Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Contents

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National News


We don't browbeat women into having caesareans - The Guardian 19/09/06

Doctors are responsible for both mother and baby, and we mostly advise a natural birth, says Florence Wilcock



Doctors' leaders deny agreeing to closures - The Guardian 18/09/06

Doctors' leaders today denied they had made any agreement with the government in support of mass hospital closures.

Doctors back mass hospital closures - The Observer 17/09/06

Doctors back NHS closures -The Independent 17/09/06



BT picks insider to salvage London NHS IT - The Guardian 18/09/06

BT has hired the chief executive of Barts and the London NHS Trust, which runs St Bartholomew's Hospital and the Royal London Hospital, to head up its work on the upgrade of the capital's health IT systems. Paul White will take up his post in the new year.




Leave the morning-after pill alone! - The Guardian 18/09/06

If there's one thing that the Daily Mail actively hates (and let's face it, there are thousands: working mothers, single women, people who flagrantly enjoy themselves ...) contraception being made available to teenagers definitely figures high up on the list. The subject regularly features negatively on their pages, and, last Friday, it made the front page. Apparently, overall use of emergency contraception has doubled in the past six years, while teenage pregnancy rates have risen by 12%. Ergo, reports the Mail, the government's decision to make the morning-after pill available to teenagers has, officially, been "a dramatic failure".



A shameful way to treat the mentally ill - The Observer 17/09/06

Occasionally, over the course of history, sufferers of mental illness have been venerated as prophets and seers. Far more often, they have been cast out of society and subjected to degrading abuse.

No refuge, no shelter - The Observer 17/09/06



The poisonous truth about our daily bread - The Observer 17/09/06

It's thought of as the staff of life, but the truth is that some loaves are actually harming us


Screening cuts raise breast cancer risk - The Observer 17/09/06

Women are being forced to wait up to two years longer than they should for breast cancer screening because of financial cutbacks and staff shortages


Health panel: How can I manage my terminal cancer? - The Observer 17/09/06

He has cancer between his nose and throat, and has only a few years to live. Can he increase his life expectancy by taking food supplements? Three experts offer their advice


Hotels are the new hospitals - The Observer 17/09/06

Patients at London hospitals can now check in to local hotels if they want a touch more comfort than the NHS provides. For the past year, cancer patients have been able to recuperate in a room with an en suite bathroom at the Radisson Edwardian Grafton and the scheme has now been extended to patients at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, using nearby hotels.


Pill can fend off risk of diabetes, say scientists - The Guardian 16/09/06

A once or twice daily pill that makes the body more sensitive to insulin can help prevent type 2 diabetes, scientists said yesterday, potentially helping to stem the soaring numbers of people with the disease caused by the obesity epidemic.

Drug offers hope to beat diabetes epidemic - The Independent 16/09/06

Drug slashes risk of developing diabetes - The Times 16/09/06

Drug can help cut diabetes risk, say researchers - The Telegraph 16/09/06

Drug that could prevent people developing diabetes - Daily Mail 15/09/06

Drug 'could slash diabetes cases' - BBC Health News 15/09/06


Hewitt advisers deny political targeting of hospital closures - The Guardian 16/09/06

The government last night denied having a secret plan to target NHS hospital closures on constituencies where the least damage would be done to Labour's chances of winning the next election.

Call for inquiry into NHS ploy - The Times 16/09/06

The critical list - The Telegraph 17/09/06

There was no fix over health cuts, says Labour - The Telegraph 16/09/06

Labour accused over hospital cuts - BBC Health News 15/09/06


Jowell joins condemnation of 'stick-thin' catwalk models - The Guardian 16/09/06

Pressure intensified on the organisers of London fashion week yesterday as the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, warned of the dangers of girls starving themselves to emulate waif-like supermodels.

'Kneejerk' ban on skinny models - The Times 18/09/06


You booze, you lose - The Guardian 16/09/06

Going to the pub after work may seem a harmless form of stress relief, but, says Brigid Delaney, it can harm your health and your career


Family forum - The Guardian 16/09/06

How can I deal with my child's nut allergy? After a lifetime pouring scorn on people who tell all and sundry that their child has a nut allergy, guess what's happened? My daughter had an anaphylactic shock episode. She's OK now, but it was a bit hairy. Turns out she's got a rather nasty allergy to tree nuts. She's fine with peanuts and pistachios, which are the nuts we eat (a lot) at home. So we're avoiding walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, macadamias, almonds etc pending a consultation. I am determined not to wrap her in cotton wool, because there's nothing worse than being defined by an illness or an allergy. Is anyone able to offer any advice?


