A business school staple is that if you can't measure it, you can't manage it. But when it comes to immigration, the official measurements are being exposed as deeply unreliable. First, in September, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) increased its estimate of how far migration was pushing up the population by nearly a third. Then, on Monday, ministers admitted that there were 300,000 more foreigners in the workforce than previously claimed. Then - extraordinarily - they last night confessed that, counter to Monday's claims, half the new jobs created since 1997 have gone to immigrants. The influx of recent arrivals from eastern Europe had already pushed immigration up the political agenda. Now ministers appear able neither to measure nor manage - and that is a recipe for a political explosion.
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Our progressive past can offer a new idea of what the state is for, and how it can help neighbourhood organisations to thrive
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In 2002, 300 psychiatric nurses from the NHS were sent into prison hospitals to help prison staff handle the crisis of mental health in our jails. Likened by the then director general of the prison service, Martin Narey, to the "cavalry coming over the hill", what these in-reach teams found on reaching the summit was something akin to the battleground of Mordor at the beginning of the Lord of the Rings films. It was a battle that prison staff were - and still are - losing.
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Groundbreaking research on the voluntary sector workforce, published today, should be a cause for celebration: the number of paid employees has grown more than 25% in a decade, some seven in 10 are women and, strikingly, almost one in five has a disability. But the research also exposes reasons for concern. One in four voluntary sector employers reports hard-to-fill vacancies, with skills shortages a real worry in marketing and fundraising in particular. And with 70% of the workforce located in workplaces of fewer than 50 people, there must be doubts about the capacity of the sector to up its human resources game.
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Like most actors, Tommy Jessop admits to being a bit of a show-off. "I enjoy being in front of the camera," he says. Unlike most actors, Tommy has Down's syndrome, and has overcome entrenched stereotypes to get ahead in his career. It is one of the reasons he is taking part in the Learning Disability Today conference being held in London today.
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Women who choose a Caesarean delivery, sometimes described as "too posh to push", are increasing the risk to themselves and their baby. Surprise results from an international study of 97,000 deliveries show that a routine Caesarean puts a woman at twice the risk of illness or death compared to a vaginal birth.
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What did you have for breakfast? I said, what did you have for breakfast? Toast? How many pieces? And what did you have on them? I've told you this before, chocolate spread isn't good for you. Didn't you read the label? When did the contents of your breakfast become my business? I'll tell you exactly when, my friend. And where. It was on the July 5, 1948, in Park Hospital in Trafford. Now, put down that coffee. I am getting worried about your caffeine intake.
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The private suffering and anguish experienced by the families of Service personnel returning from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan is laid bare in the first survey of army dependants. One third of army families who responded to the survey by the Ministry of Defence said that they had been aware of “a change in behaviour”, and most of them admitted that it had had a negative impact on family life.
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Is there a gulf between regulation of science and public confidence (Constant policing of our research makes us look sinister, say scientists, Oct 25)? Our own research shows the opposite. Britain remains at the forefront of medical research, and yet has some of the most probing regulations in the world. The two are not mutually exclusive. Regulation offers reassurance to researchers: that, in turn, helps to build public confidence.
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Karl Marx suffered from a skin disease that can cause severe psychological effects such as self-loathing and alienation, according to a British dermatologist. The father of communism’s life and attitudes were shaped by hidradenitis suppurativa, said Sam Shuster in the British Journal of Dermatology. One of its symptoms is alienation – a concept that Marx, a martyr to boils and carbuncles, put into words as he wrote Das Kapital.
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Adding folic acid to bread in an attempt to cut birth defects may lead to serious health problems, scientists have warned. The Government is considering whether to fortify flour with the vitamin as a way of reducing cases of spina bifida after the Food Standards Agency approved it earlier this year.
A Thalidomide victim was ordered to go 10-pin bowling with colleagues even though she could not bowl because of her disability, a tribunal has heard. Sue Foss, a £30,000-a-year sales manager for Dore, a specialist in treating children with dyslexia and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, said she was bullied into going to the alley twice despite the fact that her fingers did not fit into the balls. She was even awarded the title of "Megaflop" by colleagues after knocking down the fewest pins.
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Children are being increasingly "stifled" by health and safety red tape, an official regulator has admited. The drive to protect young people has gone too far as children are denied the chance to grow up properly, says Judith Hackitt, chairman of the Health and Safety Commission.
