Wednesday, December 24, 2003

National and International News



2,500 will die unnecessarily this week, Met Office predicts

More than 2,500 people will die unnecessarily in England and Wales this week as a direct result of the cold weather, according to a forecast yesterday from the Faculty of Public Health and the Met Office.

The Guardian 23/12/03


Benefit squeeze on lone parents

The government is to undertake a new year double squeeze on jobless lone parents and the disabled in an attempt to drive the "economically inactive" back to work.

The Guardian 24/12/03


Child eczema 'has tripled since 1970s'

Nearly one in three children has suffered eczema by the age of three-and-a-half, triple the rate in the 1970s, a study suggested last night.

The Guardian 23/12/03


Government to review privacy Act

A law intended to protect privacy is to be reviewed after it was blamed for the deaths of two pensioners whose gas was cut off and for making the hunt for the Soham murderer more difficult.

The Independent 24/12/03


NHS Selects Firms

The National Health Service awarded two ten-year contracts yesterday, each worth £1 billion, to the American firms of Accenture and Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), which will modernise UK hospitals and doctors’ surgeries in the North West and East.

The Times 24/12/03
The Guardian 24/12/03
The Guardian 23/12/03


Patient challenges doctors for right to live

A man with a degenerative brain condition has launched an unprecedented human rights challenge to guidance for doctors which he believes could allow them to end his life by legally sanctioned euthanasia.

The Guardian 24/12/03


Satellite tracking panic alarms on the cards for NHS staff

The Government plans to issue all NHS staff with “panic buttons� — personal alarms that would locate their precise position anywhere in the country and allow them to call emergency assistance.

The Times 24/12/03
The Guardian 24/12/03


Schools in deal to curb junk food sales

Some of the world’s biggest food companies, including Coca-Cola and Mars, are stripping their brand logos from vending machines in schools and introducing healthier foods.

The Times 24/12/03
The Guardian 24/12/03


'Sloppy slipper' scheme cuts old people's falls

A scheme to bin "sloppy slippers" has helped reduce falls among older people by 60%, according to a pioneering primary care trust.

The Guardian 23/12/03


Surgeon who nearly lost arm plans to be operating in April

A surgeon whose arm was almost severed in a boating accident in the summer is planning to be back in the operating theatre next month and taking charge of patients by April.

The Independent 24/12/03


Cheshire and Mersey News


Culture chief uses cannabis

A Liverpool culture chief last night admitted she smokes cannabis to help battle crippling arthritis.

Liverpool Echo 22/12/03


Cumbria and Lancashire News


Deprived areas plan launched

A strategy for regeneration in the most needy areas of Burnley has been launched by the Burnley Action Partnership (BAP).

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 22/12/03


Support work undermined

Bury Diabetes Parents' Support Group is affiliated to Diabetes UK and exists to provide advice to the parents of children with diabetes. In conjunction with consistently excellent support from the paediatric team at Fairfield Hospital, the group is able to reassure parents that this chronic illness can be managed, to enable children to live a near-normal, healthy life.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 23/12/03


Greater Manchester News


Best in country

I would like to say thank you to Stewart and Kim, two paramedics, and the doctors and nurses at the A&E Department of the Royal Bolton Hospital who helped me recently.

Bolton Evening News 22/12/03


Cold snap could leave thousands dead

More than 2,500 people in England and Wales are likely to perish from cold in the week leading up to Christmas, experts said today.

Manchester Evening News 23/12/03


Coronary Unit appeal gets massive festive boost

The appeal for Bolton's Coronary Care Unit has taken a huge leap towards its final target today after millionaire Eddie Davies pledged a further £100,000.

Bolton Evening News 22/12/03


Mental health services to be reviewed

Mental health services in Bolton are being scrutinised as part of a national inspection.

Bolton Evening News 23/12/03


Seasonal full alert for 999 crews

Extra ambulance crews will be on full alert over Christmas and New Year as the number of emergency calls peaks for the year.

Bolton Evening News 23/12/03

Sunday, December 21, 2003

National and International News



5.75m payout for birth blunder

A boy who was starved of oxygen at birth was awarded 5.75m damages by the High Court yesterday.

The Independent 20/12/03


Asthma in UK children double EU average

British children are twice as likely to suffer from asthma as those in other European countries, it has emerged.

The Guardian 22/12/03


Battered men get their own refuge

Britain's first safe house for battered men is to open in secret over the New Year. The refuge, in south-west England, will shelter men and their children who have been physically or emotionally abused by a female partner.

The Observer 21/12/03


Better British diet gives birth to mega baby

Babies are piling on the pounds in the womb. Improved health and diet among parents has led to a large increase in the number of so-called omega- babies across Britain.

The Times 21/12/03


Binge drinking: do they mean us?

Downing Street sounds alarm as young women start drinking as much as their male counterparts.

The Observer 21/12/03


Blair facing inquiry over NHS email

Tony Blair was facing calls last night for a full inquiry into how his local constituency hospital won a coveted three-star rating as it emerged that Downing Street was fully aware at the time that Alan Milburn had intervened to secure its status.

The Observer 21/12/03


CJD plan for personal blood banks

Patients may soon be encouraged to provide their own mini-blood bank before undergoing surgery to counter the danger of contracting variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).

The Times 21/12/03


Drivers' delusions of capability

We all know the evils of drink-driving, amply demonstrated by the traditional Christmas advertising campaign. But why do so many of us still do it? A new survey by the Portman Group and the RAC provides some clues. The study asked 820 people whether they had driven after drinking. Around 30 per cent had and most said they had done it because they remained confident about their ability to drive safely. Other reasons given were I didn't think I'd get caught. I had no other way to get home and I was going through a bad time�.

The Times 20/12/03


Dirty bird better

The most stressful thing about Christmas? For one in three of us it’s the infernal process of cooking a traditional turkey lunch. That’s the message from a new study by the Food Standards Agency, which helpfully adds to our kitchen anxieties by pointing out some unexpected hazards in preparing poultry.

The Times 20/12/03


Discomfort and joy

When families gather at Christmas a time bomb often begins to tick. Our correspondent offers some advice on how to defuse problems and avoid an explosion.

The Times 20/12/03


Drugged up by fat cats

Are we getting the treatments we deserve? Treatments that are safe, effective and fit in with what we want? Almost certainly not, says an important report published this week, which calls for a radical overhaul of medical research priorities and funding.

The Times 20/12/03


'End to waiting list' for heart bypass patients

The waiting time for heart surgery has fallen to just three weeks in some parts of Britain, in what is seen as a ground-breaking example of how the NHS can cut into the queues for treatment.

The Observer 21/12/03
The Observer 21/12/03


Enjoy a drink, - but be wary

Forty years ago Christmas in a rural practice typified the medicine that provided the raw material for the TV series Dr Finlay’s Casebook. It was always a busy time, but we were never too busy to enjoy the hospitality offered by patients. Each cottage, farm or council house had a sideboard that creaked under the weight of bottles. In some homes the free-flowing alcohol produced such disinhibition that usually retiring people suddenly became argumentative: emotions better left buried surfaced, evoking tales of unrequited love, careless passion and, one memorable Christmas day, admissions of incestuous desire.

