The government's expert advisers on illicit drugs yesterday warned of the growing use of anabolic steroids by boys as young as 12 as they confirmed they are reviewing the legal status of ecstasy as well as cannabis. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs is to write to the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, voicing grave concerns about the growing abuse of anabolic steroids which are now being used by "tens of thousands" of bodybuilders and teenagers.
Sexual bullying can ruin children's lives, but little is done to tackle it. Emine Saner looks at one campaign that aims to change attitudes among both sexes
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The days of a guaranteed pain-free visit to the dentist may not be far off thanks to a petite Japanese woman in a pink sweater who goes by the name of Simroid. She has a limited vocabulary and a strange complexion, but the 160cm-tall humanoid robot is happy to feel your pain. Simroid, who will be used at medical colleges, releases a clearly audible "ouch!" whenever a trainee dentist touches a nerve and a reassuring "that's better" when the drill hits the right spot.
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Highly detailed ultrasound images which show foetuses "walking", smiling, yawning and rubbing their eyes in the womb do not have a scientific bearing on the debate over abortion, according to the government's response to a report from a committee of MPs. The government said that the highly-detailed so-called 4D images are an aid to health checks, but do not add anything to the science of foetal sentience. Anti-abortion campaigners say the images are evidence that foetuses have a degree of consciousness. The parliamentary science and technology committee said there was a strong case for removing the need for two doctors to approve an abortion. But the government said it would be for MPs to decide if the issue came before parliament. The government also said that the survival of babies born prior to 24 weeks had not improved significantly, as claimed by some on the anti-abortion side of the debate.
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A doctor convicted of killing a patient through gross negligence has been told that he can return to work in the NHS. Amit Misra, 37, fled to India after being found guilty of the manslaughter of Sean Phillips, a 31-year-old sales executive, who died from a common infection while recovering from routine knee surgery.
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Additional Stories
Convicted surgeon can return to work - The Telegraph 30th November 2007
Father's outrage as Indian doctor convicted of son's manslaughter cleared to work again in Britain - Daily Mail 29th November 2007
Evidence suggests the normal dilution ratio in ancient Greece was between one and two parts wine to three parts water, resulting in a final alcoholic content of around three to six per cent. Fast forward in time and it’s a different story. Thirty years ago, most wine was being drunk at about 12 per cent. Today, that ABV is more likely to be nearer 14 per cent. So does this make us a society of barbarians? Hardly. But the subject of alcohol is increasingly high profile, not to mention contentious, and it warrants attention.
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The risk of harm to the residents of registered homes outweighed the economic interests of the registered home proprietor. The Court of Appeal so stated allowing the appeal of Trent Strategic Health Authority from Sir Douglas Brown ([2006] EWHC 3019 (QB)) who had held that the authority owed a duty of care to the claimants, Ashok Jain and Nisha Jain, to give advance notice in respect of its application for a court order to cancel the registration of their nursing home and to close it.
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New guidance will be drawn up to clamp down on late abortions of foetuses with a cleft lip and palette, it has emerged. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has been asked to define what constitutes a 'serious handicap' for which abortions after 24 weeks are allowed.
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Nurses should be given powers to prescribe cocaine on the Health Service to addicts, Government drug experts ruled yesterday. A small number of doctors have already been quietly licensed to give the Class-A drug – which costs £50 per gramme at street prices – to chronic users. Now the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs wants to go further by giving NHS nurses and pharmacists permission to hand out cocaine.
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Three in four young women do not have safe sex in casual relationships, a survey shows. This puts them at risk of infections which could affect their fertility, experts have warned. The poll found that three-quarters of women between 16 and 30 did not insist on a condom. But only 64 per cent of men in this age group admit to not always using one.
An elderly widow is forking out £2,000 a month for drugs to stop her going blind - because the NHS won't fund them. Dorothy Robinson, 87, who suffers from neovascular macular degeneration, went blind in one eye four years ago after being told there was no treatment available on the NHS.
UK researchers have developed a new "while you wait" test for the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia, which can provide a result within 30 minutes. A study of 1,300 women in three clinics found the test, which uses a vaginal swab, to be cheap and effective, the British Medical Journal reported.
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Hospitals may need to keep their hand rub under lock and key to stop patients drinking it for its alcoholic content, say doctors. Poison experts at London's Guy's and St Thomas' hospital received 19 reports of intentional ingestion over 16 months. Accidental ingestion by children, and elderly and confused patients, is also a problem, they told the British Medical Journal.
