Lives Are Being Lost

We Are Losing The Battle Against Childhood Cancer.
A terrifying 40% rise in children’s cancer is being blamed on modern life.
Experts warned of a cancer epidemic and identified fast food, computer tablets, mobile phones, car emissions and cleaning agents as contributing factors.
The huge rise, revealed in Child Cancer Awareness Month, means that 1,300 more children are affected each year than in 1998. The stark news comes from the charity Children with Cancer UK, which demands the Government acts to ensure parents and parents-to-be are aware of wide-ranging lifestyle dangers.
Alasdair Philips, the charity’s trustee and science advisor says, “We are losing the battle against childhood cancer. It is so many lives lost, so many futures unfulfilled, so many devastated families.”
( Emily Retter, 04.09.2016 )

Humiliation Of Mixed-Sex Hospital Wards.
The number of patients enduring the humiliation of mixed-sex hospital wards has soared by almost 50% under Theresa May.
More than 8,500 patients were put in such wards during the Prime Minister’s first year at No 10, up on 5,700 the year before.
Hospitals are fined £250 per patient per day for breaching rules on keeping patients on single-sex wards.
The Tories vowed to eliminate mixed-sex wards completely in both their 2010 and 2015 manifestos but the pledge had vanished when it came to this year’s election.
From July last year, when Mrs May first moved to Downing Street, until June this year there were 8,546 instances of mixed-sex ward use – up 49% on the 5,720 in the year before.
Shadow Health Minister Justin Madders said, “Patients expect dignity and respect in hospital but this Government is letting them down.”
Norman Lamb, the Lib Dem health spokesman, added, “It’s an utter scandal and an affront to basic human dignity. We need to make sure the Tories start properly funding the NHS to end this intolerable practise.”
( Andrew Gregory, 22.07.2017 )

Palm oil, used in crisps and chocolate, was found to cause the cancer protein CD36 to spread, says a study in the journal Nature.
( Metro, 08.12.2016 )

Duty NHS Doctors Treating Private Patients.
A surgeon claims his NHS Trust spent £1million fighting him after he blew the whistle on malpractice.
James Akinwunmi, 52, said emergency cases were turned away as duty doctors treated private patients and that some staff fraudulently claimed double pay.
But he was fired – his marriage collapsed and his kids became estranged.
The neurosurgeon at Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, spent £100,000 clearing his name.
Now the Trust has lost an appeal against an unfair dismissal ruling.
( Sunday Mirror, 23.07.2017 )

The Heartless Tories Laughed At A Social Care Plan.
Theresa May wants us to think she really does understand how difficult life can be when you’re old or ill – or both – and unable to care for yourself.
She’s finally realised emergency measures are needed because, thanks to serial savage cuts to the social care budget, the system, which was already approaching unfit for purpose, is now as ill as the people it should be caring for.
Huge, unrelenting, growing demand, paired with years of budget slashing, as well as the ignorant view that care ranks bottom of the country’s needs, has rendered the system on the verge of collapse.
It is outrageous that this has been allowed to happen.
Theresa is generously allowing us to take a year off work – unpaid – to provide the care that a caring country would normally regard as prerequisite for a civilised society.
So, instead of the Government increasing the social care budget, it is we who are being asked to carry the can for a problem that has been staring us in the face for years.
Eight years ago, Andy Burnham, then Health Secretary in the Labour Government, hatched a brilliant plan for a National Health and Social Care Service to be funded by a 10% levy on top of inheritance tax.
The Tories laughed until their sides split and killed it by labelling it a “death tax”.
And all they’ve managed to come up with in the intervening years is for us to deal with the crisis instead.
I would laugh.
Only, I feel like crying.
( Fiona Phillips, 20.05.2017 )

A Daily Aspirin Is Worth The Risk.
The benefits of an aspirin a day outweigh the risks , according to new research.
Although the drug raises the chance of stomach bleeding, the bleeds are less serious than those that can occur in people not taking the drug, said the study.
Aspirin is already known to cut heart disease and cancer.
Professor Peter Elwood, of Cardiff University, said he hoped the research will lead to wider use of aspirin among the elderly.
( Daily Mirror, 02.12.2016 )

Could Liquid Aspirin Fight Brain Tumours?
Aspirin is a very simple substance.
It’s chemical structure is so tiny that, compared to molecular monsters like proteins and carbohydrates, it can cross the ‘blood-brain barrier’ – an obstacle that has so far stopped cancer drugs reaching and attacking brain tumours.
Scientists say the results of early tests show a drink of liquid aspirin is ten times more effective than any existing chemotherapy drug at killing brain cancer cells and could save the lives of thousands of brain cancer patients.
The hope is liquid aspirin could be bolted on to cancer drugs to form powerful combinations to attack brain tumours.
This Portsmouth University research has been hailed as a ‘game-changer’ by experts.
( Dr Miriam Stoppard, 02.12.2016 )