The Times 22/10/03


Failed asylum seekers lose free NHS care

Failed asylum seekers will be barred from free NHS treatment in a crackdown on 'health tourism'.

The Observer 21/12/03


Free digital medical programme is coming soon - but NHS TV is no ER

The NHS is to start broadcasting on its own digital television channel next year in an attempt to beam health information into the nation's living rooms.

The Guardian 20/12/03


Free test kits help curb sex disease

Home testing kits for a 'ticking timebomb' disease triggering infertility in young women are to be handed out in high street chemists in a bid to halt its spread.

The Observer 21/12/03


Glow with the flow

Cold remedies don't come any more decadent or cheering than a hot toddy.

The Times 20/12/03


Hair of the mouse

Hairs in the ears of mice may provide the key to reversing a common cause of hearing loss. Hairs in our inner ear respond to vibration and help to create nerve signals that we understand as hearing. As people age, one in ten loses these hairs — and their hearing. French and Swedish scientists, funded by the European Commission, have identified cells which create the hairs in mice. They hope to find such cells in humans and coax them into creating new hairs. The findings were presented to the American Society for Cell Biology’s conference last week.

The Times 20/12/03


Lighten up the darkest day

Well, what can you do about Christmas? Polls show half of us will be glad when the season is over and figures from the Samaritans show that many find it all devastatingly depressing. But if you confess you don’t enjoy it, or even dare to say you aren’t celebrating, you risk being lynched by a mob whose minds are addled by Slade, Sir Cliff Richard and all the strange propaganda of festive fascism.

The Times 20/12/03


Love that smell

It may be hard, but its time to be positive about poo. Parents potty training their children need to grin and bear it. A team from the University of Pennsylvania has found that if mums and dads avoided words like stink and smelly when referring to nappy content, their children were potty-trained much sooner.

The Times 20/12/03


New 'sex patch' will be the female Viagra

A controversial sex patch to be worn by women suffering from "female sexual dysfunction" is being developed in the United States and could be launched as early as next year with a $100m (57m) marketing campaign.

The Independent 21/12/03


NHS investigates £210m drugs sales

Seven drug companies secretly connived to raise the prices of prescription drugs by up to 700 per cent, documents seen by The Times appear to show.

The Times 22/12/03
The Guardian 22/12/03
The Independent 22/12/03


NHS sues over drug makers' 'rip-off'

The National Health Service is to sue seven major pharmaceutical companies for £30 million for allegedly fixing the price of one of Britain’s most common drugs.

The Times 22/12/03


Patients in intensive care wards at most risk from hospital superbugs

Patients in intensive care wards are particularly at risk of infection from so-called superbugs, a study has found.

The Indepndent 22/12/03


Pretty women turn men to goo

All it takes is a pretty face. Psychologists from McMaster University in Canada have found that something strange happens to a man’s mind when confronted with female beauty. His decision-making abilities dissolve into goo and his mind turns to immediate gratification rather than long-term gain.

The Times 20/12/03


Private firms to run family doctor services

Private companies are to be allowed to take over GP services in one of the biggest changes to the role of family doctors since the creation of the National Health Service.

The Times 20/12/03


Rats, drills and lawnmowers all drive Britons to hospital beds. And watch out for those pyjamas

The painful, peculiar ways in which thousands of Britons are consigned to a hospital bed each year are today laid bare by official statistics.

The Times 22/12/03


Seagrove loses bid to overturn ban on remedy

A campaign for herbal remedies led by the actress Jenny Seagrove failed yesterday in an attempt to overturn a government ban on kava kava, a natural tranquilliser.

The Independent 20/12/03


Second opinion

Has Britain's compensation culture gone too far? Newspapers carry almost daily reports of madcap claims. Yet the facts simply do not support the contention that compensation culture is out of control.

The Guardian 20/12/03


The mother of all our Christmases

“Of course, I still want to read The Night Before Christmas under the Christmas tree,� I say, looking firmly into my mother’s doleful eyes. Surrounded by tinsel and the gentle patter of falling pine needles, I will soon take up my annual position with Granny, Mum, sister, cats, dogs and a tattered copy of Clement Clarke Moore’s classic. Those able will take it in turns to read aloud, a page each, as we have done for the past 24 years, before going to bed on Christmas Eve.

The Times 20/12/03


Viagra doctor guilty of misconduct

A Harley Street doctor who sold Viagra over the internet without meeting patients was reprimanded yesterday after being found guilty of misconduct by the General Medical Council (GMC).

The Times 20/12/03


Wise men knew best

They were fantastic presents 2,000 years ago and they still do you a power of good. There’s increasing evidence of the medical value of gold, frankincense and myrrh — particularly for sore joints.

The Times 20/12/03


Cheshire and Mersey News


Cumbria and Lancashire News


Get fruity and stay healthy

The fight against heart disease, cancer and strokes in Blackpool has been boosted by a £150,000 initiative to promote fruit and veg.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 19/12/03


Hospital treats car crime bug

Police have joined forces with Burnley General Hospital in a bid to reduce the risk of hospital visitors falling victim to vehicle crime.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 19/12/03


MMR jab is vital, say health bosses

Health bosses in Bury are urging parents to have their children immunised with the MMR jab, despite a controversial programme screened on Channel 5.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 19/12/03


Surgery set for closure

Health bosses are looking to provide alternative care for 800 patients at a Rossendale surgery that is set to close in the New Year.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 20/12/03


Greater Manchester News


Girl recovers after transplant drama

A six-year-old girl at the centre of a dramatic heart transplant dash was today recovering in hospital after an operation.

Manchester Evening News 20/12/03


Nursery bug alert

A Rochdale nursery is at the centre of on outbreak of suspected meningococcal disease. Specialists in infectious disease control were contacting the families of children who attend Aunt Mary's Nursery in the Dell area of Rochdale after two children who attend the nursery became ill. The two children are responding to treatment but as a precaution, antibiotic treatment is being offered to the other 41 children and 10 staff at the nursery.

Bolton Evening News 20/12/03

Friday, December 19, 2003

National and International News



635,000 payout for racism in NHS

Indian doctor awarded record damages for discrimination.

The Guardian 19/12/03


Arrested euthanasia chairman quits post

An organisation that campaigns for euthanasia has accepted the resignation of its chairman after it emerged he was under police investigation following the death of a friend.

The Independent 18/12/03


Blood service allays concerns

The Scottish Blood Transfusion Service moved yesterday to allay fears after it emerged that two patients received blood from a donor later diagnosed with variant CJD.

