Monday 24 December 2018

Happy Christmas to all our readers

Our daily health news service will be taking a break over the Christmas week, but will return on Monday the 31st of December with a bumper edition.

Wishing all of our readers a very happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous new year.

Northamptonshire pharmacies experiencing unprecedented medicine supply problems

Northamptonshire pharmacies experiencing unprecedented medicine supply problems Pharmacies are having to beg and borrow medicines to supply customers as stocks of lots of popular medicines are running low and patients are having to be turned away.

Pharmacists in Northamptonshire with decades of experience say this is the worst situation they have ever known as they are having to spend hours each day trying to track down medicines from wholesalers or direct from the manufacturers. Northamptonshire Telegraph

New data shows ovarian cancer often spotted too late for treatment

New data shows ovarian cancer often spotted too late for treatment Target Ovarian Cancer has found that as many as one in every five women (20 per cent) in England is too ill to treat by the time they receive their ovarian cancer diagnosis, according to data released this week.

Just weeks of living with the disease undiagnosed can make the difference in determining whether a woman is well enough to be able to undergo treatment. As a result, delays in diagnosis, which are common in ovarian cancer, can leave too many women reaching hospital cancer specialists when it’s too late.

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Spinal surgery for unborn babies to be available on NHS

Spinal surgery for unborn babies to be available on NHS Spinal surgery for unborn babies with the birth defect spina bifida is to be made routinely available on the NHS in England, officials have announced.

The surgery involves repairing the spinal tissue of the baby while it is still in the womb.

It can improve their ability to walk and reduce health problems that result from spina bifida.

The procedure is among several treatments being made available on the NHS for the first time from April. BBC News

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Killer diseases could be missed by overstressed doctors in busy winter months, senior GP warns

Killer diseases could be missed by overstressed doctors in busy winter months, senior GP warns Warning signs of potentially deadly illnesses could be missed during the winter rush as overstretched GPs deal with 100 patients a day, the chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners has warned.

Pressures from seasonal ailments and people trying to get appointments before the holidays mean many GPs are left fretting at the end of the day about whether they might have missed something.

“It’s incredibly stressful,” said the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) chair Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard after warning that in recent weeks she had dealt with more than 100 patients in a day, including phone consultations and emails. The Independent

UK to tackle loneliness crisis with £11.5m cash injection

UK to tackle loneliness crisis with £11.5m cash injection More than 120 projects will receive funding to help those affected and reduce stigma

A coffee caravan in rural Suffolk, furniture restoration projects for men and organised rambles for the recently bereaved are among more than a hundred initiatives being backed with a £11.5m fund to tackle Britain’s epidemic of loneliness.

One hundred and twenty-six projects have been chosen to receive up to £100,000 each in the first ever government-backed fund to tackle a problem that the prime minister, Theresa May, described as “incredibly damaging to our humanity” when she launched a national loneliness strategy in October. The Guardian

NHS troubleshooting team set up for no-deal Brexit disruption

NHS troubleshooting team set up for no-deal Brexit disruption Staff of 10 started work this month and could be expanded to hundreds

The government has set up a team of troubleshooters to tackle problems in the NHS in the event of a no-deal Brexit, including drug shortages and the loss of key staff.

Ministers have admitted there will be disruption in the NHS if Britain leaves the EU on 29 March without a deal, and the team’s job will be to try to minimise that. The Guardian

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Midwife claims she could lose job after NHS bosses warned her over her red hair

Midwife claims she could lose job after NHS bosses warned her over her red hair A midwife claims she could be dismissed over her red hair after NHS bosses warned her it breached the hospital's new uniform policy.

Donna Crichton, 53, from Sleaford, Lincs, said she was warned she faces possible disciplinary action by the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (ULHT) as a result of changing her hair colouring despite using dye products since 2004.

Ms Crichton, who has been employed as a midwife for more than 30 years, has not worked at Lincoln County Hospital since June when she was allegedly sent home by senior staff. The Daily Telegraph

More than 4,000 people to spend festive period in hospital unnecessarily because of 'bed blocking'

More than 4,000 people to spend festive period in hospital unnecessarily because of 'bed blocking' Almost 5,000 NHS patients will spend the festive period in hospital unnecessarily because of delays in arranging out-patient treatment or social care for them, new projections show.

At a time when the health service is likely to come under pressure because of cold weather, more than three per cent of the total NHS beds in England will be unavailable because of bed-blocking.

It comes after the Government announced further delays to its social care plan because of the amount of parliamentary time needed for Brexit. The Daily Telegraph

Breast cancer screening falls to a record low in England

Breast cancer screening falls to a record low in England The proportion of women undergoing routine breast screening is at a record low, damning figures revealed today.

Only 70.5 per cent of women invited for the NHS tests in England accepted the offer last year, with almost 800,000 turning it down.

This means fewer women are having the life-saving scans than at any point since the current screening programme for 50 to 70 year olds began in 2007.

The figure is also only just above the NHS's minimum standard of 70 per cent, with recent trends suggesting it could fall below standard for the first time next year. The Daily Mail