So, you want them to be happy? - The Guardian 16/09/06

Libby Brooks unpicks the current panic about childhood, and explores how adults can support children's own efforts to cope with the real challenges of modern life


Max H Pittler: Boosting your immunity - The Guardian 16/09/06

I was diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica [swollen muscles] last April and was prescribed prednisolone. Since June, I have been on 2.5mg a day and will be taking it for at least another month. I take a multivitamin/mineral supplement and silica - nothing else for fear of interaction with the medication. Is there anything I could take to boost my immune system? I have had the flu jab for the past five years, but in the past two years I caught flu anyway. Should I stop taking it? I am a 62-year-old woman.


Out of control? Botox addicts - The Independent 17/09/06

It is Britain's most popular cosmetic procedure. But experts say our fixation with the skin-smoothing jab is getting out of control

Plastic surgery: the new addiction - The Sunday Times 17/09/06

Fear over the 'lunchtime facelift' as experts say Botox is addictive - The Telegraph 17/09/06

Botox therapy 'may be addictive' - BBC Health News 18/09/06


'Idiot' junk-food parents feel the wrath of Jamie - The Independent 17/09/06

Jamie Oliver last night vented his anger at parents who wilfully ignore and even "sabotage" his healthy eating manifesto.


Stephen Fry: My battle with mental illness - The Independent 17/09/06

The comic actor talks openly for the first time about the self-loathing brought about by his bipolar disorder


The appeal of yoga stretches to Britain's stressed-out children - The Independent 16/09/06

Yoga has long been used to relieve stress and improve posture. Now the benefits of the ancient discipline are being used by schools to improve concentration and help relaxation.


Pregnant women ignore advice and keep drinking - The Times 19/09/06

THOUSANDS of women are putting their babies at risk of permanent brain damage by drinking more than the recommended level of alcohol during their pregnancy.



Chief vet issues new alert over bird flu - The Times 19/09/06

BRITAIN has stepped up its defences against the deadly strain of avian flu and is to increase surveillance at the most likely disease hotspots.



Trusts slow to appoint leaders - The Times 19/09/06

DOZENS of new primary care trusts (PCTs) formed as a result of a Department of Health reorganisation, are still lacking chairmen despite being due to start work next month.



Row over nurse-led clinics - The Times 19/09/06

NURSE-LED clinics — do they lengthen lives or risk shortening them? In the blue corner, Nursing Standard (Sept 13) reports on research which found that survival rates for people with coronary heart disease across the European Union improved when patients were cared for by nurse-managed teams. Patients whose treatment was given by a GP alone fared worse.



How worthy is research? - The Times 19/09/06

FRAUDULENT, prone to bias and deeply flawed — that’s the damning assessment by someone who should know the state of research published in medical journals, given that he worked for one for 25 years.



New medical research - The Times 19/09/06

Giving anti-inflammatory drugs to patients after hip-replacement surgery could do them more harm than good, according to a study in the British Medical Journal (Sept 12) by the George Institute for International Health. The study, performed in orthopaedic centres in Australia and New Zealand, says that while the common anti-inflammatory drug, ibuprofen, did not cut patients’ pain or disability up to 12 months after the operation, it appeared to increase their risk of major bleeding.



Hospital safety body - The Sunday Times 17/09/06

THE absence of proper accountability has unfortunately led to complacency among doctors (Arrogant surgeons ‘risk another Bristol babies scandal’, News, September 3).


Wounded Iraq troops given danger drug - The Sunday Times 17/09/06

THE Ministry of Defence has been accused of playing “Russian roulette” with soldiers’ lives after it admitted using an unlicensed drug linked to 67 deaths in America.


Don't eat greens? It's all in the genes - The Sunday Times 17/09/06

CHILDREN who refuse to eat their greens may have a new excuse: they are genetically programmed to dislike vegetables.


'Pharm' goats give birth to new drugs - The Sunday Times 17/09/06

BRITISH patients could soon be using the world’s first medicine derived from transgenic animals after European regulators approved a drug produced by genetically modified goats.


