Articles relating to mass media Health Stories about the Greater Manchester patch of the NHS in the North West of England.
Health chief’s advice over winter virus - Bury Times 10th January 2008
A BURY health chief has issued vital medical advice to those struck down by the winter vomiting bug. Dr Peter Elton, Director of Public Health, says there is no specific treatment for the condition, apart from letting it run its course. Symptoms, including nausea, sickness,diarrhoea, fever, headache or aching limbs, normally last between 12 and 60 hours and most people make a recovery within one or two days.
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Trouble cut at hospital A&E - The Bolton News 10th January 2008
POLICE have hailed a high visibility operation at the Royal Bolton Hospital a success. Extra patrols were drafted in to the hospital's accident and emergency department over the Christmas and New Year period in a bid to prevent violent or anti-social behaviour.
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UK Health News
Thursday, January 10, 2008
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Drug rationing essential for health service, MPs say - The Guardian 10th January 2007
Drug rationing is essential in the NHS, and ministers should back the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) which plays the key role in deciding which ones are worthwhile, MPs will say today in a hard-hitting report. The health select committee will call for more appraisal, not less, by Nice, which has been castigated by patient groups and drug companies whenever it has banned a new drug from the NHS.
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MPs say NHS drug assessors let patients down - The Telegraph 10th January 2008
MPs demand reform of drug rationing body to end bias against elderly patients - Daily Mail 10th January 2008
Call for quicker drug decisions - BBC Health News 10th January 2008
A third of doctors attacked at work - The Guardian 10th January 2007
One in three doctors has been physically or verbally attacked at work in the last year, but most did not report it, a survey reveals today. One in 10 was physically attacked, including being stabbed, kicked, punched, bitten or spat on. Of these, a third suffered minor injuries but one in 20 was seriously hurt.
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Doctors 'face assaults epidemic' - BBC Health News 10th January 2008
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Doctors 'face assaults epidemic' - BBC Health News 10th January 2008
Family aid targeted at child carers - The Guardian 10th January 2007
Children who care for disabled parents and other youngsters in families at risk are to be targeted for help under reforms to be outlined today. The reforms, to be unveiled by the Cabinet Office minister, Ed Miliband, will oblige any service that deals with vulnerable adults to "think family", so children's needs are dealt with at the same time.
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A pill that's hard to swallow - The Guardian 10th January 2007
In her article condemning the Foundation for Integrated Health's creation of the Natural Healthcare Council (Quackery and superstition - available soon on the NHS, January 8), Polly Toynbee is clearly confused. The proposed regulation is actually about control of the practitioners rather than the therapy and its primary aim is protection of the public.
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Ouch! British dental care the most expensive in Europe - The Independent 10th January 2008
Dental treatment in England is the most expensive in Europe, according to an unprecedented survey which is likely to fuel the exodus of patients seeking treatment abroad. The survey of nine European countries found the total cost of a standard filling ranged from €156 (£117) in England to €8 in Hungary. That total included the cost of x-rays, materials, drugs and overheads, as well as the dentist's time.
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Wounded soldiers in 'contaminated' blood scare - The Independent 10th January 2008
British soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan may have been exposed to contaminated blood, it has emerged. Eighteen seriously injured soldiers were given transfusions using batches of blood sourced from the American military as part of their emergency treatment, the Ministry of Defence said.
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IVF clinics must give full cost of treatment before therapy begins - The Times 10th January 2008
IVF clinics will have to give their patients full details of all likely treatment costs before they start to provide it, under regulations announced yesterday by the Government’s fertility watchdog. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will insist that clinics provide costed plans after every early consultation, as a condition of licensing them. The measures are designed to protect the 70 per cent of IVF patients who pay an average of about £3,500 for private therapy, after complaints that they incur unexpected fees after treatment begins.
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Patientline's life in hands of banks - The Telegraph 10th January 2008
The board of Patientline will gather at the troubled hospital telecoms group's headquarters in Slough for a general meeting. The meeting is a legal technicality - a result of the fact that net assets are now worth half the called-up share capital - but it will nevertheless be an embarrassing affair for the directors. Company law requires them to discuss with shareholders "what action, if any, should be taken to deal with this situation".
