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Longer
waits for radiotherapy
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Patients with cancer are waiting
longer for radiotherapy than they were in 1998,
according to an audit by the Royal College
of Radiologists.
The survey covered all patients waiting for
treatment in one week last year. The bad news
was revealed when these figures were compared
with a similar survey carried out in 1998.
After surgery for breast cancer, women are
now waiting five weeks for radiotherapy to
clear up remaining cancer cells. This is two
weeks longer than they were waiting in 1998.
And waiting times for other cancers are also
two weeks longer, on average six weeks.
The audit was carried out because of concerns
that radiologists were not meeting the standards
set in 1993. According to Anne Barret, dean
of clinical oncology at the college, waits
were increasing despite extra government investment
in machines and training. 'We started from
a very low base. It is worse in spite of investment
because we were so far behind and the incidence
of cancer has been going up.'
The government's cancer tsar, Mike Richards
acknowledged the 'bottleneck' but offered reassurance
that the number of radiographers was going
up and that facilities and equipment were being
improved.
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Funds
for mental health
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Research into mental health
is to get a £5million funding boost and
a dedicated network.
 Health
minister Rosie Winterton said
that the network will raise the standards of
mental health and social care research in England
by acting as a central resource for clinicians,
researchers, carers and people with mental
health problems.
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Roll-out
of consultants’ contract disappoints doctors
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Doctors are unhappy that the
new consultants’ contract, agreed with
the government four months ago has not been
fully implemented across England.
The number of hospitals signed up to the consultants’ contract
was discussed at the British Medical Association's
consultants’ conference. Chair of the
conference, Dr Robin Arnold, said implementation
of the contract was patchy, and depended on
the attitude of the strategic health authority
in the area.
In April the British Medical Association announced
that one in four trusts had implemented the
new contract.
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Matrons
to champion chronic sufferers
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Plans have been unveiled to
recruit 3,000 community matrons who will focus
on patients with long-term conditions such
as diabetes.
 Health
secretary John Reid hoped
the matrons would act as 'human search engines'
and help patients find their way through the
NHS.
There are already 129 community matrons working
in the NHS. These senior nurses have more authority
than district nurses. They can:
- dispense clinical advice
- coordinate hospital appointments
- champion the patient's interests to get
the best service.
The extra 2,900 will be recruited by 2008
as part of the on-going nurse recruitment scheme.
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Innovation
crushed by shortages
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Shortages of staff and money
are preventing doctors from developing new
schemes, according to a British Medical Association
(BMA) report.
The report, A to Z of doctors making a
difference, includes 44 case studies
on innovative schemes developed by doctors
involving everything from arthritis to Zzzzzzz
(for a sleep clinic).
The report indicates that 90 per cent of doctors
would like to expand their ideas, but 80 per
cent said that they were unable to. Funding
difficulties were cited by 57 per cent and
one third complained about lack of staff.
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Views
sought for a more smoke-free Scotland
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A consultation has been launched to consider
the introduction of more smoke-free areas in
Scotland.
 Launching
the exercise in Glasgow, deputy Health Minister Tom
McCabe said:
‘As the single biggest cause of preventable
premature death and ill-health in Scotland,
smoking is an issue that affects us all. It
is now estimated that 19,000 Scots die every
year from smoking-related illnesses. While
less than a third of Scottish people actually
smoke, passive smoking, or second-hand smoke,
has been linked with a range of potentially
lethal respiratory conditions, including lung
cancer.
‘Legislation is obviously an option,
but all options will be considered. We are
seeking to promote good citizenship and ensure
smokers are aware of how their second-hand
smoke affects others. A voluntary charter being
operated by the licensed trade has yielded
some results, but seven out of 10 pubs still
allow smoking throughout their premises and
smoke-free pubs and restaurants are still few
and far between.'
Members of the public are able to pick up
copies of the consultation from doctors’ surgeries,
libraries and other public outlets, as well
as using the internet to get their opinions
across.
The Assembly’s policy on smoking will
be decided once public opinion has been gauged
and evidence has been examined. The research
will include studying places where restrictions
on smoking have already been introduced, such
as New York and the Republic of Ireland.
The consultation was first announced in January’s
Tobacco control action plan.
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Doubts
over treatment centres
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Doctors have questioned the
issue of patient choice and the quality of
care provided by treatment centres.
The conference of British Medical Association's
consultants discussed the 26 NHS-run centres
and 20 privately-run centres which provide
NHS care. It is claimed that patients are being
moved onto treatment centre lists without their,
or their doctor's consent.