Couples face ban on IVF twins - The Sunday Times 17/09/06

WOMEN may be prevented from having twins through IVF treatment because so many are being born that they are swamping intensive-care units.


Surgical breakthrough could save NHS up to £500m a year - The Times 16/09/06

THE National Health Service could save at least £500 million a year by adopting techniques that could halve the recovery time of patients after surgery.


Secret pay of defence union boss is attacked by doctors - The Times 16/09/06

DOCTORS and dentists reacted with dismay yesterday to the discovery that the head of their legal defence body was being paid a secret salary of £450,000.



Mothers' junk food school run - The Times 16/09/06

TWO mothers have started a fast-food delivery service to schoolchildren in response to the healthy dinner campaign by the chef Jamie Oliver.

Mrs Chips takes orders for the school dinners run - The Telegraph 16/09/06

School refuses to compromise with junk food mums - The Times 19/09/06

Parents and head in school dinner talks - The Guardian 18/09/06


Faking it? The tyranny of the female orgasm - The Times 16/09/06

Yes, yes — well, no. Germaine Greer, who’s in a film about vibrators, cuts the Big O down to size


110 major computer failures hit NHS - The Telegraph 19/09/06

Hospitals have been hit by 110 "major incidents" in four months as the health service's £12 billion computer system expands nationally, a report claims today.

NHS computer system breaks down 110 times in four months - The Guardian 19/09/06

Patients left waiting on operating tables by computer failures - The Times 19/09/06

Concern over NHS IT 'glitches' - BBC Health News 18/09/06



Everyone has a stake in childhood - The Telegraph 19/09/06

With family breakdown now so sadly familiar in this country, the system of children in care has fallen into a state of crisis. That is why The Children's Society yesterday launched a national call for evidence for Britain's first independent inquiry into childhood.

Archbishop warns of 'crisis' in modern childhood - The Independent 18/09/06

Children surely deserve more than rising despair - The Guardian 19/09/06

Pressures making teenage life a misery, warns charity - The Guardian 19/09/06

'School just isn't fun any more' - The Guardian 19/09/06

Archbishop warns of huge pressures on children - The Guardian 18/09/06


How to get Britons moving again - The Telegraph 19/09/06

Modern sedentary lifestyles in Britain are to be the subject of a major study to find out how they contribute to expanding waistlines.


Trust me, I'm a junior doctor: times are a-changing - The Telegraph 18/09/06

Openess about sexuality has made so many lives better - doctors' included, says Max Pemberton


A better way to treat cancer - The Telegraph 18/09/06

Karol Sikora has spent years fighting within the NHS to improve care. Here, he reveals plans that he hopes will revolutionise treatment


Too many women have been fobbed off - The Telegraph 18/09/06

For more than a decade Cassandra Hamilton was in agony, and yet the cause was one of the most common gynaecological disorders



Have a say on health, ministers urged. Then they turned a deaf ear - The Telegraph 17/09/06

A £1 million public consultation into the future of NHS services has been exposed as a "sham" by an official Government evaluation into the landmark project.


Injured troops put into mixed civilian wards - The Telegraph 17/09/06

Soldiers injured on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq are being treated alongside civilian patients on mixed wards in National Health Service hospitals, it can be revealed.


Nish Joshi's Q&A - The Telegraph 17/09/06

I am 32 and have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). I have suffered irregular periods, weight gain and acne, so my gynaecologist prescribed the type-2 diabetes drug Metformin for two periods of three months. I lost nearly two stone because it made me feel so sick, and my periods gradually returned. But, 14 months on, the weight and symptoms have returned. What can I do? Amanda


'Poor' standards of hygiene found at 52 NHS hospitals - The Telegraph 17/09/06

Patients at more than 50 National Health Service hospitals have to put up with dirty and degrading surroundings, an official Government survey reveals.


Labour's child poverty drive is flawed, says its own adviser - The Telegraph 17/09/06

The Government has been criticised for the "politically motivated" and flawed design of its Sure Start programme by a member of the scheme's evaluation committee.


Food glorious food - The Telegraph 16/09/06

Despite the best efforts of Jamie Oliver, British children continue to gorge on junk food. Meanwhile, in America, they are growing their own fruit and veg at school. Rose Prince visits a ground-breaking scheme in California that puts our school dinners to shame



Ketchup has the last laugh - The Telegraph 16/09/06

Worried about her son’s restricted diet, Katie Tait seeks reassurance from a pragmatic dietician



Cash clinic: medics want to ensure they're financially healthy in retirement - The Telegraph 16/09/06

The sooner you start to plan for retirement, the easier it is to achieve the desired result. That is why Ursula and Mark Arnold from Birchgrove, Swansea, are considering their options now while there is enough time to act.



