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UK falls further down European health league despite rise in funding - The Guardian 2nd October 2007
Britain's National Health Service remains a "mediocre" provider of healthcare, performing much less well than almost all of the UK's peers in western Europe, according to a European survey. The index of European health services, issued yesterday in Brussels by Health Consumer Powerhouse, found Britain had slid further down the European league table over the past year despite the investment in the NHS under New Labour. Of 29 countries assessed, the EU's 27 plus Norway and Switzerland, Britain came 17th.
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NHS is 17th in Europe-wide poll of patients - The Telegraph 2nd October 2007
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NHS is 17th in Europe-wide poll of patients - The Telegraph 2nd October 2007
The broadcaster Jenni Murray screamed and shouted and swore when she realised she had breast cancer - and that was before she knew how far the disease had spread. How did she deal with mastectomy and chemotherapy? And why did she feel the public ought to know what she was going through? This is her story of a year of trials and triumphs
A new vaccine which aims to offer protection against cervical cancer is being launched in the UK. The vaccine, Cervarix, is said to guard against the two strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) that cause the majority of cervical cancers, according to pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline.
It is the commonest cancer in Britain, affecting 41,000 women a year – but not all breast cancers are the same. Yesterday, researchers said they had identified six types of the disease, with widely differing survival rates. The finding could help doctors give more accurate prognoses to patients, as well as targeting them with more specialised treatments. Researchers at the University of Nottingham analysed 25 proteins present in the breast tissue of cancer patients and clustered them into groups according to how long the patients survived. They found two of the six groups had significantly longer survival and one had significantly shorter survival, while the remaining three fell between these extremes.
Some old soldiers from the 1914-18 war proudly displayed hard objects that they had in their pockets that had deflected a piece of shrapnel or ricocheting bullet and had thereby saved their lives. Unfortunately, the converse can apply and a blunt injury can convert a hard or sharp object held close to the abdomen or thorax into a missile and doctors then have to deal with a penetrating injury.
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Girl almost died in crash as navel stud shot through her ‘like a bullet’ - The Times 2nd September 2007
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Belly stud 'almost killed teen' - BBC Health News 1st October 2007
COMPANIES that run Private Finance Initiative (PFI) hospitals are pocketing margins 20 times higher than in other construction projects. That’s according to research by Jean Shaoul, an academic at Manchester University, which showed returns on investment of 58 per cent, says Public Private Finance (Sept). The Treasury says margins on PFI work should be 8 to 15 per cent. Shaoul studied 12 of the first-wave PFI hospitals and found that trusts’ payments to contractors were on average 20 per cent higher than expected. The Department of Health questioned her sums, saying she had not used conventional methods for the calculations.
THE main provisions of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 came into force this week. The Act provides a statutory framework to empower and protect people who may lack capacity to make some decisions for themselves, for example, people with dementia, learning disabilities or mental health problems. The Act also sets out to enable people to plan ahead for a time when they may lack capacity. The Act will cover key decisions about someone’s property and affairs, healthcare treatment and where the person lives, as well as everyday decisions about personal care (such as what someone eats).
THE equality banner that flutters over the NHS is looking a little ragged after accusations that the Department of Health is failing minority ethnic groups and that doctors should do more to keep prejudice out of consultations. The General Medical Council is to remind doctors that personal beliefs should not affect the treatment they give. This will be the first time such guidance has been published and Doctor (Sept 25) says that it is designed to help those who, for example, have a conscientious objection to termination of pregnancy.
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WITH obesity sweeping the nation – and malnutrition sweeping through hospitals – what’s the one piece of equipment that might be considered fundamental to nursing practice? Yep, a set of scales.
SUPERBUGS lurk on the wards and the only way nurses can save their patients is by zapping them with hygiene power. They get two blasts for correctly disposed linen, extra life force for every time they wash their hands and bonus points for not spilling the commode. OK, it may be some time before super powers are used in the fight against hospital acquired infections but Nursing Times (Sept 25) says a video game is already being developed to help nurses to remember their hygiene code.
