Fade the Blog

Contents

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

National News
International News
Cheshire and Merseyside News
Cumbria and Lancashire News
Greater Manchester News

Stomach surgery and drugs for children to tackle obesity epidemic - The Guardian 13/12/06

Children as young as 12 could be given anti-obesity drugs and stomach-stapling surgery as part of a package to tackle the obesity epidemic, according to official guidelines issued today.

Diet guide warns of weight loss risks - The Independent 13/12/06

Stomach surgery for overweight children - The Telegraph 13/12/06

Obesity 'worse than drinking or smoking' - The Telegraph 13/12/06

Watching your weight - The Telegraph 13/12/06

Strategy to tackle rising obesity - BBC Health News 13/12/06

Clean-up for world's largest cruise ship as virus strikes again - The Guardian 13/12/06

The world's largest cruise ship was due to sail out of Miami yesterday after workers spent two days trying to scrub away all traces of a gastrointestinal virus that had made hundreds of people ill on two earlier voyages.

MPs list failures at heart of health deficits - The Guardian 13/12/06

A committee of MPs will report today that it has found "compelling evidence" of a failure of financial management within the NHS. The Labour-controlled health select committee says ministers and hospital managers failed to estimate the effects of an "extraordinary growth in staff costs arising from pay rises and a large increase in staff numbers", and the NHS responded to its ballooning deficits by slashing the amount spent on training. "This is unacceptable," say the MPs.

Blair is blinded by a belief that big is always beautiful - The Guardian 13/12/06

From hospitals to post offices, New Labour fails to see the cost of closing local providers. And the Tories don't get it, either

No quick cure for the NHS's financial ailments - The Guardian 13/12/06

Your excellent coverage of the financial problems facing some NHS trusts only tells part of the story (NHS chief admits flawed accounting behind deficits, December 12). While publicity tends to focus on the high-profile hospital trusts, the reality is that many primary care trusts which provide critical community health services are also experiencing massive problems. For example, Brent primary care trust has recently announced in-year savings of £14m with a massive £31m savings package in the 2007-08 financial year.

What else can I do? - The Guardian 13/12/06

Ruby, 33, earns £30,000 and has worked at a primary care trust as an occupational therapist (OT) for five years. She is worried about job freezes

Mixed responses - The Guardian 13/12/06

Birmingham is set to join Toronto and Los Angeles as a 'majority-minority city' by 2011. But what will it mean for public services and race relations when more than half of the population is non-white?

Campaign for Bart's still has a bite - The Guardian 13/12/06

Bart's hospital has been saved, yet doormats in London's East End are resounding to the thump of envelopes bearing tickets for the annual Save Bart's Campaign Christmas Grand Draw

Leading questions - The Guardian 13/12/06

Fiona Visser, a researcher at the Work Foundation, is co-author of a new report on work-life balance in the public sector

Motorvations: teenagers with a drive to succeed - The Guardian 13/12/06

By providing technical training that involves physical work, an Essex charity is improving both the prospects and health of young people

Time called on booze hotspots - The Guardian 13/12/06

A London borough's strategy for dealing with alcohol-related problems has taken the danger out of a night on the town

Plan to offer friends for young families - The Guardian 13/12/06

As the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith was putting the final touches last week to his work on the links between family breakdown and social deprivation, the social exclusion minister, Pat McFadden, was at the University of Colorado, in Denver, to study its research on effective interventions to help some of society's poorest families.

Unbreakable spirit - The Guardian 13/12/06

Since her learning disabled sister has been at a special college, Saba Salman has watched her confidence and ability bloom. But why should families have to fight for such care?

Eat better, do better: school cooks - The Guardian 13/12/06

In this programme, we focus on the role of the school cook. With new food standards making their way into the kitchen, how can cooks help improve the health of pupils?

NHS chief admits flawed accounting behind deficits - The Guardian 12/12/06

The head of the NHS in England admitted yesterday that its accounting system was "unsustainable and inconsistent", forcing the weakest hospital trusts into a vicious cycle of spiralling deficits.