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Scientists find chemcial key that 'could stop cancer in its tracks' - Daily Mail 10th January 2008
British scientists have unlocked one of the secrets behind how cancer spreads around the body. The breakthrough could help pave the way for a generation of drugs that would halt up to 90 per cent of cancers in their tracks. Such drugs could be particularly effective against breast and lung tumours - two of the biggest killers.
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I almost died from superbug, says actress Kathy Burke - Daily Mail 10th January 2008
Actress Kathy Burke has revealed that she nearly died after contracting a superbug in hospital. The 43-year-old comedienne-turned-theatre-director caught Clostridium difficile last year when she was being treated for abdominal problems and a glandular condition.
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Children exposed to lead 'at risk of Alzheimer's' - Daily Mail 9th January 2008
Children exposed to lead in old paint, Victorian water pipes and unsafe toys could be at risk of Alzheimer's later in life, scientists have said. A study shows that even small amounts of the dangerous metal in the first few years can cause changes in the brain associated with the devastating disease.
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Online drug shopping 'widespread' - BBC Health News 10th January 2008
More than two million people in the UK now buy their drugs online, research published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPSGB) suggests. Up to a third of these medicines may be fake and could seriously damage people's health, it warns. The society has launched a new logo for online chemists so shoppers know which businesses are reputable.
Patient on trolley for 30 hours - BBC Health News 9th January 2008
A hospital has apologised to patients after a dramatic rise in admissions resulted in one man waiting 30 hours on a trolley before a bed could be found. The University Hospital of North Staffordshire said it had been getting 180 patients per day who needed beds, when normally it expected about 110. William McAuliffe, of Cheadle, said his 72-year-old father, William, was left in "shameful" conditions.
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Porn doctor's practise 'impaired' - BBC Health News 9th January 2008
A doctor addicted to pornography impaired his fitness to practise by looking at sexual images on a hospital computer, a conduct panel has decided. Anaesthetist Dr James Christopher Angel worked at Scarborough Hospital when he viewed the pictures on theatre and departmental computers.
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Hospital bug strategy is set out - BBC Health News 9th January 2008
Ministers are confident a raft of measures will help tackle potentially lethal hospital infections. The infection strategy for England includes more infection control nurses, patient screening, deep cleaning and campaign to cut antibiotic use.
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Scientists discover way to stop breast cancer spreading - The Independent 10th January 2008
Scientists have found a way of preventing the spread of breast cancer, in a study that could lead to new forms of treatment based on preventing tumours from moving from one part of the body to another. Most deaths from cancer occur when tumours spread from their site of origin and the researchers believe they have found a way of manipulating the set of genes that appear to control the lethal movement of breast tumour cells into the bones and lungs.
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Molecule that could halt breast cancer found - The Telegraph 10th January 2008
UCLA drug aids Alzheimer's patient 'in minutes' - The Telegraph 10th January 2008
An Alzheimer's patient improved "within minutes" of being injected with a new drug in a scientific breakthrough against the disease, it has emerged. After being injected in the spine with a treatment for arthritis called etanercept, the 89-year-old could remember the date and his doctor's name and say where he was - which he had been unable to do only 10 minutes earlier.
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Dementia drug instant hit claim - BBC Health News 10th January 2008
Under 7s 'should be banned from playing computer games or risk damaging their brains' - Daily Mail 10th January 2008
Children should be banned from playing computer games until the age of seven because the technology is "rewiring" their brains, it is claimed. Bombardment of the senses with fast-pace action games is said to be causing a shortening of attention span, harming the ability to learn.
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Africa 'being drained of doctors' - BBC Health News 10th January 2008
Many African countries now have more doctors and nurses working in richer countries abroad than they have at home, research shows. There has long been concern about the exodus of African medics, but the Human Resources for Health study suggests the problem may be greater than assumed.
