want an operation and have heard that glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM (methyl-sulphonyl-methane) taken together are beneficial. Is there any truth in this?
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The widespread translation of signs and official documents into foreign languages is to end under a government drive to encourage new immigrants to learn to speak English. Local councils and other public organisations, including the health service, are to be urged to dramatically reduce translation services and instead focus on promoting English. The move is an admission that the current practice of translating official documents and signs into minority languages has backfired by ensuring that immigrants never bother to learn English.
The head of Lloyds Pharmacy, Britain’s second-biggest chain of chemists, has protested to the Government after a huge cut in spending on medicines, which is expected to squeeze £470 million from the profits of UK pharmacies over the next 12 months.
The charity fundraiser Jane Tomlinson was denied a new cancer drug that might have extended her life, her widower said yesterday. Mike Tomlinson said that his wife had been “fundamentally let down” by a system that determines access to certain drugs by a postcode lottery.
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Tomlinson 'let down by NHS over cancer drug' - The Telegraph 6th October 2007
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A heroine betrayed: Jane Tomlinson was denied drug that could've extended her life - Daily Mail 5th October 2007
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Tomlinsons make drug review call - BBC Health News 5th September 2007
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Poor leadership by health officials and medical leaders was to blame for the junior doctors' recruitment fiasco, an inquiry is expected to conclude. The Government reform of doctors' training, implemented this year, was too rushed and represented a "whole system failure", says Prof Sir John Tooke.
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Shocked by a new epidemic of homely bloodsuckers, Judith Woods called in the bugbusters I've never been the sort of person who cares much what the neighbours think. At least, not until a Rentokil van drew up and parked outside my front door for all to see.
It is 45 years since Dr Stewart Adams created the world's favourite painkiller. In a rare interview, he tells Victoria Lambert of his pride in his achievement Dr Stewart Adams Miracle cure: Stewart Adams discovered ibuprofen in the 1960s When pharmacologist Dr Stewart Adams OBE decided to toast his success in creating a new wonder drug, it's probably safe to say that he didn't pay too much attention to how he would feel the next day. After all, the drug the scientist, now 84, had helped to create was just the thing to deal with a sore head – as millions can testify.
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One in seven people taken to hospital for drinking too much in the past year was under 14 years old, according to new figures. A total of 2,239 under-14s were given treatment in A&E suffering from the effects of alcohol over the past 12 months, a study found - one in seven of the total under 59 admitted.
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Trust me I'm a junior doctor - The Telegraph 8th October 2007
Using unqualified support workers is asking for trouble, says Max Pemberton I pretend not to notice the man's hand protruding from under the lavatory cubicle in the station. A cleaner nudges it with his foot. No response. He has clearly slumped on the floor in a contorted position behind the door. I hesitate… he might be dead.
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Parties to square up on NHS - The Sunday Telegraph 7th October 2007
In the battle for Middle England few issues have quite the emotional clout that the health service carries, so it is not entirely surprising that this week Labour will attempt to catapult the NHS to the top of the political agenda.
Phobia dominates the daily lives of rising numbers of people, a report will claim this week. One in eight Britons will suffer from phobia in the course of their lifetimes, including four million with a fear linked to the use of public lavatories, according to the National -Phobics Society.
If you thought spots were just a teenage thing, think again. Increasing numbers of women are suffering from the discomfort and embarrassment of adult-onset acne. And nobody knows why. Liz Hancock investigates a problem that is so much more than skin deep
A warning has been issued to Britons about the dangers of receiving dental treatment abroad. Danielle Demetriou reports. Britons wanting to combine a holiday with getting their teeth fixed were this week warned of the dangers. The British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF) said different standards of dentistry outside Britain were leading to medical problems.
Doctors must record superbugs caught by hospital patients on death certificates to quell public fears that infection numbers are being covered up, the chief medical officer has ruled. Sir Liam Donaldson has written to all doctors telling them to ensure "healthcare associated infections" (HCAIs) such as MRSA or C.difficile are routinely included on death certificates.