GP tells cancer mum: 'You're wasting my time' - Daily Mail 18/09/06

A mother of two who died of cancer was reduced to tears after her doctor told her she had swollen glands and was wasting his time.


Young people risking health problems due to vitamin defiency - Daily Mail 18/09/06

Young people in Britain risk suffering health problems due to a chronic lack of vitamins in their diet, experts have warned.


Depression fears over acne drugs - Daily Mail 18/09/06

The first scientific proof that an acne drug taken daily by thousands of British teenagers can cause depression has opened its makers to threats of fresh legal action, it was revealed yesterday.

Study links acne drug to suicides - The Independent 19/08/06

Animal tests show link between acne treatment and depression - The Guardian 19/09/06



The gas in cigarette smoke 'that could save a pregnancy' - Daily Mail 16/09/06

Carbon monoxide could help control a life-threatening condition in pregnant women.


Pregnancy test cuts risk to baby - BBC Health News 18/09/06

A simple blood test to identify the sex of foetuses at just seven weeks could cut the need for further risky tests during pregnancy, say scientists.

Blood test developed to detect risk of genetic disorder in foetus - The Guardian 19/09/06



Hewitt to address NHS plan fears - BBC Health News 18/09/06

The health secretary is to try to allay fears over the future of major hospitals in a speech.



Union finalises second NHS strike - BBC Health News 18/09/06

Health workers are to stage a second national strike on 26 September - during the Labour Party conference.

Health strike threatens Blair's last conference - The Telegraph 19/09/06

NHS supplies workers plan second strike - The Guardian 19/09/06

Second walkout to hit NHS - The Guardian 18/09/06



Surveillance checks for bird flu - BBC Health News 18/09/06

New tactics are being adopted in an attempt to prevent an outbreak of bird flu in Britain.



Many ADHD pupils excluded - poll - BBC Health News 18/09/06

More than one third of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been excluded from school, a survey of parents suggests.



Closure fear over hospitals plan - BBC Health News 18/09/06

Doctors fear stripping hospitals of key services such as A&E will lead to the eventual closure of the sites.


Father 'allergic to family home' - BBC Health News 18/09/06

A man with a condition which makes him acutely sensitive to the chemicals in everyday materials has lived apart from his family for more than a year.



Infertility treatment age to rise - BBC Health News 18/09/06

Infertile women in NI will be eligible for NHS treatment until they are 40, the government is expected to reveal.



Long waits for new hearing aids - BBC Health News 17/09/06

People are having to wait up to five years to swap their old-fashioned analogue hearing aid for the latest digital technology, a report has found.

Five year wait for NHS hearing aids - Daily Mail 18/09/06



More Britons in assisted suicides - BBC Health News 17/09/06

Eight hundred British people are registered with Dignitas, the Swiss clinic that helps the terminally ill end their lives - up 100 since January.



Public 'underestimates NHS care' - BBC Health News 17/09/06

The public's view of the NHS is far less positive than satisfaction ratings given by patients who use the service, a report has found.



MP joins hospital chaplains row - BBC Health News 17/09/06

An MP has criticised a decision to slash the number of chaplains operating at three hospitals.



Vitamin D 'slashes cancer risk' - BBC Health News 15/09/06

Taking vitamin D tablets could substantially reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer, research suggests.



Hopes over new malaria treatment - BBC Health News 15/09/06

British scientists have helped to develop a new malaria treatment which they hope could save many thousands of young lives in Africa.


Managers manipulated NHS figures - BBC Health News 15/09/06

Hospital waiting lists in parts of Lincolnshire have been mismanaged in order to meet government targets, a senior NHS manager has admitted.


NHS workers in 'culture of fear' - BBC Health News 15/09/06

Staff in Lincolnshire's hospitals are working in a culture of "fear, intimidation and bullying", according to an independent investigation.



International News


Africa's killer viruses must be fought now - The Guardian 18/09/06

Your report (Rocked by Aids, Zulu kingdom now faces even worse foe: incurable TB, September 13) states that in South Africa "one in 10" is HIV-positive.