It is broke, so fix it - The Guardian 12/12/06

Revealed: the 13 bankrupt NHS trusts - The Guardian 11/12/06

What the NHS accounts show - The Guardian 11/12/06

How we got the figures - The Guardian 11/12/06

How new rules caught one hospital in debt trap - The Guardian 11/12/06

FAQ NHS finances - The Guardian 11/12/06

Trusts in trouble The largest deficits - The Guardian 11/12/06

NHS faces more job cuts - The Independent 11/12/06

NHS told to tackle superbugs, cut waiting times...and save money - The Times 11/12/06

Balancing the books makes for fresh targets - The Times 11/12/06

NHS 'must make surplus next year' - BBC Health News 11/12/06

Don't drink and be merry - The Guardian 12/12/06

As the Christmas party season gets into full swing, Joanna Moorhead talks to three people about how giving up alcohol has improved their health and self-confidence without ruining their social lives

Corporate influence on Doll's research - The Guardian 12/12/06

The debate about the contribution of occupational and environmental factors to cancer is not simply one between "scientists and other admirers of Sir Richard Doll", who support the lifestyle explanation of nearly all cancers, and "environmentalists" (Report, December 8; Letters, December 9). Internationally, a significant number of scientists and researchers, including well-respected physicians and epidemiologists in Europe and North America, have questioned the Doll cancer estimates that seriously downplayed the influence of work and wider environments.

Richard Doll was a hero, not a villain - The Observer 10/12/06

Richard Doll still deserves our respect - The Guardian 09/12/06

Chemical firm 'paid cancer pioneer' - The Telegraph 09/12/06

Industry 'paid top cancer expert' - BBC Health News 08/12/06

Losing the plot - The Guardian 12/12/06

Hollywood loves mental illness - the extreme kind, anyway. Why do we never see the sad reality, asks former depressive Tim Lott

Digital PE? It's the princple of the thing - The Guardian 12/12/06

A wide choice this year: revive playground traditions online, learn the principles of PE, or play a game where it's a case of 'get fit or the pet gets it'

Stephen Hoare on academic search engine Intute - The Guardian 12/12/06

Sick of those massive, irrelevant subject lists thrown up by Google? Maybe it's time to try Intute, an academic search engine

Is sharing caring? - The Guardian 12/12/06

A national database aiming to pool information on all children is being piloted. So far, results look positive

The death of peer review - The Guardian 12/12/06

It was eagerly but nervously awaited, and when Gordon Brown finally announced his planned overhaul to research funding in the UK, initial reaction was energetic and mixed.

Nursing a secret - The Guardian 11/12/06

Nurses don't talk about their knowledge and professionalism, says Dr Alison Leary. Maybe it's time they broke their silence

Joined-up thinking on care for the old - The Guardian 11/12/06

The letter from local government leaders (December 7) on services to older people raises important issues. By 2007-08 we will have increased local-government funding by £28.4bn, a real increase of 39%, and investment in the NHS will have tripled. Over the next two years we are investing £200m in community support, advanced technology and extra care services to enable older people to maintain their independence.

Hopes rise of white knight for iSoft - The Guardian 11/12/06

Hopes for a white knight takeover deal for iSoft rose today after the beleaguered NHS software group said talks were progressing "satisfactorily" with a number of potential buyers.

Ailing iSoft's future in doubt after plunging into the red - The Telegraph 12/12/06

ISoft future in doubt - The Telegraph 11/12/06

Famine amid the feast - The Guardian 11/12/06

"Good luck David - I think you may need it." That was how Tony Blair opened a speech last week on the need for the health service to start winning the public over to the government's reforms, with the David in question being NHS chief executive, David Nicholson. Perhaps the prime minister was just being jocular, but he may equally have been frankly reflecting the way that the perilous finances of parts of the NHS are now making reform painful.

Doctors deliver warning over new NHS target - The Guardian 11/12/06

Doctors' leaders and healthcare managers today said the government's new target for the NHS to create a £250m surplus next year could damage patient care.

