Sunday, December 31, 2006

Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade

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National News

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A voice of sanity at the NHS - The Observer 31st December 2006

Sometimes, it takes an outsider to say what experts have not found ways of voicing. Sir Gerry Robinson, the former chairman of Granada, has spent six months working at an NHS hospital. He has not been impressed, finding it gripped by 'a collective inertia' which has strangled attempts to change services. At the same time, managers concentrate on blue-sky thinking and ignore workers. There is a desire to improve, but timidity makes managers afraid to impose their will. However, Robinson believes an NHS body is not a singularly different creature from a business: the key to improving its performance lies in motivating staff and explaining to them there must be change. He does not believe that bureaucracy, or the intransigence of some consultants, or political reforms, need stymie progress.

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Simon Caulkin: Good cheer will be in short supply in the new year for the BBC and NHS - The Observer 31st December 2006

After Christmas, the hangover. Good cheer will be in short supply in the new year for the BBC, the NHS and many other organisations in both public and private sectors that face debilitating rounds of cost-cutting.

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Christmas Appeal: How you can make a difference - The Observer 31st December 2006

The heads of our three charities explain why your money will help to transform lives

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In 2007, my alter ego is resolved to... - The Observer 31st December 2006

Karol Sikora is Patricia Hewitt, Health Secretary. I'm going to tell you the truth about the NHS. It's a reasonably fair insurance policy, but it can't provide all the latest wizardry regardless of cost. There is a limit, after which it will go bust. You'll have to take responsibility for your health. If you want something the NHS thinks is not worth the money, you'll have to pay for it. But I'll ensure that what it does is equitable and not based on where you live or your ability to argue with a clerk. Efficiency, responsiveness and consumerism in a competitive marketplace will change you from being service users into valued customers.

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Labour's NHS is a real tonic for the Tories - The Observer 31st December 2006

The sight of Hazel Blears standing on a picket line outside a Salford hospital seemed a traditional scene from the last days of a Labour government. From 1929 to 1974, radical politicians would come to power determined to make the lives of the majority a little bit better. Invariably, there would be a run on the pound and a crisis of confidence and, far from strengthening the welfare state, Labour Prime Ministers would order huge reductions in public spending, as Ramsay MacDonald did in 1931, or a cut in the free treatments offered by the NHS, as Clement Attlee did in 1951, or the imposition of an austerity package drawn up by the International Monetary Fund, as James Callaghan did in 1976.

A good week for.... A bad week for... - The Observer 31st December 2006

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Show me a slimmer: I'll show you a sucker - The Observer 31st December 2006

They've done it! After more than a century during which we've been obsessed with slimming, scientists have finally unveiled a little yellow pill that will have you drop two dress sizes. Excalia, the newest weight-loss pill, has the magical powers of Excalibur, and will cut through your fat by 12 per cent in a year to release the leaner, better you. The NHS is thrilled: obesity costs it £1bn a year. The government is thrilled: Britain holds the shameful record of being Europe's fattest nation. And we are thrilled: nothing, not even wrinkles, worries us more than our weight. Shrinks, school counsellors, agony aunts and teen mag editors all concur: our body image is tied first and foremost to pounds and inches.

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Last-gasp saloon: Paid leave and free patches for smokers in year of the ban - The Independent on Sunday 31st December 2006

Scotland and Ireland have done it, and the results have been positive. But what will happen in England in July when the law against smoking in public places comes into effect? Francis Elliott and Nina Lakhani report on the Government's drive to kick the habit

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Motherhood begins at 45 - The Independent on Sunday 31st December 2006

Improved fertility treatments - and the desire to put off starting a family - mean that the number of older women giving birth has more than doubled in a decade

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Smoking age limit to rise to 18 - The Sunday Times 31st December 2006

THE minimum legal age for smoking is to be raised after almost a century from 16 to 18, the government will announce this week. Caroline Flint, the public health minister, will announce that from October 2007 it will become illegal for 16 and 17-year-olds to buy cigarettes.

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MMR doctor given legal aid thousands - The Sunday Times 31st December 2006

ANDREW WAKEFIELD, the former surgeon whose campaign linking the MMR vaccine with autism caused a collapse in immunisation rates, was paid more than £400,000 by lawyers trying to prove that the vaccine was unsafe. The payments, unearthed by The Sunday Times, were part of £3.4m distributed from the legal aid fund to doctors and scientists who had been recruited to support a now failed lawsuit against vaccine manufacturers.

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Comment: Tim Luckhurst: High taxes on drink won't stop the addicts - The Sunday Times 31st December 2006

Raucous Hogmanay is a myth. The thousands expected to celebrate in Princes Street Gardens tonight are a minority for whom hope has triumphed over climate. Fewer than one in nine of us will go first footing and just 6% will attend a party. But one tradition endures. Most people will see in the new year by drinking a toast with family and significant others. At least, they will this year. By 2008 the bottles to render an evening sociable may be prohibitively expensive – more remortgage than modest tipple.

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Smoking ban is £10bn drag for employers - The Telegraph 31st December 2006

If you are among the thousands of smokers resolved to give up the habit ahead of next summer's smoking ban, you might want to spare a thought for your employer. While not smoking may be good for your health, it is not so good for the financial health of the company you work for. New analysis from the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that the increase in life expectancy of employees that is expected to accompany the ban could cost British companies an additional £10bn in pension liabilities. The figure applies only to defined benefit pension schemes and is based on the assumption of a 20 per cent reduction in consumption – equivalent to the average smoker cutting down by two to three cigarettes a day.

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Government accused of selling off NHS brand - The Telegraph 31st December 2006

The Government has been accused of "selling off" the NHS brand, after it emerged that a German parcel company has been given the right to use the blue and white logo. A private consortium, headed by DHL, the delivery company, now holds a licence "for use of the NHS marks". It was granted by the Department of Health, as part of the consortium's £1.6 billion, 10-year contract to supply healthcare products to hospitals and GP surgeries around Britain.

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Stressful tasks better with a spouse beside you - The Telegraph 31st December 2006

It may surprise many couples recovering from cooking the Christmas lunch or taking a trip to the sales, but having your spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend by your side during stressful tasks can have a calming effect and improve performance, according to researchers. Public health experts at the University of Birmingham found that people who have their loved ones in the room during high-pressure situations benefit from lower blood pressure and heart rates. Dr Anna Phillips, who led the research, said the effect was particularly pronounced in women when their husbands were in the room.

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International News

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Fatal brittle bone gene is found - BBC Health News 31st December 2006

Scientists have discovered the cause of a fatal form of brittle bone disease. All forms of the condition, also called Osteogenesis Imperfecta, weaken bones causing frequent fractures.

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'Molecular condom' to combat HIV - BBC Health News 31st December 2006

A "molecular condom" to protect women against HIV is being developed by US scientists. The liquid formulated by a University of Utah team turns into a gel-like coating when inserted into the vagina.

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Spanish woman 'is oldest mother' - BBC Health News 30th December 2006

A 67-year-old Spanish woman is reported to have given birth to twins according to hospital officials in Barcelona, becoming the world's oldest mother. The woman, whose name has not been revealed, became pregnant after fertility treatment in Latin America.

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Cheshire and Merseyside News

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We're praying this is the year our kids' lives are saved - Liverpool Echo 30th December 2006

MERSEYSIDE’S favourite brother and sister are hoping 2007 brings them a lifesaving bone marrow donor. Ella and Sam Wright, who have a rare immune deficiency, have defied the doctors this year. Their only hope is to find a stranger, whose lifesaving marrow is a match.


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Sick targeted in ward crime - Southport Visiter 29th December 2006

Surgery patient’s cash stolen during spate of thefts spate of thefts. Thieves are targeting patients in Southport Hospital. Around 15 patients from ward 14B are believed to have lodged complaints after having cash stolen.


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Cumbria and Lancashire News

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Mum's legacy is gifts to hospital - Lancashire Telegraph 30th December 2006

THREE daughters of a cancer victim who died earlier this year have donated equipment to the hospital wards where she was treated. The planned admissions ward, chemotherapy suite, and ward C14, a general surgical unit, at Royal Blackburn Hospital will benefit from Annette Scott's daughters' generosity.


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Hospital to scrap phone booking line - Chorley Citizen 29th December 2006

Hospital bosses are set to scrap a telephone booking system after it repeatedly cut off patients.
Patients ringing their Outpatient Services, which deals with appointments for both Royal Preston Hospital and Chorley and South Ribble Hospital, are met with recorded message that warns them that if their calls are not answered within six minutes, they will be cut off.


New Story


Blind woman welcomes taxi decision - Lancashire Telegraph 29th December 2006

A BLIND pensioner has welcomed the decision to withdraw the licence of a taxi firm that refused to let her guide dog on board. And Brenda Midgeley said she hoped that what had happened to Nelson-based Four Star Taxis would serve as a warning to other companies.


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Casualty staff under pressure - Lancashire Telegraph 29th December 2006

MORE than 30 patients were left waiting over four hours in casualty on Boxing Day - more than five times higher than the rest of this month. A surge in numbers during the afternoon has been blamed, but bosses said this was a one-off due to extra pressures from a road accident and they were due to meet their target for the month.