New evidence of the extent to which two Police Community Support Officers apparently stood by while others tried to save a 10-year-old boy from drowning has been revealed in documents seen by The Daily Telegraph. Witness statements submitted to the inquest into the death of the schoolboy Jordon Lyon describe how Andrew Furnival, 24, and Helene Weatherburn, 20, "just stood there" after an angler pointed to the spot where Jordon had gone under the surface.
Nina Grunfeld's seven steps to a successful life. Step 7: Just imagine At one of my recent workshops I came across someone who was in the middle of making a decision about whom to employ. She'd had several replies to her advertisement and was reviewing all the candidates.
Richard Lofthouse visits a dentist with a difference Never mind cuckoo clocks, private banking, chocolates and mechanical watches, Switzerland's next great export is going to be gleaming white teeth swathed in five-star hospitality but selling for low, Continental prices.
The average council tax bill will rise by £200 over the next three years - double the rate of inflation - as Gordon Brown announces an extra £1.4 billion a year for the NHS. Bills will increase by five per cent a year under confidential assumptions prepared for Tuesday's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), The Daily Telegraph can disclose. By 2011, the average bill will reach £1,500 - more than double the level in 1997.
I spent a sunny afternoon on Thursday making six pints of sloe gin. Down my way, the berries are hanging like grapes on the bushes and so fat and fleshy that they turned the sugar pale pink in minutes. Very bucolic and soothing. So when a young woman rang up to ask if I had a few minutes to spare for a telephone survey, I felt sorry for her being stuck in a call-centre and said yes, ask away. She said: "Thank you. First, can I ask if there's a male person at home aged between 16 and 54 I can speak to?" No.
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third of children leaving primary school in some areas of the country are overweight, official figures have revealed. A "snapshot" of the health of the nation's children showed that the young are getting fatter despite Government pledges to act.
The Health Service is wasting millions a year on agency nurses - with one hospital paying a nurse more than £1,000 for a single shift. The payment is the most extreme example of the huge sums being spent on expensive temporary staff at a time when the NHS is rationing life- saving cancer drugs it says it cannot afford.
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Peaches Geldof is in the pink with her latest modelling assignment. The 18-year-old is the face of the Breast Cancer Awareness range for High Street chain Peacocks.
New laws to regulate the use of high-tech child-tracking devices are being called for by MPs amid fears they could be used by paedophiles and stalkers. The technology is aimed at parents wanting to keep tabs on their children after a series of high-profile child murders and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
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Thousands of children with epilepsy could benefit from the first drug ever designed for them, which can almost halve the number of seizures. Unlike other treatments given to youngsters with epilepsy, Inovelon was not originally developed for adults.
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More nicotine products should be made available for those smokers who can't quit, doctors say. The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) said the Government had to face up to the issue of nicotine addiction and help save lives by implementing wide-ranging reforms.
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Doctors ordered to open surgeries in the evenings - Daily Mail 5th October 2007
Patients will be given better access to their GPs at weekends and on weekday evenings under a pledge unveiled by Gordon Brown yesterday. They would also be screened for MRSA before they were admitted to hospital to curb the superbugs epidemic.
A Christian think tank has accused health trusts of making drastic cuts to hospital chaplaincy with serious implications for the care of patients. Chaplaincy care has been reduced by 54,127 hours a year since 2005, the findings of a survey by Theos showed.
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Hospitals cut back on chaplaincy care - The Times 8th October 2007
A scheme to speed up the introduction of cutting-edge technology in the NHS has been launched. The NHS has long been criticised for being slow to adopt new gadgets.
In a series focusing on medical specialisms, BBC News meets Dr Phil Darbyshire, a consultant paediatric haematologist. Haematology deals with problems with blood and blood forming tissues, such as leukaemia, thalassaemia and sickle cell disease.
Around 100 people attended a meeting in Colwyn Bay, Conwy on Friday to protest against possible changes to neurosurgery services. A review of services is currently under way and patients in north Wales fear they may be told to travel to south Wales rather than Liverpool.
Patients dialling 999 can be treated in the community by paramedics rather than be rushed to hospital for care, trial findings suggest. A pilot in South Yorkshire found experienced paramedics were able to manage non-life-threatening emergencies safely and effectively.