Reading scheme will save taxpayer money, study finds - The Guardian 11/12/06

The "reading recovery" scheme backed by the chancellor, Gordon Brown, could save the government up to £1.6bn a year dealing with consequences of illiteracy in secondary school and early adult life, a study claims today.

Let's make a New Year's resolution on obesity - The Observer 10/12/06

As the nation prepares for the season of feasting on chocolate assortments, now is a good time to think about our troubled attitude to food and health. After eating some 5,000 calories a day over Christmas, many of us will experience a rush of guilt over the New Year. Those who can afford it might join a gym.

Employers told to help their staff get fit - The Observer 10/12/06

Forget the sandwich at your desk or a lunchbreak spent lounging in a comfy chair. The government's health advisers will tell people this week how companies must do more to get their staff on their feet in order to combat a nationwide epidemic of unfitness.

Employers urged to pull weight in battle to beat obesity crisis - The Telegraph 11/12/06

Your cash can ease troubled young minds - The Observer 10/12/06

A counselling service that can stop pupils developing psychiatric problems needs generous donations to survive, reports Lorna Martin

Chancellor faces battle over public sector pay - The Observer 10/12/06

Gordon Brown is facing a spring of discontent, as unions representing more than a million public sector workers gear up to fight against the pay freeze he says must be imposed to keep the public finances under control.

It won't be lonely or cold this Christmas if you plan ahead - The Observer 10/12/06

The advice about Christmas from Help the Aged is clear: if you know an older person who is going to be on their own, knock on their door on Christmas Day, check they are OK and maybe even offer them a mince pie. 'It could make an older person's Christmas, frankly,' says spokesman Paul Bates.

The priest who adapted theology to therapy - The Guardian 09/12/06

Father Gerry had felt himself summoned to the priesthood from childhood, and perhaps even before. As he would learn from the Servant Songs of Isaiah, "Yahweh called me before I was born, from my mother's womb he pronounced my name."

NHS manager jailed for fraud - The Guardian 09/12/06

A general practice manager who defrauded the NHS of tens of thousands of pounds by falsifying patient records was jailed for 18 months yesterday.

Dr Work - The Guardian 09/12/06

How can I convert a politics degree into a healthcare career? I'm in the final year of a politics degree. However, I want to work in a clinical healthcare role such as a radiographer or dietician rather than anything to do with politics. I did my A-levels in politics, English language and sociology. Are there any paths that I could take without having to do another degree?

Clare Barnes on her experiences of domestic violence - The Guardian 09/12/06

Clare Barnes grew up watching her father beat her mother. As a child she felt torn - whose side should she be on? Now that her parents are old, and the violence continues, so too does her confusion

The wheel deal - The Guardian 09/12/06

Getting on to two wheels? Then take advantage of a little-publicised government scheme that can halve the cost of your shiny new machine. Read this to find out how - or more importantly, get your boss to read this too. Employers are the vital link in this tax-saving chain.

What i see in the mirror - The Guardian 09/12/06

My detractors, who delight in using my name as a byword for unattractiveness, will find it hard to believe, but looking in the mirror is a pleasant experience.

Laugh and the world can't help laughing with you, study says - The Independent 13/12/06

A single sentence was all it took to disable the BBC commentary box. The cricketer Ian Botham fell over his stumps in a freak dismissal, prompting the commentator Jonathan Agnew to exclaim: "He couldn't quite get his leg over."

NHS chiefs to address issue of mixed-sex wards - The Independent 12/12/06

Criticism over the continued scandal of mixed-sex wards in the NHS is to be raised at a meeting tomorrow with health bosses by Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary.

The real truth about murder and Britain's mentally ill - The Independent 10/12/0

Mental health campaigners are furious over what they say is the demonisation of people with psychiatric problems after they were portrayed as violent and potentially murderous.

Pill offers release from hay fever misery for millions of sufferers - The Times 12/12/06

More than a million hay fever sufferers could benefit from a new drug that will be available on prescription next month.