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Greater Manchester News

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Blears accused of hypocrisy over NHS changes - Manchester Evening News 29th December 2006

CABINET minister Hazel Blears is facing accusations of hypocrisy after joining protests against the closure of the maternity unit of a hospital in her constituency. The Labour Party chairman insisted yesterday that she supported the Government's plans to "reconfigure" services in the NHS but said that this should not stop her from opposing a particular closure as a constituency MP.


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Parents should act in obesity fight, says expert - The Bolton News 29th December 2006

A LEADING Bolton dietician has urged parents to drastically alter their children's diets to save the town's youth from obesity. Jill Prime, a senior dietician at the Royal Bolton Hospital, said a departure from un-healthy eating patterns is the best way to achieve weight loss success - not crash diets.


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Fairfield closure: Top level meeting - Bury Times 29th December 2006

BURY Council's three party leaders and Bury North MP David Chaytor will be meeting with the top boss of NHS North West to discuss plans to close Fairfield Hospital's maternity department.


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Dental check promise for elderly residents - Altrincham Messenger 29th December 2006

HEALTH chiefs have promised to act to provide dental checks for residents at an elderly person's home in Sale. Messenger reported last month (November) that the occupants of the 40-bed Atkinson Court Residential Home had been left without dental checks, following a massive shake-up of the dental service on April 1.


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Listen to this edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade
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Saturday, December 30, 2006

Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade



Another 15 Minutes is currently experiencing navigation issues as a result of software changes, as soon as we identify a solution the navigation menu will return, we apologise for any inconvenience this causes.


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National News

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£2bn NHS plan to bypass consultants - The Guardian 29th December 2006


Routine hospital check-ups for patients who have undergone even major surgery are set to be scrapped under plans which will save the NHS almost £2bn a year, the Guardian has learned. Consultants will no longer automatically see patients six weeks after surgery. Instead, patients will be referred to their GPs.


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Consultant check-ups after surgery to be scrapped to cut costs - Daily Mail 29th December 2006
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Letters: Price of bypassing NHS consultants - The Guardian 30th December 2006

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No hospital check-ups after operations - The Telegraph 30th December 2006

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Routine post-op checks 'to end' - BBC Health News 29th December 2006

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Psychologists seek key to successful new year resolutions - The Guardian 29th December 2006


The first mass-participation experiment to unravel what makes a new year's resolution a successful step towards self-betterment - or more commonly, a dismal failure of willpower - is launched by psychologists today. Volunteers taking part in the study can take comfort from knowing that no matter how badly they fail to keep their resolutions they will help psychologists identify the best, and worst, techniques for motivating people to change their lives for the better. Richard Wiseman, a professor of psychology at Hertfordshire University, hopes to enrol around 10,000 people in the online experiment.

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Graphic £7m adverts try to get smokers off the hook - The Guardian 29th December 2006


An office worker is dragged from his desk, over grimy carpets and down concrete stairs, to his usual smoking spot in a freezing car park by a giant fish hook that protrudes from his cheek. The same hook violently hurls a mother away from her small, reproachful daughter, and yanks a man through traffic as he is dragged into a newsagent's to buy cigarettes.

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Terence Blacker: Why can't I smoke and be merry? - The Independent 29th December 2006

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Smoking addiction advert launched - BBC Health News 29th December 2006

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2007: the year to come - The Guardian 29th December 2006


Debbie Andalo previews what 2007 has in store for the public and voluntary sectors - and predicts a cash-strapped year

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Expectant mums offered 'babymoon' hotel breaks - The Guardian 29th December 2006


Busy expectant parents are signing up for antenatal classes in spa hotels to combine preparation for their baby with a weekend of fine food and pampering. Once antenatal options were limited to often packed hospital-based courses or classes at a tutor's house. Now choices range from private one-to-one sessions in a couple's own home to spa hotels' "babymoon" mini-breaks in Scottish country houses where golf and falconry are on offer alongside tips on pelvic floor exercises and pain relief.


Read this: noticeboards save hospital lives - The Independent 30th December 2006

A hospital has cut its death rate dramatically by posting notices in wards reminding staff of basic safety measures. The rate at Luton and Dunstable Hospital in Bedfordshire plummeted 16 per cent in two years, after doctors and nurses were warned to wash their hands between patients, check drugs before dispensing them and mark patients correctly for surgery. The "back to basics" approach pioneered by the hospital is in the vanguard of a global campaign to improve patient safety with the potential to save thousands of lives, and millions of patients from harm.

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Blears accused of hypocrisy after joining protest over hospital closure - The Independent 29th December 2006


Hazel Blears, the Labour Party chairwoman, has been accused of hypocrisy after she joined picket lines to protest against a threat to close her local maternity services. Ms Blears, a cabinet minister and ultra-loyal Blairite, defended her right to protest, and denied it was part of her battle to hold on to a seat against neighbouring Labour MPs after boundary changes.

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Hazel Blears: Action Woman - The Independent 30th December 2006

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Three ministers in NHS cuts protest - The Times 29th December 2006

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Labour 'hypocrisy over NHS cuts' - The Telegraph 29th December 2006


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Farce as junior health minister joins protest against NHS closures - Daily Mail 29th December 2006


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Minister backs Blears on protest - BBC Health News 29th December 2006

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Science on a roll in 2007 - The Times 30th December 2006

From restoring sight to new weapons in the war on superbugs, Kate Wighton asks the experts to predict the year ahead


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Housework can help you to beat breast cancer, women are told - The Times 29th December 2006


Doing housework can cut substantially a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer, according to researchers. A study comparing the beneficial effects of different types of exercise found that moderate housework had the biggest obvious effect.


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Housework cuts breast cancer risk - BBC Health News 29th December 2006

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Schools to tackle homophobia - The Times 29th December 2006


Schools must tackle the use of homophobic language in the classroom and playground as seriously as they deal with racist abuse, the Home Office urges today. Pupils and parents are also told that they must report schools that fail to tackle homophobia.

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Working mothers 'damage their child's health' - The Telegraph 30th December 2006

Working mothers are harming their children's long-term development by sending them to nursery from an early age, a leading author said yesterday. Michael Morpurgo, the former children's laureate, sparked controversy by saying that it was "utterly extraordinary" that half of mothers with children under five had jobs outside the home.

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Watchdog shows teeth in food labels battle - The Telegraph 29th December 2006


The battle over food labelling will heat up next month when the first television adverts promoting "traffic light" warnings will be launched by the Government's food watchdog. Under the Food Standards Agency (FSA) scheme, which is designed to encourage healthy eating, processed food carries colour-coded labels revealing levels of fat, sugar and salt. Each nutrient is labelled red, amber or green depending on whether the levels are high, medium or low.

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Profile: What's bugging Nick Adams - The Telegraph 29th December 2006


A former Barings corporate financier is at the forefront of the fight against hospital superbugs. He tells Katherine Griffiths of the frustrations involved in the business. What business are you in if you save lives yet you have to disguise yourselves in a florist's van? The answer is Bioquell, Britain's biggest eradicator of hospital superbugs. Nick Adams, its chief executive, says in the past few years, as outbreaks of superbugs which can make patients very ill or even kill them have risen sharply, distressed hospital executives have made unusual requests to disguise the company's presence on wards.


'Healthy fruit smoothies more sugary than cola' - Daily Mail 30th December 2006


Bursting with fruit, smoothies are the drink of choice for many health-conscious Britons. However, many of the colourful drinks are actually more sugary than Coca-Cola. Experts also warn that smoothies can be low in vitamins and fibre - and say we may be better off eating actual pieces of fruit instead.


Obsessive sunbather's harrowing tumour pictures - Daily Mail 29th December 2006


For year after year Joanne Shiel enjoyed trips to some of the world's most exotic and hottest locations. Despite being fair-skinned, she loved nothing better than to lie on a sunbed and read a good book. Now she is paying a terrible price - skin cancer. In just eight months the 54-year-old has gone from being normal to looking like this.


Parents eat more than childless couples - Daily Mail 29th December 2006


Every parent knows the temptation of eating up their children's leftovers. But all those bits of ice cream, crisps and other salty snacks are taking their toll. New research shows it adds up to the equivalent in saturated fat of an entire pepperoni pizza a week.

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The vaccine to prevent every strain of flu - Daily Mail 29th December 2006


British scientists are on the verge of producing a revolutionary flu vaccine that works against all major types of the disease. Described as the 'holy grail' of flu vaccines, it would protect against all strains of influenza A - the virus behind both bird flu and the nastiest outbreaks of winter flu.

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Why I gave vegetarianism the chop after 17 years- Daily Mail 29th December 2006


Handsome sides of dry-cured bacon hang, crystalline, all along one wall; there are pork pies and black and white puddings; faggots and blocks of lard are piled high and appealing in the long display cabinet below. The shelves are crammed with pickles and relishes, mustards and accompaniments; the wipe-clean boards offer lists of more exotic game - pigeon, rabbit, venison, snipe and woodcock - alongside the everyday cuts and joints on show.

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Three-year-old blogger's inspiring chemotherapy diary- Daily Mail 28th December 2006


A three-year-old girl hailed as Britain's bravest blogger is preparing to find out whether she has won her inspirational fight against cancer. Little Samantha Hughes has spent the past year battling a disease of the nerve cells that affects fewer than 100 children in the UK each year.

