Unique Health News: July 2013

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Hospitals block patient complaints on legal grounds

Hospitals are routinely using the threat of legal action to block investigations into medical blunders, patient safety campaigners have claimed, as they threaten a legal challenge against the Health Secretary.

Campaigners say that confusing NHS guidance, which their lawyers say is unlawful, is allowing hospitals to routinely close down complaints

Lawyers for the charity Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) have issued the threat to Jeremy Hunt over NHS guidance which says hospitals can refuse to consider complaints if a patient or relative is considering future legal action.

The rules were supposed to be changed in 2009, so that hospitals could not use the possibility of a potential claim as an “excuse” to deny a truthful investigation to victims of poor care or medical errors.

Stem cells used to grow human liver on mouse

Patients suffering from liver failure could be injected with tiny replacement organs grown from their own stem cells after scientists succeeded in growing minature livers in mice.

The police have been asked to investigate evidence that the NHS watchdog accused of a cover-up over a maternity deaths scandal prevented damning emails from coming to light.

Left to right: CQC Chief Executive David Behan, Chair David Prior and Sterl Greenhalgh answer questions from Health Select Committee in the House of Commons

Last month an independent report accused former senior executives at the Care Quality Commission of ordering the deletion of a critical document which outlined its failures to prevent the scandal.

But yesterday it emerged that emails which showed that other CQC managers were aware in January 2010 of “systemic” problems at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation trust, yet wanted to give it a clean bill of health, were never seen by the firm hired to investigate CQC’s behaviour.

Scurvy returns among children with diets 'worse than in the war’

Wartime diseases are returning to Britain because some children are living on junk food diets that are worse for them than rationing was 70 years ago, officials have claimed.

Cases of scurvy and rickets have been on the rise in parts of the UK

Cases of scurvy and rickets have been on the rise in parts of the UK where some parents rely on takeaways and microwave meals to feed the family, health staff warned.

Dietitians in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales, said they were seeing an increase in both diseases, which were thought to have been consigned to history.

A man being treated in a London hospital for a lethal 'Sars-like' Middle Eastern virus has died.

The patient had severe respiratory illness due to novel coronavirus (MERS-nCV)

The man, a Qatari national, had been admitted to a private clinic in London in September, before being transferred to the specialist centre at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital.

He was diagnosed as suffering from the Mers virus – Middle East Respiratory Syndrome – which has affected 77 people worldwide, with 43 deaths.

Patients suffering from liver failure could be injected with tiny replacement organs grown from their own stem cells within the next ten years following new research.

Scientists have for the first time grown miniature precursors to human livers known as liver buds using a combination of three different types of stem cells.

They have shown that by transplanting these tiny liver buds - which are normally found in developing embryos in the womb – into mice, they then matured into adult livers.

Tameside Hospital: chief executive resigns amid claims of poor care

The chief executive of a scandal-hit hospital has resigned amid accusations she presided over a "prevailing culture of failure".

Patients are left in corridors for hours as A&E is full

Following revelations about poor patient care, Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Greater Manchester announced that Christine Green had tendered her resignation.

It came after two reviews by the hospital found patients were having to wait up to four days to see a consultant, or were left in corridors for hours when A&E was full.

A mother has started a petition calling for an end to the “bounty mutiny” as some women claim they find sales representatives on maternity wards helpful through difficult times.

The company pays the NHS for access to maternity wards

Bounty sales representatives pay for access to maternity wards where they approach new mothers with “baby bags” containing samples, advertising material and HMRC child benefit forms.

They also ask for personal data, which is later sold onto third parties, and sometimes take photographs of the new mothers which they can buy.

The UK’s ban on couples selecting the sex of their children has no ethical justification, a leading ethicist has said.

Britons have been known to travel abroad to countries such as the United States or India to determine the gender of the IVF embryo before it is implanted into the womb

In an influential report, Professor Stephen Wilkinson said it would be ethical to allow people to use fertility techniques to choose whether they have a boy or a girl.

His report found sex selection would not create a gender imbalance in the UK unlike in countries such as China and India were boys are more popular than girls.