I SUPPORT Neil Hunt’s encouragement for early diagnosis of people with dementia but I was concerned about the emphasis on drug treatment. (The new unspoken terror, Sept 25). There is no doubt that Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating illness, but the evidence indicates that these drugs, which were the subject of a rigorous appraisal, have their best effect in the moderate stage of the disease.
SO much for seamless care. Repeated attempts to pull down the Berlin Wall between health and social care have still not proved successful, Health Service Journal (Sept 13) suggests. With the next public spending round looming, the Local Government Association (LGA) is demanding a share of the NHS piggy-bank. It wants ministers to hand over 0.5 per cent of the health budget to help to fund preventive services for older people. Hands off, says the NHS Confederation, suggesting that the LGA should engage in conversation, rather than try to “shave bits off other services”.
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New cancer treatments would be made available for NHS patients under plans unveiled by the Tories. The pledge is the centre-piece of a new strategy which the party hopes could help save almost 100 lives a day.
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Tories 'party of NHS' - Lansley - BBC Health News 1st October 2007
Lung cancer sufferers could be given access to a treatment believed to extend life expectancy after the Government's health watchdog agreed to review a previous decision to deny NHS patients the drug. Tarceva is a once-daily tablet designed to treat non-small cell lung cancer – the most common form of the disease – if initial attempts to treat it with chemotherapy fail.
A care home nurse stuffed a plastic apron into a 99-year-old woman's mouth as punishment for being noisy at lunch time, a hearing was told. Anne Fisk ordered the vulnerable pensioner to 'shut up' after screwing up the disposable apron into a ball and forcing it into her mouth, it is claimed.
Britain's over-50s are the most content they have ever been in their lives, according to a new government report. Instead of winding down for retirement, they are busy travelling, emailing and making new young friends on social networking websites such as Facebook.
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Dame Helen Mirren: Women are to blame for the size zero problem - Daily Mail 1st October 2007
Dame Helen Mirren has joined the size zero debate by blaming women for pushing teenage girls towards eating disorders. The 62-year-old Oscar winning actress said women were behind the images of skinny girls on the catwalk and in magazines giving teenage girls a complex about their weight.
Nine in 10 young people rarely or never think about HIV when making decision over their sex lives, a BBC poll shows. The findings from a survey of 1,500 people comes as the BBC and Terrence Higgins Trust launch a two-month UK campaign to raise awareness about HIV.
Tom Blandford is very different from the man Chris married 34 years ago. When he had a stroke two years ago, it was feared that the 57-year-old might die.
From today it will be against the law for anyone to sell cigarettes, or any tobacco product, to anyone under the age of 18. The campaign about the change has been relatively low key, mainly targeting teenagers and shopkeepers.
It was once known as the Sacred Disease. Its sufferers were revered and stigmatised in equal measure for their supposedly divinely ordained condition. Julius Caesar, Peter the Great, and Byron are just a few of the best known historical figures to have had epilepsy.
A Birmingham GP accused of sending her daughter abroad to have a late abortion will face no further action. Dr Saroj Adlakha and her daughter, Shilpa Abrol, both faced a charge of conspiracy to commit child destruction abroad, in this case Spain.
A man who is trying to stop care homes from hiding drugs in residents' food and drink is taking his campaign to the Scottish Parliament. Hunter Watson, who is from Aberdeen, believes the practice of so-called "covert medication" contravenes patients' human rights.
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New ways to control and treat breast cancer have been unveiled at a national medical conference by scientists at the University of Manchester. Researchers at the university have discovered that a drug used to treat Alzheimer's patients could help prevent breast cancer from recurring.
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Rare spiky plant flowers at Eden - BBC Health News 29th September 2007
A rare plant which researchers believe could help combat obesity has flowered at the Eden Project in Cornwall. It is thought to be the first time that the succulent Hoodia plant, which was grown by horticulturalists at Eden's nursery, has flowered in the UK.