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Silver-lined pyjamas designed to protect against the hospital superbug MRSA have gone on sale in the UK. M&S is the first British retailer to stock the £45 Sleep Safe pyjamas and is trialling them at 100 stores. Silver is known for its infection-fighting properties and silver-laced nightwear has already been tested in a handful of hospitals.
A paediatrician who wrongly accused a mother of murdering her son acted out of a "zealous enthusiasm and conviction he was right," a hearing was told. Dr David Southall, 59, is appearing before a General Medical Council panel in London and faces a misconduct charge and the prospect of being struck off.
The parents of one of Britain's youngest heart transplant patients have praised the surgeons who carried out the life-saving procedure. Andrew McAskie was just five weeks old when he had the operation at Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.
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Policy differences between England and Scotland on health are not due to money but because English ministers disagree with the approach north of the border. And Health Secretary Alan Johnson once again confirmed England would be not providing free personal care for the elderly as Scotland has done.
Scottish ministers are to overturn a House of Lords ruling preventing workers suing employers over an asbestos-related condition. The ruling prevented compensation claims for pleural plaques, a scarring of the lungs, arguing that it was technically not a disease.
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Scientists have found a way to reverse the aging process in skin, restoring thinning tissue to a thicker, more youthful state in two weeks. The advance, which works by manipulating a master control gene in cells that changes the level of activity of other genes, has so far been demonstrated only in mice. Researchers say that if it can be translated to people it might help older people recover more quickly from injury or boost organ function during illness.
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Gene may hold secret of younger skin - The Telegraph 30th November 2007
Skin ageing 'reversed' in mice - BBC Health News 30th November 2007
Police investigating four abortion clinics in Barcelona used frequently by British women have been horrified to find purpose-built machines attached to the drains that were used to crush foetuses. The clinics allegedly performed illegal abortions on women into their eighth month of pregnancy. Police have arrested Carlos MorÍn, the Peruvian head of the clinics, his wife and four other colleagues after a lawsuit by a Christian organisation, e-Cristians. Mr MorÍn reportedly has refused to answer police questions.
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Adult obesity among Americans appears to have reached a limit after 25 years of successive increases, say government health officials. While more than a third of adult Americans - about 72 million - still qualify as obese, the number is no longer rising, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
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A daily glass of pomegranate juice could help to beat male impotence, according to new research. Men who drank the juice every day for a month reported better performances in the bedroom. The juice is thought to be rich in antioxidants that boost blood supplies to the male genitals. It does this by raising levels of nitric oxide, a chemical which "relaxes" blood vessel walls. Scientists believe it works in a similar way to drugs like Viagra.
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Folklore holds that what mothers eat is the key to the sex of their child. Red meat and salty snacks are said to lead to boys while chocolate is thought to help to produce girls. Now science suggests the stories may be true: mice with low blood-sugar levels - a good indicator of a sugar-rich diet - produce more female than male offspring. Researchers gave 20 female mice a steroid, dexamethasone, which kept their blood-sugar levels low.
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A robot teddy that can interact with its owner and could alert medical staff to changes in a sick child's condition will be tested in the Highlands. Huggable, which is fitted with sensors, is being developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US.
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A haemorrhagic fever that has killed 16 people and infected more than 50 others in Uganda has been confirmed as the deadly Ebola virus. The casualties are all in the region of Bundibugyo, on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Articles relating to mass media Health Stories about the Cheshire and Merseyside patch of the NHS in the North West of England.
A CONSULTANT anaesthetist who switched off vital machines during surgery was not “sabotaging” patients, a tribunal heard. Dr James Murphy, 49, turned off anaesthetics machinery and told junior colleagues at the Cardiothoracic Centre he was going for a coffee break. A General Medical Council tribunal heard Dr Murphy carried out the act to test the response of his trainees.
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A HEART specialist told an inquest he was given no reason to believe a Liverpool woman, who died four days after an operation to fit a pacemaker, needed emergency care. Mother-of-two Alice Brown, 49, from Oriel Drive, Aintree, went to Fazakerley hospital last February after complaining of breathlessness. She was told she needed a pacemaker and was operated on, but during the procedure one of her arteries was perforated.
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HALTON Hospital is this week preparing for the start of a ‘deep clean’ which will see every patient area stripped down and cleaned to stop the spread of superbugs. North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages Halton and Warrington hospitals, estimates the work will take four months to complete.