Drinkers who are worried about liver damage can now check themselves at home using a DIY test kit. LiverCheck, which costs £99, measures the levels of two enzymes in the blood which are produced when alcohol damages liver cells.
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Family doctors will admit that out-of-hours care has dramatically deteriorated since they were allowed to opt out of working at evenings and weekends. Nearly two-thirds of GPs think standards have slipped since Primary Care Trusts took over the service in 2004, a survey reveals.
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Hospital cleaners are putting patients'lives at risk by failing to pay proper attention to door handles and light switches, a study claims. NHS policy concentrates on visible dirt found on floors and toilets but "hidden" germs are transmitting infection.
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My name is Lauren Booth and I'm a middleclass drinker. There, I've said it. According to research into the type of person most likely to be damaging themselves with alcohol, it's people like you and me who are drinking ourselves into an early grave.
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Nurses will be tested on how to feed patients after the Government admitted people were routinely neglected on hospital wards. Health minister Ivan Lewis said elderly patients were being starved because food was put out of reach or inedible.
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Radio waves are being used in a new treatment for heartburn - using small wires to generate heat and stiffen loose tissue, stopping the backflow of stomach acids. In trials, it helped three-quarters of patients, with seven in ten either no longer requiring drugs or needing to take them only occasionally when symptoms appeared. Before treatment, patients were taking them twice a day.
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A woman has been awarded £2.5m in damages after her brain tumour was misdiagnosed by doctors who thought she was anorexic. Amanda Hughes, now 23, was nearly nine when she was taken to hospital with fatigue and constant thirst.
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Researchers could be a step closer to a cure for malaria after discovering people with blood group O are naturally protected from its most severe forms. Edinburgh University has found blood type O people are significantly less likely to experience the most life-threatening effects of malaria.
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Multinational drug companies are targeting doctors in developing countries with dinners and lavish gifts, such as air conditioners, washing machines and down-payments on cars, as incentives to prescribe their drugs, a report reveals today. The report from Consumers International (CI) says that self-regulation by the multinational drug giants has failed, citing drug adverts by companies such as Glaxo-SmithKline, Wyeth, Novartis and Pfizer that would be considered misleading in Europe, as well as the heavy promotion by all companies of products to doctors.
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Drug companies attacked over gifts for Third World doctors - The Independent 31st October 2007
The story of Fitzroy Crossing is a tragically common one among Australia's Aborigines: rampant binge-drinking and the appalling social problems that go with it. But then the town's women set about turning off the taps.
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Living near a noisy airport increases the risk of high blood pressure, according to research. The findings suggest that constant exposure to high levels of noise may be damaging to health. A team at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm studied 2,700 men living near Stockholm Arlanda airport between 1992 and 2004. The team reports in the journal Epidemiology that the men exposed to an average daily noise level of more than 50 decibels were 19 per cent more likely to have high blood pressure.
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The next generation of computer games will offer a workout for more than just our thumbs. Perhaps fearing a backlash over the obesity crisis, manufacturers are working on "healthy" software.
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Treatment with a derivative of vitamin A called retinoic acid may help to cut former smokers' risk of lung cancer, research suggests. It is suspected that lung cells damaged during years of smoking may continue to grow and evolve into cancer even after that person has quit.
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An acute shortage of trained doctors is sabotaging Liberia's efforts to deliver health care to its people. Health Minister Walter Gwenigale says Liberia needs at least 1,200 doctors to grapple with its post-war situation but currently it has only 120.
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Articles relating to mass media Health Stories about the Cheshire and Merseyside patch of the NHS in the North West of England.
A PATIENT left without care after a dentist was forced to retire was told to wait a year for an appointment, according to Conservatives in Wirral. The claim was made as the Greasby surgery at the centre of the controversy finally closed its doors.
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LIVERPOOL has the highest percentage of pensioners living without central heating in England, latest government figures reveal. According to the Department of Health, 28.8% of people over the age of 65 – or almost one in three – in the city do not have central heating.
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Map of 'coldest homes' published - BBC Health News 26th October 2007
BINGE drinkers arrested for alcohol-related offences in Cheshire will be attending counselling sessions. Adults who commit less serious offences, such as vandalism, while under the influence will be given advice by an alcohol expert in the cells once they have sobered up.