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International Health News
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People with coronary heart disease have nearly double the normal risk of developing colon cancer, says a Hong Kong University report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Sept 26). The study of 206 people who have had heart disease newly diagnosed says that the two conditions may occur together because they both develop in response to chronic inflammation.
IT’S OFFICIAL: physician-assisted death, where a doctor helps to introduce a patient to the Grim Reaper, does not mark the start of a slippery slope. Opponents of the practice suggest that people in vulnerable groups the elderly or people with disabilities, for example are at risk wherever doctors are given licence to help patients on their way.
People who get too much sleep could be cutting their lifespan by several months, according to a scientists. Too much sleep can be as harmful as too little, according to the study, the first to provide a detailed assessment of the effects of sleep and sleeping pills on long-term mortality.
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Why a dose of self-discipline could help ward off Alzheimer's - Daily Mail 1st October 2007
Being conscientious in life halves your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, scientists say. A study of pensioners found those who were judged to be dependable or reliable were much less likely to succumb to the degenerative disease, which affects 500,000 Britons.
The world's first face transplant recipient has spoken of her horror at "living" with the features of a suicide victim. Isabelle Dinoire, a 40-year-old divorcee from Valenciennes, northern France, underwent the groundbreaking operation almost two years ago.
Pregnant women who have very low levels of cholesterol may be at a greater risk of giving birth prematurely, US research suggests. The National Human Genome Research Institute study confirmed previous findings linking high cholesterol to a raised risk of premature birth.
Elevated levels of uric acid may be to blame for mini-strokes that potentially cause mental decline in ageing adults. Brain scans showed mini-strokes - white matter hypersensitivities (WMHs) - were more common among elderly patients with higher uric acid levels.
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Acquittals in Canada blood trial - BBC Health News 1st October 2007
A Canadian judge has acquitted four doctors and a US drug company of criminal negligence in a long-running tainted-blood scandal. At least 20,000 people were infected with hepatitis C or HIV in the 1980s and 1990s before Canada used up-to-date blood screening practices.
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Cheshire and Merseyside Health News
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MERSEYSIDE’S worsening obesity crisis is sending a dangerous sleep disorder rocketing. Specialists have seen a six-fold rise in patients diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) – which causes extreme snoring.
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Hospital in bottom six for MRSA cases - Warrington Guardian 1st October 2007
DESPITE missing its targets on the number of cases of MRSA per year, Warrington Hospital is in the top six in the north west for keeping the numbers low. Last year there were 19 cases of MRSA at the hospital - the yearly target is 12.
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Cumbria and Lancashire Health News
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Cigarette ban for under 18s - Lancashire Telegraph 1st October 2007
HEALTH campaigners in East Lancashire have welcomed the fact that cigarettes and tobacco can no longer be bought by under 18s. From today it is illegal for retailers to sell either cigarettes, cigars, loose tobacco or cigarette papers to younger teenagers - they could face fines of up to £2,500 if caught out.
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Greater Manchester Health News
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Health chiefs deny smoking restrictions - Manchester Evening News 1st October 2007
HEALTH bosses in Stockport have denied claims in a documentary that they ban smokers from having operations. The ITV1 Tonight programme, to be screened this evening, will name Stockport Primary Care Trust as one of 16 that have discriminating policies against the obese or smokers who need surgery.
Hairdressers have been recruited in the war against flu. Health bosses have written to Bolton's salon snippers, appealing for them to discuss the illness with their most at-risk customers and encourage them to have the flu jab. The Primary Care Trust (PCT) has launched this year's campaign to ensure those most likely to catch the winter flu bug are vaccinated.
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New breast cancer drug unveiled - BBC Health News 1st October 2007
New ways to control and treat breast cancer have been unveiled at a national medical conference by scientists at the University of Manchester. Researchers at the university have discovered that a drug used to treat Alzheimer's patients could help prevent breast cancer from recurring.
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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