Hay fever sufferers get New Year pill vaccine - The Telegraph 12/12/06

Vaccine for hayfever in pill form - BBC Health News 11/12/06

Experiments on primates are 'morally required' by drug testing - The Times 13/12/06

Experiments with monkeys are “morally required” as the only way to answer scientific questions of crucial importance to human health, an expert inquiry said yesterday.

UK experts back primate research - BBC Health News 12/12/06

'This has turned out to be a whitewash' - The Telegraph 13/12/06

Ear-splitting presents 'could do permanent damage to children' - The Times 12/12/06

Christmas morning could be more than just noisy for some families: it could be deafening, the charity Deafness Research UK has found.

Patients stay in for bingo - The Times 12/12/06

A SPOT of bingo is the best way to stop mental health inpatients from absconding. Fun and games have proved much more effective than regular observations or locked doors at the South Essex Partnership NHS Trust.

Reality check for medical care - The Times 12/12/06

“WHY can’t healthcare staff show more compassion? Why can’t doctors stop moaning? Why can’t people have longer consultations? Are these issues impossible to resolve or have they become so inconvenient that we have stopped talking about them? We need to restart the conversation about what really matters to patients.” The words of a disgruntled patient or vote- seeking politician? No, the words of Kamran Abbasi, Editor of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (Dec). “Al Gore has made this the year of inconvenient truths and there are many in medicine and healthcare,” he says. In the journal there is a series of opinion pieces to make health workers’ toes curl.

Epidurals 'lead to breast-feeding troubles' - The Times 11/12/06

Women who have painrelieving epidurals during childbirth have more difficulty breast-feeding and are twice as likely to give up within six months than those who give birth naturally, researchers say. Up to 40 per cent of British women are routinely given epidurals during childbirth, involving a catheter being inserted into the spine to allow the infusion of pain-killing drugs. These deaden the nerves that relay sensation from the lower body and legs.

Drug can help mother's bonding with her child - The Times 11/12/06

Epidurals may turn babies off breast feeding - The Sunday Times 10/12/06

Epidurals 'hamper breastfeeding' - BBC Health News 11/12/06

Anger at hotel testing ‘delay’ - The Sunday Times 10/12/06

JOHN REID, the home secretary, is furious with public health chiefs for taking a fortnight to discover hotel staff had been contaminated with the radioactive poison that killed Alexander Litvinenko.

Folic acid may be ‘force fed’ via bread - The Sunday Times 10/12/06

BRITAIN will take the first step towards mass medication of the population this week with the publication of proposals to add the vitamin folic acid to bread.

'Add folic acid to bread' experts advise - Daily Mail 12/12/06

Folic acid in all bread 'could put pensioners' health at risk' - Daily Mail 11/12/06

Folic acid 'should be in flour' - BBC Health News 12/12/06

MoTs for men will merely add insult to a painful injury - The Sunday Times 10/12/06

The average Scots male is only too aware of his physical frailty, writes David Stenhouse

Health: Male skincare - The Sunday Times 10/12/06

There was a time when any man admitting to washing his face with anything other than soap and water would be laughed out of the nearest pub. And as for using moisturiser . . . But times have moved on. In the age of the metrosexual man, taking care of your skin is nothing to be ashamed of and the market for male grooming products is booming. However, buying the correct product for your particular skin type can be a minefield.

TV quiz dentist jailed for £450,000 fraud - The Times 09/12/06

A dentist who won £64,000 on the television quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? while defrauding the NHS of £450,000 was jailed for four years yesterday.

GP dies from injury 30 years on - The Times 09/12/06

A doctor died as a result of accidentally pricking himself with a needle 30 years ago, an inquest in Blackpool has been told.

The good news test - The Times 09/12/06

IT’S NOT how you weather the hard times together that counts — psychologists now claim that the way you react to your partner’s triumphs may be far more important to the relationship’s health.