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Pioneering surgery saves life of baby Evelyn - Daily Mail 28th December 2006


She looks a picture of health but six months ago, baby Evelyn Huddy was diagnosed with a condition that meant she could die at any moment. Today, thanks to groundbreaking surgery and the efforts of doctors from Great Ormond Street Hospital, she is able to enjoy life like any other child.


Drug trial safety expert knighted - BBC Health News 29th December 2006


The man who led the inquiry into safety after a drugs trial incident that left six men seriously ill, is among those named in the New Year's Honours.Professor Gordon Duff, who is also Medical Research Dean at Sheffield University, received a knighthood.

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Nurses face sack over cups of tea - BBC Health News 29th December 2006


Nurses have been warned they could face the sack for taking cups of tea from ward trolleys. Staff at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, have also been told to buy their own tea bags, milk and sugar.

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Nurses face sack over cup of tea - The Telegraph 30th December 2006

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Pharmacist fraud claims inquiry - BBC Health News 29th December 2006


Fraud experts are investigating claims that pharmacists have defrauded the NHS by exaggerating the number of smokers who quit. Chemists can claim cash rewards of up to £85 per patient if they help them stop smoking for at least four weeks.

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Superbug claims 'underestimated' - BBC Health News 29th December 2006


The amount the NHS has paid out in hospital superbug-related compensation claims is 10 times higher than previously thought, figures show. The NHS Litigation Authority has been saying recently there have only been seven cases in the past four years.

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Mental ill men found in Scotland - BBC Health News 28th December 2006


Two patients escaped from a south London secure mental health facility and travelled 400 miles by train before being arrested six hours later. The pair fled from Shaftesbury Clinic at Springfield Hospital on 14 December and travelled up to Edinburgh.

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Superbug increase sparks warning - BBC Health News 28th December 2006


A superbug could cause "huge problems" for the NHS, a Nottinghamshire coroner has warned.
Nigel Chapman said the infection clostridium difficile (C Diff) had been a contributory factor in 12 deaths in Nottingham hospitals in the past month.

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Christmas baby bet may yield £800 - BBC Health News 28th December 2006


A woman will receive more than £800 if she wins a bet that her fourth child will be born on Friday to maintain a sequence of Christmas births. Wendy Legister, from Worcestershire, has given birth before on 26, 27 and 28 December and has placed a £29 bet at 29/1 that the run will be extended.


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International News

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Cloned meat could be on next year's US Christmas menu - The Guardian 29th December 2006


Ten years after the birth of the world's first cloned animal, Dolly the Sheep, America was set yesterday to become the first country to introduce meat and milk from cloned cattle into the food supply. After five years of study, the Food and Drug Administration, the government regulatory agency, yesterday ruled it saw no difference between conventionally raised farm animals and clones. The products of both were equally safe to eat.


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Cloned milk and meat expected to go on sale in months after winning US approval - The Times 29th December 2006


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Cloning: Q&A - The Times 29th December 2006


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Cloned animals safe for meat, say US officials - The Telegraph 29th December 2006


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US body backs sale of cloned food - BBC Health News 28th December 2006

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Spiky surface 'kills infections' - BBC Health News 29th December 2006


Adding a special "spiky" coating to surfaces can kill bacteria and viruses, research suggests. US scientists found painting on spike-like structures kept the surfaces infection-free.

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'Mutant genes' could treat cancer - BBC Health News 29th December 2006


The same genetic mechanism that drives tumour growth could also treat cancer, US scientists believe. Inheriting the wrong number of gene-rich chromosomes both caused and prevented cancers developing in mice, the California University team found.

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China court in Viagra crackdown - BBC Health News 28th December 2006


A Chinese court has ordered two local firms to stop selling generic versions of the anti-impotence drug Viagra. The court upheld the validity of Viagra-maker Pfizer's patent, ordering one firm to pay $38,000 (£19,400) damages for trademark infringements.


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Cheshire and Merseyside News

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Help for disabled residents - Liverpool Echo 29th December 2006


A NEW plan should improve life for thousands of disabled Liverpool residents. It includes proposals for a postal library service, accessible parking meters and disability awareness training for taxi drivers.

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Patient had £60 stolen while he had op - Liverpool Echo 29th December 2006


THIEVES stole money from a patient while he was on the operating table. The callous criminals left the man's trousers carefully folded after taking £60 from the pockets.

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£5,000 'an insult' to son's memory - Liverpool Echo 29th December 2006


A MIDWIFE who sued her own hospital over her son's death today said the compensation paid was an insult to his memory. Carol Holland, 50, was offered £5,000 by Whiston hospital after her son David, 28, died there three years ago.

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Hospital warns of excess drinking - Chester Chronicle 29th December 2006


VIOLENT drunks who tumble into A&E during the holiday period will face a zero-tolerance policy from staff, warns a hospital consultant. Up to 65,000 people are admitted at the Countess of Chester A&E department each year as a result of drink.

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First fogs prompt lung care warnings - Ellesmere Port Pioneer 28th December 2006


WITH the first fogs of winter rolling in Western Cheshire Primary Care Trust has issued advice to help patients with COPD - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The name covers a collection of lung diseases including chronic bronchitis, emphysema and chronic obstructive airways disease, all of which can occur together.

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Bid to provide a fairer deal for the disabled - Ellesmere Port Pioneer 28th December 2006


PEOPLE with a disability will get a fairer deal under a far-reaching action plan set out by the borough council. The Disability Equality Scheme lays out the council's commitment to improving the quality of life for disabled people over the next three years.

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Ambulance strike averted - Runcorn Weekly News 28th December 2006


FEARS that Halton would be left without essential ambulance services over the festive and New Year period have been allayed. Union officials say ambulance staff in Cheshire and Merseyside were planning to strike over Christmas and New Year because over pay and conditions, but the move was called off after an agreement was reached.

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Don't take wards away, pleads MP - Widnes Weekly News 28th December 2006


HALTON MP Derek Twigg has added his voice to the campaign to keep vital health services at Halton Hospital. Protesters battling to stop ward closures at the Runcorn hospital from going ahead recently spoke of their fury at Tony Blair for supporting the move.

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Mental unit fears - Widnes Weekly News 28th December 2006


RESIDENTS in Halton View say their worst fears have been realised after bosses at a new, multi-million pound mental unit confirmed it will house people detained under the Mental Health Act. Building work on a private, medium security hospital in Dans Road, near Fiddlers Ferry, is already in progress after Halton Borough Council gave the thumbs up for The Priory Group to install the mental unit in Widnes.

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Milder winters are still risky for the elderly - Midweek Advertiser 27th December 2006


DESPITE Met Office figures that this has been one of the warmest Autumns in 347 years, managers of the Government funded Warm Front Scheme are urging the elderly and the vulnerable not to be complacent this winter. Warm Front Director, Adrian Hull, said: “Some people may be surprised to hear that England has one of the worst winter death rates in Northern Europe, even though we typically have milder winters than some of our neighbours in countries like Norway and Iceland.

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Cumbria and Lancashire News

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MP joins fight for physios - Carlisle News & Star 28th December 2006


PENRITH and the Border MP David Maclean has joined a parliamentary fight to get more physiotherapists into the NHS. An early day motion put down by Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, with cross-party support, is calling on the government to address the jobs crisis by getting health trusts to lift their freeze on filling vacancies. The motion notes a survey from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy which shows nine out of 10 of the year’s 2,529 physiotherapy graduates had no NHS job to go to in the summer.

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Shock at level of rural poverty - Carlisle News & Star 28th December 2006


ONE in five people live in poverty in rural areas like Cumbria, the Commission for Rural Communities has highlighted. Penrith and the Border MP David Maclean has now added his name to a growing list of MPs who have signed an early day motion calling for action.

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Health super centre sites confirmed - Blackpool Citizen 28th December 2006


Two of the three proposed Blackpool health super centres' have been confirmed at locations in the town. Following a three-month public consultation earlier this year, new super centres have been earmarked for South Shore Hospital and Whitegate Drive, Blackpool.

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Get your flu jab now plea - Midweek Advertiser 27th December 2006


Doctor says he is worried about take up. EVEN though there have been few flu outbreaks so far this year, health officials – worried people are becoming complacent – are warning West Lancashire folk to continue going for their flu jabs. The Health Protection Agency North West is urging people eligible for flu vaccination to ensure they protect themselves as vaccine is available.

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Greater Manchester Health News

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Health plan to invest £1m - in baby unit! - The Bury Times 28th December 2006


FAIRFIELD Hospital's maternity department could have up to £1million invested to expand its services - despite health chiefs condemning it to closure. The department, including its special care baby unit, is to be axed within the next five years along with services at Rochdale Infirmary under controversial plans to transform children and maternity services across Greater Manchester.

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Hospital falls into the red by £200,000 - The Bolton News 28th December 2006


THE ROYAL Bolton Hospital has fallen almost £200,000 into the red. Finance bosses have blamed an overspend in the savings plan, which was supposed to slash £6 million from the budget in this financial year, between the end of March 2006 and April 2007.