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Many hospital patients do not speak out about poor care as they think it will lead to even worse treatment or not make a difference, a survey suggests. Consumer group Which? polled 1,000 NHS patients and found 49% unhappy about an aspect of their stay, such as food, cleanliness or organisation of care.
Having an older brother may reduce your fertility, research suggests. The University of Sheffield found people who had an older brother had fewer children than those who had an older sister.
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The London bombings of 2005, which left 56 dead and 800 injured, shocked a group of graduates so much that they decided to invent a device to save lives. The team of four - Philip Greer, Graeme Davies, Chris Huntley and Lisa Stroux - were all students at the Royal College of Art when they came up with the inspiration for the "Tongue Sucker" to aid breathing.
The growing trend for young men to use steroids to enhance their self-image is the subject of a conference being held in Liverpool. It is thought that numbers are growing as men try to attain the body shapes seen in films and magazines.
Scientists are hopeful that they have found a way to halt the progression of motor neurone disease (MND). A team at Bath University discovered a causal link between the gene involved in the formation of blood vessels and the development of some forms of MND.
A gift of about £20,000 from Hollywood legend Paul Newman has gone to help breast cancer patients in Wales, thanks to his Swansea-born son-in-law. The Oscar-winning actor's money will be used by Swansea NHS Trust to help people being treated at the Breast Care Centre at Singleton Hospital.
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Space technology to hunt down TB - BBC Health News 4th September 2007
A device developed for a mission to Mars could help spot signs of life closer to home - by identifying the bacterium that causes TB. The Open University and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine project will use a tiny detection kit made for the Beagle 2 project.
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International Health News
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Last November it became a crime for a woman to have an abortion in Nicaragua, even if her life was in mortal danger. So far it has resulted in the death of at least 82 women. Rory Carroll reports on the fight to have the law changed
When Craig Venter announced that he was going to unravel the human genome, it sparked one of the most bitterly contested races in the history of science. Here, in an extract from his new memoir, he describes the acrimonious sprint to the finish
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Five judges in the American Supreme Court have taken what may be the first step towards outlawing abortion in the US. Could it happen here?
Any day now Craig Venter - geneticist, yachtsman and Vietnam veteran - will announce that he has achieved one of the greatest feats in science: the creation of artificial life.
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The appendix does have a use - re-booting the gut - The Independent 8th October 2007
For generations medical orthodoxy has maintained that the appendix is useless, warranting attention only for its tendency to become painfully inflamed and requiring swift removal. But now the reputation of this cul-de-sac in the human gut has been rehabilitated by a theory from a team of immunologists .
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Bird flu virus mutates into a strain more infectious to humans - The Independent 6th October 2007
The bird flu virus H5N1 has mutated into a form that makes it more infectious to humans, increasing the risk of a human pandemic, researchers have found. The changes, which only affect the virus circulating in Europe and Africa, are worrying although they have not yet transformed it into a pandemic strain, Yoshihiro Kawaoka, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who led the research, said.
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Is the bottom line helping this mother and child? - The Times 6th October 2007
Is a Pampers campaign to eradicate tetanus clever marketing or is it making a real difference? Fran Yeoman reports from the Democratic Republic of Congo on who benefits from corporate do-gooding
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Mobile phone cancer risk 'higher for children' - The Telegraph 8th October 2007
Children should not be given mobile phones because using them for more than 10 years increases the risk of brain cancer, a leading scientist has said.
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Mandy Mukwesha remembers with fondness her friend Noel Sakala, the quiet football-loving teenager who occupied the bed next to her in hospital. Both aged 17, their lives blighted by kidney disease, and dependent on regular sessions on a kidney dialysis machine, they gave each other encouragement and talked about the school work they were missing.
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Using mobile phones for more than 10 years 'doubles risk of brain cancer' - Daily Mail 8th October 2007
Regular use of a mobile phone over more than a decade can raise the risk of cancer, an authoritative study claims. Researchers found that long-term users had double the chance of getting a malignant tumour on the side of the brain where they held the handset.