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Spain abortion clinics on strike - BBC Health News 9th January 2008
The private clinics that carry out more than 90% of legal abortions in Spain have begun a week-long strike calling for changes to the law. They say women and doctors should have better legal protection. The strike is expected to affect up to 2,000 women.
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Cheshire and Merseyside Health News
Articles relating to mass media Health Stories about the Cheshire and Merseyside patch of the NHS in the North West of England.
Women’s Hospital in staff bullying claim - Liverpool Daily Post - 9th January 2008
LIVERPOOL Women’s Hospital was forced to bring in actors to help staff recognise bullying behaviour, after it was revealed it had one of the worst rates of harassment from management. According to the latest data from the Health Care Commission, 14% of staff at the trust which runs Liverpool’s Women’s experienced bullying or harassment from managers or team leaders in the past 12 months. The national average was just 8% and the trust’s score meant it had the second worst score in the country.
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Five Mersey hospitals fail to start deep clean against MRSA - Liverpool Daily Post - 9th January 2008
FIVE hospital trusts in the region are yet to start a “deep clean” to stamp out deadly superbugs, with a deadline just weeks away. In September, Gordon Brown ordered all hospitals to bleach and steam clean ceilings, walls, radiators, equipment, lifts and furnishings in a new drive against MRSA and Clostridium difficile. The process, which must be completed by the end of March, can take several months, because it involves moving patients to different bays, or even closing entire wards.
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Cumbria and Lancashire Health News
Articles relating to mass media Health Stories about the Cumbria and Lancashire patch of the NHS in the North West of England.
Health changes - Carlisle News & Star 9th January 2008
PROPOSED changes to health care in north Cumbria have won “enthusiastic” backing from the county council. But councillors are worried that the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven could be left without enough beds to care for the patients which need its services. Bosses at Cumbria Primary Care Trust are consulting on their ‘Closer to Home’ plan to reshape services and ensure the survival of cottage hospitals.
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Town hall health scheme launched today - Lancashire Telegraph 10th January 2008
PEOPLE will be able to access NHS services at Blackburn town hall under a new scheme being launched today. A hotline' has been installed in the town hall which visitors can use to get advice about health services in the area. From the end of March onwards four staff from Blackburn with Darwen Teaching Primary Care Trust (NHS Blackburn with Darwen) will also be based in the town hall to answer queries about health care services and address residents' health concerns.
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Greater Manchester Health News
Articles relating to mass media Health Stories about the Greater Manchester patch of the NHS in the North West of England.
MSRA award for nurses - Manchester Evening News 9th January 2008
NURSES who used a pioneering skin wash to dramatically cut cases of MRSA have won a national award. The specialist infection control team at Stockport's Stepping Hill Hospital used a US disinfectant called ChloraPrep to reduce the number of potentially-deadly infections by a quarter.
Wards reopen following winter vomiting virus - The Bolton News 9th January 2008
WARDS at the Royal Bolton Hospital have now re-opened following an outbreak of the winter vomiting virus. But two intermediate care homes, which care for people too ill to be in a residential home but not sick enough to be in hospital, have been forced to isolate patients after they were struck down by the virus.
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Baby dies after 'blunders' - Manchester Evening News 8th January 2008
A BABY who was taken to hospital with suspected meningitis after developing a red rash on her body died following a number of blunders by medical staff, an inquest heard. Mum Nicola Gilworth feared her daughter, 11-month-old Macy, was suffering from the bug when she took her to Tameside Hospital in September 2006.
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UK Health News
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Mass media stories about Health News from the UK.
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Screening must be backed by treatment | The Guardian | The Guardian Unlimited - 9th January 2008
We warmly welcome the prime minister's announcement that a screening programme for heart disease, stroke and diabetes is to be introduced in England and Wales (PM 'failed to consult doctors' over health screening plan, January 8). However, if this announcement is to have a real health impact then it is important that the programme is based on the existing best-practice guidelines for vascular screening, produced by the Joint British Societies, and that it focuses on those groups at the highest risk of developing cardiovascular disease, such as the over-40s.
