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218 records
found from year 2006
| View London stories from other years: 2005 2004 |
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| Saturday, 17 June 2006 11:17 | | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk |
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A host of doctors, nurses and other NHS staff feature in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Royal College of Anaesthetists president Peter Simpson and Nursing and Midwifery Council head Jonathan Asbridge received knighthoods, while disability campaigner Jane Campbell became a dame.
Dr Simpson, a consultant anaesthetist at Bristol’s Frenchay Hospital, said he felt he has been recognised for his efforts in trying to improve medical training and education. He was involved in the setting up of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board last year.
He said: "Medical training is essential for the future of medicine. I have tried throughout my career to help put something into this and develop the doctors of the future.
"But I also think the honour is a recognition of the importance anaesthetists play in acute patient care."
Mr Asbridge, chief executive of the Barts and the London NHS Trust, worked as a critical care nurse before moving into management.
He said: "However delighted I am personally to have received such an honour, in accepting this knighthood I do so on behalf of all my colleagues at the NMC and in the nursing and midwifery professions who dedicate their lives to delivering high quality patient care."
Ms Campbell, who became an MBE in 2001, has become a dame for services to social care and disabled people. She spent nearly five years as chairman of the Social Care Institute for Excellence, set up in 2001 to promote good practice before stepping down earlier this year.
She previously co-founded the National Centre for Independent Living and has also written books on disability and is a commissioner fro the Disability Rights Commission.
Non-clinical staff including a hospital chaplain and head of the NHS Litigation Authority were also given honours, along with a number of lower profile health professionals.
Thomas Burns, professor of psychiatry at Oxford University Medical School, was made a CBE, while North Glamorgan NHS Trust breast cancer nurse Diane Jehu became an MBE.
Stephen Walker, head of the NHS Litigation Authority, which effectively acts as the insurance body for the health service, became an CBE.
And Father Cedric Stanley, the chaplain at Middlesex's Harefield Hospital, was made an MBE for his work counselling patients and comforting the bereaved.
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| Friday, 16 June 2006 12:33 | | Birmingham Post and Mail · icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk |
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An article in the Lancet has criticised football bosses for accepting sponsorship from companies selling “unhealthy” food and drink.
Public health doctors expressed concern over the inclusion of companies such as Budweiser and McDonald’s as FIFA official sponsors at the World Cup.
And they questioned the English Football Association’s links with similar companies.
The Lancet paper is published in advance of a Which? magazine poll expected to show just over half of people agree that brands associated with unhealthy foods should not be allowed to sponsor the World Cup.
The authors of the Lancet article said: "The presence among FIFA's current official partners of Budweiser beer, McDonald's and Coca-Cola illustrates the tensions that exist between international sport and health promotion.
"This tension highlights the need for sports organisations to reassess their relations with sponsors and for governments to reassess both the scope of existing regulation and the terms of public investment in elite sport."
Dr Jeff Collin, of Edinburgh University's Centre for International Public Health Policy, who co-wrote the paper, said: "The 2012 London Olympics will require over £2.3 billion in public investment, an undertaking justified in part via the claim to provide a legacy for health.
"The Games aim to inspire 'a new generation to greater sporting activity and achievement, helping foster a healthy and active nation', an ambition we find difficult to reconcile with the presence of McDonald's and Coca-Cola as official sponsors."
But he added: "We don't necessarily think a ban on such links should be introduced.
"But it might be worth thinking about attaching health promotion commitments to sponsorship agreements."
A spokeswoman for the FA said: "We have worked with McDonald's very successfully over the years as they contribute a great deal to our grassroots football through their coaching development programme and other initiatives."
And in a statement, McDonald's said: "We have built up a proud heritage of supporting football, from grassroots level to the glory of international tournaments, for more than 25 years.
"We are focused on encouraging more young people to participate in football by making the game more accessible and appealing to families and youngsters."
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| Thursday, 15 June 2006 12:37 | | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk |
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The chairman of the British Medical Association’s GPs committee has attacked some of the government’s key NHS reforms.
Dr Hamish Meldrum told 400 family doctors at the annual GP conference in London to stand up and fight to preserve the excellence of UK general practice, and urged ministers to slow down the pace of reform.
He told delegates that plans to move care away from hospitals and into the community were not “any better than a Monty Python quest” and said the move would be undermined because GPs were not taking up the option of controlling their own budgets – a move designed to encourage practitioners to provide a range of specialist services usually done in hospitals.
Local health bosses were not cooperating and there was "snowball's chance in hell" of meeting the target of universal coverage by December, Dr Meldrum said.
