The Most Noble Idea Ever

Breast Cancer.
Experts have found a protein which could stop breast cancer spreading.
They discovered it can block cancer cells when it is active in the body.
But the cells are able to switch off protein EPHA2, which lets them then move through blood vessels into other organs.
The Institute of Cancer Research said, “The next step is to figure out how to keep the protein switched on, stopping breast cancer spreading.”
( Sun, 10.02.2016 )

Compensation Paid By The NHS.
The NHS believes it will need £28.3billion to cover damages for botched care over the next few years.
The vast estimate, which has risen 70% in five years, comes as the NHS is trying to make savings of £30billion.
It includes £12.3billion for outstanding claims and £16billion for claims expected over the next five years and beyond.
( Andrew Gregory and Winnie Agbonlahor, 23.01.2016 )

Dementia And Alzheimers.
GPs diagnosed nearly 20% more patients with dementia after being promised a government bonus.
The scheme, which paid £55 for each new case spotted, ran for six months between October 2014 and April 2015.
It was meant to improve detection of the brain-wasting illness amid fears cases were being missed.

Dementia cases rose from 643 people per 100,000 population in April 2014 to 755 by December 2015.
GPs got the cash for six months of that period.
The scheme was scrapped by NHS England in April 2015.
Alzheimer’s drugs prescription in England leapt from just over 500,000 in 2004 to three million in 2014.
( Pat Hagan, 20.01.2016 )

Tasteless Fruit From Abroad.
Having spotted blueberries from Chile, blackberries from Mexico and strawberries from Peru while scanning the supermarket for fruit, I wasn’t at all surprised to hear that more than half of our food is flown in from abroad.
Why?
The only fruit we should be eating now is what’s in season here.

A succulent apple, maybe some rosy rhubarb or a juicy pear.
That’s about it at this time of year.
But who wants soggy, tasteless strawberries that go off in a day because they’re sprayed, frozen, gassed and flown thousands of miles before leaking their juices all over the supermarket fruit and veg section?
( Fiona Phillips, 09.01.2016 )

Pregnant Women Shouldn’t Take Paracetamol.
Pregnant women who take paracetamol may increase the risk of their baby having asthma, say experts.
A study involving 114,500 children found 5.7% had the disease at the age of three and 5.1% at seven.
Researchers say they found a consistent link between children who had developed asthma aged three and mums who told them they had taken paracetamol during pregnancy.

The risk appeared to be greater if an expectant mother had used paracetamol for more than one complaint.
The researchers, in Bristol and Norway, say they established the asthma was linked to the drug rather than any medical condition the mother may have been suffering when she took it.
Previous studies have suggested a link between paracetamol use by pregnant mums and asthma.
( Sophie Goodchild, 10.02.2016 )

The Most Noble Idea Ever.
The National Health Service owes its existence to the most noble idea that this country ever had – To care for the sick, the weak and the vulnerable in their time of need.
If the NHS is not there to care, then it is a meaningless shell, a cash cow for private medicine.
And makes a mockery of the idealism that brought it into being.
The NHS does not exist to stuff the pockets of Conservative Party donors, or to enrich doctors, or to big up private health care.
( Wilfred Soon )

They Would Trust A Doctor Ahead Of A Johnson Any Day.
Boris Johnson has accused the striking junior doctors of being militant money-grabbers.
I asked one on Tuesday’s picket line how much he earns.
It’s £28,000 basic, plus a 30% bonus for unsociable hours, and most weeks he worked another 10 hours unpaid.

The contract Jeremy Hunt wants to impose would make him work more unsociable hours for no extra pay, and would drive doctors away, affecting patient safety.
Hence the strike.
Johnson earns £600,000 a year for being a politician and writer.

He doesn’t save lives, and didn’t have to train for years or go into massive debt, to get those jobs.
He also hasn’t suddenly been told he needs to work long weekends for no extra pay.
But imagine if he, and other public sector-hating Tory MPs and journalists, had?
Would they meekly accept it?
No. They’d walk away.

The difference being, unlike the doctors, no one would miss them.
Which is why two-thirds of the public back their strike.
Because they’d trust a doctor ahead of a Johnson any day.
( Brian Reade, 16.01.2016 )

Health Secretary Putting Patients At Risk.
Transplant patients are refusing to have life-saving surgery at weekends because Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said they are more likely to die.
A top doctor specialising in liver operations criticised the Health Secretary over his repeated claims that under-staffing at hospitals over the weekend is causing 11,000 excess deaths every year.

The figure, disputed by the British Medical Association, is key to the Government’s case for a seven-day NHS, which sparked a pay row with junior doctors.
Dr Palak Trivedi has revealed several patients at Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Hospital have already refused weekend transplants over fears for their health.
Two declined operations despite being matched with a donor, meaning they risked missing their only chance of survival.

Dr Trivedi said, “Mr Hunt says he wants to save lives but he is putting patients at risk by repeating questionable data. I pray that none of the patients who refuse weekend transplants ends up dying. The reality, Mr Hunt, in case you didn’t know, is that liver transplantation is a seven days a week, 365 days a year operation. There is always a consultant in theatre and there is the same level of case in recovery. Expert input is the same weekday or weekend, in theatre, on the ward and in intensive care.”
( Dan Warburton and Martyn Halle, 13.12.2015 )

A Sick Campaign By The Health Secretary.
If the worst happens this weekend and you or a family member fall seriously ill, you can be confident you will almost certainly get excellent treatment.
Yet Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has created a climate of terror by warning that patients are more likely to die if they go to hospital at weekends.
His misuse of statistics has been discredited by the British Medical Association and many doctors, yet the mud has stuck.

Mr Hunt has run this disgraceful, unprincipled campaign against doctors and nurses as part of his mission to undermine the NHS.
We are used to politicians using scare tactics, but doing so to terrify sick people is plumbing new depths.
As anyone who has had to use a hospital at weekends knows, medical staff already work devotedly for seven days a week.
( Sunday Mirror, 13.12.2015 )