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THE chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital says a survey showing a dip in the quality of services presents an unfair picture. Peter Herring was responding to the Healthcare Commission’s annual health check ratings which showed the Trust was ‘excellent’ in its use of resources but only ‘fair’ in the quality of services delivered to patients.
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A YOUNG Saltney woman celebrated her 18th birthday by thanking the hospital that kept her alive. Emma Richards was born in the special care baby unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital on September 13, 1989, weighing just 2lb 5oz.
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THE chief executive of Western Cheshire Primary Care Trust has confirmed funding will be provided for a building to house Frodsham health services under one roof. The local NHS wants to create a one-stop shop offering services currently delivered by The Rock and The Knoll GP practices alongside other facilities traditionally provided in hospital.
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THE CONTROVERSIAL decision to close down and demolish two geriatric care wards at Wallasey's Victoria Central Hospital finally became reality this week as the bulldozers moved in. Campaigners from all sides of the political spectrum had fought alongside union leaders, nursing staff, patients and their families to retain wards 6&7.
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A COMMISSION investigating the health and development of the Liverpool City region has taken a closer look at the health and economy of Wirral. A survey, by the Health is Wealth Commission, interviewed a sample of people in the borough. It revealed that 25% of people had a long-standing illness or disability and a third of people receive benefits.
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OUR hospitals and Primary Care Trusts are among the most improved NHS organisations in the north west. Ratings published by the Healthcare Commission show mid Cheshire's healthcare services have scored as top performers for the second successive year.
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BRIDGET JONES was one step ahead of conventional medical practice with her reliance on self-help books. GPs in the North West are catching up fast though. In Halton and St Helens the primary care trust is allowing GPs to prescribe literary tablets as an alternative to the type that you pick up at the chemist, reports Health Service Journal (Oct 25).
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Articles relating to mass media Health Stories about the Cumbria and Lancashire patch of the NHS in the North West of England.
A BLEAK picture has emerged about the life of Cumbria’s elderly population with shocking numbers going without speaking to people for long spells. Research by Age Concern revealed yesterday that more than 11,000 OAPS in north west England have gone a full month in the last year without speaking to any family or neighbours.
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AS winter draws in, the Meningitis Trust is warning people to watch out for the signs and symptoms of this life-threatening disease. Every year there is an increase in cases of meningitis over the winter months.
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COUNCILLORS have vowed to keep the pressure on East Lancashire's hospitals bosses over the closure of Burnley's Accident and Emergency department Wednesday. From Thursday, all East Lancashire's ambulances will take patients to the Royal Blackburn Hospital under the new "Meeting Patients' Needs" system.
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A YOUNG mum died after falling into a diabetic coma while she slept, just weeks before she was due to have a kidney transplant. Nicky Brown, 22, had become increasingly unwell after developing type one diabetes - the most serious form - in her early teens.
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PLANS to relocate cancer care services an extra 13 miles away, affecting patients in Barnoldswick and Earby, have been put on hold temporarily. Controversial moves to shift the in-patient oncology ward at Airedale Hospital to Bradford Royal Infirmary have been criticised by sufferers in Pendle, who use the unit.
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YOUNGSTERS in council care - including those under the age of sexual consent - are to be given condoms and pregnancy tests. Lancashire County Council is introducing the policy as part of its role as the youngsters' "corporate parent".
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AN EXPERT surgeon has been taken on to head East Lancashire's first breast cancer centre at Burnley General Hospital. For the first time women in the area will be able to call upon a breast cancer clinic locally, instead of having to travel to the Royal Preston Hospital or Manchester's Christie Hospital for diagnostic tests.
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A NURSE has claimed that a lack of car parking spaces is forcing her to park illegally and compromising her job. The theatre nurse said the situation is so bad at Royal Blackburn Hospital that she is repeatedly getting into work late because she cannot find a parking space, leaving the theatre understaffed.
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The Cumbrian tourist board must have a fairly easy time promoting the Lake District. Not short of an attraction or two, are they? With quaint teashops, ravishing mountains and beautiful villages, there's not much there that wouldn't bring coachloads of Japanese tourists clamouring for a piccy. However, the area's latest 'highlight' with which Cumbria Tourism seeks to draw in the hordes is a world away from the traditional Beatrix Potter-Scafell Pike-country pub package - step forward Grange Dental Practice in Grange-over-Sands.