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£12m health centre unveiled- The Bolton News 28th December 2006


The first image of plans for a multi-million pound health centre to be built in Bolton have been unveiled. The £12 million project is due to be completed by the end of 2008, on the site of the Alistair Ross health centre in Breightmet.

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Hospital fails to hit targets - The Bolton News 28th December 2006


THE Accident and Emergency department at the Royal Bolton Hospital has narrowly missed achieving its Government targets. A public meeting of the hospital trust board revealed 97.8 per cent of patients attending casualty throughout November were treated, admitted or discharged within four hours.

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A step forward for hospital - Altrincham Messenger 28th December 2006


CHRISTIE Hospital took a step forward today in its bid to become a foundation trust. Health secretary Patricia Hewitt has given the hospital the green light to move to the next stage of its foundation trust application.


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Blears accused of hypocrisy after joining protest over hospital closure - The Independent 29th December 2006


Hazel Blears, the Labour Party chairwoman, has been accused of hypocrisy after she joined picket lines to protest against a threat to close her local maternity services. Ms Blears, a cabinet minister and ultra-loyal Blairite, defended her right to protest, and denied it was part of her battle to hold on to a seat against neighbouring Labour MPs after boundary changes.


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Three ministers in NHS cuts protest - The Times 29th December 2006


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Labour 'hypocrisy over NHS cuts' - The Telegraph 29th December 2006


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Minister backs Blears on protest - BBC Health News 29th December 2006

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Listen to this edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade Listen to this edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Contents

Click on content link below to go to the news from that section: this will open a web page if you receive this by email



New Section
National News

New Story
Generic statins could save NHS £85m a year - The Guardian 28th December 2006


The NHS could save at least £85m a year if doctors prescribed the cheapest cholesterol-busting statins instead of branded alternatives, ministers say today. Figures published as part of the health service's biggest productivity drive yet show that if all GPs prescribed two generic statins - pravastatin and simvastatin - in 69% of all cases the annual drugs bill would be at least £84.7m less.


Additional Story
GPs told to save cash by using generic statins - The Telegraph 28th December 2006


Additional Story
NHS urged to 'reduce drugs bill' - BBC Health News 28th December 2006


New Story
Rise in hospital bug deaths alarms coroner - The Guardian 28th December 2006


The potentially fatal hospital-acquired superbug Clostridium difficile may cause huge problems for the NHS, a coroner warned yesterday, as he reported that the infection had been linked to 12 deaths in a month in two city hospitals. The Nottinghamshire coroner, Nigel Chapman, said C diff had been contracted by nine patients who died at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre and three who died at the City Hospital in four weeks over November and December.


Additional Story
How you catch it - The Telegraph 28th December 2006


Additional Story
Fears as superbug linked to 15 deaths - The Telegraph 28th December 2006


New Story
The worst day to go into hospital - The Guardian 28th December 2006


A thinktank has a stark message for NHS patients in a report out today: if possible, do not go into hospital on a Thursday. Patients admitted then stay on average a day longer than those admitted on a Sunday, increasing their risk of being infected by the superbug MRSA, says the left-leaning Institute for Public Policy Research.


Additional Story
Patients admitted on Thursdays stay longer - The Independent 28th December 2006


Additional Story
Hospital care fear over Thursdays - BBC Health News 28th December 2006


New Story
NHS suspects fraud in £61m stop smoking programme - The Guardian 28th December 2006


Counter-fraud specialists are investigating claims that pharmacists are stealing money from the NHS by fiddling figures on the number of people they have helped to give up smoking. The Guardian has learned of inquiries in five primary care trusts in London into allegations that chemists have fraudulently claimed thousands of pounds, claiming cash rewards of up to £85 for each patient they help to stop smoking for at least four weeks.


New Story
Cabinet minister joins protest over hospital - The Guardian 28th December 2006


The cabinet minister Hazel Blears is petitioning the health secretary to stop the closure of maternity services in her constituency under an NHS reorganisation. Her intervention is deeply embarrassing for the government, coming at a time when it is attempting to prove to the public that reconfiguration of the health service is vital to improving care. Ms Blears joined picket lines in Salford last week to protest against the withdrawal of maternity care as part of a £60m overhaul of mothers' and children's services across Greater Manchester, east Cheshire and High Peak, Derbyshire.


Additional Story
Minister in NHS hospital protest - BBC Health News 28th December 2006


New Story
Food agency takes on industry over junk labels - The Guardian 28th December 2006


Consumers are to be presented with two rival new year advertising campaigns as the Food Standards Agency goes public in its battle with the industry over the labelling of unhealthy foods. The Guardian has learned that the FSA will launch a series of 10-second television adverts in January telling shoppers how to follow a red, amber and green traffic light labelling system on the front of food packs, which is designed to tackle Britain's obesity epidemic.


Additional Story
Why Kellogg's saw red over labelling scheme - The Guardian 28th December 2006


Additional Story
How constipation cure became huge business - The Guardian 28th December 2006


Additional Story
Just add milk ... among other things - The Guardian 28th December 2006


New Story
Rise in child abuse cases puts pressure on legal aid budget - The Times 28th December 2006


A large rise in the numbers of children at risk of abuse is threatening a fresh crisis for the cash-strapped legal aid system. The cost of court hearings over whether a child should be removed from his or her home has soared by 62 per cent in five years, to £208 million last year in England and Wales.


New Story
NHS takes cash meant for charity - The Times 28th December 2006


A pioneering scheme to help mental patients may have to close because the Department of Health has pocketed money promised by the Treasury.


New Story
Public sector staff on six-figure salaries trebled - The Telegraph 28th December 2006


The number of public sector workers earning at least £100,000 a year has more than trebled in five years, according to new figures. The increasing prevalence of six-figure salaries among the ranks of senior civil servants was criticised by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. In 2001, there were 320 staff across 25 key bodies earning £100,000 or more. By this year the figure had grown to 996, according to figures obtained by London's Evening Standard.


New Story
Failing drug test at work can lead to the sack - The Telegraph 28th December 2006


Workers were warned yesterday that they faced more random drug testing in the workplace after it was revealed one company sacked more than 10 per cent of employees it screened for cocaine and cannabis use. Laing O'Rourke, the construction group, like many other firms, has introduced testing of its 23,000 workers on the grounds that its industry is "safety critical" and employees need clear heads.


New Story
Government consider plans to deny NHS treatment to smokers and obese - Daily Mail 27th December 2006


The obese and smokers could be denied priority NHS treatment if they do not change their lifestyles, under plans being considered by ministers. The controversial idea to crack down on illnesses which are deemed to be self-inflicted is one of a number of plans to reform Britain's arcane public services.


New Story
HIV home screening kit launched - BBC Health News 28th December 2006


The first home test which says it can reassure patients they are free of HIV has been launched in the UK. The public can send in a saliva sample to a laboratory, and, if negative for HIV, receive results via e-mail.


New Story
'Many children' being sold drink - BBC Health News 27th December 2006


Almost a quarter of pubs, bars and off-licences in England and Wales are selling alcohol to children, according to a survey. The Liberal Democrats found 23% of licensed premises looked at were supplying drink to under-18s.

New Section
International News

New Story
Creation of new organs a step closer - The Guardian 28th December 2006


Scientists are a step closer to growing replacement organs and tissues which can be transplanted into patients. Their breakthrough uses tiny protein scaffolds that encourage stem cells to grow into three-dimensional structures for the first time. Growing organs that are genetically matched to patients is one of the great hopes of research using stem cells.


New Story
Slim pill that cuts weight by 12pc 'a success' - The Telegraph 28th December 2006


Trials of a new type of slimming pill have been even more successful than its researchers had hoped and further tests are now being planned. The once-a-day pill called Excalia helped slimmers to lose 12 per cent of their body weight in under a year by tricking the body into feeling full and by keeping the metabolism lively.


Additional Story
Pill that tricks you into losing weight - Daily Mail 27th December 2006


New Story
Daily dose of olive oil 'cuts risk of cancer' - Daily Mail 27th December 2006


Four teaspoons of olive oil a day can help protect against cancer, scientists claim. A study of 182 European men found a diet rich in olive oil reduced levels of chemicals in the blood which can trigger cancer.


New Story
New Yorkers given rabies warning - BBC Health News 28th December 2006


Health officials in New York are warning residents to stay away from stray animals over the holiday period. The advice follows a large increase in the reported number of rabies cases, including seven in December alone.


New Story
Double hand transplant 'success' - BBC Health News 27th December 2006


A woman who became the first in the world to receive a double hand transplant has left hospital. A team of surgeons at Hospital La Fe in Valencia carried out the pioneering operation.

New Section
Cheshire and Merseyside News

New Story
Health experts braced for mass flu outbreak - Liverpool Echo 28th December 2006


HEALTH experts are drawing up plans to tackle a flu pandemic that could hit within months, affecting up to 100,000 people in Liverpool alone, and causing massive disruption to the city's Capital of Culture plans. Hospitals, GPs, councils, ambulance trusts, firefighters and the military are preparing the UK response to a global flu pandemic which experts warn is likely to hit in the next year or so.

