Monday 2 March 2020

Is it time for a new National Beds Inquiry, or a national policy decision?

Is it time for a new National Beds Inquiry, or a national policy decision? Travel back in time with me. It’s February 2000. There is a growing sense that reductions in hospital bed numbers have gone too far. The demand for health care is growing and waiting lists are on the rise. NHS services are changing too. There is a new hospital building programme. And technology is changing how services are delivered, with NHS Direct handling more health inquiries over the phone and internet (and a dedicated interactive channel on TV…). The King's Fund

Prison health: what happens inside and outside the walls?

Prison health: what happens inside and outside the walls? Does living in prison lead to worse health? And how could prisons be an opportunity to address serious health inequalities? Anna Charles explores the health and wellbeing of people living in prison, their access to health and care services, and what happens on release. The King's Fund

Coronavirus: PM to chair Cobra committee meeting as UK virus reach 36

Coronavirus: PM to chair Cobra committee meeting as UK virus reach 36 Widespread transmission of coronavirus in the UK is now "highly likely", Public Health England (PHE) has said.

Director for Health Protection Paul Cosford said the country must be prepared.

The prime minister will chair a meeting of the government's emergency Cobra committee later, after the number of UK coronavirus cases jumped to 36.

Senior ministers and health advisers will be told that the virus will present a "significant challenge". BBC News

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Huntington's disease: Woman with gene fails in bid to sue NHS

Huntington's disease: Woman with gene fails in bid to sue NHS A woman who claimed she would have had an abortion if she had known her father had a fatal, inherited brain condition has failed in her bid to sue the NHS.

She claimed three NHS Trusts owed her a duty of care to tell her about her father's Huntington's disease.

Any child of someone with the condition has a 50% chance of inheriting it. BBC News

Older women are needlessly going blind. Why isn’t it a national scandal?

Older women are needlessly going blind. Why isn’t it a national scandal? | Dorothy Byrn e GPs regularly fail to diagnose giant cell arteritis, a disease that causes blindness in hundreds of women every year

Fifty years ago I witnessed how the NHS discriminates against older women. More recently, I have experienced it myself as part of what should be a national scandal – but it isn’t because it happens mainly to old women, so it’s tucked away on the health pages of newspapers or on specialist programmes.

When I was a teenager, I volunteered with friends to visit patients at my local hospital, the Victoria in Blackpool. We were sent to the female orthopaedic ward. It was a miserable place. The women just lay there; I never witnessed anyone receiving physiotherapy or any other form of therapy. It was the sort of place you would never wish to end up. The Guardian

Families divided as Tavistock gender clinic court review goes ahead

Families divided as Tavistock gender clinic court review goes ahead Documents warn children that long-term effects of puberty blockers are unknown

Children considering gender reassignment on the NHS are warned that puberty blockers carry risks and that their long-term effects are unknown, according to documents filed in a landmark case examining how the drugs are prescribed.

In January, the Observer reported that lawyers had filed papers in the high court as they prepared a judicial review against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the UK’s only NHS Gender Identity Development Service (Gids), and NHS England. The Guardian

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