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Health officials have been so alarmed by increasing cases of rickets among the Asian population of Blackburn that children and mothers will be offered vitamin supplements next year. Rickets, a softening of bone tissue often characterised by bowed legs, is caused by a vitamin D deficiency and was associated with Victorian slums. But a study found that there were 56 suspected cases between 2003 and 2005 in the catchment area of two primary care trusts that cover Blackburn with Darwen and Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, in Lancashire. A large proportion of the cases came from the Asian community of Blackburn with Darwen.
Articles relating to mass media Health Stories about the Greater Manchester patch of the NHS in the North West of England.
A MAN was taken to hospital with suspected TB after he fell ill during an immigration raid at a Manchester factory. Six people were arrested when immigration officials and police raided Britannia Knitwear on Midland Street, Ardwick.
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PRIMARY school pupils are being invited to fight the flab at a club designed to beat childhood obesity. Organisers of the scheme, at Bolton Lads and Girls Club, have sent a letter to every primary school in the borough inviting youngsters to learn how to eat healthily and get fit.
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LES Higgins has been appointed chairman of Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust. He has been acting chaiman for the past six months, following the death of former chairman of Lowton man Brian Strett. Mr Higgins has worked at the Trust as a non-executive director since 2002 and has been Vice Chairman for the last two years.
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Over half of Manchester University students are at risk of hepatitis C infection, a charity has claimed. The Hepatitis C Trust say 54% of students are unaware that a tattoo or a piercing puts them at risk of contracting hepatitis C infection.
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A MALE nurse working at a health centre for young people has been charged over sex offences with a teenage patient. Damien Bible, aged 25, of Gainsborough Avenue, Daubhill, has appeared in court accused of engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl.
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SUPERBUG inspectors are to be given the power to close hospital wards and care homes in a bid to slash the number of potentially deadly infections. And Bolton's health bosses, struggling to control the number of superbug outbreaks, have welcomed the move to create a new Government watchdog to tackle illnesses such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile.
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TRAFFORD Healthcare NHS Trust has appointed Dr Ivor Nathan as a non-executive director. The appointment runs to Sept 2011.
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A row between the Department of Health and the NHS standards watchdog is threatening to undermine the government's drive to combat hospital superbugs, the Guardian has learned. The dispute flared last week after the department told a journalist that Alan Johnson, the health secretary, was angry with the Healthcare Commission, the body that inspects standards of hygiene and infection control in hospitals across England. The commission had found management failings at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS trust in Kent that contributed to the deaths of 90 patients during two outbreaks of the superbug Clostridium difficile.
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Kent hospitals - The Times 29th October 2007
Germ warfare system to kill hospital bugs - The Sunday Times 28th October 2007
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Cold war weaponry to tackle superbugs - The Sunday Telegraph 28th October 2007
Nurse to sue over her parents’ deaths from hospital superbug - The Times 27th October 2007
It is not anti-choice to want a more thoughtful debate on why women have so many abortions One of my favourite emails from a reader told me, "I wish I was as certain of anything as you are of everything." The latter is far from the case, but it served as a salutary reminder that the certainty columnists are paid to produce can sometimes cripple public debate, alienating readers and reducing complexity to wittily phrased polemic. There's been evidence of that in the debate about abortion law reform. While lobbyists and commentators lambast each other with withering contempt, the majority shift uncomfortably in their seats, committed to legal abortion but still feeling uncertain on this most emotive of subjects.
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It is enough to make Scotland's best-loved matriarch blurt out "aw crivens!" in disgust. After 70 years feeding her comic strip family of 11 on dumplings, fry-ups and Scotch eggs, Maw Broon's home cooking has been condemned by nutritionists. Her traditional recipes - complete with bacon and egg pie; tablet, a sweet made from sugar and condensed milk; and Forfar bridies heavy in suet - have been published for the first time, hitting the top three in Scotland's bestseller lists.