The 13 days of Christmas - The Telegraph 13/12/06

Can't face another hangover? Lesley Thomas offers her health and beauty tips for the party season

10pc of hospital beds 'still in mixed wards' - The Telegraph 13/12/06

Hospital chiefs will tell the Government today that nearly one in 10 NHS beds are still in mixed-sex wards, despite a Labour manifesto commitment to eliminate them.

Pay rises blamed for NHS crisis - The Telegraph 13/12/06

The cash crisis in the NHS was blamed by MPs yesterday on pay rises, increases in staff and a lack of financial control.

NHS cash crisis puts 43 maternity units under threat - The Telegraph 12/12/06

Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, was accused of failing tens of thousands of expectant mothers last night as it emerged that 43 maternity units across the country have been shut down or face the threat of closure.

24-hour surgeries to the rescue - The Telegraph 12/12/06

Super-surgeries, open 24 hours, could be part of a future NHS, one of Britain's senior surgeons said yesterday.

Get in touch with your inner fat - The Telegraph 11/12/06

It used to be said that inside every fat person was a thin person trying to get out. Now it seems it could be other way around.

New scanner shows up hidden fat inside the body - Daily Mail 10/12/06

'Fat scan' shows up health risk - BBC Health News 10/12/06

Not available on the NHS - The Telegraph 11/12/06

While some patients are denied life-enhancing drugs by the NHS, others may be prescribed dancing lessons. Victoria Lambert tries to make sense of the health service's spending priorities

Not too posh to push - just terrified - The Telegraph 11/12/06

As a report claims that a shortage of midwives and obstetricians is putting lives at risk, Judith Woods recalls her own horrific experience of birth

Late deliveries - The Telegraph 10/12/06

The number of British women having babies in their forties has doubled in the past decade. So what’s it like to be the oldest mother in the playground? Rosemary McBain finds out

Fatherless babies in fertility revolution - The Telegraph 11/12/06

A child's need for a father will no longer be a consideration when a woman seeks fertility treatment, ministers will say this week.

Lesbians and single mums to get IVF on the NHS - Daily Mail 10/12/06

Poor reading skills cost nation £2bn - The Telegraph 11/12/06

The legacy of children leaving primary school unable to read is costing the country more than £2 billion a year in education, health and crime bills and unemployment benefits, a major new study has revealed.

Dentists face turning their NHS patients away - The Telegraph 11/12/06

Millions of patients could be denied NHS dental treatment in the coming months as funding runs out at up to half of all practices.

Nish Joshi's Q & A - The Telegraph 10/12/06

I am 29 and have suffered from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) for ten years. I had twins three years ago with the aid of a fertility drug, but I had not had a period for seven years before that and have not had one since. My GP thinks I ought to go back on the pill or HRT to replace my lack of oestrogen, but do I have other options?

All-natural woman - The Telegraph 10/12/06

Teresa Hale – the woman who brought alternative health to the masses – extols 'breast enlargement through hypnosis’ and plans on living into her 120s. What’s she on, asks Julia Llewellyn Smith

Four years for dentist in £450,000 NHS fraud - The Telegraph 09/12/06

A dentist who won £64,000 on the television quiz Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? was jailed for four years yesterday for defrauding the NHS of almost half a million pounds.

Patients advised not to cancel transfusions - The Telegraph 10/12/06

Patients who need blood transfusions were told yesterday not to be put off by warnings of a possible risk of catching the human form of mad cow disease. Experts said the potential risks from variant Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (vCJD) were far lower than the potentially serious consequences of rejecting a transfusion.

New CJD outbreak feared from infected blood transfusions - Daily Mail 08/12/06

Ding dong as hospital bans carollers - The Telegraph 09/12/06

For 40 years, the Torbay Gospelaires have filled the wards of their local hospital with the sound of Christmas carols.

Doctors order Santa to go on a diet - Daily Mail 12/12/06

Father Christmas is at risk of serious illness because of his bulging waistline and needs to cut down on the mince pies, doctors warned today.

Coronation Street Curly can see at last - Daily Mail 12.12.06

Severe long-sightedness had reduced actor Kevin Kennedy's world to what he calls "a blurry soup".