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The question: How safe are epidurals? | Society | The Guardian - 9th January 2008
The general consensus seems to be that epidurals are, basically, safe. A quick trawl through Mumsnet reveals that, of those who had an epidural, very few experienced any complications. Then again, none of them had an epidural fed into their arm like Mayra Cabrera. On Monday, an inquest heard that she died of an epidural-induced heart attack after giving birth to son Zac in a Swindon hospital.
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Supermarket food 'contains more fat and salt than quoted on label' - The Independent Online Edition - 9th January 2008
Ready meals and breakfast cereals often contain far more fat and salt than claimed on their packaging, according to new research that may make shoppers think twice about eating convenience food. Laboratory tests found manufacturers of processed food often misled consumers, with some products having up to 91 per cent more fat than was stated on the label. Unrealistically small portion sizes encouraged people to underestimate the calories they were consuming, while some "healthy" supermarket products had more salt or sugar than economy ranges.
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Bonfire of quangos ‘is unnecessary and puts patient safety at risk’ - The Times Online - 9th January 2008
The merger of the health and social care watchdogs as part of Gordon Brown’s “bonfire of the quangos” will pose a significant risk to patients for years, experts told MPs yesterday. The Government plans to streamline the three bodies that monitor hospitals, care homes and mental health services into one powerful “super-regulator”, known as the Care Quality Commission, by April next year. The plan was set out by Mr Brown in 2005, while he was still Chancellor, and is going through Parliament in the Health and Social Care Bill.
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Revolutionary new cataract treatment offers vision of life without glasses - The Times Online - 9th January 2008
Patients who have cataracts could soon be reading the small print of The Times without glasses, according to eye specialists. New techniques that use the latest eye implants promise to restore the sight of patients for both long and short distances, potentially eliminating their need for spectacles. Cataract patients are being recruited for a study in London hospitals to compare the latest high-tech lenses that are implanted into the eye with those available on the NHS. Using the “multifocal” lenses, eight out of ten patients can give up wearing glasses after surgery. But researchers suggest that a cheaper solution, in which one eye is given a long-distance lens and the other a lens for reading, could have comparable benefits. With this “monovision” technique, the brain accommodates two eyes that see the world differently, and adjust to form the clearest image, they say.
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First patient given pacemaker that can beat fainting attacks - The Times Online - 9th January 2008
A London hospital has become the first in the world to implant a new generation of pacemaker designed to prevent fainting. A 65-year-old man from West London was fitted with the device under local anaesthetic at St Mary’s Hospital this week. The Biotronik Cylos 990 pacemaker detects subtle changes in the body before a fainting episode and then works to prevent it. Fainting occurs when the bloodflow to the brain is reduced. One in three people is thought to experience fainting, but some have frequent blackouts that disrupt their lives seriously.
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Inquiry faults DoH in junior doctor training - The Telegraph - 9th January 2008
Responsibility for medical training should be stripped from the Department of Health and given to a new body, a damning report into the junior doctor fiasco has said. Billions of pounds should be removed from the core health service budget and handed over to NHS Medical Education England so funds can never again be raided to pay off hospital debts, the independent inquiry recommended. The inquiry, led by Sir John Tooke, the dean of the Peninsula College of Medicine in Exeter, was ordered after the national online application system broke down last year, leaving tens of thousands of junior doctors with an uncertain future. There were almost 28,000 applicants for 15,500 training posts in England last year and this year competition will be even worse.
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Health ministry criticised over doctors' reform | Society | The Guardian - 9th January 2008
Inquiry is first step to a better NHS - The Telegraph - 9th January 2008
Midwives struggle in labour ward crisis - The Telegraph - 9th January 2008
The crisis on labour wards has been laid bare by figures that show some midwives are dealing with 25 per cent more births than six years ago. A critical shortage of staff and a rise in the number of births has increased pressure on midwives to breaking point. In some areas, half of new mothers questioned in the largest midwifery study said they had been left alone and worried during labour, even though guidelines say women should have one-to-one care throughout their contractions and birth. Government figures given to the Liberal Democrats show that the number of births per midwife per year has risen overall in England by 6.5 per cent since 2001.