The Times 19/12/03
The Guardian 18/12/03
The Independent 18/12/03


Deadlier for males

It was almost inevitable that last winters outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars)wouldn’t end with the final case in the summer. But there should be no great alarm about the laboratory case diagnosed recently: it appears that the victim’s Sars was mild and that he didn’t transmit it to other people. This shouldn’t stop people from visiting Singapore, and it is difficult to see why it has had such dire effects on the stock market.

The Times 19/12/03


Doctor in cot death court cases to face misconduct allegations

Professor Sir Roy Meadow, the paediatrician and child health expert at the centre of a series of cot death cases, is to face charges in a public hearing before the doctors' disciplinary body.

The Independent 19/12/03
The Independent 18/12/03


Experts call for strategy to combat obesity

The British population is steadily getting fatter, statistics confirmed yesterday, as experts called for a national strategy to counter obesity.

The Times 19/12/03
The Guardian 19/12/03
The Guardian 19/12/03
The Guardian 19/12/03
The Independent 19/12/03


Fear and mystery surround Data Protection Act

The Data Protection Act is arguably the least understood law in force, and hence one that people are terrified of.

The Independent 19/12/03


Flu jabs may fail to protect against new virus strain

Millions of people vaccinated against flu may not have full protection from the strain of virus sweeping through Britain, it emerged yesterday.

The Times 19/12/03


Four passengers on every jumbo suffer DVT

Stockings, aspirin and even travelling business class do not protect long-distance air travellers from developing deep vein thrombosis, researchers have found.

The Times 19/12/03
The Guardian 19/12/03
The Independent 19/12/03


Hospital complains at political demotion

A hospital that lost a million pounds when its performance was downgraded a week before NHS ratings were published reacted last night with dismay to allegations that the move was politically motivated.

The Times 19/12/03
The Guardian 18/12/03
The Guardian 19/12/03
The Independent 19/12/03


Mental health still 'Cinderella service'

Chronic staff shortages in NHS mental health trusts in England and Wales are causing patients to be neglected and exposed to unacceptable violence on the wards, government inspectors warned today.

The Guardian 18/12/03
The Guardian 18/12/03


Microsoft fights for taxpayers' 100m

Software group Microsoft is fighting to keep its business with the British government - worth £100m a year - in the face of a growing preference for "free" open source software in public sector IT projects.

The Guardian 19/12/03
The Guardian 18/12/03


Trust drops cuts plan but still faces strike threat

A crisis-hit mental health trust has withdrawn up to 2m of cuts and dropped plans to close a care ward for elderly people, after staff threatened to strike, but unions have declared a formal dispute over high risk levels.

The Guardian 19/12/03


Cheshire and Mersey News


Casualty unit in chemical shutdown

A chemical scare at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital yesterday led to ambulances being diverted to other emergency departments.

Daily Post 18/12/03


Head admits to drug menace

Drugs are are a universal menace that have even breached the corridors of a top school, admits its headteacher.

Chester Chronicle 19/12/03


Mother slams organ inquiry 'whitewash'

The mother of a baby boy stripped of his organs last night spoke of her horror after a senior doctor at the centre of the Alder Hey scandal was cleared of wrongdoing.

Daily Post 18/12/03


Nursing academy launched in city

Merseyside has its first nursing cadets for almost 30 years with 150 starting in the country's only NHS Nursing Academy.

Liverpool Echo 18/12/03


Public backs Trust revamp for hospital

A Cheshire hospital is set to launch its bid to become become one of the Government's new NHS Foundation Trusts.

Chester Chronicle 19/12/03


Staff climb the learning tree to serve the public

An awards ceremony held at the Countess of Chester Hospital honoured the achievements of more than 40 members of staff.

Chester Chronicle 19/12/03


Cumbria and Lancashire News


Hand it over!

Housing bosses have submitted a multi-million pound claim to town hall officials after discovering asbestos in hundreds of former council homes.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 17/12/03


Hospital gave top class care

Over the years too much has been said or written about the state of our NHS hospitals.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 16/12/03


Greater Manchester News


1m new heart unit opens

Heart attack victim Alan Nuttall paid tribute to Bolton's Coronary Care Unit when he became the first patient to use the facilities.

Bolton Evening News 16/12/03
Bolton Evening News 16/12/03
Bolton Evening News 16/12/03


Health care

Members of the public will soon be able to put forward their views on health care in the area where they live. Bolton's Patient and Public Involvement forums will be operating by the end of the month and members of the Bolton community will be able to suggest improvements to Bolton Hospital, GP's surgeries, dentists and pharmacies.

Bolton Evening News 17/12/03

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

National and International News



A Question Of Health: When will my 15-year-old reach puberty? And how can my wife rid herself of cramps?

Can you say something about the normal limits of puberty in boys? At 15 our elder son's genitals seem to have grown in proportion to the rest of him. But there is no sign of pubic hair, let alone of stubble, and his voice is at best sinking gently rather than breaking. Meanwhile his brother is coming up for 12 with a crop of body and leg hair, a definite moustache, spots, and the vocal cords of a bullock. As they were adopted separately, they obviously share nogenetic heritage. Our own doctor is sympathetic but says it is not a medical problem. Even if there is nothing to be done, some impartial advice would be helpful, as it is causing the family great stress.

The Independent 15/12/03


Alcoholic Best is blamed for drop in organ donors

George Best's return to drinking alcohol after his liver transplant has put people off donating organs, a leading specialist said yesterday.

The Times 16/12/03


Alder Hey's director 'did not stop abuses'

The eminent medical director of a children’s hospital at the centre of an organ retention scandal failed to act on information that senior staff had removed body parts without permission, the General Medical Council was told yesterday.

The Times 16/12/03
The Guardian 16/12/03
The Independent 16/12/03


Closure of small shops 'threatens to wipe out way of life'

Britain's smallest towns and villages are losing 50 specialist shops a week, a trend which threatens to wipe out community life in a generation, a report warned yesterday.

The Independent 16/12/03


Drugs study finds children aged 11 on heroin and crack

Children as young as 11 are experimenting with hard drugs such as crack cocaine and heroin, according to a new study.

The Guardian 16/12/03


E-government fails to catch on

Virtually all Britons know where they can get online - but three-quarters of them have never even visited a government website, a report out today reveals.

The Guardian 16/12/03


Euthanasia Society faces split after chairman's arrest

The Voluntary Euthanasia Society is meeting tomorrow to discuss the future of its former chairman, who stepped down at the weekend after admitting he had planned to help a dying man kill himself.

The Independent 16/12/03


Health Check: 'The number of flu cases seems to be falling but doctors are still alert to the threat of a worldwide pandemic'

Are you an optmist or a pessimist? It matters when it comes to flu because the story of this winter's outbreak can be read both ways.

The Independent 15/12/03


Jargon decoder: Social Capital

What is it

Networks, relationships, norms, values and informal sanctions that shape the quantity and co-operative quality of a society’s social interactions. Social capital can bond family members, bridge ethnic groups or link social classes. The most common measure of it is trust of other people.

