Beauty salon to start make-up classes for cancer patients in Kettering

Beauty salon to start make-up classes for cancer patients in Kettering
Bellissimo Beauty and Training Academy is planning to start brow classes for chemotheraphy patients who have lost their hair but cannot get semi-permanent make-up.

Owner of The Yards-based salon, Jade, is planning to offer the classes to people undergoing chemotherapy after her friend and her aunt lost their hair during cancer treatment. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Prescription drug dependency worrying - health chiefs

Prescription drug dependency worrying - health chiefs
Hundreds of thousands of people in England are getting hooked on prescription drugs, health chiefs fear.

A Public Health England review looked at the use of strong painkillers, antidepressants and sleeping tablets - used by a quarter of adults every year.

It found that at the end of March 2018 half of people using these drugs had been on them for at least 12 months. BBC News

See also:

• Britain risks US-style opioid crisis as FIVE million adults get prescriptions Mail Online
• One in four British adults being prescribed potentially addictive drugs, 'disturbing' review finds Telegraph
• Press release: Dependence on prescription medicines linked to deprivation Public Health England
• Better access to alternative therapies needed to reverse prescribing trends, says RCGP Royal College of General Practitioners

Midwives urge the Government to scrap NHS charges for foreign pregnant women

Midwives urge the Government to scrap NHS charges for foreign pregnant women Midwives are urging the Government to scrap NHS charges for foreign pregnant women on the grounds that they are potentially harmful to mothers and babies.

The Royal College of Midwives says its members are being forced to carry out 'racial profiling' when establishing who is eligible for free care.

The organisation - which represents 47,000 midwives - is expected to formally adopt a policy calling for the suspension of charges at their conference later today. Mail Online

See also:

• Charging migrant women for maternity care puts us all to shame  The Guardian
• End NHS maternity charges for vulnerable migrants, say midwives The Guardian
• Scrap NHS charges for pregnant illegal immigrants, says Royal College of Midwives The Telegraph
• Duty of care? The impact on midwives of NHS charging for maternity care King's Fund

NHS Appoints England’s First Chief Midwife

NHS Appoints England’s First Chief Midwife To help improve maternity care and promote safer births, the National Health Service (NHS) has appointed Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent as England’s first chief midwife. Dunkley-Bent, a visiting professor at Kings College London and London South Bank University, previously served as head of maternity, children, and young children for NHS England and has had a long career in the NHS as a midwife and nurse. The Commonwealth Fund

No-deal Brexit could send NHS 'toppling over the edge' - Personnel Today

No-deal Brexit could send NHS 'toppling over the edge' A no-deal Brexit would send the NHS – “our nation’s greatest institution” – into a state of chaos, health service union Unison has warned.

Severe shortages of drugs and medical equipment, coupled with increased waiting times and cancelled operations, would push services “over the edge”, said Unison general secretary David Prentis, who yesterday joined NHS staff pulling a mock-up of a hospital away from the sea front in Brighton, where the TUC annual conference began yesterday. Personnel Today

See also:

• No-Deal Brexit Will Bring Chaos To NHS And Push It Over The Edge Warns Union HuffPost UK

Messaging app could save NHS £44 million annually, says study - pharmaphorum

Messaging app could save NHS £44 million annually, says study An app-based clinical messaging tool created by NHS doctors could save the NHS £44 million a year, according to a new study.

The Kent Surrey Sussex Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) conducted an in-depth investigation into the impact of Forward, a smartphone app which helps NHS workers exchange patient information, make clinical decisions and manage their workload.

Created by junior doctors, the app was designed as an alternative to the cumbersome use of pagers and landlines on hospital wards, replacing them with a safe bespoke app for clinical staff. Pharmaphorum

New blood test trialled on 12,000 Scots catches lung cancer early

New blood test trialled on 12,000 Scots catches lung cancer early A new blood test can detect if a person has lung cancer before symptoms ever develop, research has shown.

Experts carried out a random controlled trial on more than 12,000 people in Scotland who were at high risk of developing the disease.

They found people who took the test were more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at an early stage.

Chief investigator, Prof Frank Sullivan, said the findings could have "globally significant implications".

Experts hope the test will now be rolled out across Scotland and beyond. BBC News