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Mother-to-be was third in family to die at 22 - The Telegraph - 9th January 2008
A woman who died during childbirth was the third expectant mother from her family to be killed by a brain haemorrhage at the age of 22, an inquest heard yesterday. An error in hospital administration meant that Kelly Hutchings did not see a consultant until she was gravely ill, despite her family history, the hearing was told. Keith Wiseman, the Southampton coroner, said he found it "incredible" that her case had "slipped through the net". He described it as "like going through six or seven red lights and not realising". Miss Hutchings, from Fareham, Hants, died at Southampton General Hospital after a brain haemorrhage caused by the rare condition, deep cerebral venous thrombosis.
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Woman whose family history was overlooked died while giving birth - The Times Online - 9th January 2008
Gordon Brown's tough stance on cannabis - The Telegraph - 9th January 2008
Cannabis is expected to be reclassified as a class B drug as part of Gordon Brown's drive to show Labour's softer line on some drug use is over, it was reported. This will mean people found in possession of the drug could face a five-year jail term and an unlimited fine. The Prime Minister signalled in July his intention to reverse the former home secretary David Blunkett's decision to reclassify cannabis as a class C drug in 2001 - a decision that came into force three years later. He ordered a review by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and let it be known he wanted a toughening of the drugs laws.
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Gordon Brown planning clampdown on cannabis over health concerns - The Times Online - 9th January 2008
Stop giving antibiotics for colds, doctors told - The Telegraph 9th January 2008
Doctors are to be told to stop prescribing antibiotics for coughs, colds and sore throats because over-use of the drugs is fuelling the spread of killer hospital superbugs. Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, says it is time to end the unnecessary use of penicillin and other commonly-prescribed pills, which cost the NHS £1.7 billion a year.
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Antibiotics for cough and colds fuels spread of superbugs, doctors are told - The Times Online - 9th January 2008
Pushy patients blamed for rise of superbugs | Society | The Guardian - 9th January 2008
Antibiotics: a precious resource - The Telegraph 9th January 2008
We humans have a wonderful ability to become complacent about even the most life-threatening of dangers; once we believe we have a reliable and easily accessible means to defend ourselves, then any risk becomes so much more relative. Even thirty years ago when I started out in general practice, the spectre of bacterial infections and the many life threatening diseases they wrought were the source of far more real fear than they are today partly because more people could remember what it was like not to have antibiotics. Despite the arrival of penicillin even the common-or-garden sore throat was perceived to be a real danger right up until the late 50s and early 60s. "Strep throat" could and often did lead to any number of nasty diseases; "rheumatic fever", for example which, if it didn't kill you, could leave the sufferer with life long heart problems and more.
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Help your heart with exercise - and booze | Society | The Guardian - 9th January
Moderate drinkers are at 30% lower risk of heart disease than teetotallers, according to a study of nearly 12,000 people. And those who combine a mild tipple with regular exercise are even less likely to die of the disease. Their risk is between 44% and 50% lower than couch potatoes who abstain from alcohol. The team behind the 20-year study said that previous research has shown that moderate drinking and exercise both lower the risk of heart disease. But this is the first time scientists have quantified the benefits of both together.
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2½ bottles of wine a week can save your life - The Times Online - 9th January 2008
Live longer with a pint and kickabout - The Telegraph - 9th January 2008
Slimming pill that works by reversing 'cannabis munchies' - Daily Mail 9th January 2007
A slimming pill based on cannabis-induced food cravings could help reduce weight without the need for exercise or diets. In clinical trials, volunteers taking the experimental drug taranabant consumed a third fewer calories than those on a dummy pill and lost "significant" weight within 12 weeks. A larger trial involving thousands of obese patients in the U.S. is under way.
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Five Mersey hospitals fail to start deep clean against MRSA - Liverpool Daily Post - 9th January 2008
FIVE hospital trusts in the region are yet to start a “deep clean” to stamp out deadly superbugs, with a deadline just weeks away. In September, Gordon Brown ordered all hospitals to bleach and steam clean ceilings, walls, radiators, equipment, lifts and furnishings in a new drive against MRSA and Clostridium difficile. The process, which must be completed by the end of March, can take several months, because it involves moving patients to different bays, or even closing entire wards.