The Times 16/12/03


Morocco losing forests to cannabis

Cannabis production is expanding so fast in Morocco that it is causing soil erosion and the destruction of long-established forests, the UN reported yesterday.

The Guardian 16/12/03


Mothers alarmed after TV MMR drama

Last night's television drama about the controversial theory linking the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism has made parents even more worried.

The Guardian 16/12/03
The Guardian 16/12/03


MPs' asylum children care plan warning

Plans to take into care the children of failed asylum seekers who refuse to go home could simply drive families underground, MPs have warned.

The Guardian 16/12/03
The Independent 16/12/03


My mother's deadly secret

Why do people choose to conceal serious illness and disease from their nearest and dearest, preferring to suffer alone?

The Guardian 16/12/03


New weapon in superbug war

A stay in hospital could be more risky than a tropical holiday, or so say recent reports of the plague of antibiotic-resistant superbugs apparently proliferating in wards across the country. To help to counter the onslaught, the Government has promised to appoint “bug-busting� bosses to deal with the rise in hospital infections involving the bacteria MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), which kills 5,000 a year.

The Times 16/12/03


New medical research

People who worry are at greater risk of Alzheimer’s, Chicago researchers report in Neurology (December 9). Their study of 797 people over 75 found that those who score high on a neuroticism scale are 7 per cent more likely to suffer dementia. Meanwhile, King’s College London research has found that prolonged antipsychotic drug use may accelerate mental decline. If it is stopped, it can improve quality of life for people with dementia. The three-month study of 100 people is published by the charity Research Into Ageing.

The Times 16/12/03


Nurses lured by job perks

What price nurses? Looming shortages have prompted employers to lure them from the developing world and to try to persuade retired staff to return. Now hospitals have discovered the world of perks.

The Times 16/12/03


Stroke warning to binge-drinkers

A stark warning about the risk of suffering a stroke caused by excessive drinking has been delivered by health campaigners.

The Guardian 16/12/03


Surgery blunder victim wins £5m damages for heart-op mistake

A man whose brain was "all but destroyed" during hospital treatment for a heart condition as a baby 25 years ago was awarded £5m agreed damages yesterday.

The Independent 16/12/03


The best way to a better birth

Zita West, campaigner and the midwife to Sophie Wessex and countless celebrities, is recalling her introduction to childbirth. "I trained as a midwife in 1976, but it was going out to the Middle East to work that really gave me the midwifery experience. I did a lot of deliveries in the car park - women came in fully dilated - labour was often very quick. What I really benefited from was that working there, I saw the patterns of behaviour that women went through in normal labour.

The Independent 15/12/03


The cost of justice

For more than 20 years Professor Sir Roy Meadow was Britain's foremost expert on cot death. His respected opinion was often the deciding factor in separating children from their mothers or in the launch of a policemurder investigation after the death of a baby. But last week Professor Meadow's reputation was in tatters after the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction of Angela Cannings, wrongly imprisoned for the murder of her two babies. Professor Meadow's expertise was also used to help convict Sally Clark and Trupti Patel, two more mothers whose convictions have been ruled unsafe.

The Independent 16/12/03


What you eat

In this week's column on diet, we look at what one toddler with a sweet tooth eats and suggest some improvements.

The Guardian 16/12/03


When there's no real alternative

One in five of us regularly uses complementary medicine, but how much of it really works, and when does it become dangerous?

The Guardian 16/12/03


Why do we still buy alternative remedies, when so few have been proven to work?

A couple of weeks ago, the University of Washington in Seattle published a paper saying that echinacea is no better than a placebo when it comes to treating colds in children. Now, when I see someone in the chemist reach for a pack of echinacea, I want to say to them: "Didn't you read the study? This stuff is useless. Put it back." Why do people choose to ignore the evidence of studies that refute the efficacy of their favourite alternative remedy? Is it a case of wilful ignorance?

The Independent 15/12/03


Cheshire and Mersey News


Doctor faces probe into organs scandal

The former medical director of the organ scandal-hit Royal Liverpool Alder Hey Children's Hospital is due to appear before the General Medical Council today.

Daily Post 15/12/03


Hospital may lose all adult services

All adult medical services could be moved from Ormskirk Hospital to Southport as part of a controversial 15m plan, the Daily Post can reveal.

Daily Post 15/12/03


The drug addicts aged 10

Children as young as 10 and 11 are being treated for addiction to heroin and crack cocaine in Liverpool's drug clinics.

Liverpool Echo 15/12/03


We may sue to help cut deaths from superbug

A family is considering legal action against a hospital after their mother died when she contracted the superbug, MRSA.

Daily Post 15/12/03


Women's charity home is closing

Residents of a Liverpool elderly people's home have been given three months to find somewhere else to live.

Liverpool Echo 15/12/03


Cumbria and Lancashire News


999 services in alcohol-free plea

Emergency services in Greater Manchester have raised an alcohol-free toast to drive home this year's "Don't Drink and Drive" message.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 15/12/03


Ambulance teams get new system

Handwritten patient records are being abolished as Lancashire Ambulance Service becomes the first in the country to use an electronic system.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 15/12/03


Doc takes up CO post in 'terriers'

A north west GP has taken over as commanding officer of a Blackburn-based Territorial Army regiment.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 15/12/03


Hospital romance helped man to quit drug habit'

A 31-year-old man found love and the resolve to beat his heroin habit during an extended spell in hospital.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 15/12/03


Morning-after pill available at some chemists

With the Christmas party season in full flow Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Primary Care Trust is reminding the public about the availability of the morning-after pill.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 15/12/03


Trust gives tips for winter health

Burnley Pendle and Rossendale Primary Care Trust (PCT) is urging people to get the right treatment this winter.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 15/12/03


Greater Manchester News


1m damages for boy with Olympic dream

A teenager brain-damaged by a hospital blunder has set his heart on representing Britain at the Paralympic Games.

Manchester Evening News 15/12/03


Alder Hey medic to face GMC

Former medical director of Alder Hey Hospital Dr John Martin is to face the General Medical Council over his part in the organ scandal.

Bolton Evening News 15/12/03


Christie 'satellite' to help cancer patients

Cancer patients could soon benefit from plans to create a satellite to Manchester's Christie Hospital.

Manchester Evening News 15/12/03


Fellowship accolade for nurse

A nurse who works in Bolton has been identified as a leading light in the future of the National Health Service.

Bolton Evening News 15/12/03

Monday, December 15, 2003

National and International News



Can't stomach Christmas?

Peace on Earth and mercy mild sums up the spirit of Christmas. But there is not always good cheer, and not all blights on yuletide happiness are the fault of latter-day Scrooges. For many people Christmas is an ordeal, and not only because of social strains and stresses but also because of the effect of Christmas fare on the bowels, and the digestive system in general.

The Times 15/12/03


Doctor: how I saved stabbed jogger

The doctor who saved the life of a jogger who was stabbed has revealed for the first time how she feared for her own safety while tending to the woman who had been left for dead.

