:: Fade - the blog ::

If you want to understand the origins of the headings go to Friday, November 29, 2002.

:: Saturday, January 04, 2003 ::

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Evil Edna's Corner
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Sunday Surgery Sun 5 Jan, 21:00 - 23:00
BBC Radio 1

Emma B and Dr Mark Hamilton with help and advice on listeners' dilemmas. Call 08700 100 100 [national rates], or call free on 0800 110 100 to speak to someone off air.
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Health Matters Mon 6 Jan, 20:05 - 20:30
BBC World Service

News and features about health, medicine and fitness.
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Inside Out Mon 6 Jan, 19:30 - 20:00
BBC1

Actress Margi Clarke finds out why men are the first in line for cosmetic surgery (North West Region Only)
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Fat Plague Mon 6 Jan, 21:00 - 22:00
Channel 4

Dr Nikhil Dhurandhar believes he has found a virus that could be making Americans obese, a revolutionary theory about which the scientific community is deeply sceptical. This film puts his theory to the test and screens both overweight and thin volunteers to assess whether they carry the antibodies to the virus and whether it could have spread to the UK.
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Health Matters Tue 7 Jan, 02:05 - 02:30
BBC World Service

News and features about health, medicine and fitness.
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Health Matters Tue 7 Jan, 15:05 - 15:30
BBC World Service

A Day In the Life: Four programmes about the way healthcare is delivered around the world.
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Case Notes Tue 7 Jan, 21:00 - 21:30
BBC Radio 4 FM

Are the days of the single-handed GP numbered? In a health service which increasingly favours group practices, Graham Easton spends a day with a solo GP. [Rptd Wed 4.30pm]
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Health Matters Wed 8 Jan, 10:05 - 10:30
BBC World Service

A Day In The Life: This four-part series looks at the way health care is delivered around the world, from life in an institution to a school or service and explores the help they provide.
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This Morning Wed 8 Jan, 10:30 - 12:30
ITV 1

Include medical advice from Dr Chris Steele
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Case Notes Wed 8 Jan, 16:30 - 17:00
BBC Radio 4 FM

Are the days of the single-handed GP numbered? In a health service which increasingly favours group practices, Graham Easton spends a day with a solo GP. [Rpt of Tue 9.00pm]
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Royal Deaths and Diseases Fri 10 Jan, 20:00 - 21:00
Channel 4

Continues the series investigating the medical history of the British monarchy and its effects on the life of the country. Madness This exploration of the dramatic history of royal mental-health probles re-examines the diagnosis and treatment of George III, and explores the cases of Queen Victoria's clinical depression and Henry VI's schizophrenia.
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Campaigning For Health Fri 10 Jan, 04:30 - 04:45
BBC World Service

Dee Palmer looks at the ways health care professionals try to give us the information we need. She also discovers how health campaigns are targeted and planned.
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:: Kieran 3:14 PM [+] ::
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Another 15 Minutes... Health News via Fade
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16-year-old girl injured in a Liverpool road crash remains "very poorly" in hospital.

A pregnant 16-year-old girl injured in a Liverpool road crash remains "very poorly" in hospital. The teenager was a passenger in a Ford Fiesta which crashed just minutes before the New Year in Prescot Road, Kensington.

Liverpoool Echo 03/01/03
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80-mile dash to hospital after fall

An ambulance shipped to Kenya from Runcorn ended up saving the life of the very woman who helped put it there. Shirley Johnson has led mercy missions to the African country for six years after a holiday there with husband Eddy opened her eyes to its poverty. The 61-year-old arranged the shipping of an ambulance from Runcorn to a poor Kenyan town in 1998, but never imagined that nearly five years later it would help save her own life.

Daily Post 03/01/03
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Baby Jasmine ready for battle of her young life

Merseyside couple are preparing to watch their baby begin her battle for life. Six-month-old Jasmine Beedles has DiGeorge syndrome, a genetic disorder which has affected her heart and lungs.

Liverpool Echo 03/01/03
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Brain Drain

Surgeons will leave Liverpool in protest if merger plans for the city's specialist neurological unit go ahead, a senior consultant warned last night. Donald Shaw, of the world-renowned Walton Centre for Neurology, said brain specialists would leave if the merger with Fazakerley Hospital took place.

