|
Total Records: 4476 | Pages: 896
< backward 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | forward >{ next 10 >> Cancer jab 'unlikely' death cause A girl who died shortly after being given a cervical cancer vaccine had a "serious underlying medical condition", an NHS Trust has said. NHS Coventry said the vaccination was "most unlikely to have caused the death" of Natalie Morton, 14. She was given the Cervarix jab at Coventry's Blue Coat School on Monday and fell ill a few hours later. The government said its national cervical cancer immunisation programme should continue.
Dr Caron Grainger, joint director of public health for NHS Coventry and Coventry City Council, said the results of a preliminary post-mortem examination had "revealed a serious underlying medical condition which was likely to have caused death." "We are awaiting further test results which will take some time," she said. "However indications are that it was most unlikely that the HPV vaccination was the cause of death." The injection - part of a national immunisation programme - protects against the human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease linked to most cervical cancers.
'Easy-going child'
The Department of Health has ordered the batch of vaccine to be quarantined as a precaution, but insists there is no reason to stop the programme. Public health minister Gillian Merron said: "We hope that girls continue to protect themselves against cervical cancer by having this vaccine." Christine Beasley, the chief nursing officer, said: "My message to parents and to the young girls themselves is this a vaccination which will prevent you getting cervical cancer, which is a horrible disease, even if it is treated, and is often life-threatening."
Meanwhile, the vaccine manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, announced it was recalling the batch - AHPVA043BB - for testing. The Department of Health said it was working with the NHS and regulatory bodies to thoroughly investigate Natalie Morton's case. A department spokesman said: "No link can be made between the death and the vaccine until all the facts are known. "Results of tests on the batch of vaccine will be announced as soon as they are known. "The HPV vaccination programme can continue as planned - there is no reason for the campaign to be suspended or interrupted."
He added that minor delays might occur in the next day or so while some areas awaited fresh supplies of HPV vaccine to replace quarantined stock. NHS Coventry has not suspended its HPV programme but has decided to reschedule catch-up clinics planned for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Natalie's death has left schoolmates and staff shocked and saddened, headteacher Dr Julie Roberts said. She described Natalie as a "happy, easy-going child who worked hard".
A routine programme of vaccinating 12- and 13-year-old girls started in September 2008 using the Cervarix vaccine. A catch-up campaign is now under way for older girls. It is thought about a million girls have already safely received the jab. More than 1.4 million doses have been given out, of which there have been 4,657 suspected reactions reported, according to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
There are more than 100 types of HPV but only 13 of them are known to cause cancer.
Cervarix, licensed for use in Europe since September 2007, protects against two strains of HPV that cause more than 70% of cervical cancer cases. In the UK, about 3,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year and about 1,000 die from it. Vaccination is not compulsory and consent is required before it is administered to the under-16s. Parents or young people concerned about the safety of any vaccine are being advised to speak to their GP, visit www.nhs.uk or call NHS Direct on 0845 46 47.
Copyright BBC Health News – Wednesday 30th September 2009
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8281673.stm Children's ?288m health park plan A plan to create the UK's first £288m children's health park at Liverpool's Alder Hey hospital is being submitted. The proposals for the project are being put forward to Monitor, the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts. If approval is given, work could start in 2012 and be completed by 2014 - in time for the Merseyside hospital's 100th anniversary. Liverpool City Council has granted planning permission for the hospital to be built in Springfield Park.
Florence Nightingale
Under the plans, most of the existing Edwardian hospital buildings will be demolished and rebuilt on the parkland. Monitor is expected to rule on the business plan within weeks. If it supports the proposals, government backing will be sought. Richard Glenn, Alder Hey's project director, said: "Alder Hey was built almost a century ago as a state-of-the-art children's hospital, based on the principles of Florence Nightingale. Since then it has been a pioneering hospital with a world-renowned reputation. "Most of our buildings are no longer fit for purpose and we desperately need a new hospital to reflect expectations and needs in the 21st Century. We have an incredibly dedicated and passionate staff at Alder Hey and it is because of them we cope with the current inadequate facilities."
Mr. Glenn said the patient growth rate over the last few years indicated the number of children attending the hospital could increase to about 375,000 by 2015. The first stage of work will include new inpatient and acute services accommodation, new facilities for radiology, pathology, operating theatres, PICU (Paediatric Intensive Care Unit), day surgery and day procedures. There will be a new 1,000-space multi-storey car park and a park to provide exercise, space for families, staff and the local community. Future plans include developing education and research facilities with the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moore University and Edge Hill University.