Modern diets lead to rise in wartime diseases for children

Wartime diseases such as scurvy and rickets are on the rise among British children because their junk food diets are worse than during rationing, doctors have warned.

Wartime diseases are returning to modern British children because their junk food diets are worse than during rationing

Health chiefs said a the resurgence of such disease is being caused by parents' reliance on takeaways and microwave meals to feed their children.

Dr Mark Temple, chairman of the British Medical Association's public health medicine committee, warned: "Food standards in the UK are worse now that they were during the rationing during the war."

There are fears of a new crisis at an NHS hospital after a report found patients are forced to wait for days to be seen and the care is so chaotic they are left in pain.

Patients are left in corridors for hours as A&E is full

Patients at the hospital in Greater Manchester have to wait up to four days to see a consultant, or are left in corridors for hours as A&E is full, two reviews commissioned by the hospital found.

Junior doctors are also understood to have privately raised concerns about staffing levels.

Critically ill NHS patients are to be monitored via video link by doctors in a central contol room for the first time in Britain as part of a new scheme aimed to improve out-of-hours care.

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The project uses high definition cameras to allow consultants to check on patients’ conditions from a centralised control room, from where they will then be able to alert and advise bedside teams if action is required. It is hoped the scheme will improve the standard of care at nights and weekends, when wards are typically staffed by junior doctors.

However, it has raised safety fears and critics have described it as a “doctor-led” rather than “patient-led” response to the problem of poorer quality out-of-hours care.

Charging immigrants for NHS is fair to British taxpayers, says Jeremy Hunt

Charging immigrants a £200 levy to use the NHS will make the system more "fair" and "sustainable" for British taxpayers, ministers will announce today.

The Health Secretary said it was only right for immigrants to have to contribute towards the NHS, which costs taxpayers around £5,000 per family.

Under the plans, foreigners from outside the European Union applying for visas lasting more than six months will have to pay the new “health care levy” under plans to stop exploitation of the health service. They are currently entitled to free treatment.

Parents should be banned from dropping their children off at the school gate to help tackle childhood obesity, said new public health chief.

The number of five to 19-year-olds admitted to hospital with obesity related conditions increased from 872 to 3,806 between 2000 and 2009 in England and Wales

Professor John Ashton said children should be made to walk a quarter of a mile each day to keep them fit and prevent obesity.

He told The Times: “We're used to this idea that our children are not going to be as well off as we have been. But I don't think anybody has really expressed yet that they may not be as healthy either."

Sleeping for less than seven hours a night could trigger fatal heart attacks and cardiovascular disease, say scientists.

leeping for less than seven hours a night could trigger fatal heart attacks and cardiovascular disease, say scientists.

Research shows sleeping is as beneficial as not smoking when it comes to heart attacks and cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Sleeping for seven hours or more a night can reduce the risk of fatal heart attacks and CVD by up to 24 per cent.

Patients treated in corridors because of 'chaotic' care

Patients are being treated in corridors and having to wait four days to be assessed by a consultant because of ‘chaotic’ care at an NHS hospital.

The reviews said patients were assessed in corridors because A&E was full

Two independent expert reviews criticised the standard of care at Tameside General Hospital in Manchester and said there was “a significant problem of overcrowding” as well as delays in ambulance handovers because the A&E unit was full.

One review reported patients arriving by ambulance being assessed in corridors by a nurse because of a shortage of beds and staff, as well patients waiting hours or even days to see a doctor.

Immigrants may face a £200 levy to pay for the NHS, ministers will announce today.

Foreigners from outside the European Union applying for visas lasting more than six months will have to pay the new “health care levy” under plans to stop exploitation of the health service. They are currently entitled to free treatment.

Shorter-term visitors will also face charges for their treatment. There are additional plans to make it easier for the NHS to recover the cost of treating EU nationals and to help doctors identify those eligible for treatment.

Sex and the City has had its fair share of plaudits, but for the first time the show has been praised with a public health miracle - the near eradication of the pubic louse.