Daily Post 03/01/03
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Dead man's son angry at fee to hand over body

A hospital mortuary refused to hand over a dead man's body until his family paid a fee for cutting a pacemaker from his chest. Albert Sumner's son, David, says the insensitive request from Southport hospital amounted to "emotional blackmail".

Daily Post 03/01/03
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Death, In A Few Terrible Hours

A grieving son has told of his devastation after his 57-year-old mother died of meningitis less than 24 hours after she went to work, fit and healthy. Simon Maylott is warning people of all ages to beware the symptoms of the deadly disease, which is nor-mally associated with young children and teenagers. Doctors failed to spot the warning signs until just a few hours before Simon's mother, Andrea, died at Southport hospital on December 19.

Daily Post 03/01/03
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Hits and misses in NHS targets

Sir, Those who criticise the Government’s policy of setting performance targets for the NHS (letters, December 28) must offer a credible alternative. The chief executive of the King’s Fund says that “if hospitals are under pressure to cut waiting lists or face severe financial penalties stress levels of senior managers mount . . . and patients suffer”. How strong were the pressures to cut waiting lists previously, which did not put such stress on senior managers? Her solution is “waiting based on need rather than government fiat”. How is “need” and the relative need of patients competing for NHS treatment assessed, and by whom? The public are no longer prepared to wait patiently until some incomprehensible process calls them for treatment.

The Times 04/01/03
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Hospitals cut back on doctors' night cover

Big cuts in night cover provided by doctors in NHS hospitals were announced by the Government yesterday in a move that raises doubts about patient safety.

The Independent 04/01/03
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It's green, prickly and sour, but this plant could cure obesity and save an ancient way of life

Xhoba, a member of the Asclepiadaceae family of plants, is known in English as hoodia, but is more likely to become better known as P57. Dotting the Kalahari desert of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Angola, it is being hailed as a wonder plant whose qualities as an appetite-suppressant could revolutionise treatment of obesity for 100 million westerners. Patented by a South African research institute and licensed to a British Buddhist entrepreneur, the plant is now being developed by the US drugs giant Pfizer, at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, with the objective of turning it into a pill which will zap food cravings.

The Guardian 04/01/03
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Mum wants Russian resolution

Helena Archer's mother is hoping a revolutionary drug developed in Russia will help her daughter talk. Helena, aged four, was born with cerebral palsy. It means she has stiffness in her arms and legs, floppiness in her body and the mental age of a two-year-old. She cannot talk but uses a special sign and symbol language called Makaton to communicate. Anne Archer and husband Gary, a construction engineer, are trying to raise money to pay for Metabolic Therapy Treatment, which involves a drug which helps revive impaired braincell structures.

Liverpool Echo 03/01/03
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NHS moves to cut doctors' hours

NHS hospitals have been ordered to introduce sweeping changes in an effort to reduce the working hours of trainee doctors. Ministers have called for junior doctors to work fewer shifts and for hospitals to make better use of other healthcare workers.

BBC Health News 04/01/03
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NHS plan to tackle diabetes will end 'postcode lottery'

The "postcode lottery" of treatment for diabetes, one of Britain's most widespread diseases, may be about to end with the publication shortly of a government plan to target potential sufferers.

The Independent 04/01/03
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Second cloned baby 'due'

The scientist who claimed last week that the first cloned human had been born has said that a second cloned baby will be born this weekend.

BBC Health News 04/01/03
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Stem cells aid damaged hearts

Heart attack victims given injections of cells from their bone marrow showed striking signs of recovery, say researchers. The scientists from the University of Rostock in Germany believe that the cells may help new tissue to grow within the organ.

BBC Health News 03/01/03
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The patient's dilemma - A cancer survivor who rejected orthodox treatment argues for change in the NHS

What really matters if you are ill? What should a superb national health service give us? These are major political questions when the government is to provide huge funds for the NHS, and the prime minister asks to be judged on "delivery, delivery, delivery". If you are ill, what matters first is the doctor. You do not focus on the fact that the health budget has risen to £100bn. You want a modern hospital, yes, and fine nurses. But what counts first is the doctor, a human being whose intelligence and instincts will try to treat you. A health service which does not cherish doctors is up in a balloon.

The Guardian 04/01/03
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Shake-up fear for special schools

Liverpool's education select committee will debate making major changes to special needs schools in the city. Parents are furious at the proposals. The proposal to split four special needs schools for children aged five to 16 with complex learning difficulties into primary or secondary schools has attracted criticism.