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THE Department of Health has launched a campaign aimed at halting the spread of cold and flu this winter. The Catch It, Bin It, Kill It, campaign urges people to cover their nose and mouth with a tissue when they cough and sneeze, dispose of the tissue as soon as possible and wash their hands.
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THE Cheshire and Merseyside NHS Treatment Centre in Halton has welcomed its 10,000th patient since opening in June 2006. The facility, one of the region’s first specialised treatment centres, provides specialist orthopaedic services for patients in Halton and across Cheshire and Merseyside. The 10,000th patient through the centre’s doors was Barbara Forsyth from Runcorn.
TODAY the Warrington Guardian is descending on Warrington Hospital. From surgery to A and E and cleaners to chaplains, we will be taking an in-depth look at how the hospital works.
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COPELAND Council has announced five potential sites for the new West Cumberland Hospital. All are in the Whitehaven area and will go to consultation before a final site is chosen. The announcement comes after the NHS consultation document, Closer to Home, which looks at the future of health care provision in the area and proposals for a new acute hospital in West Cumbria.
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THE future of healthcare in Cumbria will be the main issue discussed at a public meeting in Silloth next month. A debate on Cumbria Primary Care Trust’s Closer to Home consultation will take place at Silloth Primary School when it hosts the next Solway Coast neighbourhood forum meeting.
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ADULT social services in Cumbria are still among the worst in the country – but they are improving. An official report published today gives Cumbria County Council a lowly one-star rating for adult social care. The score puts it among the bottom 28 of 150 local authorities assessed. The others received two or three stars.
Articles relating to mass media Health Stories about the Greater Manchester patch of the NHS in the North West of England.
POLICE are investigating after a nurse was suspended for allegedly failing to carry out a test on a child who later died. The experienced nurse has been sent home from the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in Pendlebury and police were called in earlier this week.
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THE latest hospital figures have revealed there have been more outbreaks of superbugs at the Royal Bolton. The statistics show there was one case of MRSA at the hospital in September - taking the total for the year to 26, 11 above the Government target of 15 for 2007.
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A TOTAL of 21 complaints were made by patients at the Royal Bolton Hospital in September. In the same month last year, just 16 complaints were made.
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A new Greater Manchester Health Commission, which aims to save lives by improving the health and well-being of over two million residents across the conurbation, was launched at Wigan Investment Centre today. With average life expectancy in Greater Manchester making the area the 'unhealthiest' county in England, local health and council chiefs are getting together to meet this challenge and establishing the first partnership of its type in Greater Manchester.
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People suffering from severe asthma were offered new hope after a jab was approved for use on the NHS. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) gave the go-ahead to omalizumab (Xolair) to treat severe persistent allergic asthma. The jab has been hailed as a breakthrough in stopping the body reacting severely to pollen, skin particles produced by cats and house-dust mite droppings.
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Careless use of personal data highlighted the malaise at the heart of the government's IT infrastructure - but will it change the internal culture, wonders Michael Cross Data CDs The sound of two dropped CDs is still echoing around the government's £14bn-a-year IT programme. And the effects are already being felt: last week the NHS IT agency Connecting for Health warned hospitals not to post discs containing unencrypted personal data to the central NHS Tracing Service, run by a private contractor in the Midlands. Media not meeting security standards "will be destroyed upon receipt", it warned. And on Tuesday ministers announced a five-month delay to ContactPoint, a database with details about every child in the UK.
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A new technique for detecting breast cancer missed 40% fewer cases of the disease, according to preliminary results from a US trial in women at risk of the disease. Stereo mammography, which allows doctors to view breast tissue in three dimensions, also resulted in half as many false positives - where doctors thought they had detected an early stage tumour but none existed.
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The parents of one of Britain’s youngest heart transplant survivors spoke yesterday of their gratitude to a German family who donated their dead baby’s heart. Andrew McAskie, now 11 months old, had a heart attack at birth and was close to death when a family whose one-year-old baby had died made their offer. The heart was flown from Germany to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne and, five weeks after he was born, Andrew underwent a transplant.
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Most people with mental health problems are routinely subjected to physical and sexual abuse or theft by their neighbours, a new study indicates. Nearly three quarters of those suffering from conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia have been victimised in the community at least once in the past two years, with one in ten being sexually assaulted, according to a report by the mental health charity Mind.