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Women’s Hospital in staff bullying claim - Liverpool Daily Post - 9th January 2008
LIVERPOOL Women’s Hospital was forced to bring in actors to help staff recognise bullying behaviour, after it was revealed it had one of the worst rates of harassment from management. According to the latest data from the Health Care Commission, 14% of staff at the trust which runs Liverpool’s Women’s experienced bullying or harassment from managers or team leaders in the past 12 months. The national average was just 8% and the trust’s score meant it had the second worst score in the country.
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Wards Close As Virus Hits (from This Is Cheshire) - 9th January 2008
WYTHENSHAWE and Trafford General hospitals have been hit by a highly contagious stomach bug that is sweeping the country. Wythenshawe had to close a ward to new admissions after 14 patients and three staff were diagnosed with the norovirus, which causes sickness and diarrhoea. And Trafford General shut a medical ward and the orthopaedic unit to new admissions, when 21 patients showed symptoms over the weekend. Orthopaedic operations may have to be cancelled. Further tests are being carried out after four patients in Trafford's Seymour rehabilitation unit became unwell and started vomiting.
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UK Health News
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Mass media stories about Health News from the UK.
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No doctor required - The Guardian 8th January 2008
The first person you turn to when ill need not be your GP - your pharmacist may know more than you think.
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Quackery and superstition - available soon on the NHS - The Guardian 8th January 2008
A sharp line has to be drawn between fact and fiction when it comes to spending public funds on alternative therapies
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Symptoms of an ailing health service - The Guardian 8th January 2008
"For all the carping, at the age of 60, the NHS is looking in rude good health," says Polly Toynbee (January 4). In reality, the NHS is being commercialised beyond recognition; NHS services are being deliberately destabilised to establish a competitive market system incorporating for-profit private providers, in place of a planned system of public health care. Prior to 1997, the NHS was buying less than £200m a year of private treatment; this is estimated to have increased to £4bn by 2007. As much as 15% of cherry-picked elective surgery will be hived off to private hospitals, leaving NHS trusts to cover the complex and Cinderella services. PFI schemes worth more than £5bn have been completed since 1997, with another £12bn under negotiation - all of them locking trusts into costly, long-term leasehold deals.
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Five ways to ... beat the January blues - The Guardian 8th January 2008
The joys of January: tight waistbands, echoing bank accounts, winter vomiting viruses, failed detox regimes, back-to-work blues. According to the Samaritans, suicide levels peak around now. Last year psychologists even declared January 24 to be the most depressing day of the year. To stop the rot -
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Stillbirth: Life after loss - The Independent 8th January 2008
Their first baby, Jake, was stillborn. Now Andrew and Rachel Canter want to prevent other parents from suffering the same agonising grief.
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Your health questions answered - The Independent 8th January 2008
My 14-year-old daughter has developed a tender lump at the top of her shin bone. It seems to swell and then go down. Her PE teacher said it will go away by itself if she rests, but she is a keen hockey player and it is difficult to persuade her not to play
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Truth about fitness: Will those sit-ups ever pay off? - The Independent 8th January 2008
If you're feeling the pain but not getting any gain, maybe you've fallen for a gym mantra that's more fiction than fact. Fitness expert Graeme Hilditch sets the record straight
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'Ring-fence billions for junior doctor training' - The Telegraph 8th January 2008
Billions of pounds for junior doctors' training should be taken out of the NHS and given to a new medical education body, an independent inquiry will conclude. The inquiry into the junior doctor recruitment crisis will recommend moving at least £2.6 billion to a body called NHS Medical Education for England that would oversee training and fund courses, study leave and a proportion of juniors' salaries. There are too many organisations involved in training and budgets have been raided to pay off hospital debts, according to the inquiry, led by Sir John Tooke, the dean of the Peninsula College of Medicine in Exeter.