Daily Post 03/01/03

Violent call-outs soar for Mersey 999 services

Paramedics attended as many assaults in six hours during New Year as they did all day during last year's celebrations. Birkenhead had the highest number of attack victims, 17 compared to 11 in Liverpool city centre. Many of the incidents were drink related.

Liverpool Echo 03/01/03
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Vomiting bug cases at record high

The number of cases of the winter vomiting bug doubled over the last 12 months to reach their highest ever level, official figures have revealed. There were 3,029 confirmed reports of the bug, otherwise known as norovirus, or Norwalk-like virus, during the first 10 months of 2002, according to the Public Health Laboratory Service.

BBC Health News 04/01/03


:: Kieran 10:54 PM [+] ::
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Une valise a ses cotés - Today's Grey Literature
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Department of Health has issued Health Clearance for Serious Communicable Diseases: New health care workers - Draft guidance. This consultation seeks views on draft guidance to implement a health clearance policy for health care workers new to the NHS (England). It follows recommendations made by an expert group set up to assess health risks to patients from health care workers infected with serious communicable diseases, in particular HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and tuberculosis.

The Department for Transport concerned with the impact of frieght traffic on the environment have released Wise moves modelling report which aims to identify and research the feasibility and resultant impact on freight mileage and carbon dioxide emissions, of alternative distribution and sourcing strategies for fresh produce in the grocery industry.
:: Kieran 11:02 PM [+] ::
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Une valise a ses cotés - Today's Grey Literature
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First off the Department of Health in response to the Care Standards Act 2000 have produced Residential Family Centres: National minimum standards and residential family centres regulations. This document contains a statement of national minimum standards for residential family centres. It introduces each group of standards and indicates the intended outcome in relation to each standard.

Residential Care Charges: Consultation paper - Deferred payments grant for 2003-04 a consultation paper seeks views on the proposed conditions for the deferred payments grant for 2003/04. It also seeks comments on the indicative allocations for the deferred payments grant and the formula on which those allocations are based.

Consultation on Draft Supplementary Guidance on NHS Funded Nursing Care invites comments on draft supplementary guidance on the contractual arrangements the NHS and councils need to put in place for the introduction of NHS funded nursing care from 1 April 2003.

Peer review of data submissions and information systems: Summary of findings from the 2002 reviews sets out a summary of the findings of a peer review process of data submissions and information systems for the NHS Support for Science programme.

Following the publication of the pensions green paper the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have released Pensions Green Paper: Public service pension age - Local Government Pension Scheme questions and answers which provides answers to a number of questions on the proposal within the Pensions Green Paper to adopt a common pension age in most public service pension schemes of 65, where many currently have an age of 60. They've also produced Pensions Green Paper: Public service pension age This document gives further information on the proposal within the Pensions Green Paper, Simplicity, Security And Choice: Working And Saving For Retirement, to adopt a common pension age in most public service pension schemes of 65, where many currently have an age of 60.




:: Kieran 1:46 AM [+] ::
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Another 15 Minutes... Health News via Fade
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A Question of Health: A choking sensation

About four years ago I was referred to the ENT specialist by my GP regarding a chronic choking sensation. I had several appointments with the specialist who, after an endoscopic examination, declared that there was nothing wrong with me. The choking sensation has persisted and has become severe. I also often feel sick with a slight stomach ache, out of breath, my mouth gets dry and I often get a sore throat. I have had many appointments with my GP. At the last appointment he suggested that it was psychosomatic. When I suggested that the problem could be caused by acid reflux, he prescribed tablets which I took for some months but they made the sickness much worse. I am now taking Gaviscon, but the symptoms persist. I find it worrying that no doctor has actually diagnosed the problem. I feel worried and rather abandoned. Can you suggest what my next step should be?

The Independent 01/01/03
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Birth defects: 'My son has basically had enough of needles': Underestimation means children do not always get the care they need

It is the first question on every new parent's lips: "Is my baby OK?". For between two and three in every 100 the answer is "No". The shock and anxiety that response triggers is soon deepened when they become aware of the lack of support available to families with sick or disabled children – because for 40 years Britain has underestimated the number of babies born with birth defects.


The Independent 01/01/03
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Brain cells may be damaged for ever by cocaine abuse

Cocaine may damage the very parts of the brain that produce the high that make it pleasurable to take, researchers report today.

The Independent 01/01/03
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Charity workers condemn Fiona

Volunteers at a Liverpool based charity last night said they were being "crucified" by the widow of their most celebrated fundraiser Fiona Castle.