Blunder that killed my wife - Daily Mail 12/12/06

Elaine Bromiley kissed her husband Martin and their children Victoria, then six, and Adam, five.

Maternity services 'cut in non-Labour areas' - Daily Mail 12/12/06

Maternity services are in crisis with 43 units under threat, according to the Conservatives. And the majority facing the axe are in areas of England held by non-Labour MPs, their study found.

Complementary medicines are useless and dangerous, says Britain's foremost expert - Daily Mail 12/12/06

Useless. Dangerous. Even crooked. The brutal verdict on our most popular complementary cures - by Britain's foremost expert

What can I do to beat afternoon sugar cravings? - Daily Mail 12/12/06

Jane Clarke's books are read by millions and she acted as adviser to Jamie Oliver on his School Dinners programme. Here she answers your questions about sugar cravings and under-active thyroids

Peanut allergies may be caused by anxious mothers - Daily Mail 11/12/06

Many experts believe the current advice to parents to keep peanuts away from their babies may be making the problem worse.

Exercise 'cuts risk of breast cancer' - Daily Mail 12/12/06

Women who exercise regularly can reduce their risk of breast cancer in later life - a time when they are most at risk, a study has found.

Linda lived with incontinence for 20 years - then it was solved in 10 mins - Daily Mail 12/12/06

Now I am finally cured of urinary incontinence, I find it hard to believe I struggled with it for so many years. I was fine after I had my children, Nancy, now 37, and Toby, 34. But ten years after Toby was born I started to notice I had a problem when I coughed, sneezed or laughed.

At last, an injection to cure impotence - Daily Mail 12/12/06

Doctors have developed a gene therapy treatment that could cure millions of men who suffer from impotence.

IVF: Why we must be told the truth over birth defects - Daily Mail 12/12/06

Heralded as a great success, IVF has enabled three million births worldwide. Babies who would never have otherwise come into the world have brought joy to couples blighted by infertility.

Walk-in machine takes fear out of MRI scans - Daily Mail 11/12/06

As I suffer from mild claustrophobia, the very thought of sliding into the narrow, enclosed aperture of an MRI scanner, brings on palpitations and panic.

Super-surgeries open 24 hrs are future of NHS, says Blair adviser - Daily Mail 11/12/06

The doctor tasked with deciding how London healthcare should change over the next decade outlined his vision today for GP "super-surgeries" open 24 hours a day.

Parents in desperate plea for marrow donors so Freddie can see his first Christmas - Daily Mail 10/12/06

The parents of a tragic tot who may not live to see his first Christmas unless a life-saving bone marrow match can be found made a desperate plea for donors to come forward.

If I've given courage to others then my life has been as full as if I'd lived to be 100 years old - Daily Mail 09/12/06

At first glance it looks like a pretty designer necklace. But the strand of brightly coloured beads that 16-year-old Josie Grove twists through her slender fingers tells a rather more painful story.

Doctors warned on freeze therapy - BBC Health News 13/12/06

Too many patients have been let down by poor use of freeze therapy to remove damaged tissue, doctors have been told.

'NHS-wide faults' led to deficits - BBC Health News 13/12/06

Mismanagement at all levels of the NHS in England has led to the current multimillion pound deficit, a committee of MPs has found.

Push to boost cancer jab access - BBC Health News 12/12/06

International experts meeting in London are pushing for developing countries to get quick access to new vaccines against cervical cancer.

43 maternity units 'under threat' - BBC Health News 12/12/06

Forty-three maternity units across the UK are under threat, the Conservatives have warned.

Height loss link to heart disease - BBC Health News 11/12/06

It's common knowledge that as we get older we get shorter.

Polonium smoke warning ads pulled - BBC Health News 11/12/06

Two adverts warning cigarette smoke contains the radioactive substance that killed Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko has been pulled from a health campaign.

Patients become NHS bug busters - BBC Health News 11/12/06

Hospital patients are being asked to become hygiene inspectors under plans announced by a health board.