The Independent 14/12/03


Drug firms 'make unhealthy profits'

The Government has allowed pharmaceutical manufacturers to put financial gain before the health of consumers when deciding where to spend billions of pounds of research money, a report has found.

The Times 15/12/03
The Guardian 15/12/03


Friends of cot-death doctor warn that parents 'will get away with murder'

Colleagues of Professor Sir Roy Meadow, the paediatrician whose testimony in a series of cot death cases is being scrutinised by the Attorney General, are rallying to his defence this weekend.

The Independent 14/12/03


GPs help cut casualty waiting times

Waiting times at a north-west London accident and emergency department have been slashed through a project bringing GPs into casualty, a report published today revealed.

The Guardian 12/12/03


Hospital superbug found in animals

The hospital superbug MRSA has been identified in a dozen animals in Britain. The deadly bacteria was found over the past year in cats, dogs and a rabbit after testing by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency.

The Independent 14/12/03


Life preserver

Amid all the concern about MMR jabs, dismay over hospital superbugs and the NHS coming bottom of yet another European league table, it is very easy to lose sight of simple health strategies that do work. It was barely mentioned by the media last week but suicides in the United Kingdom now stand at a record low. The number of those taking their own lives fell from 9.2 per 100,000 people between 1995 and 1997 to 8.9 per 100,000 between 2000 and 2002. It may not sound much, and there are still 4,500 suicides a year, but it shows that the national prevention strategy set up to make it harder for people to kill themselves seems to be working.

The Observer 14/12/03


Millions of mental sufferers 'being abused'

More than two-thirds of people with mental disorders who live in developed countries, including Britain and the US, are denied access to treatment.

The Independent 14/02/03


Ministers' alarm as sick Britain falls to bottom of health league

Findings from an official inquiry published by the Government this week reveal Britain as the sickest nation among a range of Western countries. The inquiry was ordered by Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, and shows that on measures of health including infant mortality, life expectancy and cancer deaths, Britain comes at the bottom, or close to it, of the league of nine nations.

The Independent 13/12/03


MPs condemn scheme allowing them to jump NHS queues

Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs have condemned a £20,000 parliamentary scheme that will allow them to queue jump other NHS patients at the taxpayers' expense.

The Independent 15/12/03


Official: obesity is bad for your wealth

Obese men and women are damaging their wealth as well as their health.

The Independent 14/12/03


Public services 'are no better' despite Brown's billions

Tony Blair's leading civil servant admitted yesterday that public services were not "significantly different" despite Labour spending billions on attempts to improve them.

The Independent 13/12/03


School excluded disabled boy from play and photo

Governors of a primary school have been ordered to apologise to a six-year-old disabled boy who was left out of the Christmas play and isolated from his classmates by teachers.

The Times 15/12/03


UK's record on sickness is not what Reid ordered

Sustaining the National Health Service over the next 20 years will be made harder by the poor state of the British population, an interim report by Derek Wanless shows.

The Independent 13/12/03


US shows NHS how to discharge patients faster

Ministers are taking lessons from America in an attempt to reduce the time patients spend in National Health Service hospitals by up to a half.

The Times 14/12/03


Cheshire and Mersey News


A killing with the fillings

A probe into rip-off NHS dentists who use fake gold fillings has been launched.

Liverpool Echo 12/12/03


Alarm over plans to scrap patient checks

Inspectors have raised the alarm over government plans to scrap routine checks on mentally-ill patients at Ashworth high-security hospital on Merseyside.

Daily Post 12/12/03


Bosses are taking no chances in flu epidemic threat

Despite fears of an impending flu epidemic, the number of reported cases in Chester has dropped over the last few weeks.

Chester Chronicle 12/12/03


Paramedic teams answer parents' call

Emergency ambulance cover is to be more than doubled in Southport after an external review found the service is suffering increased pressure since the children's accident and emergency department moved from the resort to Ormskirk.

Daily Post 12/12/03


When care goes wrong

Liverpool Echo 12/12/03


Why was schizophrenic allowed to kill Hanane?

The distraught Chester mother of a brutally murdered teenage girl says the man who killed her daughter should never have been 'allowed to wander the streets at night'.

Chester Chronicle 12/12/03


Cumbria and Lancashire News


300,000 to battle against homelessness

Councils in East Lancashire are to receive nearly £300,000 as their share of a £3.4million North West pot, to support them in tackling homelessness more effectively.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 11/12/03


Health boost for East Ward

Part of Chorley is set to get a health boost. Chorley East ward, one of the town's more needy areas, has been highlighted for a new project by Chorley and South Ribble Primary Care Trust (PCT).

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 12/12/03


Health bosses 'sorry' over teen killer's case

Health bosses today expressed their sorrow over the case of a psychiatric patient they were treating who killed a teenage friend.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 11/12/03


Nursing home evacuated in toilet fire alert

Residents at a Ribble Valley nursing home had to be evacuated after a ceiling fan in a downstairs washroom caught fire.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 13/12/03


'Out-of-control' GP attacked two staff

A doctor behaved like an "intemperate bully" the day he attacked two of his staff, a judge said.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 12/12/03


Greater Manchester News


Cancer case consultant cleared

Manchester Evening News 13/12/03


Flu jab fears based on `myth'

The belief that the flu jab can give a person a bad cold or even flu has been rubbished by a public health specialist.

Bolton Evening News 12/12/03


Judy's NHS website wins top magazine award

A website set up with the help of a Bolton woman to inform people about local health services has won an award.

Bolton Evening News 12/12/03


Therapy team award

A complimentary therapy team at a Manchester's Christie Hospital has won a national Prince of Wales award in recognition of their work with cancer patients.

Bolton Evening News 11/12/03

Friday, December 12, 2003

National and International News



Baby death ruling hope for mothers

Hundreds of mothers who claim that they were wrongly accused of smothering their babies now hope that their cases will be reviewed after Angela Cannings was freed by the Court of Appeal.

The Times 12/12/03
The Guardian 12/12/03


Brown on course to hit child poverty target

Tax breaks aimed at Britain's poorest families have put the government's target of reducing child poverty by 25% by 2004 within reach, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said yesterday.

The Guardian 12/12/03


Distinguished career could end in ignominy

Professor Sir Roy Meadow, the expert medical witness in the Angela Cannings case, is under investigation by the General Medical Council. His confident, charismatic performance in the witness box in a series of cot death cases is under scrutiny.

The Independent 12/12/03


Full movement for the royal knee

This week the Duke of York attended the opening of the English National Ballet’s performance of Cinderella. As he watched the dancers, he may have given a fleeting thought to the stress that such movement imposes on joints. Lemurs and whales are the only mammals spared osteoarthritis; the rest of us suffer varying degrees of joint damage, and the more demanding the exercise, the more likely one is to experience this form of degenerative arthritis as the years go by.