New Section
Cumbria and Lancashire News

New Story
Hospital staff are wonderful - Lancashire Telegraph 27th December 2006

RECENTLY I was admitted to the new Royal Blackburn Hospital Ward D3 for an operation under the care of Mr Willett and his team. Everything was explained fully to me and I had lots of opportunities to ask any questions I might have. I was put in a side ward which was as nice as any hotel room.

New Section
Greater Manchester News

New Story
Grim discovery of body 'left for a year' - Manchester Evening News 27th December 2006


A PENSIONER could have lay dead at his Manchester home for up to a year, the M.E.N can reveal. George Sutton’s badly-decomposed body was discovered in an upstairs room after police broke into his home in Cromwell Grove, Levenshulme on Christmas Eve. Although a post mortem examination is yet to establish how long he had been dead, unopened post found piled up behind his front door suggests the 81-year-old may have died at the beginning of this year.


New Story
Christmas joy for back to front heart baby family - The Bolton News 27th December 2006


WHEN Star Regan was born with her heart back to front, doctors told her parents that without risky surgery she would die. Tiny Star arrived in the world with her heart, arteries and veins the wrong way round, so her blood was not being pumped with oxygen from her lungs.


New Story
Doors open on revamped health centre - Prestwich and Whitefield Guide 27th December 2006


A HEALTH centre for people with mental health problems has been re-opened after a massive refurbishment. The centre has undergone an extensive refurbishment, giving it new facilities and improving access for people with mobility problems.


New Story
Cabinet minister joins protest over hospital - The Guardian 28th December 2006


The cabinet minister Hazel Blears is petitioning the health secretary to stop the closure of maternity services in her constituency under an NHS reorganisation. Her intervention is deeply embarrassing for the government, coming at a time when it is attempting to prove to the public that reconfiguration of the health service is vital to improving care. Ms Blears joined picket lines in Salford last week to protest against the withdrawal of maternity care as part of a £60m overhaul of mothers' and children's services across Greater Manchester, east Cheshire and High Peak, Derbyshire.


Additional Story
Minister in NHS hospital protest - BBC Health News 28th December 2006

New Section
Podcast


Listen to this edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade Listen to this edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade

Friday, December 22, 2006

Contents

Click on content link below to go to the news from that section: this will open a web page if you receive this by email





New Section
National News


New Story
More effort needed to cure drug offenders, Tory MP says - The Guardian 27th December 2006


The sentencing of drug offenders should place greater emphasis on curing addiction, a Conservative MP argues today in another potentially contentious incursion for the party into social policy. In a pamphlet for the Bow Group thinktank, Humfrey Malins, MP for Woking, calls for a radical expansion of residential centres for drug offenders and an increase in the number of so-called drugs courts, which are more likely to promote rehabilitation rather than punishment for offenders.


New Story
Prison officers to carry safety knives to reduce suicides - The Guardian 27th December 2006


Prison officers in jails in England and Wales are to carry special "safety" knives in an attempt to increase the chances of prisoners surviving suicide attempts. The decision to issue knives to nearly every prison officer comes after such a move was recommended 17 times by Stephen Shaw, the prisons and probation ombudsman, during his first 18 months investigating deaths in custody.


New Story
Prescott praises NHS after Christmas Day hospital treatment - The Guardian 27th December 2006


John Prescott praised the staff at his local hospital yesterday after being admitted on Christmas Day to be treated for a kidney stone. The deputy prime minister said he was feeling "absolutely fine" and added that it had been a pleasure to have his Christmas dinner among "such dedicated people".


New Story
Time to go public - The Guardian 27th December 2006


Privacy is one of those concepts which are easier to understand than define. A human life of any quality relies on a reasonable expectation of privacy. Yet modern technology - whether deployed by corporations, individuals, media or the state - offers unlimited scope for intrusion into private lives. The border between considerations of public interest, security and convenience on the one hand, and of privacy on the other, is becoming crowded territory.


New Story

Row over cancer jab plan for all schoolgirls - The Observer 24th December 2006


Schoolgirls as young as 12 are to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted disease linked to cervical cancer, under controversial plans being drawn up by the Department of Health. Millions of girls would be immunised at school against human papilloma virus (HPV) before they become sexually active. Research has shown the virus is one of the key causes of cervical cancer, which kills around 1,000 women a year.


Additional Story
Girls of 12 may be vaccinated against sex disease - The Independent 24th December 2006


Schoolgirls to be given cervical cancer jab - The Telegraph 27th December 2006


New Story
'The house was a nightmare of screaming and fights' - The Observer 24th December 2006


The Family Welfare Association helps children cope with mental illness, writes Amelia Hill


New Story
Heroin UK - The Observer 24th December 2006


The murders of five women in Suffolk, all of them addicts, have served to highlight Britain's growing heroin problem. Opiates have moved from being the preserve of the few to the drug of choice in towns across the UK


Additional Story
Letters to the Editor: Stemming vice with drug prescriptions - The Sunday Times 24th December 2006


New Story
So many questions and so little justice - The Observer 24th December 2006


Her face was flashed around the world as she wept for her boyfriend, victim of the infamous 'Elephant Man' medical tests. Myfanwy Marshall, writing exclusively for today's Observer, reveals how the ordeal has brought them closer and tells how they will face the legal and medical battles ahead


Additional Story
Critical dates - The Observer 24th December 2006


New Story

Concern grows after five babies test positive for PVL bug - The Guardian 23rd December 2006


Five babies have tested positive for the rare "PVL" bug, raising fears yesterday about infections among vulnerable babies in neonatal wards. The bug has already killed two people in Staffordshire and may have been a factor in the death of a baby at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, officials confirmed. The baby boy was born 13 weeks prematurely and died seven days later on December 11 of an infection. He later tested positive for the Panton-Valentine Leukocidin toxin.


Additional Story
PVL superbug outbreak kills premature baby at hospital - The Independent 23rd December 2006


Additional Story
Baby's death linked to hospital bug - The Times 23rd December 2006


Additional Story
Baby dies and five are infected as bacteria strain infests neonatal unit - The Telegraph 23rd December 2006


Additional Story
Babies infected in neonatal unit - BBC Health News 22nd December 2006


New Story
'Worried well' in checks after Kylie's cancer - The Guardian 23rd December 2006


The intense media coverage of Kylie Minogue's breast cancer diagnosis put extra strain on NHS screening services because it encouraged more "worried well" to seek treatment, according to a cancer specialist. Chris Gateley said referrals to the Breast Unit at Royal Gwent hospital in Newport, south Wales, jumped 61% in the month following Minogue's diagnosis in May 2005 but there was no increase in the number of actual cases.


New Story
Letters: A walk in the country could save our cities - The Guardian 23rd December 2006


It might seem obvious, but working, or even just walking, in the countryside is good for your physical health as well as your mental well being (Conservation peace, December 20). The RSPB's Natural Fit report showed that free, green exercise not only improves heart disease, obesity and diabetes, but can prevent illness.


New Story
Private firm is awarded total control of NHS hospital - The Guardian 23rd December 2006


The first NHS hospital to be put under the total control of a private company was announced yesterday by the Department of Health. In a further erosion of the health service's role as sole provider of healthcare for NHS patients, ministers have awarded a five-year contract to manage the new Lymington New Forest Hospital in Hampshire to the Partnership Health Group, a partly owned subsidiary of Care UK.


New Story
Joanna Hall on tai chi - The Guardian 23rd December 2006


What the expert says ... Dr John Kells is the founder and president of the British Tai Chi Ch'üan Association. He has been practising tai chi since 1968, and trained from the Yang family lineage. Commit to practising There are only two things that are important to tai chi: the first is to start, the second is to continue.


New Story
When's the best time for Christmas dinner, health-wise? - The Guardian 23rd December 2006


When's the best time for Christmas dinner, health-wise? Midday or evening? Definitely midday. Any experienced GP will tell you that the busiest time of the year for strokes and heart attacks is the early hours of Boxing Day morning. That's because a late fatty meal, plenty of alcohol and total relaxation (if not a drunken stupor) afterwards conspire together in the average overweight middle-aged man or woman to produce blood clots in arteries. It's even worse if you smoke that favourite cigar. Eat at midday and go for a walk afterwards, and by the evening you have hugely reduced your risk. The problem with eating late on Christmas Day is that you won't take that vital exercise afterwards - and that's the last straw.


New Story
Sanctuary that gives hope to minorities in Wales - The Guardian 23rd December 2006


Parvin Singh's smile lights up the room as he describes how he is helped by Awetu, a charity that supports black and minority ethnic people with mental health problems. "I didn't find them - they found me and it's the best thing that ever happened," says Mr Singh, who has manic depression. "They came from nowhere at the right time and helped me out. They saved my life."

New Story
Study rejects link between HRT and heart disease - The Guardian 22nd December 2006


Millions of women have come off hormone replacement therapy needlessly, because a trial suggesting it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease was flawed, a professor said yesterday. The Women's Health Initiative project, a controversial 15-year study involving more than 160,000 women, ended three years early after it showed women had increased risk of heart disease if they were on HRT.

New Story
Filter breakthrough to remove vCJD from donated blood - The Guardian 22nd December 2006


A filter which scientists say will remove variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease - the human form of "mad cow" disease - from donated blood could be used by the National Blood Transfusion Service after trials proved it reduces transmission to zero in animal trials. It offers the first hope of stemming the spread of the fatal illness. Thousands are thought to be infected through transfusions but are not yet aware because of the disease's long incubation period.