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Department of Health ‘must be stripped of doctors’ training role’ - The Times 8th January 2008
UK 'among worst for preventable deaths' - The Telegraph 8th January 2007
Britain has one of the highest death tolls from treatable conditions despite record investment in healthcare, new research shows. In a blow for the NHS, the UK is still languishing near the bottom of a league table, ranked in 16th place out of 19 developed countries for deaths from treatable conditions. More than a quarter of deaths among men and a third of deaths in women under the age of 75 in the UK in 2002-03 were from conditions considered treatable, compared with 15 per cent for men and 25 per cent for women in France.
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Teenage girl who lived on chips for 10 years - The Telegraph 8th January 2008
A girl of 15 has eaten almost nothing but chips for the past 10 years. Faye Campbell suffered a rare condition which made her ill every time she tried anything other than chips. Her parents, Carolyn, 37, and Mark, 39, said they have been driven mad by their daughter's diet.
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Scrapping cancer tests 'puts women in danger' - The Telegraph 8th January 2008
Young women in England are being put at risk of developing cervical cancer because they are no longer routinely screened, experts warn in a new report.
Unlike Wales and Scotland, where screening still starts at the age of 20, in England women aged 20 to 24 were taken out of the national cervical cancer screening programme in 2004.
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Only 50 hospitals have so far been 'deep cleaned' to prevent superbug infections - Daily Mail 8th January 2008
Only 50 hospitals have so far been 'deep cleaned' to prevent superbug infections ahead of a March deadline, a minister admitted yesterday. Gordon Brown pledged at the Labour party conference last September that every single hospital in England will have completed the process by the end of March.
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Vomiting cases to soar as millions head back to work - Daily Mail 7th January 2008
Parents are today urged to disinfect TV remote controls, computer keyboards and phones to protect their families from the sickness bug sweeping the country. The advice comes as experts fear the number of cases of norovirus - which causes uncontrollable projectile vomiting - will soar this week as millions return to work and school after the Christmas break.
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Healthy living 'can add 14 years' - BBC Health News 8th January 2008
Taking exercise, drinking moderately, eating sufficient fruit and vegetables and not smoking can add as much as 14 years to your life, a study has found. Research involving 20,000 people over a decade found those who failed on all criteria were four times more likely to have died than those who succeeded.
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Healthy life 'can give you another 14 years' - The Telegraph 8th January 2008
Smear test call for young women - BBC Health News 8th January 2008
Women in their early 20s should be screened for cervical cancer, a study has said. Under-25s have been excluded from such checks in England since 2004 because of relatively few cancers being detected, and concerns about invasive treatments. But researchers in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care say this may put them at a higher risk of developing cancer.
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MP's 'life-saving' cord blood bid - BBC Health News 8th January 2008
An MP is to launch a bid to get doctors to offer parents the option of storing their baby's umbilical cord blood. Tory MP David Burrowes is to present a bill to Parliament about the potentially life-saving technique. Cord blood is rich in stem cells that can treat diseases such as leukaemia and - some believe if technology advances - Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
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MRSA 'could be treated at home' - BBC Health News 7th January 2008
Up to a third of people with MRSA could be discharged from hospital and treated at home with antibiotics, experts say. They say moving away from treating patients in hospital with antibiotics administered into their veins could save the NHS significant sums of money. The issue is discussed by independent experts in a report, funded by the drug company Pfizer, about managing MRSA.
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Elderly care funding reform plea - BBC Health News 7th January 2008
Most people would be happy to contribute to the costs of long-term care for the elderly but want a fairer system, a report suggests. A consultation of 700 people showed high levels of dissatisfaction with means testing and the "postcode lottery" over social care entitlements.
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Tiny changes created STI strain - BBC Health News 7th January 2008
Tiny genetic mutations were enough to create a virulent form of chlamydia that causes serious sexual disease in men, researchers say. An international study found the strain that causes lymphogranuloma vernerum (LGV) is very similar to other forms of chlamydia, past and present.