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A Lincolnshire reader asks if there are any measures that can be taken to prevent recurrent infections other than regular or repeated courses of antibiotics. Few doubt that being born with a silver spoon in the mouth is likely to lead to a longer and healthier life. However, most would be surprised to learn that it is not a silver spoon but a silver catheter that, as in our reader’s case, would be likely to reduce the incidence of bladder infections and early death.
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Deaths from the virus are now rare because of the remarkable advances in drug treatment Kenny Everett’s flamboyant life as a comedian was well documented in a recent television programme. Everett, although married, was bisexual. He was brought up in a religious family and as a result not only had to battle with the symptoms of the HIV that he contracted but also struggle with guilt and depression during his long illness.
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More than 90,000 patients die and almost one million are harmed each year because of hospital blunders, research suggests. Errors during surgery, misdiagnosis, falls, infections and complications are all to blame for the problems that contribute to the death and injury tolls in England each year. Surgeons performing an operation, hospital blunders 'kill 90,000 patients' Researchers found that up to half of the mistakes made were preventable Researchers found that between 8.7 per cent and 10 per cent of hospital stays involved such mistakes and up to a half were preventable.
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One in 10 suffers 'hospital harm' - BBC Health News 29th November 2007
Pyjamas that have been designed to protect hospital patients from the MRSA superbug have gone on sale in Marks & Spencer. The £45 garment has silver thread woven into it, which tests show can reduce the spread of infections. The ongoing clinical trial's interim results are positive.
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Marks & Spencer selling £45 hospital pyjamas that protect against the deadly MRSA superbug - Daily Mail 28th November 2007
About 250,000 people have lost their National Health Service dentist since the reform of the system, new figures show. In the two years to June 2007, 27.89 million people were treated on the NHS compared with 28.15 million in the two years running up to the new dental contract which was introduced in March 2006. Under the new contract 266,000 fewer people had dental treatment on the NHS than under the previous system, figures from the Department of Health information centre have shown.
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Children born today can expect to live for longer than at any time on record, figures show. Life expectancy in the UK has reached its highest level for men and women. Boys and girls born in the UK could expect on average to live to 76.9 years and 81.3 years of age respectively. It is also at its highest for those reaching age 65 between 2004 and 2006. Men reaching 65 can expect to live for another 16.9 years and women a further 19.7 years.
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Middle-class patients use their "sharp elbows" to do better out of the Health Service than the poor, a study suggests. Those with money and confidence are said to exploit the complexities of the system and shove out the less well-off and less educated. Their contacts and pushiness win them quicker and better treatment, according to the report from Civitas.
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Admissions to hospital for alcoholic liver disease have more than doubled since Labour took power, figures revealed last night. The binge drinking culture has pushed the number of admissions up from 16,252 to 39,725 between 1997 and 2006.
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Screening for bowel cancer halves emergency hospital admissions for the disease and cuts deaths, say doctors. Findings from a pilot scheme confirm the benefits of mass screening, in which test kits are sent through the post. Researchers from the Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust tracked bowel cancer cases in the region from 1999, a year before screening for those aged 50 to 69 began, to 2004.
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The government must look at how maternity leave is calculated to ease the financial load on parents of premature babies, a charity says. A survey by Bliss found on average, a sick baby cost parents £1,885 in lost earnings and extra spending.
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Modern life is too demanding to turn out the lights and we're more sleep deprived than ever before. How can we get back in the habit of grabbing shut-eye? Ask someone how they are and their response, more often than not, is "fine but a bit tired". Not surprising when one in three of us have sleep problems, according to recent research. The medical profession calls it tatt, short for "tired all the time". It's one of the most common complaints that doctors hear. The disappearance of rest from daily life is also one of the themes of a major new exhibition on sleep at the Wellcome Collection in London.
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Men in routine jobs, such as bus drivers and refuse collectors, are more likely to die early figures show. The Office for National Statistics data showed routine workers were 2.8 times more likely to die by the age of 64 than high-level managers. Professionals, such as lawyers and architects, also had low early deaths rates in England and Wales.
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Council social services for adults have been praised for improving performance for the fifth successive year. The Commission for Social Care Inspection said the number of English councils attaining two or three stars out of three rose from 78% to 81%.
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A paediatrician is being investigated by police over a claim he assaulted a child, a hearing has been told. The accusation against Dr David Southall was made by the parents of the boy - a former patient identified only as Child H - to South Wales police. Dr Southall, 59, is currently appearing before the General Medical Council.