Additional Story
Filter to clear blood donations of vCJD - The Times 22nd December 2006


Additional Story
Scientists hail 'vCJD technique' - BBC Health News 22nd December 2006

New Story
Obese may be denied priority NHS care - The Independent 26th December 2006

Patients with 'self-inflicted' illnesses face discrimination. Smokers, people with alcohol problems and the obese could be denied priority treatment on the NHS if they do not try to change their lifestyle. The Cabinet is discussing the controversial idea as part of a drive by Tony Blair to secure his domestic political legacy by pushing through a final round of public service reforms before he departs next year.


New Story
Indigestion remedies are linked to fractures - The Times 27th December 2006


Taking potent drugs to combat indigestion can increase the risk of breaking hip and other bones, researchers say. Drugs that restrict the production of acid in the stomach are among the most effective and best-selling treatments in the world, with sales worth more than £7 billion a year.


Additional Story

Stomach drugs 'may weaken bones' - BBC Health News 27th December 2006


New Story

Ties that bind in the NHS - The Sunday Times 24th December 2006


YOU report that doctors have been told to cast off their ties (News, last week) but when does the tie ever come into contact with the patient or their bed? Only gynaecologists are at risk of their ties and patients becoming accidentally entangled. Hence many sport bow ties; much safer during internal examinations. Female doctors’ handbags, which not infrequently find their way onto the sheets of hospital beds, seem to be immune from contamination.


New Story
20 children a day treated for alcoholism - The Sunday Times 24th December 2006


MORE than 20 children and teenagers are being treated in hospital every day for alcohol-related illnesses, including mental disorders, poisoning and liver disease, according to newly released official data. The figures, labelled “staggering” by one of Britain’s most senior doctors, show that in the year 2005-6, during which Labour introduced 24-hour drinking, the number of under-18s seeking treatment for alcohol-related health problems leapt by 13% to 8,894, an average of 24 a day.


New Story
Hospitals pay a rising price for Britain’s booze culture - The Times 23rd December 2006

The cost of Britain’s binge-drinking culture is revealed in figures which show that alcohol-related medical emergencies and hospital treatments have doubled since 1977. Last year, the NHS carried out more than a quarter of a million treatments for alcohol-induced problems, including liver disease and severe alcohol poisoning.


New Story
Out of bed and into A&E - The Times 23rd December 2006

More than 15,000 people were admitted to hospital last year after falling out of bed. A further 1,428 fell from trees, including 60 people aged over 60. Fifty-three more in the same age group were injured in falls from playground equipment, while more than 4,000 people of all ages managed to hurt themselves with hammers, screwdrivers, and other non-powered tools.


New Story
Hospital charges - The Times 23rd December 2006

Here in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea we have three hospitals along Fulham Road — the Royal Brompton, the Royal Marsden and the Chelsea & Westminster — that care for many patients with long-term illness. As from February 19 many of these patients or their families or visitors will be subject to Ken Livingstone’s congestion charge as the three hospitals all lie within less than a mile of the new western boundary.


New Story
Jenni Murray to have breast cancer surgery - The Times 22nd December 2006


Jenni Murray, 56, the presenter of Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4, announced yesterday that she has breast cancer. She will have surgery between Christmas and the new year, the BBC said. Breaking the news to her listeners, Murray said: “Before I say goodbye for the holidays, there’s something I need to say about me. I shan’t be around for a while in the new year because I’ve just been diagnosed with breast cancer.


Additional Story
Murray tells listeners of her breast cancer - The Telegraph 22nd December 2006


Additional Story
Jenni Murray: Don't call me brave - Daily Mail 22nd December 2006

New Story
Opting out of computerised medical records - The Times 22nd December 2006


Congratulations to Alice Miles for her excellent article on the perils of computerising all NHS health records (Dec 20). Like her I am definitely “opting out” and months ago put this intention into writing to my GP. If this Government is so convinced of the integrity of this obscenely priced and insecure system, perhaps we could all be told if Tony Blair and family, and all other government ministers, will have their personal and intensely private medical records entered for any user to access. One slip of security and we can all find out whether Leo Blair had the MMR vaccine.


£400m system will let 999 crews communicate - The Telegraph 27th December 2006

Nearly £400 million is being spent on a radio system for all NHS ambulance trusts which will enable crews to talk to police and fire services in emergencies. The long-awaited details of the Department of Health plan follows criticism after the London bombings when poor communication systems forced emergency personnel to use their own mobile phones.


Duncan Smith fights for 'Olympic' hospitals - The Telegraph 27th December 2006

Two major hospitals, which are expected to provide frontline services for the Olympics in London, are threatened with substantial downgrading. Either Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone or the King George Hospital, Ilford, face dramatic changes. One will be reduced to a treatment centre for walk-in patients, losing its accident department and capacity to admit emergencies. The other will carry on as a district general hospital (DGH).

New Story
Dangerous patients escape as officials visit - The Sunday Telegraph 24th December 2006


A pair of convicts escaped from the secure unit of a mental hospital on the same day that Home Office officials were visiting to discuss an earlier security lapse, writes Ben Leapman. Springfield Hospital in south London was condemned in a report last month for allowing John Barrett, who was suffering from schizophrenia, to abscond and kill a cyclist, Denis Finnegan, in Richmond Park in 2004.


New Story

Alcohol may slow arthritis - The Telegraph 23rd December 2006

The size of your gut may be partly shaped by which microbes call it home, says Roger Highfield. The health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption could also include reducing the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, according to a new study.

New Story
The hunting of submarines helped this season's miraculous birth - The Sunday Telegraph 24th December 2006


Christmas is the season for interesting and unusual births. These in the past have included Nicola Georgiadis from Cardiff, who gave birth on the pavement outside the University College Hospital while waiting to be let in by the midwife; and a Mrs Jagota from Tyne and Wear whose car, driven by her husband, skidded off the icy road into a ditch at three in the morning, so she ended up having her baby in the back seat.


New Story
Nish Joshi's Q&A - The Sunday Telegraph 24th December 2006


I've suffered from ME for 20 years. Apart from the risk of big relapses, there's always the chance of a minor setback from little things like standing too much, walking more than about ten yards, talking animatedly, even typing, and each time I recover I find I've lost ground. I'm taking Lustral (which helps me sleep and therefore feel less of a zombie) and vitamin C daily; I eat mostly organic fruit and veg and have less meat than I did, but I'd dearly love to improve. Any suggestions?


New Story
Five months leave and £75,000 for patient safety bosses - The Sunday Telegraph 24th December 2006


As the "Two Sues" they held Britain's most powerful jobshare, and then they went on the country's best-paid joint gardening leave. Now, five months after Sue Osborn and Susan Williams were suspended from the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) over their managerial record, they are still on leave at public expense.


New Story
Christopher Booker's notebook - The Sunday Telegraph 24th December 2006


Just in time for Christmas has come a miraculous twist to one of the saddest stories reported by this column in 2006. In July I revealed a bizarre ruling by the Environment Agency that threatened to close down Intercare, a charity that collects medicines surplus to British requirements and sends them to a network of 100 clinics in some of the poorest parts of Africa.


New Story
Doctor biz - The Telegraph 23rd December 2006

I was an NHS employee until November 5, 2005 when I became a self-employed physiotherapist. Now that I'm in the self-assessment system what do I need to do? I've heard that if you file your tax return online by December 30, HM Revenue & Customs will calculate your tax liability. Is this correct?

New Story

Ban doctors who can't speak English - The Telegraph 22nd December 2006


European doctors who speak poor English should be banned from practising in Britain, a coroner said yesterday. Dr Paul Knapman called for new laws after an inquest heard that a man died as his French private doctor struggled to make himself understood in a 10-minute call to the ambulance service.


Additional Story
'Thousands' of foreign doctors, no English test - The Sunday Telegraph 24th December 2006

New Story
Health warning as teenagers get lazier - The Telegraph 22nd December 2006


British teenagers get lazier as they get older, research has found. The study followed 6,000 children from the age of age of 11 or 12. By the time they were 16, girls were active for 2.8 hours less each day and boys for 2.5 hours.

New Story
100 teenagers a month having second abortion - The Telegraph 22nd December 2006


The number of teenagers having second abortions exceeds 100 a month, according to official figures. Critics said the alarming statistics added weight to their argument that the Government's decision to make the morning-after pill and sex education more available actually encourages teenagers to have sex.


New Story
'More than 100 teenage girls a month have multiple abortions' - Daily Mail 21st December 2006

New Story
Study will take a new look at HRT - The Telegraph 22nd December 2006


Scientists are to re-evaluate the impact of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) despite earlier studies suggesting that it could put women at increased risk of breast cancer, heart attacks and stroke. Heart and circulatory disease is the UK's biggest killer. In 2002, cardiovascular disease (CVD) caused 39 per cent of deaths and killed just under 238,000 people.


New Story
Diabetic presents petition over nightclub's syringe ban - Daily Mail 24th December 2006


A young woman denied entry to a nightclub with her diabetic injection kit has presented a petition to Parliament. Lisa Morris, 27, was refused entry into the club on the grounds her syringe kit breached health and safety policy. But she has now collected 1,000 signatures to raise awareness of the issue.