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Royal Marsden reopens after fire - BBC Health News 7th January 2008
The Royal Marsden Hospital has reopened to out-patients after fire swept through the roof, damaging two wards and five operating theatres. About 350 staff and patients were forced to leave the world-renowned treatment centre in west London when the fire broke out on Wednesday. The hospital's chemotherapy and radiotherapy departments began operating as normal on Monday morning.
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Health screening plans unveiled - BBC Health News 7th January 2008
Patients in England will be offered screening for early signs of heart disease, stroke and kidney disease, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said. He said he wanted a more "personalised" NHS with a bigger focus on prevention. Doctors' representatives accused the PM of "inconsistency" because of recent cuts to funding for such conditions.
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Additional Stories
PM 'failed to consult doctors' over health screening plan - The Guardian 8th January 2008
Simon Hoggart's sketch: Brown's bedside manner: 'patient - heal thyself' - The Guardian 8th January 2008
Dr Brown's medicine - The Guardian 8th January 2008
Doctors criticise PM's prescription for the NHS - The Independent 8th January 2008
Chronically ill to get care budgets to choose their treatment on NHS - The Times 8th January 2008
Gordon Brown promises free health MoT for all - The Telegraph 8th January 2008
Gordon Brown must accept limits of the NHS - The Telegraph 8th January 2008
Preventative NHS is healthy investment - The Telegraph 8th January 2008
Gordon Brown's new health initiatives - The Telegraph 8th January 2008
Newborn twins beat 140,000-1 odds - BBC Health News 7th January 2008
A pair of twins have beaten odds of 140,000-1 by being born with a shared birth sac and placenta. Emma Canning gave birth to Hannah and Sophie on 27 December by Caesarean section at Birmingham Women's Hospital. Scientists remain mystified as to how the rare type of pregnancy - known as monoamniotic - occurs.
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Man deported after wife's inquest - BBC Health News 7th January 2008
A Filipino man is being deported from Britain because his wife, who died after childbirth, is no longer working here, an inquest jury heard. Arnel Cabrera's wife Mayra, 30, died after an epidural anaesthetic was wrongly injected into her arm in 2004.
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Additional Stories
Epidural error during birth killed mother - The Guardian 8th January 2008
Mother died after epidural injected into her arm - The Telegraph 8th January 2008
Mother died after epidural 'was injected into her arm instead of her spine' - Daily Mail 7th January 2008
Cosmetic clinics 'downplay risks' - BBC Health News 7th January 2008
Some cosmetic surgery clinics are using aggressive marketing and putting sales before patient safety, according to consumer group Which?. Undercover researchers at 19 clinics found the risks of procedures were often played down during sales pitches.
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Shy men more at risk of heart attack - The Telegraph 8th January 2008
Men who are socially awkward or have irrational phobias are at significantly greater risk of suffering a heart attack, according to research. Scientists found that men who displayed high levels of shyness, excessive tension under stress, fear of animals, objects or situations, or had irrational compulsions were 30 to 40 per cent more likely to have heart disease leading to an attack.
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Sunshine vitamin 'protects the heart as well as bones,' researchers find - Daily Mail 7th January 2008
Vitamin D may protect against heart attacks and strokes on top of its traditional role in keeping bones strong. Researchers found those with low blood levels of the sunshine vitamin were twice as likely to suffer heart failure, a heart attack or a stroke than those with higher levels. The risk was still 62 per cent after adjusting for well-established risk factors such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
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Enjoy the sun on doctor's orders - The Guardian 8th January 2008
China unveils healthcare scheme - BBC Health News 7th January 2008
China's health minister has announced an ambitious programme to provide basic healthcare for every citizen in the world's most populous nation. Chen Zhu said the Healthy China 2020 programme would provide a universal national health service and promote equal access to public services. Mr Chen was speaking at the national Health Forum in Beijing.
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Circumcision 'does not curb sex' - BBC Health News 7th January 2008
Circumcision does not reduce sexual satisfaction and so there should be no reservations about using this method as a way to combat HIV, a study says. Nearly 5,000 Ugandan men were recruited for the study. Half were circumcised, half had yet to undergo surgery.
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