More Children Suffer From ‘Obesity’ Disease.
Toddlers are being treated in hospital for a killer liver condition linked to obesity and fizzy drinks.
Alarming new figures show the number of under-18s admitted in England with fatty liver disease has more than doubled in five years.
Last year 185 kids were treated – including 27 not yet of school age.
The stats from NHS Digital likely show the tip of the iceberg, as only the worst cases end up in hospital.
Dr Jude Oben, a consultant liver specialist at London’s Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital. said medics had an ‘epidemic’ on their hands.
The condition is caused by a build-up of fat in the liver that can lead to cirrhosis and raises the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Dr Oben added, “You can be carrying the problem possibly for years before you start to feel unwell and by then you will have done some serious damage to your liver.”
A recent study at the University of Southampton found children who consumed excessive amounts of fructose were more likely to have the advanced form of fatty liver disease.
Just one 500ml bottle of cola can contain double the recommended daily amount for children.
Jane DeVille-Almond, of the British Obesity Society, said, “It drives me mad that parents are so reluctant to see their kids are becoming obese because of what they are feeding them. Giving them treats like fizzy drinks is not kind, it is killing them.”
( Nicola Fifield and Martyn Halle, 02.04.2017 )

Hidden Benefits Of Statins.
Several studies have suggested that statins may cut the chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
One in journal Neurology found taking them for at least two years reduced the risk by 15% for women and by 12% for men.
A study found statins could cut the chances of dying from breast cancer by 43%, prostate by 47%, bowel by 30% and lung by 22%.
Better Eye Health Research has found a link between statin use and a decreased risk of eye cataracts.
Studies have found patients who take statins significantly lower the chances of developing rheumatoid arthritis.
( Sunday Mirror, 07.05.2017 )

Patients Wait Over Two Weeks To Find Out If They Have Cancer.
Some 100,000 patients have been forced to wait longer than two weeks to find out if they have cancer.
A target for treatment to start within two months was also missed, as was the four-hour aim to be attended to in A&E.
Finding out if you have cancer within a fortnight of seeing a GP is a key NHS patient right.
But in the past year, 104,487 patients have waited two weeks-plus to see a consultant, reveals an analysis by Macmillan Cancer Support.
Other figures showed that in April there were 382,000 patients waiting longer than the target time of 18 weeks for routine treatment.
( Andrew Gregory, 10.06.2017 )

Lives Are being Lost.
The former head of the Army has blasted defence chiefs for failing troops with post-traumatic stress disorder, leaving them to rely on a charity helpline instead.
General Sir Richard Dannatt said, “Lives are being lost. We cannot penny pinch or seek efficiencies where the lives of our people are at stake. The Government’s failure to support our troops is a breach of the Armed Forces Covenant. In 1917, they didn’t understand shell shock, but in 2017 we do understand PTSD.”
A major study has found recent wars, including Iraq and Afghanistan, left 83,000 British troops physically or mentally scarred.
( Sean Rayment and Dan Warburton, July 2017 )

Medical Staff Leaving The NHS.
The number of stressed workers quitting the NHS has more than doubled in just four years.
New figures show nearly 14,000 staff left last year because they wanted a better work-life balance.
In 2011/2012 the figure was 6,727.
The number who left for health reasons also soared, from 2,138 four years ago to 3,068 last year.
Unions say the NHS is spending millions on agency staff to plug gaps and claim patients will be at risk from dangerous staff levels.
Figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre shows nearly 67,000 clinical staff, including 15,656 doctors and 31,546 nurses, left the NHS last year.
( Nicola Fifield, 12.06.2016 )

Tories Have Never Liked The NHS.
It’s been said that the Government doesn’t have a plan for the NHS.
I disagree.
It has been clear for some time that the Government has been on a rubber-stamped mission to run the NHS into the ground.
Tories have never liked the NHS.
They have serially failed to understand that Health and Education are the two fundamental requirements of a civilised society.
The warning signs have been festering and growing since 1979, the ominous year that witnessed Margaret Thatcher’s ascendancy to Prime Minister.
I was training within the NHS as a radiographer at the time and witnessed the implementation of her 1980 Health Services Act, which encouraged people to use private medical services.
I witnessed the queues growing as those who could afford to pay for those services in NHS hospitals jumped to the head of the line.
Waiting lists increased.
Wards closed.
Agency staff were hired at £200 per shift, a fortune back then.
The public remained committed to the NHS even as concern about the level of spending grew.
There was talk of the ageing population and increasing reliance on costly new technology, as well as the need for increased funding.
It all has a depressingly familiar ring about it, doesn’t it?
( Fiona Phillips, 14.01.2017 )

Tory Cuts To Social Care – One Care Home Is Closing Every Day.
So, we have a refreshed Government.
Big deal.
There are some situations in desperate need of change that never alter, no matter which party has grasped power.
They are problems that we know exist, that we’re uncomfortable with – appalled at, even – but still allow to persist.
One of the biggest, long-running scandals in our so-called civilised society is the continuing, covert abuse and misery that our beloved mums, dads, grans, grandads, brothers, sisters, daughters and sons are forced to endure in “care” homes where care is bottom of the agenda.
Privately run care homes can be very profitable, particularly if the staff are poorly paid, the food’s bog-standard, the furniture’s not up to inspection nor appropriate for the needs of residents, and the equipment – such as wheelchairs, beds, hoists etc. – are old and faulty.
This is still the case in plenty of “homes”, the sort of places where residents sit on hard, ropey old chairs watching telly, “cared” for by too few staff on minimum wage, with minimal tolerance.
Thanks to the Tories’ continuing myopic vision when it comes to social care, local authority funding of residential care for older people and those with disabilities has been slashed over the past seven years of their rule, with homes closing at the rate of more than one a day.
( Fiona Phillips, 10.06.2017 )