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Babies for sale: The scandal of China's brutal single child policy - Daily Mail 6th October 2007
Lying on a spartan bed, feeding her tiny daughter from a bottle, teenager Wai Ling describes her heartbreaking dilemma. Under China's strict birth-control laws, Wai Ling, 19, and her boyfriend, 21, are too young to get married - and without being married they can't register their daughter's birth.
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Stun guns 'safe', study suggests - BBC Health News 8th October 2007
Taser stun guns used by the police for law enforcement are safe - the injury rate is low and most injuries appear to be minor, a US study finds. The electric disablers that hit their target with 50,000 volts are commonly used by US police and are increasingly being used by UK forces.
Wi-fi update helps eye doctors - BBC Health News 5th September 2007
Thousands of residents of remote villages in southern India have easy access to eye care thanks to a specially designed, low-cost and long-distance wi-fi network. The network allows specialists at Aravind Eye Hospital at Theni, in the state of Tamil Nadu, to interview and examine patients in nine remote clinics via high-quality video conference.
Amnesty International has urged doctors and nurses not to participate in executions by lethal injection as it breaches their ethical oath. In a report the group says the cocktail of drugs used is not always quick and painless and can cause "excruciating pain and extreme mental suffering".
There is no evidence to suggest herbal medicines "tailored" to the individual work, and they may even do serious damage, according to a study.
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Stem cells 'prompt cancer spread' - BBC Health News 3rd October 2007
Dangerous changes in cancer cells which allow them to spread around the body could be triggered by the body's own stem cells, say US scientists.
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Chilli compound fires painkiller - BBC Health News 2nd October 2007
A chemical from chilli peppers may be able to kill pain without affecting touch or movement. This might in theory mean a woman in labour could have an epidural without losing the ability to move her legs, or the sensation of her baby being born.
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Cheshire and Merseyside Health News
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Around 100 people attended a meeting in Colwyn Bay, Conwy on Friday to protest against possible changes to neurosurgery services. A review of services is currently under way and patients in north Wales fear they may be told to travel to south Wales rather than Liverpool.
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Men using steroids as 'image fix' - BBC Health News 5th September 2007
The growing trend for young men to use steroids to enhance their self-image is the subject of a conference being held in Liverpool. It is thought that numbers are growing as men try to attain the body shapes seen in films and magazines.
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CONCERNS about the health of Merseyside’s children were in the spotlight as the region’s rates of alcohol abuse, obesity, sexual health and oral hygiene were assessed. Alder Hey children’s hospital revealed 140 children under 16 were admitted due to alcohol-related incidents in the past financial year – with the vast majority of 66% being girls, and practically all had been drinking neat vodka.
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Two more E.coli cases after outbreak in nursery pupils - Liverpool Daily Post 5th October 2007
TWO more cases of E.coli O157 have been identified in an outbreak which hit children at a Chester nursery school. It brings the total number of laboratory confirmed cases to six among pupils at Jigsaw Curzon House Nursery, on Wrexham Road, Chester.
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Nursery is hit by E.coli bacteria scare - Chester Chronicle 5th October 2007
A NEW football league is to be established in Merseyside to help improve mental health in the region and integrate those affected by depression. The Everton FC-backed scheme, Imagine Your Goals, will fuse mental health teams – not currently included in mainstream leagues – with other community and weekend league players.
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Hospital to get its own PC in bid to prevent attacks - Liverpool Daily Post 4th October 2007
A MERSEYSIDE hospital is to get its own police officer to deter outbreaks of violence and attacks on staff. The “high visibility” officer will be on duty during weekend nights at Aintree hospital’s A&E department in a bid to make patients and staff feel safer.
PARAMEDICS had to call for police back-up as they tried to treat a man stabbed 11 times in a street attack. Joseph Davies was left fighting for his life after he was mauled by dogs and repeatedly stabbed.
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Hospice forced to close its doors due to lack of funds - Southport Visiter 5th October 2007
A HOSPICE, which looked after terminally-ill people for the past 25 years, is being forced to close in two months. St Joseph’s Hospice, based at Hettinga House, Dark Lane, Ormskirk, has stopped taking people in and will help find alternative arrangements for their remaining six patients.
