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Archive for June 2012
Should Trusts be allowed to bust?
From the BBC: South London Healthcare, a merger of three hospital trusts, had a £69m debt at the start of the financial year. The health secretary has told the trust an administrator could be brought in within weeks. The trust could be dissolved and some services closed. If a decision was made to break up … Continue reading
Nudging towards health
From The Telegraph: A Whitehall unit set up to find discreet ways to change behaviour has begun talks with supermarkets over using their vast databases to help improve the nation’s heath. The head of the Behavioural Insights Team said that supermarkets had more information about their customers than doctors did and that this information should … Continue reading
The return of O-Levels
From the BBC: [Education Secretary] Mr Gove is reported to be preparing to scrap GCSEs for England from autumn 2014, but did not confirm any details… Mr Gove said action was needed because the current exam system was letting children down. “Children are working harder than ever but we are hearing that the system is … Continue reading
The Cost of Mental Illness
From the Guardian: Layard added: “Mental health is so central to the health of individuals and of society that it needs its own cabinet minister … The under-treatment of people suffering from mental illnesses is the most glaring case of health inequality in the NHS … Despite the existence of cost-effective treatments it receives only … Continue reading
Informed Consent?
From The Telegraph: The Welsh Government wants to introduce a system of organ donation called ‘presumed consent’, in which it is presumed individuals are happy to become donors in death, unless they opt out or family members strenuously object… Under this, people living in Wales will be asked to either formally opt in to becoming … Continue reading
“A known complication… of gastric bypass”
From The Daily Mail: An obese mother… had undergone gastric bypass surgery but kept it secret from her family and started eating too much after the operation. Her oesophagus swelled to the size of a normal stomach and food built up all the way to her throat, causing her to suffocate, an inquest in Truro, … Continue reading
Medicine Without Doctors?
From an excellent article at The Economist on changing trends in medicine: With the 21st century certain to see soaring demand for health care, the doctors’ star might seem in the ascendant still. By 2030, 22% of people in the OECD club of rich countries will be 65 or older, nearly double the share in … Continue reading
Do Not Resuscitate?
From the BBC: The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death reviewed the care given to 585 acutely-ill patients who ended up having a cardiac arrest. The watchdog concluded that cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) had wrongly become the default setting. And it said a third of the cardiac arrests could have been prevented. The report … Continue reading