The Times 12/12/03


Less salt 'could save 52,000 lives a year'

Reducing levels of salt in the diet could save as many as 52,000 lives a year, a leading researcher has said.

The Times 12/12/03
The Guardian 12/12/03


Machines help save heart-swop children

Children on the heart transplant waiting list are less likely to die if they have access to life support machines.

The Guardian 12/12/03


Ministers 'hid cost of private NHS provision'

The head of the health select committee has accused the government of withholding embarrassing figures which would reveal the true NHS costs of using private healthcare providers to drive down waiting lists.

The Guardian 12/12/03


NHS sued after false ‘recovered memory’ of rape

A Father whose daughter underwent controversial psychiatric therapy, and then falsely accused him of raping her, appeared in court yesterday to sue the NHS for £250,000.

The Times 12/12/03
The Guardian 12/12/03


Pinpointing the problem

An NHS clinic offering Chinese medicine and acupuncture has the royal seal of approval.

The Times 12/12/03


Suicides in England drop by 3%

The number of people committing suicide in England has fallen by more than 3% in three years.

The Guardian 12/12/03


Cheshire and Mersey News


Baby monitor mission ends in success

Champion fundraiser Billy Birch has handed over a baby monitor to the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Ellesmere Port Pioneer 11/12/03


No exemption for organ scandal doctors

Rogue doctors who keep body parts without the consent of relatives will be jailed in a bid to prevent a re-run of the Alder Hey scandal.

Runcorn Weekly News 11/11/03


Greater Manchester News


How I beat prostate cancer: Denis Law

Manchester United legend Denis Law has spoken publicly for the first time since winning his fight against prostate cancer.

Manchester Evening News 11/12/03

Thursday, December 11, 2003

National and International News



Artificial sperm signal end to male infertility

Artificial sperm capable of fertilising an egg have been created in the laboratory for the first time, in an experiment that could bring an end to male infertility.

The Times 11/12/03


Big dreams relying on small print

The NHS has just signed £2.7bn of IT contracts, with other public bodies expected to follow suit. Now the battle to make sure contractors actually deliver begins. Michael Cross reports.

The Guardian 11/12/03


Conflict of interest feared in £1bn PFI hospital deal

The government yesterday chose a Swedish-led consortium to undertake Britain's first £1bn hospital redevelopment scheme after ministers dismissed allegations of a conflict of interest.

The Guardian 11/12/03


EU ban on spam e-mails

New European laws banning spam e-mails have come into force.

The Guardian 11/12/03


Extra £1bn pledged to cut child poverty

Gordon Brown yesterday cheered anti-child poverty campaigners with the announcement that families with children will receive an extra £1bn in benefits from next April.

The Guardian 11/12/03


I'll drink to that

There seems to be no cure for a hangover apart from suicide, the painter Francis Bacon once wrote.

The Times 11/12/03


iSoft outsources NHS work to India

Software group iSoft yesterday warned that the knowledge economy the government wants to create will see little return from the recent multibillion pound
investment in a new IT infrastructure for the health service because British universities are turning out the wrong sort of graduate.

The Guardian 11/12/03


Knee operation slashes costs

A new knee replacement technique can cut the time that patients need to stay in hospital, potentially saving the NHS £100 million a year.

The Times 11/12/03


Lung infections really do need antibiotics

The campaign to reduce the appalling consequences arising from antibiotic- resistant infections includes the message that fewer antibiotics should be prescribed. However, it is only part of the answer to a complex problem.

The Times 11/12/03


Medical expert faces inquiry

Sir Roy Meadow, the expert whose evidence helped to convict at least three mothers of murdering their children, first came to prominence in the late Seventies.

The Times 11/12/03
The Guardian 11/12/03


Mother freed after Court of Appeal quashes convictions for killing sons

Angela Cannings was reunited with her daughter yesterday after the Court of Appeal quashed her convictions for murdering her two baby sons. Mrs Cannings walked free from the Royal Court of Justice with her husband, Terry, who has stood by her throughout her four-year ordeal.

The Independent 11/12/03
The Independent 11/12/03
The Guardian 11/12/03


Never mind the facts

Channel Five's new drama about the link between MMR and autism makes great TV. But it gets the story, and the science, disastrously wrong. How did we get to such a level of confusion and hysteria about this vaccine? Ben Goldacre unravels the real MMR story.

The Guardian 11/12/03


Robot to perform brain surgery

Scientists are developing a robot designed to carry out intricate brain surgery a thousand times more accurately than doctors.

The Times 11/12/03


Surgeon denies sex with patient

A female patient who claims she had a year-long affair with her plastic surgeon was an obsessive who bombarded him with telephone calls, the General Medical Council heard yesterday.

The Times 11/12/03


Cheshire and Mersey News


A matter of urgency

Merseyside's ambulance service is to have the power to turn away requests for emergency help.

Daily Post 10/12/03


Cash plea to save cancer victim, 30

A Liverpool cancer sufferer faces a race against time to raise the £100,000 which could save her life.

Liverpool Echo 10/12/03


Community care in the dock after two locked up

Mental health care on Merseyside is failing because of a lack of cash and staff, it was claimed last night.

Daily Post 11/12/03


On the brink of new age of prosperity

Merseyside stands on the cusp of a new age of prosperity, not seen for generations, a top think tank team group reveals in a new report today.

Daily Post 10/12/03


Tablets left my life in tatters

An epileptic man who claims his life was left in ruins after taking medication to control his violent fits has launched a legal battle against the drugs company.

Daily Post 11/12/03


Cumbria and Lancashire News


Drugs misuse group to hold awareness day

Information on drug abuse will be available at a drug awareness event in Burnley town centre on Saturday. The event, which follows a similar scheme in June, is being run by Burnley Community Safety Partnership's drugs misuse action group, backed by Burnley Council.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 10/12/03


Greater Manchester News


Designer baby mum waits for cell tests

A mother is still waiting anxiously for news which could set her on the route to having a designer baby to save her son.

Bolton Evening News 10/12/03


Private threat of dental frustration

There seems little hope of anyone moving from one area to another being able to register as an NHS patient with a dentist.

Bolton Evening News 10/12/03

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

National and International News



A paperless national health service

The perennial problem of patients' medical notes being lost is about to become a thing of the past. As Lyn Whitfield reports, electronic records are replacing the brown envelope.

The Guardian 10/12/03


Atkins diet may curb epilepsy

The Atkins diet - not always seen as a healthy way to shed weight - may help to prevent fits in children with epilepsy, a team of US scientists says.

The Guardian 10/12/03


Broadmoor lets out woman, 94, after 40 years

A woman of 94 has been released from Broadmoor high-security hospital after being kept there for 40 years, it is disclosed today.

The Guardian 10/12/03


Carers face a tangled web

The Children's green paper has highlighted the urgent need for care agencies to share more information on children at risk, but the data protection obstacles are immense, says Phil Cain.