Five times more cash needed to cut child deaths - The Guardian 18/09/06

Far more investment by rich countries is needed if the world is to have a chance of reaching its stated goal of cutting the deaths of children under five by two-thirds, according to experts.



Africa's killer viruses must be fought now - The Guardian 18/09/06

Your report (Rocked by Aids, Zulu kingdom now faces even worse foe: incurable TB, September 13) states that in South Africa "one in 10" is HIV-positive.



DDT in Africa saves babies' lives, says WHO - The Telegraph 18/09/06

The World Health Organisation is urging powerful environmental groups not to oppose the use of the pesticide DDT to fight malaria in Africa, after a significant reversal of policy by the agency.

Banned pesticide backed for malaria control - The Guardian 16/09/06




Polio rising as children miss jabs - The Telegraph 18/09/06

Polio is making a comeback in India, needlessly crippling hundreds of children and threatening global efforts to eradicate the disease, health officials said yesterday.



Joy for separated twins as they return home - Daily Mail 18/09/06

Twin four-year-old girls who were born fused at the mid-torso were released from a hospital, six weeks after separation surgery.



Spinach blamed in US E.coli scare - BBC Health News 17/09/06

Shoppers in the US have been told not to eat any kind of spinach amid an outbreak of E.coli that has killed one person and infected more than 100.



Post-traumatic stress drug hope - BBC Health News 17/09/06

Scientists have shown how it may be possible to use the body's own natural stress hormone to soothe the agonies of post-traumatic stress disorder.



Cancer linked to rotating shifts - BBC Health News 17/09/06

Men who work a rotating shift pattern may be at increased risk of prostate cancer, research suggests.


Cheshire and Merseyside News


Health workers in second walkout - Daily Post 19/09/06

HUNDREDS of NHS workers, including some in Cheshire, are to stage a second nationwide strike to coincide with a debate on the health service at next week's Labour party conference, in a bitter row over privatisation.



GPs fight plan for 'private' surgery - Daily Post 16/09/06

DOCTORS have attacked plans to make a Merseyside GP surgery one of the first in the country to be run by a private medical group.


Parasite fear sparks water warning - Chester Chronicle 15/09/06

DRINKING water drawn from a number of Cheshire boreholes is at risk from a parasite which can make people sick for a fortnight.


Day out is just what the doctor ordered - Chester Chronicle 15/09/06

STAFF at the Countess of Chester Hospital held their biggest open day to date on Saturday.



Cumbria and Lancashire News


Hospital smoking ban row: Council steps in - Carlisle News & Star 16/09/06

CARLISLE councillors are calling for a meeting with hospital bosses over their controversial new smoking ban.



‘Mentally ill patients neglected’ - Carlisle News & Star 16/09/06

SOME mentally ill people in Millom and other parts of west Cumbria are neglected after coming into the community, a councillor has claimed.



Lethal vodka sold in Carlisle and Silloth - Carlisle News & Star 16/09/06

BOTTLES of the potentially lethal Kremlin Vodka have also been sold in Carlisle and Silloth, it has been revealed.



Greater Manchester News


Docs fears on flu jab delays - Manchester Evening News 18/09/06

DOCTORS fear that delays in producing flu vaccine will leave the sick and elderly exposed to the potentially fatal virus this winter.


Desks 'dirtier than toilets' - Manchester Evening News 15/09/06

YOUR office desk and computer now harbour 400 times more bacteria than an average toilet seat.


Pesticide alert over fruit and veg - Manchester Evening News 15/09/06

FRESH foods in supermarkets have been found to contain more than the legal limit of pesticides.


Midwife service is long overdue - Bolton News 17/09/06

IT was interesting to read the article in The Bolton News dated September 13, with regard to the new home-based midwifery service.


Pupils off to a healthy start - Bolton News 17/09/06

START the day in a healthy way. That's the message one Bolton school is drumming into its pupils.


Healthy eating on the school menu - Bolton News 17/09/06

Healthy eating on school menu A BOLTON school is at the forefront of the nation's healthy eating campaign after investing £250,000 in new dining facilities and innovative new menus.



Brave Amanda's so pleased to back our appeal - Bolton News 15/09/06

A MOTHER who won her battle for cancer wonder-drug Herceptin while receiving treatment at Bolton Hospice has added her backing to The Bolton News Garden of Tranquillity appeal.


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