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Paedophiles may owe their sexual urges to faulty connections in the brain, research has suggested. A study in which the brains of convicted child sex abusers were scanned and compared with criminals who were not sex offenders has revealed striking differences that could point to a neurological origin for paedophilia. Scientists in Canada used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and sophisticated computer analysis of the results to show that the paedophiles had significantly less of a brain tissue called white matter than the other criminals.
Simple measures such as regular handwashing could help curb a flu pandemic, experts said today. Wearing masks and gowns have helped slow the spread of respiratory viruses such as flu and SARS, according to a review of 51 existing studies. The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, came as the Government announced it was doubling its stockpile of antiviral medicines in preparation for any future flu pandemic.
Corruption and poor oversight have undermined South Africa's fight against HIV/ Aids, a new report says . The authors, the Institute of Security Studies and Transparency International, say there has been a "potentially lethal cocktail of mismanagement".
There has been an outcry in Tanzania over a woman who was badly injured by her husband after she took an HIV test which is being encouraged nationwide. Tumaini Mbogela said her husband beat her when she returned from a voluntary counselling centre in the town of Makete where she took the HIV test.
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Mice carrying a gene which appears to make them invulnerable to cancer may hold the key to safer and more effective treatments for humans. The new breed, created with a more active "Par-4" gene, did not develop tumours, and even lived longer, said the journal Cancer Research.
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Articles relating to mass media Health Stories about the Cheshire and Merseyside patch of the NHS in the North West of England.
ORMSKIRK Hospital has admitted its security was faulty after a tagged baby was taken out of the maternity ward without triggering the alarm. Paul and Samantha Davies told of their horror after taking their baby, five-month-old Amy, home to Firbeck, only to realise the security tag was still attached under her babygrow.
KNOWSLEY council’s social services department is among the three joint top performing social services departments in the country, according to new ratings published today. Knowsley was given the maximum three-star rating by the Commission for Social Care Inspection, for the fourth year running, for the way it delivers social services. It achieved the “excellent” title in six out of seven categories, placing it on a par with London authorities Camden and West-minster as the top performing councils in the country.
A CONSULTANT anaesthetist who switched off vital machines during surgery to test junior doctors’ training was not “sabotaging” patients and the tactic was “not particularly inappropriate”, medical watchdogs heard yesterday. Dr James Murphy, 49, turned off the power supply to anaesthetics machinery and told junior colleagues at the Cardiothoracic Centre, in Liverpool, that he was going on a coffee break before walking out of the operating theatre.
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THE company which runs Liverpool’s GP out-of-hours service will continue to do so for three more years it was revealed last night, despite allegations by some patients of misdiagnosis. The board of Liverpool and Knowsley PCTs approved the granting of a new contact to Wavertree-based UC24 (Urgent Care 24), which has provided the service for the last three years.
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A STUDENT left in a coma after being allegedly misdiagnosed by an out-of-hours GP service has won part of her case. Christy Millar, of Great Sutton, lodged a complaint about her treatment by Urgent Care 24 (UC24) in Liverpool where she was studying. She claims a UC24 doctor failed to spot she had appendicitis. Instead he gave her an anti-sickness injection then sent her home.
VETERANS in Cheshire will benefit from a Government scheme giving priority health treatment to war pensioners, says the Royal British Legion. The Legion also welcomes the launch of community-based pilot schemes to treat veterans with mental health problems. Health Secretary Alan Johnson and Veterans Minister Derek Twigg announced on Friday that GPs and Primary Care Trusts across England will be instructed to deliver on their existing obligation to provide priority treatment to war pensioners for illnesses or injuries which led to their pension.
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A HEALTHY approach to life not just in the canteen but also on the sports field has earned Rudheath Primary School a top award. The school has been singled out to receive a national Healthy School award as a reward for promoting healthy food and drink options at playtime as well as nutritious school dinners.
OAPS living in Northwich are being urged by fire service and health staff to attend a special one-stop shop where they will be offered a free flu jab, receive vital fire safety advice and can book a home safety visit. Nurses will be on hand to provide free flu jabs for people over 65 and they will be able to chat with the fire service about making their homes safer.
WARRINGTON Hospital has denied claims it is struggling to cope with a killer superbug. North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages the hospital, said infection rates of deadly stomach infection colostridium difficile (C-Diff) at the hospital were falling despite several deaths in recent weeks. Kathryn Holbourn, the trust's director of nursing and governance, said: "We know that infection is a concern for people but we want to reassure them that it's an issue we take incredibly seriously.