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Comic diet carries health warning - BBC Health News 29th October 2007
The policy director of the King's Fund should be able to do better than repeat the government's unfounded claims about independent sector treatment centres (Letters, October 26). First, patient satisfaction surveys, such as the Healthcare Commission's, which she says show satisfaction with ISTCs to be "significantly higher than with NHS providers", are an unsatisfactory index of quality. Patients treated by ISTCs are lower-risk than NHS patients and less likely to have difficult recovery experiences - and the differences claimed are small, anyway. At a minimum, the extensive evidence which exists of poor-quality clinical performance in some ISTCs should be set against the results of patient satisfaction surveys.
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Patients are forced to go to hospital for treatment because out-of-hours care is often inadequate, according to a report today. The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) study said fewer GPs now offer out-of-hours care so others need to step into the breach to boost community medical care.
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Study brands out-of-hours care inadequate - The Telegraph 29th October 2007
Out-of-hours NHS care 'failing' - BBC Health News 29th October 2007
When a child dies, their school must manage the grief and shock of pupils, staff and the family. Louise Tickle reports
Some organic foods, including fruit, vegetables and milk, may be more nutritious than non-organic produce, according to an investigation by British scientists. Early results from a £12m study showed that organic fruit and vegetables contained up to 40% more antioxidants than non-organic varieties, according to Professor Carlo Leifert at Newcastle University, who leads the EU-funded Quality Low Input Food project.
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Organic food really IS better for you, claims study - Daily Mail 28th October 2007
That Keith Richards yesterday marched against proposed cutbacks at his local hospital in West Sussex proves the 63-year-old Rolling Stone is still a street fighting man. Some might suggest he has acted out of self-interest: his personal proximity to a working hospital being a concern next time he falls out of a tree. But Keith has always been something of a spokesman on issues of public health. 'Don't do drugs,' he once wheezed, an imperative that prompted comedian Denis Leary to retort: 'We can't, Keith, you've done them all.' In this, though, the era of apparent political apathy, it is heartwarming to see a wizened rock star setting an example we hope his peers will follow. Perhaps Robert Plant could speak up on the importance of a fibrous diet or Roger Daltrey become an advocate for regular flossing.
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Puffalong Keith Richards on a health crusade to save hospital - Daily Mail 27th October 2007
Parents are to be sent letters telling them that their children are obese, as if they were blind to their offspring ballooning before their eyes. Children aren't obese just for the heck of it, but because many low-income families survive on a diet that went out of fashion in the late Seventies. Today, for many adults and children, food is something mysterious that comes ready made in clingfilm, not a collection of ingredients. Cheap food nowadays is invariably bad food.
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, will this week be honoured for helping to draw attention to the plight of those affected by the brittle bone disease osteoporosis, which killed her mother and her grandmother. She will receive the 2007 Kohn Award in recognition of her work in raising money and visiting hospitals in an effort to ensure the NHS gives the crippling condition a higher priority.
Although they are often criticised for delaying childbearing, a new study shows that older mothers are making a wise choice. Women who leave it late to embrace motherhood are often criticised for gambling with their fertility and risking their own and their baby's health. But now a leading academic says it's better for many women to delay getting pregnant.
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Why women who wait until their thirties ‘make better mothers’ - Daily Mail 29th October 2007
Senior nurses will be allowed to veto the resuscitation of patients under new guidelines issued yesterday by the medical profession. The British Medical Association said patients should be spared "undignified and unnecessary" attempts to revive them when there could be no realistic hope of success.
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Guidance published to cut 'unnecessary' resuscitation - The Independent 27th October 2007
Nurses to decide if patients are revived - The Times 27th October 2007
Letters to the Telegraph - The Telegraph 29th October 2007
Tonight the clocks go back, and though I always enjoy that extra hour beneath the covers the following morning, and try to get excited about open fires and toasted teacakes, my heart does sink when the sun disappears at 4pm.
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Clock change may cause tiredness - BBC Health News 27th October 2007
There were at least 140,000 night-time cases of slips, falls and medical errors involving NHS patients last year. Figures from the National Patient Safety Agency, analysed by Reader’s Digest, show that 22 per cent of incidents linked to patient safety happened at night, despite there being no scheduled operations, consultations or tests occurring then.
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A new targeted therapy against cancer has shown impressive results in animal experiments. By using a beam of ultraviolet light to activate antibodies inside the tumour, a team at Newcastle University has created “magic bullets” that can use the body’s immune system to destroy tumours while leaving healthy tissue unharmed.