Copyright BBC Health News – Wednesday 30th September 2009
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/8282129.stm
Medics 'flout' community care law The government seriously underestimated the number of psychiatric patients who would need to be forced to take medication, the BBC has learned. It predicted 300 community treatment orders in the first year but 10 times as many applications have been made. Psychiatrists told BBC File on 4 this had left them having to "bend the rules" when unable to get signatures of two doctors that are needed on orders. But a minister responded that CTOs were making a difference to people's lives.
In the first 10 months since CTOs came into force in 2008, 3,777 applications have been made, according to the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of social care in Britain. Under a CTO, severely ill patients must take their medication or face being returned to a psychiatric unit. Two doctors should sign the order but psychiatrists claim the huge volume of CTOs makes this difficult. CTOs came into effect under amendments to the 2007 Mental Health Act which gave psychiatrists the power to send a patient straight back to hospital if they refused to take their medication.
Doctors' dilemma
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Tony Zigmond, of the Newsam Centre at Seacroft Hospital, Leeds, told BBC File on 4 the second opinion system had major problems. "This is partly because of the very large number of CTOs that have been put in place - far greater than the government predicted - and partly because it has proven very difficult for second opinion doctors to see the patient," he said. Dr Zigmond added: "One of the problems has been the recruitment of second opinion doctors - there are just not enough of them." The Care Quality Commission, which said the government under-estimate had put a strain on services, has advised doctors to invoke a clause in the 2007 act which allows CTOs to continue without a second opinion.
The law states that this get-out clause should apply in an emergency where treatment is "immediately necessary" to save a patient's life, prevent a serious deterioration of their condition, alleviate serious suffering or stop them behaving violently. But Dr Zigmond said these conditions did not apply in the regular administration of CTOs, putting psychiatrists in an impossible position and leaving them torn between breaking the law or leaving their patients unmedicated. "That's why it is such an unsatisfactory position - one either puts the patient and perhaps others at risk by not giving treatment or one gives treatment and is perhaps breaking the law. The vast majority continue to medicate even if that is bending or breaking the law."
'Advice ignored'
Another psychiatrist, who did not want to be named, told File on 4: "The sheer numbers of CTOs in place have overwhelmed the service. The Department of Health made a serious miscalculation. "Some of my patients have not been seen by a second opinion doctor even after three months of being on a CTO." Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, said: "It's a pity that what set out to be a provision to help patients to be treated in the community should have been so ill-prepared. "We fear that the shortage of psychiatrists may affect the number of people who could otherwise benefit and potentially compromise the protective safeguards written in the new Mental Health Act."
Tom Burns, professor of social psychiatry at Oxford University, who advised the government on CTOs, said the politicians ignored advice and were too ambitious in their implementation of the policy. "This is a perfect example where some preliminary legislation might have made it possible to introduce a pilot scheme to run three or four years." Care services minister Phil Hope said: "I would share a concern that delays in providing second opinions is unsatisfactory. I think its important that the Care Quality Commission works further to put that right." But he added: "Community treatment orders do offer an important new legal framework to help professionals ensure that patients get the treatment they need. It's an important new development that's making a real difference to people's lives."
Copyright BBC Health News – Tuesday 29th September 2009
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8278581.stm
Stopping cancer having the last word When actress Elle Seivwright remembers her father Andrew she can chuckle. Her father died three years ago from lymphoma, but she prefers not to dwell on the illness that claimed his life, but rather to focus on his life itself. So when she was approached by a cancer charity compiling a video archive of happy memories she was only to happy to contribute. "I thought it was a good way of advertising a charity rather than somebody in a bed looking all sorrowful with a number coming up underneath it.
Funny tale
"I told a daft story about my father cutting the grass. He was quite vain about his appearance and his clothes and when he cut the grass he always looked dead smart. Obviously his illness was horrible, but I like to have him immortalised in a positive way. He cut the grass while smoking a cigarette and looking like James Bond. It was quite a big lawn and he was out there for ages."
But she said that one day it had gone very wrong. "It was a big petrol lawn-mower and it ran away from him and he went round and round in circles chasing it, Benny Hill style. "It is a positive way to remember him. Obviously his illness was horrible, but I like to have him immortalised in a positive way."
The Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) is collating the positive clips for its campaign "Don't let cancer have the last word". The idea of the archive is to create positive memories, which can be accessed by everyone through their website, which might help grieving relatives remember their loved ones in a positive light. "When we lose someone to cancer we lose many things but their quirky little sayings, stories or jokes stay with us and help to keep their memory alive," said a spokeswoman.