Doctors believe to have pin-pointed the moment the Brazilian waxing went global after an episode of Sex and the City

The lice are being threatened with extinction due to the disappearance of their natural habitat as “Brazilian waxing” becomes increasingly popular.

Doctors from the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) believe that they have now pin-pointed the moment the trend went global after an episode of Sex and the City which aired in 2000.

Public health officials are to test raw meat sold in supermarkets for the presence of antibiotic resistant meat.

They fear contamination of meat with bacteria that have developed resistance to antibiotics used by vets may be helping to drive infections in humans

Scientists based at Public Health England are to test 400 samples of chicken, pork and beef from supermarkets around the country for signs of antibiotic resistant strains of Escherichia coli.

They fear contamination of meat with bacteria that have developed resistance to antibiotics used by vets may be helping to drive infections in humans.

Jenny Pitman's nephew hanged himself while taking controversial acne drug

The nephew of racing trainer Jenny Pitman hanged himself at a top private school after taking a controversial acne drug which has been linked to depression, an inquest has heard.

Jenny Pitman's nephew Jack Bowlby was discovered dead while taking controversial acne drug

Talented horseman and showjumper Jack Bowlby, 16, was found by his friends in his dorm room at the prestigious Cheltenham College after complaining of “very dark thoughts” whilst taking drug Roacutane.

The day before his death he had decided to put himself back on the acne drug, despite being taken off it after concerns were raised by close family friend and horse owner Lady Anne Vestey.

Patients will be able to compare the death rates of surgeons at every NHS hospital by next year, the national medical director has said, amid criticism that data published so far does not allow the public to make a meaningful choice.

Figures revealing the mortality rates of more than 3,500 consultants in 10 specialties are currently being published, with statistics for more than 2,000 orthopaedic surgeons and cardiologists among those released yesterday.

The disclosures had been hailed by ministers as a “revolution in transparency in the NHS,” driving up standards and allowing patients to make informed decisions.

Senior hospital doctors have received pay rises of up to 28 per cent following the introduction of a “nonsensical” contract that allows them to refuse to work in the evenings and at weekends, a report warns.

Taxpayers are now faced with an annual bill of almost £6 billion for the most qualified doctors, who are typically receiving six-figure salaries, despite growing concerns over the quality of care being offered at many hospitals outside of normal hours

An investigation by the public accounts committee concludes that the productivity of consultants “continued to decline” over the past decade as new terms and conditions for those working for the NHS were introduced.

The inquiry found that 60 per cent of consultants were qualifying for special bonuses that are supposed to be restricted to those doctors demonstrating exceptional performance.

The firms putting a copyright on cancer

Should companies be able to patent the genes that cause breast cancer? Anjana Ahuja looks at the issues

There are two genes that have been clearly linked with breast cancer — and Myriad Genetics has patented them both

First, the shares shot up to $36. Then they dropped to $32. The fluctuating stock price of Myriad Genetics, the American company whose monopoly on genetic testing for breast cancer was partly dismantled by the US Supreme Court last month, illustrates the confusion that has greeted the legal ruling. It has been simultaneously applauded as “a victory for common sense” and condemned as “insane”. At the time of writing, the share price was hovering around $26.

Heart attack victims are being treated in ambulances using a chilled nasal spray which could prevent brain damage.

Trials have begun in Sussex using a new technique which aims to cool the brain and stop cells dying from a lack of oxygen while the heart is stopped.

A number of ambulance services in the UK already use methods such as cold saline drips and cooling pads to attempt to attempt to prevent and limit brain damage, but scientists hope the new technique will target the brain more quickly.

Surgeons have been criticised by patients’ groups for the “meaningless” way in which they have released statistics about death rates following operations.

Figures revealing the number of operations performed by 3,500 NHS surgeons over a three-year period, and subsequent death rates, are being released by their 10 professional specialist organisations

The data were meant to allow the public to make choices about their care. But campaigners said the information was too poorly presented to be useful to patients hoping to compare surgeons before undergoing treatment.

Figures revealing the number of operations performed by 3,500 NHS surgeons over a three-year period, and subsequent death rates, are being released by their 10 professional specialist organisations. The way the statistics are presented has been left up to the individual societies.

