KGH error killed my dad

KGH error killed my dad A Rushden grandfather died after his cancer went untreated - despite being detectable on a scan almost two years earlier.

Steve Sampson is pursuing a negligence claim after Kettering General Hospital's catastrophic error caused the death of his dad Derek.

A report from a colonogram and endoscopy in 2015 said there was no tumour but when Derek went for another scan in 2017 he was told he had terminal cancer. Northamptonshire Telegraph

UK risking fall in national life expectancy as social inequalities increase

UK risking fall in national life expectancy as social inequalities increase New analysis of mortality data exploring reasons behind stalling life expectancy improvements in the UK, has uncovered worrying trends affecting some of the population, including a rising number of avoidable deaths among the under 50s. In fact the slowdown in mortality improvements has been so large that life expectancy predictions are back to where they were 16 years ago. The Health Foundation

See also:

• Mortality and life expectancy trends in the UK: Stalling progress The Health Foundation
• The King's Fund responds to new reports on mortality trends in the UK The King's Fund
• Life expectancy in UK falls amid rise in avoidable deaths in disadvantaged communities, report shows The Independent

New guide on addressing your gender pay gap

New guide on addressing your gender pay gap NHS Employers and the Health and Care Women Leaders Network have launched a practical guide to support NHS employers with their gender pay gap.

A&E waiting times hit worst-ever level

A&E waiting times hit worst-ever level One in six patients waited longer than four hours in A&E in England during October - the worst-ever performance since the target was introduced in 2004. BBC News

See also:

• Queues in hospital A&E departments longest ever, latest figures show The Independent

Election 2019: NHS policy check - what to look out for in party manifestos

Election 2019: NHS policy check - what to look out for in party manifestos The NHS is one of the areas that people have said they are most concerned about.

The BBC's health editor Hugh Pym has picked out some of the key issues - staffing, social care, mental health support and A&E provision.

In this video, he explains how to navigate the election campaign and check policies, pledges and manifestos, to see if the parties are taking them seriously.

So, if you care about what the parties are promising on the NHS in this election, here are some of the key things to watch out for. BBC News

See also:

• General election 2019: Is the NHS the best health service possible? BBC News
• FactCheck: Labour's NHS 'Rescue Plan' Channel 4 News

Climate change poses unprecedented health risks to children, major study warns

Climate change poses unprecedented health risks to children, major study warns Climate change poses an unprecedented health risk to children and is already having “persistent and pervasive” effects that will last throughout their lives, a major new study has warned.

Without drastic reductions in emissions, escalating temperature increases will burden the next generation with high levels of malnutrition, weaker immune systems and higher risk of premature death. The Independent

See also:

• 2019 report Lancet Countdown
• Climate change is damaging the health of the world's children, report warns The Daily Mail
• Climate crisis will affect lifelong health of young, warn doctors The Guardian

The female problem: how male bias in medical trials ruined women's health

The female problem: how male bias in medical trials ruined women's health Centuries of female exclusion has meant women’s diseases are often missed, misdiagnosed or remain a total mystery

From the earliest days of medicine, women have been considered inferior versions of men. In On the Generation of Animals, the Greek philosopher Aristotle characterised a female as a mutilated male, and this belief has persisted in western medical culture.

“For much of documented history, women have been excluded from medical and science knowledge production, so essentially we’ve ended up with a healthcare system, among other things in society, that has been made by men for men,” Dr Kate Young, a public health researcher at Monash University in Australia, tells me. The Guardian

Drug users offered Greggs vouchers to get tested for hepatitis C

Drug users offered Greggs vouchers to get tested for hepatitis C Newcastle incentive is part of NHS England’s drive to eliminate virus by 2025

Drug users in Newcastle are being offered an unusual incentive to get tested for hepatitis C – vouchers for the bakery chain Greggs.

Gateshead and South Tyneside local pharmaceutical committee (LPC) is inviting pharmacies to participate in the scheme as part of NHS England’s drive to eliminate the virus by 2025. The Guardian

Thousands of bowel cancer cases missed due to ‘unacceptable’ testing failures

Thousands of bowel cancer cases missed due to ‘unacceptable’ testing failures Thousands of bowel cancer cases are being missed due to “unacceptable” testing failures, research in the BMJ shows.

The UK research found that some providers carrying out colonoscopies were three times as likely as others not to spot signs of disease.

At the worst units, almost one in ten cases which turned out to be bowel cancer were not picked up during the tests, the study led by the University of Leeds found. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Unacceptable variation in screening colonoscopy (open access editorial) The BMJ
• Variation in post-colonoscopy colorectal cancer across colonoscopy providers in English National Health Service: population based cohort study (open access) The BMJ
• Outcomes at follow-up of negative colonoscopy in average risk population: systematic review and meta-analysis (open access) The BMJ
• Private bowel cancer checks are 'less accurate' than tests carried out on the NHS, study suggests The Daily Mail
• Colorectal cancer rates after colonoscopies too varied OnMedica

Number of people who are obese in England has almost doubled in 20 years

Number of people who are obese in England has almost doubled in 20 years Obesity rates in England have doubled in the last 20 years, according to an analysis of Government data.

Around 13million people over the age of 16 were considered obese in 2017 – up from the 6.9million recorded back in 1997.

Health leaders have called the rise an 'urgent problem', with obesity known to cause cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

It comes after a report published last week showed the NHS spent £1.075billion on treating type 2 diabetes last year – more than ever. The Daily Mail

See also:

• 13 million adults in the UK are obese, amid doubling in weight problems The Daily Telegraph
• Obesity almost doubles in 20 years to affect 13 million people The Guardian

Health websites in the UK 'share search terms with advertisers'

Health websites in the UK 'share search terms with advertisers' Health websites are sharing people's personal search data with online giants including Google, Amazon and Facebook, an investigation has revealed.

The arrangements are accused of taking sensitive information without people's consent and therefore breaching British data protection laws.

A total of 79 out of 100 websites were implicated in the Financial Times investigation include WebMD, Healthline, BUPA and the British Heart Foundation. The Daily Mail