Dr Mark Matfield, scientific adviser at the charity, agreed. "It is obviously a very positive thing for all the family and friends who have died from cancer to focus on a positive memory because watching someone die from cancer can be very difficult and traumatic and tends to imprint itself on your memory," he said.
'Make me smile'
"This campaign in many ways offers the opportunity to have a positive memory of them. One of my roles with the charity is to deal with e-mails, letters and telephone calls re medical questions and although the person's husband, wife, child may have died years ago they still find it an incredibly traumatic thing. The death of someone from cancer can strike people very hard indeed and they are focusing on the death, but I suppose what you should be focusing on is the life of the person, because they have a life like everyone else."
He said this positive spin could even have a health benefit. "This is not really something anyone has done before so nobody knows whether it will have a measurable positive effect," he said. “What you should be focusing on is the life of the person, because they have a life like everyone else. We just think it is a good way of focusing on cancer as an issue and giving someone who has lost somebody to cancer the chance to think about them more positively."
Elle, from Prestwick, said her father had been a positive person, so it was good to remember him in a positive light. "He had a good life and even when he was ill he never complained. I just can't remember him complaining once," she said. "He just accepted it and dealt with it, which is in a way positive. "I bought into that. We did not go around singing and dancing, but I was not melancholic around him.”
“Privately I was obviously very upset, but when I was around him I did not want to reinforce the fact that he had something that was going to make him die. So I was not overly upbeat, but was quite positive around him."
Copyright BBC Health News – Monday 28th September 2009
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8248959.stm Medics 'flout' community care law The government seriously underestimated the number of psychiatric patients who would need to be forced to take medication, the BBC has learned. It predicted 300 community treatment orders (CTOs) in the first year but 10 times as many applications have been made. Psychiatrists told BBC File on 4 this had left them having to "bend the rules" when unable to get signatures of two doctors that are needed on orders. But a minister responded that CTOs were making a difference to people's lives.
In the first 10 months since CTOs came into force in 2008, 3,777 applications have been made, according to the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of social care in Britain. Under a CTO, severely ill patients must take their medication or face being returned to a psychiatric unit. Two doctors should sign the order but psychiatrists claim the huge volume of CTOs makes this difficult. CTOs came into effect under amendments to the 2007 Mental Health Act which gave psychiatrists the power to send a patient straight back to hospital if they refused to take their medication.
Doctors' dilemma
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Tony Zigmond, of the Newsam Centre at Seacroft Hospital, Leeds, told BBC File on 4 the second opinion system had major problems. "This is partly because of the very large number of CTOs that have been put in place - far greater than the government predicted - and partly because it has proven very difficult for second opinion doctors to see the patient," he said. Dr Zigmond added: "One of the problems has been the recruitment of second opinion doctors - there are just not enough of them."
The Care Quality Commission, which said the government under-estimate had put a strain on services, has advised doctors to invoke a clause in the 2007 act which allows CTOs to continue without a second opinion. The law states that this get-out clause should apply in an emergency where treatment is "immediately necessary" to save a patient's life, prevent a serious deterioration of their condition, alleviate serious suffering or stop them behaving violently.
But Dr Zigmond said these conditions did not apply in the regular administration of CTOs, putting psychiatrists in an impossible position and leaving them torn between breaking the law or leaving their patients unmedicated. "That's why it is such an unsatisfactory position - one either puts the patient and perhaps others at risk by not giving treatment or one gives treatment and is perhaps breaking the law. "The vast majority continue to medicate even if that is bending or breaking the law."
'Advice ignored'
Another psychiatrist, who did not want to be named, told File on 4: "The sheer numbers of CTOs in place have overwhelmed the service. The Department of Health made a serious miscalculation. "Some of my patients have not been seen by a second opinion doctor even after three months of being on a CTO."
Tom Burns, professor of social psychiatry at Oxford University, who advised the government on CTOs, said the politicians ignored advice and were too ambitious in their implementation of the policy. "This is a perfect example where some preliminary legislation might have made it possible to introduce a pilot scheme to run three or four years."
Care services minister Phil Hope said: "I would share a concern that delays in providing second opinions is unsatisfactory. I think its important that the Care Quality Commission works further to put that right." But he added: "Community treatment orders do offer an important new legal framework to help professionals ensure that patients get the treatment they need. It's an important new development that's making a real difference to people's lives."
Copyright BBC Health News – Tuesday 29th September 2009
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8278581.stm
|
|
|
|
Show me some testimonials from satisfied nurses Answer...
|
|
What are the most common questions about UK Nursing Answer...
|
|
Where can I download a guide to living in London? Answer...
|
|
|