New Story
Private health care firm will take over running of new NHS hospital - Daily Mail 22nd December 2006


An NHS hospital is being taken over and run by a private company for the first time - in a drive to cut waiting times. The £36million Lymington Hospital in the New Forest which opens today will be run by Partnership Health Group, which is half-owned by Care UK, a specialist health and social care firm.

New Story
Triplets for the mother with two wombs - Daily Mail 21st December 2006


For any mother, the birth of their children is a miracle. But that really is the word to describe Hannah Kersey's triplets - as they were born from her two separate wombs.


Additional Story
Triplets for woman with two wombs - BBC Health News 21st December 2006

New Story
Fury as egg donation licence thrown open in UK first - Daily Mail 21st December 2006


A fertility regulator has amended a donor licence allowing women to donate their eggs to stem-cell research even if they are not receiving fertility treatment. But they have been strongly criticised for making the decision while a public consultation is still underway. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) gave the go-ahead to The Centre for Life in Newcastle in November.

New Story
Doctor's smoking jibe wins mother £44,000 payout - Daily Mail 21st December 2006


A mother who was criticised by a doctor for nipping out for a cigarette moments before her caesarean operation has won more than £44,000 for her 'hurt feelings'. The heavy smoker claimed that she developed severe post-natal depression after the anaesthetist told her off.


New Story
Key to why cancer kills so often - BBC Health News 26th December 2006


Scientists have pinpointed a possible reason why pancreatic cancer is such an aggressive disease.
A University of Liverpool team found a family of proteins involved in controlling cell movement could be key.

New Story
Tara's Christmas message of hope - BBC Health News 25th December 2006


Christmas is a special time for getting in touch with friends and relatives. But as well as sending the usual cards and messages, Callum Bale's mother Tara has gone one step further. She is fronting Cancer Research UK's special Christmas message to thank all those involved directly and indirectly with saving her young son's life.


New Story
Quest for battery-free pacemaker - BBC Health News 24th December 2006

A heart pacemaker that does not need a battery is being developed under a government-sponsored technology scheme. Currently, some patients who have implanted pacemakers and electronic defibrillators need surgery once every seven to 10 years to fit a new battery.


New Story
New drugs 'could halve treatment' - BBC Health News 23rd December 2006

A new generation of antibiotics could halve the length of time people need to take medication, scientists say. London researchers are developing what they hope will be the first of these - a compound to treat the hospital superbug MRSA in the nose.


New Story
'I'm a risk to myself at Christmas' - BBC Health News 23rd December 2006

As millions of Britons prepare for the festive season, for a minority fun and laughter is the last thing on their minds. For some people with mental health problems, the season of jollity is so stressful it can tip them over the edge.


New Story
UK farms superbug 'link' probed - BBC Health News 22nd December 2006

A superbug that has killed at least 60 people in the last four years could be linked to milk and meat from British farms, warn experts. A virulent form of E.coli, which is resistant to usual antibiotics, has been found on 11 cattle farms.


New Story
Fourteen MRSA cases at hospital - BBC Health News 22nd December 2006

A total of 14 people were struck down by a strain of the superbug MRSA in a hospital during a fatal outbreak, it has been revealed. Two people died at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, from a strain known as Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL).

New Story
Hopes for Alzheimer's treatment - BBC Health News 22nd December 2006


Scientists at Cardiff University have developed a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease. Researchers said they had created an antibody which could block the production of brain chemicals linked to the debilitating disease.


New Story
Suspended hospital chiefs resign - BBC Health News 21st December 2006

Two suspended NHS Trust bosses have resigned following a five-month investigation into their work. The chief executive of Scarborough and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust, Alison Guy, and finance director Bernard Flynn will step down on 31 December.

New Story
Parents back radiotherapy refusal - BBC Health News 21st December 2006


The parents of an eight-year-old girl with a rare kidney cancer are backing what they say is her decision to stop her treatment. Leah-Beth Richards, from Beddau near Pontypridd, has been battling Wilms Tumour since she was two.

New Story
Botox 'could help writers' cramp' - BBC Health News 21st December 2006


Botox could be used to relieve writers' cramp, a study has suggested. The toxin is usually used to treat wrinkles, but the Dutch research suggests it can also stop muscles in the arms, hands or fingers seizing up.

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International News

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Restaurants must count calories - The Guardian 27th December 2006


A Starbucks whole milk mocha with whipped cream? That will be a bulging 420 calories. Big Mac, large fries and a Diet Coke? That's a whopping 1,130 calories to go, while a Burger King Whopper delivers 670 calories. Its beefier cousin, the Whopper Double Beef, almost doubles the calories, reaching 916. As of next year, in a decree passed this month, restaurant chains in New York will be obliged to list calories on their menus. The regulation was passed by the New York City Board of Health as one of a series of measures to help prevent obesity.


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Sick not chic - The Observer 24th December 2006


This year, Los Angeles became the birthplace of one of the worst trends ever: size 00. Though it's equivalent to a UK size 2 (23in waistline and dimensions similar to a seven-year-old's), you'd be surprised how many celebrities have attained this size. Victoria Beckham and Amy Winehouse come close, but it's LA girls such as Nicole Richie, Kate Bosworth and Lindsay Lohan whose emaciated frames have become synonymous with 00. They're also linked to one celebrity stylist: Rachel Zoe, who is as petite and chic as her clients.


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Fashion chiefs slap ban on ultra-skinny models - The Telegraph 23rd December 2006


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Chronic back pain may be all in the mind, research suggests - The Guardian 23rd December 2006


People suffering from chronic back pain could get the most effective relief from psychological therapies, according to research which suggests that a bad back could be mostly in the mind. American psychologists found that talking therapies were the most common and consistent way of reducing the intensity of back pain.


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Global flu pandemic would probably kill 62m, study says - The Guardian 22nd December 2006

Around 62 million people in the world are likely to die if there is a flu pandemic and more than 70,000 of those deaths will be in the UK, according to a statistical analysis published today. Previous estimates of the likely death toll have ranged from two million to one billion.

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New flu pandemic 'would kill 62 million' - The Times 22nd December 2006

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Flu 'could wipe out 62 million' - BBC Health News 22nd December 2006

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Potential cure for alcoholics is hailed - The Independent 26th December 2006


Australian scientists say they have found a way of eliminating alcoholic cravings using a drug that blocks the euphoric "high" associated with getting drunk. The research focused on cells in the hypothalamus region of the brain that produce orexin, a chemical linked to drink or drug-induced euphoria. Scientists at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute made a compound that blocked orexin's effects, and gave it to rats that had already been turned into alcoholics.


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Chemical may stop alcohol craving - BBC Health News 25th December 2006


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How to live to a ripe old age without losing your marbles - The Times 26th December 2006


A gene variant that is linked to long life also helps to preserve mental lucidity in old age, scientists have discovered. An Israeli study involving 158 people who lived to 95 or beyond has found that those who inherit a particular version of the gene CETP are twice as likely to have a sharp and alert brain when they are elderly.


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'Longevity gene keeps mind sharp' - BBC Health News 26th December 2006


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Doctor risks jail to grant patient with 'no life' his dying wish - The Times 22nd December 2006


A doctor could be charged with murder after admitting that he switched off the life-support machine of an Italian muscular dystrophy patient who lost a right-to-die battle. Piergorgio Welby, 60, died on Wednesday — just days after judges ruled that his respirator could not be disconnected. Euthanasia is illegal in Italy and a campaign to legalise it is bitterly opposed by Catholic political parties of the Right and Left as well as by the Vatican.


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Scan could spot early Alzheimer's - BBC Health News 27th December 2006


Patients with the earliest symptoms of Alzheimer's disease could be diagnosed using an advanced scanning technique. A team at the University of California, Los Angeles team says it has found a way to highlight distinctive brain changes linked to Alzheimer's.


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Large families 'bad for parents' - BBC Health News 26th December 2006


Having a large number of children is bad for parents' health - particularly that of mothers, a study suggests. US researchers looked at 21,000 couples living in Utah between 1860 and 1985, who bore a total of 174,000 children.


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Protein key to parasite potency - BBC Health News 25th December 2006


Scientists are closer to understanding why a common parasite is harmless to most people, while causing severe illness in others. Toxoplasma is carried by cats and rats in the UK, and a large proportion of humans are also thought to carry the parasite, without any ill effects.


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Drink 'cuts brain injury damage' - BBC Health News 24th December 2006


Having low levels of alcohol in the blood may protect the brain from the effects of a head injury, a study says. The University of Toronto team found head injury patients who had drunk low amounts were 24% less likely to die than those who had not had any alcohol.


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Egyptian woman dies of bird flu - BBC Health News 24th December 2006


An Egyptian woman has died of bird flu just hours after testing positive for the H5N1 strain of the virus. The 30-year-old was first treated on 17 December, before a brother and sister, aged 26 and 15, also fell ill.
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Bird flu kills second Egyptian in two days - The Telegraph 27th December 2006


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Olive oil 'can cut cancer risk' - BBC Health News 23rd December 2006


Adding plenty of olive oil to a diet could help protect against cell damage that can lead to cancer, experts say. A study of 182 European men found those who had 25 millilitres of olive oil per day had reduced levels of a substance which indicates cell damage.