NHS campaigners brave cold night - BBC Health News 10/12/06

Campaigners braved freezing overnight temperatures while carrying out 24-hour vigils at two hospitals in West Sussex threatened with losing services.

Cannabis 'affecting young minds' - BBC Health News 10/12/06

Half of young people using cannabis suffer side effects such as paranoia and blackouts, a UK survey suggests.

Pill 'alternative' to methadone - BBC Health News 08/12/06

A pill that is both cheaper and safer than methadone has been found to be just as effective at treating heroin addicts, a new study has found.

International News

iSoft in talks with Irish health service after admitting it won't deliver on time - The Guardian 12/12/06

iSoft, the debt-laden NHS software provider, is in discussions with the Irish health service after conceding it would be unable to deliver elements of the group's next-generation software, Lorenzo, on time.

A blood transfusion gave this mother and child the gift of life - The Times 12/12/06

With a weak smile, Goma Oli gazed down at the newborn baby lying next to her on the grimy hospital bed in the Jhapa region of eastern Nepal.

African minister ends decade of denial on Aids - The Telegraph 11/12/06

For two years she laboured in the shadow of her boss, South Africa's notorious health minister, who declared garlic, lemon and beetroot a suitable treatment for the country's victims of Aids.

World's oldest person dies at 116 - BBC Health News 12/12/06

An American woman officially recognised as the world's oldest person has died at the age of 116.

Ukraine babies in stem cell probe - BBC Health News 12/12/06

Healthy new-born babies may have been killed in Ukraine to feed a flourishing international trade in stem cells, evidence obtained by the BBC suggests.

Woman has double hand transplant - BBC Health News 12/12/06

A Spaniard has become the first woman in the world to receive a double hand transplant.

Tests for dissolving heart stent - BBC Health News 11/12/06

A new type of heart "stent" or tubular mesh has been developed to unblock diseased arteries and then dissolve without a trace.

Lamps 'used for cancer surgery' - BBC Health News 09/12/06

Cancer sufferers in the developing world could soon have Western standards of surgery at a fraction of the cost, scientists in Israel have said.

Aspirin 'blocks prostate problem' - BBC Health News 09/12/06

Aspirin and other similar painkillers may halve the risk of developing an enlarged prostate, research suggests.

Condoms 'too big' for Indian men - BBC Health News 08/12/06

A survey of more than 1,000 men in India has concluded that condoms made according to international sizes are too large for a majority of Indian men.

Malaria 'speeds spread of Aids' - BBC Health News 08/12/06

There may be a link between malaria and the spread of the Aids virus across Africa, research by scientists working in Kenya suggests.

Cheshire and Merseyside News

Crackdown on cleaning to battle hospital superbug - Liverpool Daily Post 12/12/06

HOSPITAL managers on Merseyside have ordered a cleaning crackdown to battle a superbug which is seven times as common as MRSA and an increasing feature on death certificates.

Hospitals act after rise in super-bug - Liverpool Echo 11/12/06

Social workers fear Charlie 'starving to death' - Liverpool Echo 09/12/06

SOCIAL workers fear Liverpool medical student Charlie Happi Kouamaka is starving herself to death as she fights deportation from Britain.

Hospitals watchdog is left out in the cold - Liverpool Daily Post 09/12/06

A HOSPITAL watchdog last night hit out at government plans to strip their powers to inspect standards in care and cleanliness in Merseyside’s hospitals.

Hospital food earns praise in survey - Chester Chronicle 08/12/06

HOSPITAL food has a reputation similar to that of school dinners, British Rail cuisine and, famously, the BBC's staff canteen.

Concern at pharmacy booze sale plan - Chester Chronicle 08/12/06

THE possibility of alcohol sales at a village pharmacy has worried councillors.

Think twice before going to A&E - Warrington Guardian 11/12/06

HOSPITALS bosses are urging people in Warrington to think twice before attending the Accident and Emergency department over Christmas.