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I would like to thank Jones Dental Practice, of Union Street, for all the help they have offered my family and I. Like many others, I have not been able to find an NHS dentist for the help that I desperately required. Luckily my wife phoned the Jones practice on the off chance that they would take my family as NHS patients, and even more luckily they did have scope to receive more NHS patients.
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The governing council of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Chorley Hospital, is holding a series of have your say' events. The Meet the Governors initiative aims to give members of the trust a chance to raise any issues, forward views or find out more about the trust.
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Articles relating to mass media Health Stories about the Greater Manchester patch of the NHS in the North West of England.
A HOSPITAL has been ordered to pay £7,000 after a patient climbed out of a window and broke an ankle. Paul Newell was admitted to Stockport's Stepping Hill Hospital to be treated for alcoholism. He opened a window, climbed on to the sill and dropped to the ground. Stockport Hospitals pleaded guilty at Trafford Magistrates' Court to breaching the Health and Safety At Work Act and were fined £5,000 and told to pay almost £2,000 costs.
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A highly infectious new strain of the MRSA superbug that spreads through healthy communities may claim more lives than hospital-acquired infections, according to a leading doctor. The strain produces a potent toxin which causes recurrent boils and abscesses, but if it gets into the bloodstream it can lead to a lethal infection called necrotising pneumonia. Even with the strongest antibiotics, more than 60% of otherwise healthy, young and fit people who contract the infection die.
Healthcare is failing those who most need it, says Liz Kendall The health secretary, Alan Johnson, has promised that "under-doctored areas" - places with poor GP provision, such as Hounslow, Hull and Hartlepool - will be able to set up new practices using a £250m "access" fund. But if the initiative is to work, ministers must learn the lessons of the recent past. The move, announced last week, is the cornerstone of government plans to tackle health inequalities. Social and economic factors, such as poverty, unemployment and bad housing, are a major cause of the nine-year difference in life expectancy for men in Manchester compared with Chelsea, London - a gap that has widened over the last decade - and also why the babies of low-skilled workers are almost twice as likely to die as those of professionals.
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The sidelining of independent sector treatment centres signals bad news for the nation's healthcare With well over a thousand members, Circle is the largest commercial partnership of doctors in England. By making frontline professionals responsible both for the delivery and management of healthcare, it aims to introduce the best clinical practices and the highest service standards for all patients, whether privately or publicly funded. To this end, it owns two operational independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs), with another due to open next month and several more in the pipeline. Its managing director, Ali Parsa, has managed to leverage a rumoured £1bn in City money for Circle's ventures.
There are signs that the policy giving people the power to buy social care services of their choosing is to be extended to the NHS It was billed, showbiz-style, as An Audience with David Nicholson, and the NHS chief executive was talking freely. He had been "scandalised" by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospital superbug affair and the payoff for the manager responsible; the creation of independent sector treatment centres had been at least partly about the "prodding" of health service units to up their game; and, most arresting, the NHS needed to be prepared for the introduction of individual budgets for patients with long-term conditions.
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Leading paediatrician Professor David Southall could face the end of his career after the General Medical Council found yesterday that he inappropriately accused a distressed mother of drugging and then murdering her 10-year-old son. The GMC tribunal will sit again today to decide whether Southall's behaviour constitutes serious professional misconduct and if so, what the penalty should be.
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Additional Stories
Sally Clark doctor, David Southall, faces being struck off - The Times 28th November 2007
Paediatrician 'abused position' - BBC Health News 27th November 2007
Hospital bedside phone and TV operator Patientline was put on the critical list yesterday with the heavily indebted company admitting shareholders could lose everything as its management attempts to put together a rescue package with its banks. Having spent £170m installing its kit in NHS hospitals, Patientline has racked up £82.5m of debt and cannot make its annual £8m interest payments. The company has spent months locked in talks with its banks about refinancing.
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Gordon Brown, in his first message to the Labour Party conference as Prime Minister, went to great lengths to affirm the universality of human rights. "No injustice can last forever," he said. But while our attention is often drawn to human rights abuses in Burma, injustices in Darfur and HIV in Africa, it is easy to overlook our responsibility to end human rights abuses in our own country. And in the case of many migrants living with HIV in the UK, the Government seems to have forgotten to practice what it preaches.