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HRT 'could prevent heart disease' - BBC Health News 22nd December 2006


Hormone therapy might be an effective heart disease treatment, despite a major US study which suggested it caused harm, scientists say. The Women's Health Initiative study was stopped in 2002 amid concerns over raised heart disease and cancer risk.


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Obesity link to gut bug balance - BBC Health News 22nd December 2006


'Friendly' bacteria living in our digestive systems may be helping to make us fatter, say scientists. Trillions of bugs live in the human gut, helping us break down food.

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Cheshire and Merseyside News

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Drunken teens flood region's hospitals - Liverpool Daily Poost 26th December 2006


THE number of under-18s being admitted to hospital in Cheshire and Merseyside is rising faster than anywhere else in the UK. According to government statistics released at the weekend, 742 under-18s were treated in the region’s hospital in 2005/6, during which time licensing laws had been relaxed. That compares with 593 in 2004/5 and 594 in 2003/4.


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‘If there had been more water, he would not have stood a chance’ - Liverpool Echo 23rd December 2006


A HEROIC ambulance worker plunged into a water-filled ditch to save a man from drowning after his car flipped over. By incredible chance, Phil Keating is also a qualified diver and was able to swim down to the mangled wreck of the Renault Clio and force his way into the vehicle.


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How much is your hospital spending on meals? - Liverpool Echo 23rd December 2006


MERSEYSIDE hospitals are spending as little as 60p a meal on patients’ food. An ECHO investigation has uncovered alarming differences in the amount of money spent by different trusts in the region.


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Amputee had to remove leg to get in plane seat - Liverpool Echo 23rd December 2006


A DOUBLE amputee had to take off his artificial leg to get into his airplane seat. Today pensioner Eddie Bragger slammed Liverpool John Lennon Airport for leaving him to struggle, despite being given advance notice he was travelling.


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Doctor’s mistake ‘killed our girl’ - Liverpool Echo 21st December 2006


A DOCTOR working for Liverpool’s out-of-hours GP service has been suspended by the GMC, after a young woman died of heart failure three days after he advised her to take paracetamol and do more exercise. The parents of 28-year-old Julie Barr believe their daughter would be alive today if doctors from Urgent Care 24 (UC24) had recognised her symptoms and hospitalised her sooner.

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Smoke ban bid at city prison - Liverpool Echo 21st December 2006

WALTON jail has launched a bid to become Europe's first smoke-free jail. Inmates and officers will be offered counselling and nicotine patches in a bid to kick the habit.

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Reds bring festive cheer to Alder Hey - Liverpool Echo 21st December 2006

LIVERPOOL players lifted the gloom of their midweek postponement during their seasonal visit to Alder Hey. Anfield stars, including Steven Gerrard, donned Santa hats to bring some Christmas cheer to youngsters, giving out gifts and signed shirts.

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Our baby daughter died of 'exceptionally poor care' - Liverpool Daily Post 21st December 2006


THE parents of a baby killed by an accidental overdose at a Alder Hey Children's Hospital last night claimed she died of "exceptionally poor care". Two-month-old Madison Perry was given 10 times the correct dose of blood-thinning drug Heparin after nurses at Liverpool's Alder Hey Hospital misread her prescription.


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Patient survey 'is a waste of money' - Chester Chronicle 22nd December 2006


DOCTORS fear that the Government's new patient survey will raise expectations for a level of service they are unable to provide. The outcome of the survey, which will canvas patients' opinions on appointment arrangements and opening times in January will affect funds individual practices receive. Every practice in the Chester area will be taking part in the controversial survey.


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Award scheme to fight obesity - Chester Chronicle 22nd December 2006


AN estimated 132,400 people in Cheshire are obese, according to a county council report. Nationally by 2010 approximately one in five children aged between two and five will be obese with more girls than boys being affected.

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Professor in call for more GP support - Ormskirk Advertiser 21st December 2006

A LEADING expert in pancreatic cancer believes symptoms are not taken seriously enough by GPs. Professor John Neoptolemos of the University of Liverpool and honorary consultant surgeon at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital told the Advertiser: “One of the symptoms of pancreas cancer is jaundice. This happens because the bile duct from the liver into the small bowel passes through the head of the pancreas. If there is a tumour then this causes a blockage into the bowel duct and the flow of bile from the liver.

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Cumbria and Lancashire News

Little boost for hospital campaign! - Carlisle News & Star 23rd December 2006

MEET Corey Bragg – a small symbol of a campaign to keep maternity services in west Cumbria.
The tiny tot was a surprise delivery at Workington Community Hospital this week, weighing in at 7lb 8oz at 2.47pm on Monday – a full 13 days before he was due.


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U-turn over smoking ban - Ormskirk Advertiser 21st December 2006


COUNCILLORS have done a U-turn over plans for a ‘Big Brother’ style smoking ban in West Lancashire. Conservatives wanted to ban council staff from smoking near council buildings and even in their own cars on the council car park at lunchtime.

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MP’s plea over future of NHS - Midweek Advertiser 20th December 2006


LABOUR MP for Chorley Lindsay Hoyle raised the future of the NHS during Prime Minister’s Question Time. Mr Hoyle, whose constituency includes parts of West Lancashire, urged the government to use the NHS as opposed to out-sourcing work into the private sector, which could jeopardise the future of local hospitals.

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MP seeks assurance on hospital rebuild - Lancashire Telegraph 21st December 2006


ROSSENDALE MP Janet Anderson has demanded answers over fears that health bosses lack commitment to rebuilding the Valley's hospital. Mrs Anderson, in a stern letter to the East Lancashire Primary Care Trust, said the borough council and the East Lancashire Hospitals Trust were behind the project, but those parties were concerned the PCT did not share that vision.


Greater Manchester News

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Hospital boss plunges to death off m-way bridge - Manchester Evening News 22nd December 2006


A TOP hospital nutritionist has plunged to her death from a motorway bridge. Morag Sheddon Wilson, 32, was head of dietetics at Wythenshawe Hospital. She died after apparently jumping from the Barton Bridge, where the M60 crosses the Manchester Ship Canal.


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NHS boss to face grilling on maternity shake-up - Manchester Evening News 22nd December 2006


POLITICIANS are to meet a top NHS manager to protest about plans to cut maternity and children's services. Bury, Trafford, Rochdale, Salford and Macclesfield are set to lose in-patient maternity, children's and baby care after a two-year review of the region's services, called Making It Better.


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Christmas Day dinner 999 alert - The Bolton News 23rd December 2006


CASUALTY doctors have made a plea for families to be safety conscious on Christmas Day - after revealing a list of bizarre injuries they treated during the festive period last year.
Burns from turkey fat splashes, singed eyebrows from setting the pudding on fire and collapsing through overeating are just some of the reasons accident and emergency medics were called into action in 2005.


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Let's get the kids in shape - The Bolton News 23rd December 2006


SCHOOLS must shoulder some of the blame for an explosion in childhood obesity across Bolton, a family GP said today. Dr Ian James believes not enough emphasis is being placed on physical education and sport in the borough's schools.


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Death just 30 months after retirement - The Bolton News 23rd December 2006


RESIDENTS in the poorest areas of Bolton will live for an average of just two-and-a-half years after retirement. Life expectancy in Bolton is falling even further behind the national average, according to a report.


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Changes at Fairfield will mean a second class service - Bury Times 21st December 2006


THE announcement about Fairfield makes you question what kind of people are in charge of our future healthcare in Bury or if we will have any soon. Fairfield General Hospital has a wonderful children's ward, special care baby unit and maternity service.

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Hospital ward for elderly WILL close - Bury Times 21st December 2006


A WARD at Fairfield Hospital caring for elderly patients too ill to live in the community is to close despite protests from staff and the public. Ward 30, a rehabilitation ward, is the first to be targeted by the Pennine Acute Trust in a bid to save money and tackle debts standing at £14million.

New Story
Health details from your Yellow Pages - Bury Times 21st December 2006


RESIDENTS needing practical information on accessing and getting involved with health services in Bury can now just pick up the Yellow Pages. The Your Guide To Local Health features in the North Manchester Yellow Pages and is updated annually. It features information on a range of services delivered across Bury, including the NHS Walk-In Centres and Dental Access Centre, with contact numbers and Bury Primary Care Trust's (PCT) key priorities.

New Story
‘Breast is best' cafes in directory - Bury Times 21st December 2006


NEW mothers can find out which cafes in Bury welcome breastfeeding without even entering the door. A Breastfeeding Welcome directory has been produced by Bury Primary Care Trust (PCT), Surestart and Bury Council listing the names, addresses and telephone numbers of cafes and other premises that welcome breastfeeding mothers.

New Story
Bolton's couch potato kids shame - The Bolton News 21st December 2006


ONE in four children under the age of 11 in Bolton is obese or overweight, shock figures have revealed. Health experts warned that Bolton was turning into a town of couch potato kids.

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Gifts to hospital are much appreciated - The Bolton News 21st December 2006


I would like, through your pages, to thank everyone who has sent cards, gifts and donations to the Royal Bolton Hospital over the past 12 months.


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