He also expressed concern about the first moves to encourage private firms into general practice.
The first contract was given to a private firm in east London last month in a deal brokered by the Department of Health to plug gaps in areas which have struggled to recruit doctors.
Dr Meldrum said the government must ensure GPs are allowed to challenge for the contracts, but added doctors must compete the private providers if they wanted to flourish.
"GPs need to be the ones who continue to develop, to grow, to innovate, as we've always done."
He also said ministers needed to invest in premises, while the plan to upgrade the NHS IT network was being undermined by too many "delays and problems".
And he said the solution was to "slow down the pace of change".
"Don't reorganise for reorganisation's sake."
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| Monday, 12 June 2006 12:00 | | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk |
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Great Ormond Street Hospital doctors have developed a way of accurately testing lung function in young children with breathing problems.
Very young infants cannot manage the special breathing technique needed for conventional function tests but researchers have developed a method that can detect problems in children under five even if they have no symptoms.
Respiratory disease is the most common long-term illness in children, with 34 per cent of GP consultations and 15 per cent of hospital admissions of children due to breathing difficulties.
Doctors usually have to rely on chest examination and parental reports of symptoms when assessing the nature and severity of lung disease in children under the age of five years with chronic respiratory problems.
With the Multiple Breath Washout technique the child breathes quietly through a face mask while watching a favourite video for about 10 to 15 minutes. The mask is connected to a meter which measures how much air goes in and out of the lungs with each breath.
The mask also delivers a tiny amount of a ‘tracer gas’ called sulphur hexafluoride, which has no effect on the body but which shows doctors how efficiently the lungs are working.
Professor Janet Stocks and colleagues at University College London, Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond St Hospital tested the new method on 40 pre-school children with cystic fibrosis and 40 with healthy lungs.
The test detected problems in 73 per cent of young children with cystic fibrosis, even although many had no symptoms and other tests had produced normal results. The results are equally as reliable in testing other lung diseases such as asthma and chronic lung disease in children.
"It means that early lung disease can be detected before the symptoms are apparent," said Professor Stocks, who is professor of respiratory physiology at the Institute of Child Health.
"The children can then be given appropriate treatment before irreversible lung damage has occurred.
"It also means that we can undertake continuous assessments of lung growth and development from infancy, which will give us invaluable information on the progression of lung disease and the effect of different types of medication during early childhood."
Helena Shovelton, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said: "There is increasing evidence that much adult lung disease has its origins in early life.
"The development of better ways of detecting and treating lung disease in early childhood not only brings relief to the children who suffer from such diseases and those who care for them but could have life-long benefits."
Dr John Moore-Gillon, spokesperson for the British Thoracic Society and a consultant in respiratory medicine, said the technique was going to be "extremely useful" for specialists.
"With young children with significant lung disease it's always been difficult to take measurements of lung function.
"Relying on a child to say they're not feeling well is not a good measure. This will indicate deterioration before the child themselves is aware of it."
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| Monday, 12 June 2006 10:35 | | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk |
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Health experts have warned pregnant women against taking vitamin E supplements after a study suggested they may double the risk of stillbirth.
The research also showed that taking high doses of the vitamin led to low birth weights and other health problems in newborns.
Professor Andrew Shennan of St Thomas’ Hospital in London, who led the study, said that pregnant women could be putting their unborn baby at risk by “self medicating” with high doses of vitamin E.
The Department of Health recommends that women take only vitamin D and folic acid during pregnancy, but previous research has suggested that vitamin E, when taken alongside vitamin C, can help prevent miscarriage and pre-eclampsia.
The new study, published in The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests this is untrue. Doctors tested 2,400 women at risk of pre-eclampsia.
Some took 250mg of vitamin E and 1,000mg of vitamin C each day from 14 weeks until they gave birth. Those who took the high-doses, similar to the levels found in supplements, developed pre-eclampsia sooner and had a more severe form of the illness.
Nineteen babies were stillborn to mothers taking vitamin E supplements, compared with just seven in the group that did not take the pills. The average birth weight of the babies whose mothers had taken the vitamins was 60g less than the non-vitamin group.
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| Monday, 12 June 2006 10:20 | | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk |
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Children may be given Omega 3 fish oil supplements at school to improve their behaviour and academic performance under proposals being considered by ministers.
Many parents already give the children a daily dose of the nutrient after studies showed it can significantly improve concentration, learning power and behaviour.
Some teachers recommend that parents give unruly children Omega 3 and the associated Omega 6, but the supplements are expensive and many families cannot afford them.