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Britain’s population could almost double by the end of the century to reach more than 108 million, according to Government projections. The latest figures came as a leading member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee predicted that thousands of Ireland’s East European migrant workers would head to London to help to construct the buildings for the Olympics. Professor David Blanchflower also gave warning that the flow of migrants from East Europe was part of an “inexorable move west”.
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Schoolchildren are texting agony aunts who give them advice on sex and how to access free condoms, it emerged. Counsellors have advised hundreds of youngsters on contraception and pregnancy despite having no way of knowing their real ages. The service sparked anger from campaigners last night who warned it could backfire by encouraging promiscuity.
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We all know that memory deteriorates with old age but, increasingly, even younger people - those in their early 40s and 50s - are suffering from chronic memory loss. But is it inevitable? When CATHRYN JAKOBSON RAMIN, a leading investigative journalist, first suffered mid-life forgetfulness, she panicked - then she decided to fight it...
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A pill that costs 50p a day could help prevent thousands of people in Britain with diabetes from going blind, say researchers. The drug, called fenofibrate, dramatically reduces the risk of a condition called diabetic retinopathy, one of the leading causes of blindness.
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My five-year-old son has autism and is on the NHS waiting list to see a dietician. I have read suggestions that a gluten and dairy-free diet can have a marked effect on behaviour, but my son's paediatrician would prefer he remains on a balanced diet. What do you advise?
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When Linda Parton defeated breast cancer - twice - she thought it was the end of her problems. In fact, it was just the beginning. For, as a result of poor post-operative care, she developed lymphoedema, an incurable and hugely debilitating condition which causes painful swelling. Lymphoedema is caused by an impaired lymphatic system and affects 100,000 people in the UK, 25,000 of them after breast cancer surgery. The others are largely due to injury to, or infection of, the lymph vessels.
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The stresses and strains of city life could be putting women at risk of breast cancer, researchers said yesterday. A study has found that women living in urban areas are 'significantly' more susceptible to the disease than those living in the countryside.
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Additional Story
Traditional surgery for damaged knee cartilage doesn't always work, but a new treatment replaces damaged tissue with cartilage harvested from elsewhere in the knee. Peter Dodds, 37, from Driffield, East Yorkshire, talks to ANGELA BROOKS about his experience, while his surgeon explains the procedure...
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A pill to help people stop smoking is under the spotlight amid reports that it can generate suicidal feelings. The UK's medicines watchdog, the MHRA, is to monitor the situation "closely" after 839 reports of adverse reactions to Champix, licensed last year. Nearly 50 people reported depression - mainly patients with a previous psychiatric history. There were another 16 reports of suicidal thoughts.
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Today should have been my son's 15th birthday. Instead I am writing about life after Tom. Tom died in his sleep in October this year of an undiagnosed heart-related condition. He had been fit, active, healthy, doing well at school, bright and happy. We were not, in any way, prepared.
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Scientists at the University of Liverpool have been awarded £5m to investigate how cells in our body communicate with each other. Biologists in Liverpool will look at the role of a system that sends signals in the body. It controls how cells respond to things like stress and the immune system. The project is part of a £26m UK-wide investment in Systems Biology funded by two of the largest research councils in the country.
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Knee implants are being recalled by a British firm after they were found to contain too much iron. Smith & Nephew said around 275 patients had been fitted with the implants from the TC-PLUS, VKS and RT-PLUS ranges. The company is trying to trace another 300 implants which have been supplied to customers - mostly in Europe.
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Red blood cell transfusions given to heart surgery patients could increase their risk of heart attack or stroke, research suggests. The transfusions are designed to improve the delivery of oxygen to the body's tissues. But researchers found patients who received a transfusion had a three-fold increase in complications linked to lack of oxygen.
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Mice resistant to cancer have been created in a breakthrough that could lead to a human treatment free of side-effects. A protein produced by the creatures may hold the key to a future therapy. It attacks tumour cells, but does not harm healthy tissue in the body.
One third of people who breath in high levels of secondhand smoke have damage to their lungs similar to that seen in smokers, doctors have reported. A team of experts used a special kind of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan to look at the lungs of non-smokers who had high exposure to other people's cigarette smoke and found evidence of the kind of damage that causes emphysema.
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Simple physical measures, such as handwashing and wearing masks, could play a key role in blocking the spread of a flu pandemic, say researchers. The UK government is doubling its stockpile of antiviral medicines in preparation for any future pandemic. But researchers believe simple, low- cost physical measures should be given higher priority.