Daily Post 31/12/02
Daily Post 31/12/02
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Dying man says he will join euthanasia group

A terminally ill man from Liverpool has become the first person in Britain to announce that he will take his own life at an "assisted suicide" clinic in Switzerland.

The Independent 01/01/03
Daily Post 31/12/02
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Number of babies born with defects is more than double Government's figure

The number of babies born with health defects is more than twice the official figure, the government body responsible for collecting the data has admitted.

The Independent 01/01/03
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Top 30 tips for the new year

With the welter of medical advice available, it's hard to know what to believe. Roger Dobson reviews the latest research to help you live long and prosper.

The Independent 01/01/03
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When love turns into rage

Domestic violence victims will be offered advice when they pop in to pay their bills, in a ground-breaking scheme being launched in the New Year.

Liverpool Echo 31/12/02
:: Kieran 6:52 AM [+] ::
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She Dazzled Me with Basil - Random Jottings
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Test 'cos we've had the odd publishing problem.
:: Kieran 4:03 AM [+] ::
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Une valise a ses cotés - Today's Grey Literature
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Looks like the Department for Education and Skills were the only government department in between Christmas and New Year as they've produced Languages for All: Languages for Life - A Strategy for England a strategy document builds upon proposals set out in 'Language Learning', published in February 2002 and indicates how they will be taken forward.

The Department of Health document Growing Capacity: Independent Sector Diagnosis and Treatment Centres. The NHS has already opened a number of DTCs. It will continue to develop others. But more capacity – premises and clinical staff – is needed if waiting times are to be reduced. There is therefore considerable opportunity for the independent sector to demonstrate how it can solve some real bottlenecks in specialties such as orthopaedics and ophthalmology in order to deliver better, faster care to NHS patients. The challenge to the independent sector is every bit as demanding as the challenge to mainstream NHS providers – to demonstrate how it can contribute to delivering high quality, good value services that deliver the innovation, productivity and speedy response that NHS commisssioners are looking for on behalf of NHS patients.

They have also produced Pharmaceutical industry competitiveness and performance indicators 2002 these show that the pharmaceutical industry continues to make an important contribution to the UK economy as a whole, and especially to its balance of trade; the basic scientific research infrastructure in the UK remains strong; the medicines regulation process is relatively rapid, although the US’s is faster; the UK’s record on pharmaceutical innovation remains comparatively strong but cannot be taken for granted; uptake of new medicines remains slow in the UK compared to other countries.

Health and neighbourhood renewal: Guidance from the Department of Health and the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit - 2002 This guide is an important contribution supporting and encouraging the tackling poor health as a priority area for action in narrowing the gap between deprived neighbourhoods and the rest of the country, by providing an introduction to heath issues for all partnerships and individuals working in neighbourhood renewal and wider regeneration programmes.
:: Kieran 11:25 PM [+] ::
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She Dazzled Me with Basil - Random Jottings
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We are now rid of banner ads except in the archives where they still lurk (a bit like an old friend you've fallen out with and don't really want to see anymore), so now we can press on with promoting this thing more proactively.
:: Kieran 7:49 AM [+] ::
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Evil Edna's Corner
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A Pair Of Trainers Mon 30 Dec, 19:30 - 20:00
BBC Radio Five Live

Always wanted to get fit but just haven't got round to it yet? Ade Adepitan presents a new show for Five Live that puts two listeners through their paces.
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The Battle for Influence Mon 30 Dec 20:00
Radio 4

Simon Cox investigates the controversy over cannabis and asks if the drug is about to be legalised?
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Health Matters Mon 30 Dec, 20:05 - 20:30
BBC World Service

News and features about health, medicine and fitness.
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Health Matters Tue 31 Dec, 02:05 - 02:30
BBC World Service

News and features about health, medicine and fitness.
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Health Matters Tue 31 Dec, 15:05 - 15:30
BBC World Service

News and features about health, medicine and fitness.
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Health Matters Wed 1 Jan, 10:05 - 10:30
BBC World Service

News and features about health, medicine and fitness.
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Antidote to Christmas Thu 2 Jan, 1130am
Radio 4

Over the 12 days 80,000, Britons will end up in hospital. Quentin Cooper investigates
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The Wrath of Grapes , Fri 3 Jan 3.45pm
Radio 4