The government has now asked the Food Standards Agency to provide a definitive opinion on the benefits of taking Omega 3 supplements.
Education Secretary Alan Johnson said yesterday: “The Agency is conducting a systematic review of research looking at the effect of nutrition and diet on performance and behaviour of children in schools.
“This includes investigating studies that have used Omega 3 and 6 fish oil supplements in schools.
“The Government is committed to ensuring children are provided with the healthy food and nutrients they require, not just to aid their physical health but to ensure they can study hard and behave well.”
But scientists warned last night that supplements would not solve the wider problem.
Professor Michael Crawford, one the UK's leading experts, said: “It is a proven fact that Omega 3 improves brain development. It is one of the fundamental building blocks of human and animal life.
“I would support giving a supplement of something like cod liver oil. We did it during the last war, for goodness sake, and it did us the power of good.
“It is only a sticking plaster, however. The much better alternative is eating a good mix of foods, coupled with teaching children and the general population about nutrition and diet.”
Professor Crawford is director of the Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition at London Metropolitan University.
He said: “We are in danger of creating generations who rely on pharmaceutical companies to be fed pills when what people really need is good food.
“Far better than supplements is eating fish and seafood, because they not only contain Omega 3 but also a wealth of trace elements which are important for the brain and body. If you just have the fish oil, you are only doing half the job.”
Professor Crawford said it would be far more effective to ensure that pregnant women have the important fatty acids. He said: “Evidence from Norway, where women were given supplements during pregnancy, found the children were better off in terms of IQ at four years of age.”
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| Sunday, 11 June 2006 11:09 | | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk |
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A student from London’s Brunel University has designed an electronic device which reminds women when they need to take their daily contraceptive pill.
Lai Chiu Tang hopes her ‘Remember’ device will help cut unwanted pregnancies.
The gadget advises users on what to do if they have forgotten to take their pill. It also continually predicts the user’s current level of protection and glows red if it is too low.
The pill is more than 99 per cent effective at preventing pregnancy but studies show that 70 per cent of women forget to take one a month, and 10 per cent forget at least four.
The Remember device holds one pill packet, and indicates the exact pill the user has to take each day using one of four alerts – an alarm, a vibrate mode, a light, or a dual alarm/vibrate mode.
If these alerts are ignored, the device advises users whether to take the missed pill, to skip it and move onto the next one or start a new pill packet at the end of the cycle without a pill free week.
Lai Chiu, from Dartford, said: "I had heard and read so much about the massive consequences of simply forgetting to take a pill that I began thinking about ways of reminding women.
"But after further research I discovered that forgetting to take the pill was only part of the problem.
"Lots of women didn't know what to do after missing a pill or, worse still, didn't even realise they may be unprotected.
"I created Remember to solve both of these problems - encouraging people to take the pill correctly and regularly so they're continually protected against pregnancies, but also advising them if they don't.
"I hope it will make taking the pill a more trustworthy and effective method of contraception by eliminating the user error."
Paul Turnock, design director of Brunel's School of Engineering and Design, said remembering to take the pill put a huge responsibility on the user.
"Lai Chiu's design should help women take the pill at just the right time, ensuring it doesn't let them down."
A spokesperson for the Family Planning Association said: "Many unplanned pregnancies are the result of missed and forgotten contraceptive pills.
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| Saturday, 10 June 2006 12:08 | | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk |
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The head of fertility regulation in the UK has said that patients are not getting the deal they deserve from clinics and are being “sold short”.
In a speech at a National Infertility Day event in London, Dame Suzi Leather, chief executive of the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said there was still much to do before all those who need help to conceive got a satisfactory service.
She said the needs and expectations of patients had to be at the heart of infertility services, but that in many ways they are being let down.
More than a third end up paying more for their treatment than they expect, she said, and almost a fifth of patients, asked to rate the service they received from their clinic, gave it a score of less than four out of 10.
Dame Suzi also voiced concern about the supply of donor eggs and sperm. It is not true that change in legislation to remove the donor’s anonymity is the reason why donations have fallen off, she said. The drop began before the change in the law.
"I think the big question is what are the clinics doing to tackle the problems of supply? They are the ones responsible for recruiting donors."
Dame Suzi called for the government to fulfil its commitment to fund more fertility treatment on the NHS, which is outside the remit of the HFEA. She also pledged to work to end the varying standards in the clinics, so that they are all equally good, whether in the public or private sector.
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| Saturday, 10 June 2006 11:05 | | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk |
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A former male nurse who left the profession because he was treated differently from female colleagues has won a sex discrimination case.