The Guardian 10/12/03


Charity urges child porn amnesty

People who have downloaded child pornography could be offered an amnesty if they hand their computer hard drives over to police, it was reported.

The Guardian 10/12/03


Charity wants change in abortion law

Abortion services in the NHS are not given enough priority, leading to women being denied access to safe methods of termination, a report has claimed.

The Guardian 10/12/03


Drugs for depressed children banned

Modern antidepressant drugs which have made billions for the pharmaceutical industry will be banned from use in children today because of evidence, suppressed for years, that they can cause young patients to become suicidal.

The Guardian 10/12/03


Drugs? It's all about delivery

From diabetes to erectile dysfunction, inhalers promise almost instant results.

The Times 10/12/03


GPs to lose monopoly with extension of patient choice

Family doctors are to lose their monopoly as frontline providers of health care in a radical extension of patient choice in the NHS, ministers revealed yesterday.

The Independent 10/12/03


Great Pox was too nasty to survive

The medical mystery of why syphilis rapidly became less virulent when it reached Europe in 1496 has been solved by a British scientist: the germs were simply too destructive for their own good.

The Times 10/12/03


Killer argument

Twenty months ago, the Wanless report paved the way for massive public investment in healthcare. Yet when the report came out, its author was clear that there were limits to the ability of the NHS to offer choice to patients. Choice required spare capacity, he said, and there was precious little of that in the NHS. What people most wanted, Wanless argued, was access, not choice. His focus was therefore that maximum waiting times should be slashed from 18 months in 2001 to 12 this year, six in 2005 and three in 2008. Ministers accepted all of this, and it is now the key aim of health strategy. Yet the other issues did not go away, and yesterday they came back on to the agenda in two ways: first, in an interim report from "Wanless 2", a 20-year look at public health and health inequalities; and, second, in a Department of Health report setting out many ways in which choice could now be extended.

The Guardian 10/12/03


Out of sight, out of mind

For a century and a half, people deprived of their liberty on grounds of mental infirmity have been assured of regular visits by an independent inspectorate to assess their welfare and the standard of their care. In the 1840s, the task was entrusted to "lunacy commissioners"; today, essentially the same function is carried out by representatives of the Mental Health Act Commission. But is this historic safeguard about to be lost?

The Guardian 10/12/03


Out of the shadows

Governance in the public and voluntary sectors is moving up the political agenda - and important changes in the role of chief executives could be the result. Invitations are going out this week for members of a commission to put the governance of public services under scrutiny, and a debate is under way among charities about shaking up trustee boards' membership, assessment and rewards.

The Guardian 10/12/03


Patients in high places get to choose

John Reid has fallen in love with the word choice. This is obvious for all to see. Yesterday he doted on it so much that it was almost embarrassing.

The Times 10/12/03


Patients' own skin cells turned into potential Alzheimer's treatment

Patients with devastating brain conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s could eventually be treated with cells from their own skin.

The Times 10/12/03


Plants firm banks on slim hope

Phytopharm, the company that develops drugs by studying plants, is in talks to develop a fat-busting food supplement and is preparing to start clinical trials in humans to find the effectiveness of its Alzheimer's treatment.

The Guardian 10/12/03


Pledge for NHS to put patients' wishes first

A cultural revolution in the NHS to put wishes of patients before the convenience of professionals was promised by Tony Blair yesterday as the government launched a white paper offering choice from the cradle to the grave.

The Guardian 10/12/03


Quick fixer

For a problem more than 50 years in the making, the suggested solution came quickly. Four months ago, the government asked Harry Cayton, its part-time "patient tsar", to examine how to break down the doctor-knows-best philosophy of the NHS and give people genuine choice in their use of services.

The Guardian 10/12/03


Staying clean through self-esteem

I am the facilitator of a support group for ex-drug users. The group is for former residential clients at Kenyon House, Bolton, Salford and Trafford mental health NHS trust's detox unit, plus outpatients who are stabilised on medication and trying to continue their detox in the community.

The Guardian 10/12/03


The active ingredient

We have been told that most drugs don't work in most sick people (The great drugs lottery, G2, December 9) and that the present generation of Britain's young people are the fattest, least fit and most likely to develop chronic disease and be the least fertile since records were kept (Teenagers facing a health time bomb, December 9). Furthermore, the NHS drug spend keeps rising to rates which require the Audit Commission to investigate.

The Guardian 10/12/03


Cheshire and Mersey News


999 clampdown on time wasters

Ambulance chiefs in Merseyside are planning to stop sending crews to patients who misuse the service.

Liverpool Echo 09/12/03


Disturbed patient gets life for siege

A psychiatric patient who held his doctor at gunpoint for 17 hours was today jailed for life.

Liverpool Echo 09/12/03


Tenants vote for private housing

People living in Kensington have voted to have their homes transferred from council ownership to a specially created housing association.

Liverpool Echo 09/12/03


Cumbria and Lancashire News


Nurses set to get patients' eye view

Members of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS trust board are to play doctors and nurses with local community group representatives as part of a revolutionary training scheme.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 09/12/03


Greater Manchester News


Parents are reassured over flu virus

Health experts in Bolton are reassuring parents who are concerned about their children and flu.

Bolton Evening News 09/12/03

Tuesday, December 09, 2003

National and International News



Brown pledges more cash for child aid

A big expansion in childcare for the very young, including new tax incentives for employers to fund workforce childcare, were signalled yesterday by the chancellor, Gordon Brown.

The Guardian 09/12/03


BT hits jackpot with NHS deals

BT sealed two of its most important deals yesterday as it signed contracts with the National Health Service to design and run two patient record databases,
worth £1.6bn over the next decade.

The Guardian 09/12/03


Choice is good, but no panacea

John Reid's mantra, ever since he became Health Secretary, has been one of “patient choice�.

The Times 09/12/03


Cot death research casts new doubt

The reduction in the number of cot deaths in recent years may have been the result of a "natural variation" rather than campaigns to make sure babies are put to sleep on their backs, research has claimed.

The Guardian 09/12/03
The Independent 09/12/03


Health clubs may damage your health

Health clubs, gyms and fitness centres are letting down their customers by serving fatty meals and fizzy drinks, according to the Consumers’ Association, which says that they are confusing people with mixed messages about healthy living.

The Times 09/12/03


HRT: Flawed, but still beneficial

An osteoporosis expert has resigned from the Committee on Safety of Medicines over its recommendation that HRT should no longer be prescribed for thinning bones because it doubles the risk of breast cancer. He insists it is safe. What should women believe?

The Times 09/12/03


Medical records on net will be available to doctors

The medical records of 50 million people should be accessible on the internet to health professionals within two years after the Department of Health yesterday handed out three huge contracts.

The Times 09/12/03


Reid prescribes patient power to revive NHS

The Health Secretary believes only a cultural revolution can save the health service from a mass defection to the private sector.

