NAPC News 8 March 2010

£140 Million NHS Bill

The NHS is set to pay out £140 million after claims for compensation. Two workers who were hurt while lifting and one who was attacked by a patient were paid more than £200,000 each.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said that taxpayers would be sickened to hear that the health budget was haemorrhaging money due to compensation claims.

Ministers Ignored Warnings On Safety Of Child Heart Surgery

Ministers repeatedly ignored warning about the safety of child heart surgery units, according to the weekend press. A public inquiry in 2001 into the deaths of dozens of babies at Bristol Royal Infirmary said cardiac units should be barred from performing paediatric surgery unless they met safety standards, including carrying out a minimum number of operations per year. However, it has been disclosed that in 2003 ministers dismissed a warning by the most senior heart surgeon that half of the units should be closed.

Survey

A survey set up by the government to find out how much British people drink has been criticised by privacy campaigners.

Leaflets from the Department of Health are being posted asking people to fill in what kind of drinks they buy and how many units they consume.

Fizzy Vitamin Supplements Can Wreck Teeth

A study at the University of Helsinki on eight types of effervescent vitamins found that they could all have corrosive effects on teeth. Damaging the minerals contained in teeth, they left them weaker, more porous and prone to decay. In the research, teeth were soaked in the vitamin drinks for 100 hours. All of them, including those drinks that contained calcium, caused demineralisation.

Superdrugs Sold Abroad By Rogue Dealers

Lifesaving medicines meant only for sale in the UK are beign sold for export at huge mark-up, causing an acute shortage of drugs that is putting patients' lives at risk, according to the weekend press.

The Department of Health's pharmaceutical services negotiating committee reported that 41 medicines, including Zyprexa, which is used to treat people with schizophrenia, Actonel, for osteoporosis sufferers and Cipralex, an anti-depressant, are in short supply in some areas of the country.

Lying Paramedic Is Jailed For A Year

A paramedic has been jailed for 12 months after lying about failing to resuscitate a 30 stone man, who had a cardiac arrest. Karl Harris told his colleague, a trainee, there was ‘no point' in trying to revive Barry Baker at his home in Brighton, East Sussex.

Warning Over Pill

A serious health alert has been issued over an anti-obesity drug that hundreds of thousands of people are buying over the counter with no prescription.

Drug safety watchdogs fear that use of slimming tablet, Alli, could trigger a raft of issues, including pancreatitis, kidney stones, liver problems or severe fits in people with epilepsy.

Sugary Drinks Blamed For Rise In Diabetes And Heart Disease Cases

Drinking sugar-sweetened soft drinks has been linked to an increase in cases of diabetes and heart disease, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's annual conference. The study estimated that the increased consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks between 1990 and 2000 contributed to 130,000 new cases of diabetes, 14,000 new cases of coronary heart disease, and 50, 000 additional years of life burdened by coronary heart disease in the US over the decade.

Traffic Light Food Label Scheme Now Optional

A decade long campaign to introduce ‘traffic light' warnings on food has been lost after the government regulator bowed to industry pressure. The Food Standards Agency has published new guidelines in an attempt to end confusion over the nutrition labels on food packaging as part of its long-running mission to help shoppers choose more healthy options. However, under pressure from the food industry, it has dropped the stipulation that companies must used the traffic light warning system, labelling any food with a high level of salt, fat, saturated fat or sugar with a red mark.

Blood Test Hope AS Heart Anomaly Linked To Cot Deaths

French scientists are claiming to have identified an anomaly in the hearts of victims of Sudden Death Syndrome (SIDS) that could pinpoint newborn babies at risk with a simple blood test. The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, which funds research and gives advice in the UK, called the work an excellent piece of research.

Hope For British Victims After Vioxx Ruling

The Australian Federal Court in Melbourne ruled that popular painkiller, Vioxx, douibled the risk of a heart attack and was not fit to be on the market. The court ordered maker, Merck Sharp and Dohme, to pay £172,300 to Graeme Peterson, 59, who has been unable to works since a heart attack in 2003. At least 600 other Australian will now lodge compensation claims against US pharmaceutical company, which faces a bill of up to $300 million, according to Peter Gordon, Mr Peterson's lawyer.

Hands Tied On IT

The Conservatives have accused ministers of ‘tying a future government's hands' over the NHS IT programme by seeking more rigid contracts with suppliers ahead of the election. Shadow health minister, Stephen O'Briend, made the claims on BBC's File On Four, last week.

Health minister, Mike O'Briend said it would be nonsense to stop making contracts at this stage and the government was looking for a memorandum of understanding with suppliers this month.

GMC Consultation

The General Medical Council has launched a consultation on its plans for revalidation of doctors. Under the scheme, licenses to practise as a doctor would be issued by the GMC every five years. This would be phased in over five years from 2011.

Stroke Investment

NHS chief executive, Sir David Nicholson, has said trusts needed to more urgency into the national stroke strategy. At a Commons public accounts committee on stroke services in London recently, Sir David said trust must put investment plans in place now. He said in 2010/11 there was a 5.5 per cent growth in the NHS so it was still possible to invest in stroke services.

Primary care trusts have until the end of this month to submit their plans on delivering the stroke strategy to the strategic health authorities.

NHS Wasting Millions On Treating The Worried Well

The NHS is spending too much money on treating the ‘worried well' rather than patients who are actually sick, one of Britain's top GPs has warned. Dr Iona Heath, the president of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said a ‘naïve' and unaffordable obsession with preventing illness was diverting crucial resources away from front line treatment.

60 Per Cent Of NHS Trusts Fiddle Their Ratings

More than half of hospitals have been misinforming the public about their performance, according to NHS regulators. Hospital trusts are responsible for their own assessment, but just over 60 per cent of hospitals visited by inspectors in 2008/9 had ‘provided inaccurate information', casting doubt over hospital performance ratings.

A Glass Of Wine A Day Can Help You Stay Slim

Women who drink wine are less likely to gain weight than those who are teetotal, a report suggests. The findings, from a 13 year study of more than 19,000 women, seem to contradicts received dietary wisdom that alcohol consumption leads to weight gain. Doctors suggest that the body may use calories from alcohol in a different way from othe foods. Those who drank red wine gained the least weight with greater weight gain associated with beer and spirits. The report, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, said there was no clear connection between alcohol consumption and weight gain.

Ninety Per Cent Of Population Do Not Get Enough Sleep

Nine out of ten Britons were almost always tired, and millions were risking their health by going without enough sleep, a new study revealed. The average person slept for just six hours and seven minutes a night, well below the eight hours recommended by experts. In Aberdeen, home to the UK's most sleep deprived people, the typical resident has just five hours and 23 minutes a nigh. In Norwich, the UK's sleepiest city, residents spend only six hours and 38 minutes in bed, researchers found.

How Sunshine Can Help Fight Disease

Research shows that vitamin D, make when the skin is exposed to sunlight, plays a key role in activating white blood cells that protects the body from flue, food poisoning and even cancer. Without the ‘sunshine vitamin', the cells do not join the fight against disease. The discovery could help in the development of vaccines and ways to combat auto-immune diseases and cancer.

Pioneering ‘Brain Wash' For Babies

A groundbreaking treatment developed in Bristol that involves ‘washing' the brains of premature babies could reduce the risk of mental disabilities in thousands of children, scientists said. Surgeons can now remove toxic fluid that leaks from the brain during haemorrhages.