WORLD Mental Health Day will be marked in Southport with a joint event planned by specialist mental health provider Mersey Care NHS Trust and the YMCA. The YMCA on Hoghton Street will host an afternoon of fun, activities and health promotion information on Wednesday, October 10.
SISTERS of a schizophrenic man who was involved in a fatal collision with a car want answers about whether the delay of medical staff caused his death. Music-lover Malcolm Leigh, 49, of Banks, who suffered from the condition since he was 23, was in an accident involving a silver Ford Fiesta on the Coastal Road between Weld Road and Pontin's.
A WOMAN left in a coma after claiming a doctor failed to diagnose her appendicitis is preparing to make a public protest. Christy Millar, of Great Sutton, will demonstrate outside the HQ of Liverpool Primary Care Trust (PCT) about its refusal to hold an inquiry into her case.
A TRAINEE nurse who at one point feared a prison sentence for merely holding a can of pepper spray has won her crown court appeal. Sally Louise Acari, 21, was given an 80 hour community punishment order by Chester magistrates after her boyfriend Neil Marchant handed her the spray outside an Ellesmere Port club.
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Patients screened early for MRSA - Warrington Guardian 5th October 2007
INFECTION levels in hospitals are being combated by advance screenings of patients most at risk. Patients who are scheduled to have high-risk surgery are being tested for MRSA before they have their operations.
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Cumbria and Lancashire Health News
THIS time last week Wigton twin Helen Marney had just returned home following complex surgery to repair a life-threatening hole in her heart. Although she was born with a heart murmur, doctors did not discover the hole until last year – after she went on an advanced diving course.
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Finnish lesson - Carlisle News & Star 5th September 2007
CUMBRIA’S public health boss believes the county can take the lead in developing a top quality healthcare system that the rest of Britain will want to follow. Professor John Ashton has just returned from a fact-finding mission to Finland – a country which has seen dramatic changes in recent years.
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Greater Manchester Health News
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Hospitals in beds crisis - Manchester Evening News 5th September 2007
PATIENTS are having to wait on trolleys in a beds crisis that has stretched hospitals across Greater Manchester to breaking point. Others are having to spend the night on chairs - and ambulances are being diverted to other hospitals around the region. Health chiefs have put hospitals on `red' status, the highest crisis state because they don't have enough beds to meet demand. People arriving by ambulance at Manchester Royal Infirmary waited on trolleys with paramedics caring for them for up to 45 minutes until they were found a cubicle.
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Hospital on 'amber alert' - The Bolton News 5th October 2007
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Top docs to champion health review - Manchester Evening News 5th September 2007
TWO Greater Manchester doctors are to help lead a major review of the NHS in the north west. The regional review will focus on maternity and children's healthcare, long-term conditions, mental healthcare and preventing illness. Doctors, nurses and patients are to collect evidence about services and make recommendations to improve them.
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AN interactive map which highlights accident hotspots across the region has been launched. Produced by the Greater Manchester Transportation Unit (GMTU), the map allows the public to view accident details in their area over the last decade. Basic traffic flow data is also included.
MORE than 37,000 people were given flu jabs in Bolton last year. A total of 39,500 pensioners over the age of 65 were entitled to the free vaccination in 2006 and 71 per cent took up the offer, a total of 28,045 people.
ONE in 10 hospitality workers have been attacked by customers after asking them to stop smoking. A survey of 5,000 employees showed many had been threatened or physically attacked since the smoking ban came into force in England in the summer.
A REHABILITATION unit for mental health patients is to be axed. Park House - a 12-bed unit on Bowers Avenue, Davyhulme - will be replaced by a community rehabilitation service. Bolton, Salford and Trafford Mental Health NHS Trust (BSTMHT) says the move comes after a review of facilities at Park House.
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Health bosses want staff views - Altrincham Messenger 5th October 2007
TRAFFORD Healthcare NHS Trust has sent out questionnaires to 750 employees as part of the fifth national NHS staff survey. They are being asked what they think about their working lives.
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