Latest news – Page 2672
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In brief
The Commons health select committee has called for evidence for its inquiry into NHS mental health services to be submitted by 1 March. The inquiry will examine services for people with mental illness and personality disorder. It will also examine the relationship between secure units, hospitals and prisons.
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£10m available for cancer waiting-time initiatives
The government has announced that £10m will be made available for nationwide initiatives to cut cancer outpatient waiting times to support its two-week waiting-time pledge. Public health minister Yvette Cooper said most hospitals would use the money to streamline booking systems, while others would invest in additional staff and equipment. ...
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Hutton launches digital hearing aid pilot project
Health minister John Hutton has launched a pilot project to make digital hearing aids available on the NHS. The project will be launched in 20 sites in England this spring. It will also aim to work out which hearing aids are most effective for NHS patients and how to deliver ...
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Unison highlights deaths from needlestick injuries
Unison in Scotland has highlighted the deaths of two healthcare workers from needlestick injuries as part of the unions campaign to see safety syringes introduced across the NHS.
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Troubled trusts merger brings new body for Essex
The name of the new trust created by the merger of two troubled Essex trusts has been announced. The organisation resulting from the merger of Southend Community Care Services trust and Thameside Community Healthcare trust will be South Essex Mental Health and Community Care trust. It also has a chair-designate, ...
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HA begins whole economy review to tackle deficit
North Essex health authority has embarked on a whole economy review of services to tackle a predicted overall deficit of £12m. Chris Minett, chief executive of Mid Essex Hospital Services trust - predicting a year-end deficit of £4.2m - has been seconded to the HA to review management capacity across ...
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Oxfordshire faces service cuts and asset sales
Oxfordshire health authority is planning to cut millions of pounds from its mental health services in an attempt to move out of the red. A public consultation document proposes savings of £1.3m in Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare trust s budget this year, rising to £4.3m in 2001-02, to achieve a balanced ...
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Advertising not aimed at child smokers
Advertising agencies are guilty of exuberance in tobacco advertising - not a deliberate attempt to target under-age smokers, the Commons health select committee heard last week.
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MPs want report of all accidents caused by medical equipment
MPs have called for the NHS Executive to force hospitals to report every accident or injury caused by medical equipment.
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Dentistry plans not enough
Government efforts to improve access to NHS dentists through phone and go centres are inadequate and underfunded, according to the British Dental Association.
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ASH welcomes large and explicit warnings
Anti-smoking pressure group ASH has welcomed proposals for large and explicit tobacco health warnings put forward by the Canadian government as a benchmark for European administrations.
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GPs at the sharp end
Meningococcal meningitis deserves its sinister reputation. At the dawn of the 21st century , here we still are at the mercy of a bacterium able to invade the bloodstream and damage vital organs with devastating speed. Even with prompt diagnosis and expert treatment, the mortality rate is around 10 per ...
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In brief
Beta-carotene, promoted as protection against cancer and heart disease, has no significant role in preventing the diseases, according to US research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Results of a study of 40,000 women - half taking a placebo, half beta-carotene - found 378 cancers in the ...
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Study doubts MS drug
Money would be better spent on alternative ways of improving quality of life in people with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis than on the drug beta interferon, according to research conducted in Scotland.
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Heart disease on the increase
Smoking, drinking and poor diet are driving up levels of cardiovascular disease after recent falls in episodes of stroke and ischaemic heart disease.
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New test for colon cancer in sight
Scientists have identified a potential new screening technique, using skin cells, to identify people with an inherited predisposition to colorectal and other types of cancer .
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The real millennium bug
In the first quarter of this century, recognition of the different blood groups, combined with improved venepuncture techniques, allowed blood transfusions to be performed with relative safety. The same technologies led to the spread of a variety of different infectious agents capable of causing a post transfusion hepatitis.
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Have I got news for flu
The National Institute for Clinical Excellences decision to reject the new flu treatment Relenza is a move the drug companies are not taking lying down.
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Growing pains
Life-expectancy for people with cystic fibrosis has doubled in the past 20 years, and there are now almost as many adults with the disease as children. The best results are achieved when CF patients are managed in specialised centres.
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future possibilities Born free?
In vitrofertilisation is often held up as the prime example of healthcare rationing. Its availability has depended on the willingness of individual health authorities to fund treatment - often hedged with restrictions and eligibility criteria - or a couples ability to pay for treatment privately.