The Times 09/12/03
The Guardian 09/12/03


'Sticky blood cuts life short'

When Louise Gergel, who died three years ago at the age of just 32, was found to have Hughes syndrome, it was the first she and her husband Laurence had heard of the condition. “My father-in-law is a dentist and did a quick survey of 50 GPs he knew, but none of them had ever come across it either,� says Laurence.

The Times 09/12/03



Services for teens are patchy, says thinktank

Connexions, the government's much vaunted youth advice service, has failed to provide teenagers with adequate support, a centre left thinktank has warned.

The Guardian 09/12/03


Shyness may lead to an early death from cancer

Shyness may shorten a person's lifespan, findings from a new animal study suggest.

The Independent 09/12/03


Student midwives sue for maternity pay

Three student midwives began a legal battle for the right to receive maternity pay yesterday.

The Independent 09/12/03
The Guardian 09/12/03


Teens face obesity and infertility
Britain is breeding a generation of adults that will tend to be infertile, obese and prone to mental illness, the British Medical Association (BMA) said yesterday.

The Times 09/12/03
The Guardian 09/12/03
The Independent 09/12/03


The great drugs lottery

If a top executive in one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies casts doubt on whether medicines work, is it worth taking them at all? Sophie Petit-Zeman reports

The Guardian 09/12/03
The Independent 09/12/03


Unhealthy bias

Public support for the NHS is as strong as ever, but conflicting reports from self-interested groups give us little idea how it is really performing

The Guardian 09/12/03


Cheshire and Mersey News


Dental crisis looms over NHS funding

Merseyside is to get around £1.6m to plug huge gaps in dental service provision, as fears grow that the number of NHS practices switching to private plans will snowball.

Daily Post 08/12/03


Cumbria and Lancashire News


Top mark for air quality in valley

Air quality in the Ribble Valley is officially very good, according to a new report.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 08/12/03


Greater Manchester News


Bully doctor 'shook me like rag doll'

A doctor branded as a bully has been convicted of assault after terrorising staff at a surgery in Moston.

Manchester Evening News 08/12/03


Doctor aiming to boost health of the elderly

A £1 million regional campaign is to improve health and life expectancy in towns like Bolton where people die earlier than in other parts of the UK.

Bolton Evening News 08/12/03


Warning for 999 timewasters

Time-wasters in Greater Manchester made a staggering 73,000-plus 999 calls last year - demanding ambulances for such "emergencies" as broken toenails, shaving cuts or even a bad case of the hiccups.

Manchester Evening News 08/12/03

Monday, December 08, 2003

National and International News



Crackdown on hygiene as NHS 'superbug' infections rise to among highest in world

Hospitals were ordered to improve hygiene on their wards yesterday after NHS infection rates rose to among the highest in the world. Every NHS trust is to appoint a director of infection control who will have the responsibility for cutting deaths and illness caused by superbugs, infections resistant to antibiotics.

The Independent 06/12/03


Driving out back pain

Could your driving posture aggravate or even cause your back problems? When Tim Hutchful, a Leicester chiropractor, began treating a 40-year-old plumber for chronic back pain, he couldn’t understand why, despite the success of the treatment, the pain always returned just in time for the next appointment.

The Times 08/12/03


Drugs don’t work, says Glaxo chief

A senior executive with Britain’s biggest pharmaceutical company has admitted that most prescription medicines do not work on half the patients who take them.

The Times 08/12/03


Executive targets NHS brain drain

The Scottish Executive is introducing incentives to ease the flow south of Scottish-trained doctors.

The Times 08/12/03


Focus: The fat buster

Scientists have devised a diet tablet to allow us to eat all we want. Can they be serious? Jon Ungoed-Thomas investigates

The Sunday Times 07/12/03


Health drive to be launched as obesity eats NHS funds

The government will this week launch a new drive to improve the nation’s health after an official report showing that rising obesity and unhealthy living could bring a crippling increase in costs to the National Health Service.

The Sunday Times 07/12/03



Irregular heartbeats a memory for Fergie

Sir Alex Ferguson has joined the 320,000 people who visit their doctors each year because of justifiable concerns over their heart. More than two million people in the UK at any one time have some form of heart disease. Although the death rate from heart disease is falling significantly, it remains the country’s biggest killer. As a result of coronary arterial disease someone suffers a heart attack every two minutes.

The Times 08/12/03


Lost for words

Asylum seekers in Britain are being let down by a lack of understanding which leaves them struggling to communicate their harrowing problems. Dr Simon Atkins reports .

The Observer 07/12/03




NHS computer merger blocked

A judge has prevented the £337m merger of two British computer software companies to prevent them dominating the planned national electronic patient record system for the NHS.

The Guardian 08/12/03


NHS in crisis? Patients in France also wait on trolleys

France's public hospital system, often cited as a model for Britain, is on the brink of paralysis, according to medical staff, who blame a lack of funding and personnel.

The Observer 07/12/03


NHS may ditch Microsoft on costs

The National Health Service, Britain's biggest employer, is considering ditching Microsoft software after a row over mounting licensing costs.

The Observer 07/12/03


NHS shortfall to swallow 1p of income tax

The Government is to pour £3.4bn into the pension scheme for NHS employees to try to deal with a shortfall that has soared to nearly £110bn.

The Independent 07/12/03


Saint Mum, Saint Doctor and the evil MMR

Television companies are usually congratulated for making plays that might lead to viewers fearing the needle: there's a long tradition of anti-drug dramas set in Glaswegian crack-houses. The channel now known as Five, however, has been strongly criticised for a play that seems to advocate abstinence from the syringe.

The Guardian 08/12/03


Strategy to shame superbug hospitals

The government yesterday named and shamed hospital trusts where patients were most at risk of catching one of the most feared superbugs as part of a more aggressive campaign to reduce hospital-acquired infections in England.

The Guardian 06/12/03

The inside track

It may appear that policeman are getting younger, but nurses are definitely getting older. A quarter of NHS nurses are over 50 while only 10% are under 30. In fact, around 20% of NHS nurses are eligible for early retirement, if they wanted it.

The Guardian 08/12/03


Cheshire and Mersey News


Hospitals face 'very serious' situation

The boss of the Countess of Chester Hospital says his NHS Trust will need £4m and an extra 50 doctors to comply with a new European working directive - or waiting times and waiting list targets will suffer.

Chester Chronicle 05/12/03


Cumbria and Lancashire News


Rap for hospital and care home after gran's death

Twelve mistakes made by health professionals caring for an elderly grandmother caused her death, a coroner told an inquest.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 05/12/03

Our hospital road campaign will go on

Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust seem to be saying (Bury Times, December 28) that the issue of a new access road to Fairfield Hospital is not an important one by refusing to help fund a feasibility survey. The implication of their refusal is that rumours about future use of the hospital may indeed to be true

Lancashire Evening Telegraph 05/12/03


Greater Manchester News


Service held for murdered nurse

A service has been held in memory of murdered nurse Debbie Remorozo who died exactly one year ago.

Manchester Evening News 07/12/03