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Light activated cancer drug hope - BBC Health News 30th October 2007
Bad behaviour in children could be the result of an undiagnosed brain injury, a charity has said. The Children’s Trust, based in Tadworth, Surrey, wants to raise awareness among parents and teachers of acquired brain injury (ABI) because the effects, which can be more noticeable at times of stress, such as moving from primary to secondary school, can be misdiagnosed or perceived as bad behaviour. The charity is meeting MPs this week and is calling for statistics to be made available so that the extent of ABI, which can alter a child’s personality, can be uncovered.
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Head injury warning for children - BBC Health News 29th October 2007
David Cameron will enter the political minefield of immigration today with a call for measures to meet the challenge of rapid population growth. In his first major speech on immigration and population, the Conservative leader will attack Gordon Brown for failing to tackle the root causes of Britain’s growing demographic problems, ensuring that it will become an issue for the next election.
Girls as young as 12 will be vaccinated against the virus that causes cervical cancer from next September in a programme that aims to save 400 lives a year, the Government has said. Girls aged 12 to 13 will be vaccinated against the sexually transmitted infection human papilloma virus (HPV). The project will cost as much as £100 million a year in England alone. A catch-up campaign for girls up to the age of 18, costing as much as £200 million a year, will start in 2009.
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Cervical cancer drug Gardasil linked to deaths - The Telegraph 29th October 2007
I don’t want to spoil your day, but you’ve got to accept that you’re going to die. Just face it, some day a paramedic will label you “DRT” (died right there) and your remains will be bagged, tagged and shipped to the undertakers. It’s OK, you can go back into denial now, especially if you’re reading this over your breakfast of porridge and oatcakes north of the border.
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Almost one in six 15-year-old girls were given contraception last year, despite being too young to legally have sex. Recent figures show that 50,000 girls aged 15 attended contraception clinics in 2006-07, along with another 31,000 aged 13 or 14.
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More men visit NHS contraception clinics - Daily Mail 29th October 2007
Female sterilisation 'in decline' - BBC Health News 29th October 2007
A spate of announcements and reports on fitness and health has come from Government in the last month. Tackling obesity is the new obsession now that smoking in public places has been banned. The Department for children, schools and families, the Department of culture, media and sport and the Department of health are tripping over each other publishing statistics and research and – of course – setting targets.
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Ministers are to unveil a ten-point nutrition plan this week as part of a campaign to stop patients starving to death in hospitals and care homes. The plan follows revelations that thousands of elderly patients are being neglected, with a record 2,265 leaving hospital lacking basic nourishment last year.
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As many as 10 elderly people could die from the cold every hour this winter, according to campaigners who accuse the Government of abandoning a generation of pensioners. The National Pensioners Convention (NPC), Britain's biggest organisation representing older people, said 260,000 people had died of cold-related illnesses in the past decade.
Syphilis and gonorrhoea are making a comeback as the number of sexually transmitted diseases in the UK continues to rise, figures released next week are set to show. The Office of National Statistics is releasing new figures on Monday, and they are expected to reveal that diseases which were thought to have died out years ago have risen dramatically in the last decade.
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Obesity has become the main cause of cancer in non-smokers, a global conference will hear next week. The World Cancer Research Fund has spent five years collecting information about the effect bodyweight, diet and physical activity has on the risk of developing cancer and will present its findings on Thursday.
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Nina Grunfeld's four steps to being yourself. 3: 'I don't like me' Some of us don't like being ourselves. For years I wanted straight hair because my frizzy hair always drew lots of attention to me. Being ''me" meant sticking out, being different and getting noticed — often negatively.
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Cradling his baby boy in his arms, accident victim Chris Cook is again getting to know the son he had 'forgotten' all about. The father-of-three suffered serious head injuries and almost died when he fell from a cherry picker while carrying out repairs to the side of his house in York.
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A schoolgirl saved her three year old cousin's life just three days after learning how to perform first aid. Ashleigh Robson, 14, leapt into action after noticing little Summer Horton had stopped breathing and was slumped in her car seat.
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Health-conscious Britons are resisting the temptation of indulging themselves with their favourite chocolate biscuit treats and choosing healthier biscuits, a new report has revealed. According to trade magazine The Grocer the healthy biscuit sector grew 9.4 per cent in value to £352million last year while sales of chocolate biscuit bars slumped by 6.5 per cent to £334million.