A kidney? £84,000. A heart? Up to £1 million. With the number of organs now critical, wealthy patients are spending a fortune on illicit transplants. But it is the desperate 'donors' who are paying the ultimate price.

Angry kidney sellers show scars caused by operations to remove their kidneys in Lahore, Pakistan

One January night in 2004, Susan Sutovic was woken from her sleep by a persistently ringing phone. “It was an international call from Belgrade,” she says. “Telling me my son Petar was dead.” Twenty-four-year-old Petar Sutovic was, at the time of his death, staying in his mother’s holiday apartment in Belgrade and studying law. Petar’s body was allegedly discovered in his bed late at night by his flatmate.

Paramedics were quick to the scene, and, although no death certificate has ever been issued, the pathologist that authorised the release of Petar’s body to be flown home to Britain said that the cause of death was a drugs overdose.

An over-the-counter medicine used to fight indigestion for generations has fallen foul of EU rules because it contains too much sulphate.

Manufacture of Milk of Magnesia stopped last autumn, leaving only a backlog of supplies to be sold

Milk of Magnesia is selling for 10 times the £2 a bottle retail price on the auction website eBay.

Manufacture of the liquid stopped in last autumn, leaving only a backlog of supplies to be sold. The eBay price has risen as stockpiles have dwindled. GlaxoSmithKline, which makes the medicine, is looking at modifying the recipe, a solution of magnesium hydroxide, so that it contains less than 0.5 per cent sulphate, the new legal limit.

UK's first ever opt-out donor scheme could get go-ahead

The UK’s first ever opt-out organ donation scheme, where adults are presumed to have given consent, it set to be approved this week.

People living in Wales will be asked to either formally opt in to becoming an organ donor, or opt out

The Welsh assembly is to vote on the controversial bill tomorrow which will mean organs and tissues can be removed although a person never expressly signed up to be a donor when they were alive.

If it is passed and the scheme proves successful it may pave the way for such a system across the whole of the UK.

The troubled health watchdog that is accused of covering up a report into the deaths of mothers and babies at a maternity unit issued at least 20 “gagging orders” to prevent former members of staff from speaking out.

Furness General Hospital, where errors killed mothers and as many as 16 babies

The Care Quality Commission, which has come under fire for its behaviour over the scandal at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust’s maternity unit, spent nearly £17 million of taxpayers’ money in redundancy payments for as many as 400 staff in the past four years.

Of these, at least 20 were bound by secrecy orders preventing them from speaking publicly about the failings of the organisation.

Universities should start conducting drug tests before exams because a growing number of students are taking brain enhancing medication such as Ritalin to help boost their performance, according to a leading academic.

A recent survey of Cambridge University students revealed that one in ten has taken drugs such as Ritalin

Professor Barbara Sahakian, a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge, said students should expect to be screened for the “smart drugs”, as is done in competitive sports.

Ritalin and other drugs that can improve concentration are prescribed to treat ADHD, an attention deficit disorder, but Professor Sahakian has warned that thousands of desperate students are now buying the drug through the blackmarket and online.

A surgeon was allowed to operate on patients by an NHS trust even though he was under investigation over at least 10 deaths.

Mr Sarker's death rates were twice as high as other doctors in similar fields

Lawyers acting for some of Sudip Sarker’s patients say he performed surgery on them without them being told there were concerns about his practice.

Mr Sarker, 44, was referred to the Royal College of Surgeons in July last year. Its investigation found his death rates were twice as high as other doctors in similar fields and that one in five of his patients had to be readmitted following surgery.

Sick patients have been forced to wait up to eight hours in ambulances queuing outside Accident & Emergency units amid a crisis in the system.

The number of patients forced to wait at least two hours parked outside A&E has risen by two thirds in just one year

An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph shows that the number of patients forced to wait at least two hours parked outside A&E has risen by two thirds in just one year.

Official figures from eight of England’s ten ambulance trusts show that in 3,424 patients waited more than two hours before “handover” to hospital staff during 2012/13 – compared with 2,061 such patients the year before.