Andrew Moyhing, 29, complained at the Employment Appeal Tribunal yesterday that Barts and London NHS Trust had a different policy on chaperoning for male nurses when carrying out intimate procedures on patients.
Supported by the Equal Opportunities Commission, Mr Moyhing declined to accept an award of £750 compensation because he said he did not want to take resources out of the NHS.
The case arose from an incident last year when he was told that a female member of staff would accompany him while using an electrocardiogram machine on a female patient.
He argued that female staff were allowed to provide intimate care to male patients without a chaperone present.
Following the ruling, Mr Moyhing said: "I hope that this decision will herald the beginning of an era when nursing draws on all the skills of both male and female students.
"Male nurses are still seen as a bit of an oddity simply because there are so many more women in the profession than men despite the fact that so many doctors are male.
"I believe that ultimately if male students are treated more equally, those such as myself who abandoned nursing as a career will stay on and the numbers will start to equalise."
Jenny Watson, chairwoman of the EOC, said sex discrimination was wrong whether it was directed at women or men.
"The Employment Appeal Tribunal was right to find that it was not acceptable to have a chaperoning policy based on lazy stereotyping about the risks to patients and assumptions that all men are sexual predators.
"This judgment should help to ensure that such prejudices become a thing of the past.
Charlie Sheldon, Deputy Director of Nursing at Barts and London NHS Trust, said the tribunal had supported Mr Moyhing on only one limited point, and had awarded only the minimum level of compensation.
"In doing so they claimed Mr Moyhing had displayed an exaggerated and unduly sensitive reaction to being chaperoned.
"Allegations by Mr Moyhing that he had been held back in his career development or that male nurses were considered second class citizens have been soundly rejected.
"The tribunal also acknowledged that Barts and London NHS Trust had adopted its policies for good and objective reasons."
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| Friday, 09 June 2006 11:55 | | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk |
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The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has ruled that women with early stage breast cancer should have access to the drug Herceptin.
The draft guidance comes two weeks after the drug received its European license. Once final guidance is published in July, local health bosses will be given a three month period in which to implement it.
They will then face legal proceedings if they fail to offer the drug to eligible patients.
The Scottish Medicines Consortium, Nice’s equivalent body in Scotland, has also recommended that Herceptin be made available to early stage breast cancer sufferers on the NHS.
Doctor Ian Smith, head of the Breast Unit at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, said the development of the drug heralded similar treatments for other types of cancer.
"It's the first of a type of targeted therapy, where you pick up a specific molecular abnormality in the cancer cell and you hit it. And there are other drugs already in the pipeline.
"I think Herceptin will be looked back on in breast cancer as a historic drug, the first of a whole new generation."
Herceptin has been proven to benefit women with HER2 positive breast cancer – around 20 per cent of total cases. However, up to 10 per cent of that group will not be eligible because it could lead to heart problems.
It is thought that providing the drug to the 5,000 eligible women in the UK will cost the NHS £100m a year. But Professor Mike Richards, the government's national cancer director, said financing the drug would not lead to cutbacks elsewhere.
He said: "The health service is getting more money each year.
"This is a major step forward. It's is good news for women because it may mean more actually get cured of their breast cancer.
"Because of that it is an absolutely appropriate use of the new funds that are going into the health service."
Andrew Dillon, chief executive of NICE, said: "These proposals are very good news for women with HER2 positive breast cancer.
"Herceptin, for these women, is clinically and cost effective in the early stage of the disease and we look forward to being able to issue final guidance, subject to any appeal against our recommendations, in a few weeks time."
Ann Marie Rogers from Swindon, who won her legal fight to be given the drug, said: "I hope this means an end to the battle for others who are still fighting their PCTs [NHS Primary care Trusts] for the drug.
"No one should have to suffer like I did and have to fight in the courts for a drug a doctor prescribes you."
But Kate Law of Cancer Research UK, said: "We must remember that Herceptin is only suitable in about one in five cases of breast cancer.
"So it's essential not to create a climate of false hope for women, where Herceptin is seen as a miracle cure suitable for everyone with breast cancer."
Christine Fogg, joint chief executive of Breast Cancer Care said: "People with early-stage breast cancer who may benefit from Herceptin will be overjoyed at today's decision."
Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of Breakthrough Breast Cancer said a year of uncertainty and post-code lottery was "at last coming to an end".
"But this will only be the case if women are sure they can be tested to see if Herceptin is suitable for them.
"Nationwide, HER2 testing is being put in place and all women diagnosed with breast cancer need to know this test will be available quickly."
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