Outbreak warning: stay at home - Warrington Guardian 11/12/06

AS outbreaks of viral gastroenteritis continue to be reported, the Health Protection Agency is urging anyone with the bug to stay away from work or school until they have recovered.

£50k thanks to League of Friends - Warrington Guardian 11/12/06

PATIENTS at Warrington Hospital have benefited from almost £50,000 worth of equipment donated by its League of Friends.

Living with cystic fibrosis - Warrington Guardian 08/12/06

THE parents of a 12-year-old girl born with cystic fibrosis have offered words of comfort to the Chancellor Gordon Brown and his wife, Sarah, after their youngest child was diagnosed with the same disease.

Reflexology is very good for the sole - Warrington Guardian 08/12/06

I'M not fond of feet, not my own or anyone else's. So, the idea of spending an hour sockless with a stranger handling my tootsies wasn't the stuff of dreams.

Cumbria and Lancashire News

Protest at private firms in the NHS - Lancashire Telegraph 11/12/06

ANGRY union leaders staged a mock Christmas display to protest against use of private firms in the NHS.

Protest at private firms in the NHS - Lancashire Telegraph 11/12/06

ANGRY union leaders staged a mock Christmas display to protest against use of private firms in the NHS.

'Stay at home' is message over gastro bug - Lancashire Telegraph 08/12/06

PEOPLE who get "winter vomiting disease" must stay away from school and work, an East Lancashire health boss has warned.

A ray of hope in battle with Lupus - Lancashire Telegraph 08/12/06

A MAJOR health study is being launched in East Lancashire into a rare and debilitating disease.

We're boozing away our lives - Lancashire Telegraph 08/12/06

A HEALTH boss has said the North West would have to go into rehab for excessive boozing if it was a person.

Critical care staff’s national honour - Lancashire Telegraph 08/12/06

LIFE-SAVING hospital staff from Burnley were honoured at a national awards ceremony.

Greater Manchester News

Hospital bids for superbug cash - The Bolton News 12/12/06

BOSSES at the Royal Bolton Hospital are to make a bid for thousands of pounds to beat killer superbugs.

Girls put film focus in staying 'out of the club' - The Bolton News 12/12/06

A GROUP of teenagers have stepped into the spotlight to produce a hard-hitting drama about teenage pregnancy.

Praise for MP after campaign - The Bolton News 12/12/06

BOLTON South-east MP Dr Brian Iddon has been thanked by a cancer charity for supporting a campaign.

Delight over baby unit victory - The Bolton News 12/12/06

HEALTH and civic bosses have expressed their delight at Bolton being chosen as a super centre for the treatment of babies and children.

Views of the public helped to shape the future - The Bolton News 09/12/06

Mum and baby unit decision today - Bury Times 08/12/06

Baby Unit: The protests continue - Prestwich and Whitefield Guide 11/12/06

Baby unit closure 'totally unacceptable' - The Bury Times 11/12/06

Our children wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the baby unit - The Bolton News 09/12/06

Baby unit victory - The Bolton News 09/12/06

Baby unit - it's a victory for Bolton - The Bolton News 08/12/06

Campaigner's positive outlook - Altrincham Messenger 11/12/06

'Second rate' maternity system has to change - Altrincham Messenger 08/12/06

How the maternity changes will affect you - Altrincham Messenger 08/12/06

'Mixed emotions' on childrens service decision - Altrincham Messenger 08/12/06

Morgan's family in meningitis warning - The Bolton News 12/12/06

THE family of Morgan Leyland who died of meningitis four years ago are urging other parents to be vigilant to signs of the killer disease.

Baby death was 'natural causes' says coroner - The Bury Times 09/12/06

A BABY died from severe dehydration after being seen by both Fairfield Hospital's casualty unit doctor and a family GP, an inquest heard.

My husband left hospital with MRSA - The Bolton News 09/12/06

REGARDING the article "Royal Bolton fails to meet government MRSA target" (November 30). The Royal Bolton Hospital can add one more case to their MRSA statistics.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006