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Drug firms are missing out on a huge potential market by failing to make drugs affordable for the world's poor, a report by charity Oxfam suggests. Drug firms have made "halting progress" in increasing access to medicine, but much more needs to be done, Oxfam said. The world's biggest drug firms have done little research into diseases that affect poor people, the report said.
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Articles relating to mass media Health Stories about the Cheshire and Merseyside patch of the NHS in the North West of England.
CANCER patients in Merseyside are suffering from a “postcode lottery” when it comes to how much is spent on their care, it has been revealed. Figures show Knowsley spends twice as much on cancer care for its patients than those living in Sefton. Today local Tories were critical of the differences and accused the government of not fulfilling its promise to end healthcare inequalities. During the financial year 2006-7, Sefton Primary Care spent £7,592 on cancer care per patient. This compares with £7,686 per cancer patient spent by Wirral PCT, £9,762 spent by Liverpool PCT and £16,819 spent by Knowsley, which is the second highest spender on cancer care in the country.
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Scientists at the University of Liverpool have been awarded £5m to investigate how cells in our body communicate with each other. Biologists in Liverpool will look at the role of a system that sends signals in the body. It controls how cells respond to things like stress and the immune system. The project is part of a £26m UK-wide investment in Systems Biology funded by two of the largest research councils in the country.
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Also available as RSS (BBC What is RSS?), the easiest way to keep up to date with new material on web pages without any effort.
If you don't know how to use RSS ask your local health Librarian to show you MyUpdate on the MyLibrary section of the National Library for Health.
Articles relating to mass media Health Stories about the Cumbria and Lancashire patch of the NHS in the North West of England.
TWELVE new cases of HIV were diagnosed throughout Cumbria in 2006, new statistics have revealed. The figure is by far the lowest in the north west region, where a total of 492 new cases were diagnosed – the lowest number for four years. But although new cases are on the decline – with the regional statistics showing 141 less than in 2005 – public health experts say it is not happening fast enough.
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THIS is the first look inside Accrington's new £7.5million state-of-the-art health centre. Accrington Pals Primary Healthcare Centre, Paradise Street, will be an ultra-modern facility housing some of the town's GPs. There will also be room for physiotherapy, occup-ational therapy and a diabetic clinic. The Lancashire Telegraph was shown around the new building, parts of which will be opened to the public from next week.
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Articles relating to mass media Health Stories about the Greater Manchester patch of the NHS in the North West of England.
A HOSPITAL has been ordered to pay £7,000 after a patient climbed out of a window and broke an ankle. Paul Newell was admitted to Stockport's Stepping Hill Hospital to be treated for alcoholism. He opened a window, climbed on to the sill and dropped to the ground. Stockport Hospitals pleaded guilty at Trafford Magistrates' Court to breaching the Health and Safety At Work Act and were fined £5,000 and told to pay almost £2,000 costs.
THE Royal Bolton Hospital has been chosen as a site for a pilot scheme aimed at saving up to 140 lives every year. Advancing Quality will focus on improving care for heart attack victims and patients with pneumonia, heart failure, hip and knee replacements and heart-by-pass operations. It is being trialled in seven areas across the North-west and aims to reduce the amount of time people spend in hospital through re-admissions and complications.
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A new scheme to improve the health and well-being of more than two million residents in Greater Manchester is being launched on Thursday. With average life expectancy in Greater Manchester making the area the 'unhealthiest' county in England, local health and council chiefs are getting together to meet this challenge and establish the first partnership of its type.
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CASH to "deep clean" wards and fight superbugs could be given to the Royal Bolton Hospital. The Government has announced plans to plough £57 million into thoroughly cleaning the country's hospital wards throughout the winter. Bosses at the Royal Bolton will bid for any extra cash to help them combat MRSA and Clostridium difficile, but insist there are a number of measures already in place to deal with the potentially fatal bugs.
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RESIDENTS are being urged to share their views on plans to shape future breast care services in Trafford. It is proposed that diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer will be undertaken at a specialist centre, probably at Wythenshawe Hospital. People are being asked whether they would wish to see some appropriate services provided more locally.
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Also available as RSS (BBC What is RSS?), the easiest way to keep up to date with new material on web pages without any effort.
If you don't know how to use RSS ask your local health Librarian to show you MyUpdate on the MyLibrary section of the National Library for Health.
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