Monday 7 July 2014

Unions and Northampton General Hospital outline arguments for and against pathology department changes

Unions and Northampton General Hospital outline arguments for and against pathology department changes The battle lines have been drawn in the on-going dispute between Northampton General Hospital and staff in the pathology department. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Making our communities ready for ageing: a call to action

Making our communities ready for ageing: a call to action This report takes a futures perspective on understanding the evidence about how communities need to adapt to an ageing society. It argues that policy makers must work to ensure that communities do more than cater for our basic needs. The report highlights the importance of supporting walking and cycling in old age as well as the need to ensure housing is adaptable to an ageing society. International Longevity Centre

Experts in NHS funding debate call

Experts in NHS funding debate call Leading figures from the health world call for a national debate on how the NHS in England is funded, saying it cannot continue as it is. BBC News

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PM's antibiotics plan 'not enough'

PM's antibiotics plan 'not enough' The prime minister needs to act more quickly to tackle antibiotic resistance and the plans he recently set out are not enough, a parliamentary report says. BBC News

Children’s TV contains unhealthy 'food cues'

Children’s TV contains unhealthy 'food cues' “Children are being bombarded with scenes of unhealthy eating on TV,” The Independent reports. Researchers looking at public broadcasting in the UK and Ireland have found that children’s TV contains a high number of visual and verbal references to unhealthy foods.

In the UK, direct TV advertising of unhealthy food to children has been banned since 2008.

However, the researchers were still interested in whether children’s TV broadcast by state-funded organisations still promotes unhealthy food choices to young children.

Researchers assessed five weekdays of children programmes from the BBC and its Irish equivalent, RTE. They were interested in what they describe as “cues” – visual, verbal and plot-driven references to specific foods and drinks.

Unhealthy foods accounted for just under a half of specified food cues, and sugar-sweetened beverages for a quarter. The context of the food and drink cue was mostly positive or neutral, with celebratory/social motivations the most common.

Mothers at risk as NHS 'fails on mental health postnatal care'

Mothers at risk as NHS 'fails on mental health postnatal care' NCT condemns the 'disgraceful' shortfall in specialist help for postnatal mental health

The NHS has been criticised for failing women who suffer from postnatal depression by denying many of them potentially life-saving services to help them cope. Continue reading... The Guardian

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Diabetes becoming ‘national health emergency’

Diabetes becoming ‘national health emergency’ Diabetes is becoming a “national health emergency” with thousands of new cases diagnosed every week, says a leading charity which warns it could lead to a rise in amputations and kidney failure. The Independent

NHS crisis: Tory health expert warns we have 'the wrong workforce' for the future due to 'huge bias' towards training specialists - and...

NHS crisis: Tory health expert warns we have 'the wrong workforce' for the future due to 'huge bias' towards training specialists The NHS has "the wrong workforce" to cope with the future health needs of the country, with medical schools training too many hospital specialists and not enough GPs to cope with overwhelming patient demand, the new chair of the influential Health Select Committee, Dr Sarah Wollaston, has said. Dr Wollaston also warned that the health service faces a crisis in the GP sector and that more should be done to encourage those who have left the profession, particularly women, to return to help relieve the pressure. The Independent