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A family doctor who made a fatal error as a newly-qualified hospital junior hid her guilty secret for 16 years. Rosalind Deering prescribed too much sedative to a seriously-ill patient, then hid her mistake by altering medical records.
Record numbers of Britons are travelling abroad for medical treatment to escape the NHS - with 70,000 patients expected to fly out this year. And by the end of the decade 200,000 "health tourists" will fly as far as Malaysa and South Africa for major surgery to avoid long waiting lists and the rising threat of superbugs, according to a new report.
A do-it-yourself test has been created to show drinkers if their livers are damaged. The home kit, which is due to be launched next week, provides a quick and accurate diagnosis.
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Caution sounded on DIY liver test - BBC Health News 30th October 2007
Nearly 39,000 people across the Forth Valley have signed up for a new scheme to have health advice provided by pharmacists rather than their GP. The service is available only to those patients exempt from prescription charges and who present with minor illnesses.
More and more people in the UK are following America's lead in spending hundreds of pounds on private genetic tests.
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When Esther Bissessar became pregnant with her third child she knew just what to expect from the first few months - extreme and unremitting sickness. During her first pregnancy Esther was admitted to hospital several times with hyperemesis - extreme pregnancy sickness.
A map showing the coldest homes in England has been published to encourage vulnerable people to stay warm and healthy during the winter. The Department of Health (DoH) map marks the launch of the Keep Warm Keep Well campaign advising the elderly, poor and disabled on how to stay warm.
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After at least 530 million years of clamming up, the oyster has revealed its secret curative properties to mankind. And they are not only aphrodisiac. French biologists who have been studying the way oysters produce nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, believe the process could be replicated to provide cures and preventative treatments for osteoporosis, arthritis and certain skin complaints.
MRSA is the scourge of the country's hospitals, but now the discovery in France of a volcanic clay with miraculous healing properties raises the prospect of a cure for it, and to other dangerous superbugs
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Could mud from a volcano kill 99 per cent of superbugs? - Daily Mail 29th October 2007
In only six years, the small, plastic device that can hold your entire record collection has revolutionised the way we listen to music, changed society and turned the ailing Apple computer company into the dominant force in the download music industry. But researchers are so concerned about new evidence of potential effects of MP3 players on heart pacemakers that a major clinical investigation is to start this month.
Next time you take a headache tablet, take care on the roads. New research reveals that taking everyday drugs such as ibuprofen can increase the chances of a car crash by 50 per cent. Other pills are even worse. Researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health matched prescription drug use with road accidents among about three million people. They looked at seven groups of commonly prescribed drugs including natural opium alkaloids such as codeine and morphine, benzodiazepine tranquillisers, anti-asthmatic drugs and penicillin.
WE CAN all learn lessons from other countries. In particular, the NHS could learn a thing or two from the health system Down Under. This is what the departing Health Service Journal (Oct 25) Australian columnist Anna Donald realised after her recent relocation to Sydney. “I hope that readers... have gleaned that, like film-maker Michael Moore, I love the NHS and am devastated to leave it,” she writes.
Giving physiotherapy to patients on ventilators in intensive care units significantly shortens the time they have to stay in hospital, say Wake Forest University researchers. Flexing patients’ upper and lower limb joints three times a day and increasing the therapy as their conditions improved cut hospital stays by an average of three days, the researchers told the American College of Chest Physicians conference last week.
A leading pediatrician group in America is pushing for all children to be screened for autism twice by the age of two. They said early symptoms included babies who do not babble at nine months and one-year-olds who do not point to toys.
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The strain of the HIV virus which predominates in the United States and Europe has been traced back to Haiti by an international team of scientists. The strain passed from Haiti to the US in about 1969 before spreading further, says the team in the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences.
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Smokers have a higher risk of developing psoriasis, a study suggests. US researchers found that heavier smokers have a greater risk of the skin condition and this only falls back to normal 20 years after quitting.
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Women who have been treated for early signs of cervical cancer have a high risk of the disease decades later, say Swedish researchers. Regular smear tests should be offered to those with pre-cancerous lesions for at least 25 years, they said.
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