Dr Robin Arnold, BMA conference chair, told
the BBC:
‘There are a lot of concerns about the
treatment centres, such as over the quality
of care and whether there are proper follow-up
procedures. When patients have complications,
it is unclear who is responsible for dealing
with this.’
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More
public health staff needed
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The government will not be
able to tackle obesity and other public health
issues without recruiting more doctors, experts
say.
The Faculty of Public Health warned that the
public health workforce needs to increase by
40 per cent if it is to be effective.
A report marking the start of the faculty's
conference, which began on Monday, stated that
recruitment levels have not kept up with an
expansion in the role of public health specialists.
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Partially
sighted let down by practices
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A report has discovered over
half of people with visual impairments feel
GPs could improve at least some aspects of
the care they provide.
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association interviewed
over 800 blind and partially sighted people
and asked detailed questions about their last
visit to a surgery. The NHS services report did
find that many are happy with the service they
receive, but the complaints of those that are
not can be classified into three areas:
- Limited physical assistance: over half
need help in finding a seat in waiting areas,
yet only about 26% received it
- Lack of information in a preferred format:
95 per cent never receive health advice leaflets
in preferred formats such as Braille or large
print
- Limited staff awareness: almost two thirds
felt other staff in the surgery were not
fully aware of their needs
Following the report, Guide Dogs for the Blind
has launched ‘Access for All’,
a campaign to improve NHS care for the blind
and partially sighted. The charity is targeting
GP surgeries first and has sent information
to all UK practices. The association’s
next aim is to produce a national set of standards
to serve as a model of good practice for GPs.
Tom Pey, director of policy for the association,
said:
‘There are around 1.7m blind and partially
sighted people in the UK; 90 per cent of these
are over 60. As demographic trends indicate
that the elderly population is set to rise
in the next couple of decades, the ability
of the NHS to respond to the needs of visually
impaired people is of paramount importance.
‘[The] report has highlighted specific
areas in need of improvement. Many of these,
such as assisting someone to a seat and into
the surgery and improving signage around the
building could easily be resolved at no great
expense. Well trained staff, accessible information
and a safe building will be of clear benefit
to both patients and staff.’
Dr Maureen Baker, honorary secretary of the
Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP),
said its members were looking at ways in which
the service could be improved:
‘There are very real problems in gaining
access to care for this group of patients.
The RCGP disability task group is exploring
ways of developing training and support for
GPs in their work with blind or partially sighted
patients.’
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Commons
Health Committee report discredited
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It has been claimed that the
death of an ‘obese’ three-year-old
girl that hit the headlines last month was
due to a genetic defect.
The Commons Health Committee report on obesity
(published last month) was highlighted for
its account of the young girl who weighed six
stone when she died. The report claimed that
the death was due to heart failure, brought
on by obesity.
However, Dr Sadaf Farooqi, of Addenbrooke’s
Hospital (which handled the case), told BBC
Radio 4’s Today programme that genetic
abnormalities caused the girl's death. The
condition meant that she felt hungry all the
time and that her body was telling her she
was starving. She said:
‘I was appalled and I must say I felt
immediately for the parents and family of this
child. And the clear implication was that the
child had been overfed with bad parents resulting
in severe obesity and her death. That is simply
not true.’
Meanwhile, nutrition expert Professor Tom
Sanders, of King's College London, told the
Today programme that the committee had been
hijacked by pressure groups:
‘They were fed a lot of information
by pressure groups who had a vested interest
and these are people who have a fervent belief
that they know what we should be eating. I
think there was also a covert influence of
the drug companies.
David Hinchliffe, Labour chair of the select
committee, defended the report, claiming that
it did not state that the girl had died from
an unhealthy diet. He said:
‘It saddens me that we are being criticised,
I believe unfairly, by people who have obviously
read tabloid headlines and not troubled to
read the detail of our report and the evidence
given. It is quite apparent from looking at
our report — if people read our report — we
did not either say that or indeed imply it
and neither did the doctor.’
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And
finally… Penthouse editor to launch mental health magazine
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A new magazine aimed at helping
people understand mental illness is to be put
together by a former Penthouse editor.
There There is the work of mental
health charity Sane and Jonathon Richards,
one of the editors behind OK! and Penthouse
magazines.
In an interview with BBC News Online, Jonathon
Richards explained that he had taken time out
from his publishing career to train as a counsellor
and wanted to combine his two areas of expertise.
He hoped the magazine will be available on
news stands. It will cover topics such as recovering
from heartbreak, beating depression and busting
stress.
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External
link 