Friday 2 August 2019

Paediatrics at a crossroads: what next?

Paediatrics at a crossroads: what next? With many child health outcomes in the UK going in the wrong direction over the past decade, a guest blog from Dr Guddi Singh makes the case for social paediatrics. Nuffield Trust

How easy to use are services if you have a sensory impairment?

How easy to use are services if you have a sensory impairment? In the UK, almost 2 million people are living with sight loss. Find out what people have told us it is like using NHS services when you have a sensory impairment or loss. Healthwatch

Physical activity and lifestyle toolkit

Physical activity and lifestyle toolkit This toolkit, created in partnership with Sport England, accompanies the creation of an Active Practice Charter to inspire and celebrate GP practices that are taking steps to increase activity and reduce sedentary behaviour in their patients and staff. The toolkit will support practices achieve this charter and it contains a comprehensive selection of condition-specific, professional-facing information documents that can be used to help all health care professionals. Royal College of General Practitioners

    The NHS Workforce Challenge: How to plug the gap

    The NHS Workforce Challenge: How to plug the gap Derek Bell OBE, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, asks what needs to happen to plug the NHS workforce gap. National Health Executive

    AI may help to spot heart problems

    AI may help to spot heart problems A new way of identifying a common condition that causes the heart to beat irregularly may have been discovered by artificial intelligence.

    Atrial fibrillation affects one million people in the UK and increases the risk of stroke and long-term heart problems.

    It is relatively simple to diagnose when the heart is beating irregularly, but not when it returns to normal. BBC News

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    Brexit: Warning over cancer treatment supplies after no deal

    Brexit: Warning over cancer treatment supplies after no deal Senior doctors have called for ''urgent clarification" of plans to supply cancer treatments in the event of a no-deal Brexit, BBC Newsnight has learned.

    In a letter to the prime minister, seen by Newsnight, they say a "dry run" of emergency deliveries earlier this year revealed problems in the system.

    About one million patients in the UK receive medical radioisotopes for diagnosis or therapy each year. BBC News

    Birth rate plunges to 80-year-low in England and Wales

    Birth rate plunges to 80-year-low in England and Wales The birth rate in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level for at least 80 years, official figures have revealed.

    In 2018 there were 657,076 live births, a decrease of 3.2 per cent since 2017 and 9.9 per cent down since 2012.

    It is the third year in a row that the number of live births has dropped and levels have not been this low since 2005, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The Independent

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    'Sometimes I'm proud. Other times I'm ashamed': a letter to new junior doctors

    'Sometimes I'm proud. Other times I'm ashamed': a letter to new junior doctors I’ve loved my first year as a junior doctor, despite the emotional turmoil. Here’s my advice for those about to start the journey

    To my new junior doctor colleagues just starting out,

    A year ago I was standing in a packed lift, going up and heading into the unknown. Hospitals are full of worried people – those waiting for test results, those going to see their unwell relatives, the recently bereaved. People whose lives are spiralling out of control. But as I stood in this lift full of the emotions of others I was preoccupied by my own anxieties, waiting to start my first day as a doctor. The Guardian

    'No doctor with any sense would train to be a GP' - Telegraph readers on GP services

    'No doctor with any sense would train to be a GP' - Telegraph readers on GP services Allison Pearson shared the rationale behind her decision to visit a private GP in her column this week. Namely, the inadequate time given to talk things through properly during appointments.

    However, she also addressed what exactly was at fault with our ailing health service, including a failure to adequately prepare for an overwhelming surge in patient numbers as well as a crisis in GP recruitment. The Daily Telegraph

    Sixth death from listeria outbreak in NHS sandwiches, Public Health England confirms

    Sixth death from listeria outbreak in NHS sandwiches, Public Health England confirms A sixth person has died from a listeria infection after eating NHS sandwiches, Public Health England (PHE) has confirmed, as they continue to investigate whether more people have died at dozens of trusts. The Daily Telegraph

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    Half of bacteria on London's door handles 'are antibiotic-resistant'

    Half of bacteria on London's door handles 'are antibiotic-resistant' Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are lurking on around half of door handles, toilets and lift buttons across London, a study has found.

    Scientists who swabbed regularly-touched surfaces in the city discovered almost 300 of samples could cause infections which medicine would struggle to cure.

    Most of these were found in hospitals but there were also resistant bacteria living on escalators in shopping centres and on train station ticket gates. The Daily Mail

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