A look at the history of the hangover cure, from the rubbing of a lemon into the armpit to the slurping of sheep's eyeballs steeped in tomato juice.
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Campaigning For Health Fri 3 Jan, 04:30 - 04:45
BBC World Service

Dee Palmer looks at the ways health care professionals try to give us the information we need. She also discovers how health campaigns are targeted and planned.
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Sunday Surgery Sun 5 Jan, 21:00 - 23:00
BBC Radio 1

Emma B and Dr Mark Hamilton with help and advice on listeners' dilemmas. Call 08700 100 100 [national rates], or call free on 0800 110 100 to speak to someone off air.
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Health Matters Mon 6 Jan, 20:05 - 20:30
BBC World Service

News and features about health, medicine and fitness.
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Health Matters Tue 7 Jan, 02:05 - 02:30
BBC World Service

News and features about health, medicine and fitness.
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:: Kieran 7:05 AM [+] ::
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She Dazzled Me with Basil - Random Jottings
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Be warned a new section will be appearing, Evil Edna's Corner (yes, we like Willo the Wisp if you don't remember it Evil Edna was the baddie, a witch shaped like a TV), TV and Radio listings of health related programmes for the week. Another Mic Heaton innovation.....

Let us know what you think of the concept by commenting below.
:: Kieran 3:41 AM [+] ::
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Une valise a ses cotés - Today's Grey Literature
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The Royal College of General Practitioners have produced Good Medical Practice for General Practitioners which sets out the standards for revalidation of GPs.

Every now and then it's worth visiting the Commission for Health Improvement Site, they review the quality of NHS services and have produced the following reports since my last visit to their site;
Report of a clinical governance review at South Buckinghamshire NHS Trust,

East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust Progress report on areas identified in CHI’s clinical governance review, March 2002,

Report of a clinical governance review at Maidstone and Turnbridge Wells NHS Trust,

Report of a clinical governance review at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust,

Report of a clinical governance review at Stoke Mandeville Hospital NHS Trust,

Report of a clinical governance review at Norfolk Mental Health Care NHS Trust,

Report of a clinical governance review at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust,

Report of a clinical governance review at South Staffordshire Healthcare NHS Trust,

Report of a clinical governance review at Oxfordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust,

Report of a clinical governance review at North Wales Health Authority and its local health groups

Report of a clinical governance review at Bro Taf Health Authority and its local health groups

and finally

Report of a clinical governance review at Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust.
:: Kieran 3:22 AM [+] ::
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Another 15 Minutes... Health News via Fade
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A baby called Eve and the mystery of a cult that believes in aliens

Either this was one of the most momentous announcements of all time or it was cheap gimmick designed to garner maximum publicity for an outlandish cult that believes in aliens from outer space. It might be both.

The Independent 28/12/02
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A C Grayling: We should not let baby Eve tempt us away from progress

Of all the advances made in recent years by medical applications of genetics, the one that has promised most controversy is the cloning of human beings. Troubled debate about the prospect of such a development was sparked when the Italian doctor Severino Antinori recently claimed that one of his patients was pregnant with a cloned foetus. But reports that human cloning hasresulted in a birth are causing a worldwide explosion of ethical concern. To many, the idea of human cloning seems a profound violation of the sanctity of human life. Now that it is alleged to have happened, the calls for it to be banned are growing fast.

The Independent 28/12/02
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All about Eve

Reports that the American-based biotechnology company Clonaid has produced the world's first cloned human being have been dismissed, rightly, by most scientists as a hoax aimed at raising publicity for the firm's backers, the Raelian cult. Given experts' previous failures to clone a single monkey, despite hundreds of attempts, it would certainly seem wise to be sceptical about Clonaid's 'success' with far more complex Homosapiens. Similar caution should be applied to all the other human clones said to be awaiting birth.

The Observer 29/12/02
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An ear and sympathy to ease the pain of Christmas

It's Christmas Eve and the brightly lit office is full of people, but hardly a word is spoken. Everyone in the SANELINE help room is hunched over a desk, listening intently on headsets. The library-like atmosphere is punctuated by the sound of another ringing telephone.

The Independent 29/12/02
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Another cloned baby due 'within weeks'

Barnoness Mary Warnock, who shaped Britain's laws on human fertilisation and embryology, last night said she doubted a US medical research company had managed to clone the world's first baby.

The Independent 29/12/02
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Demands grow for human clone ban

There are growing demands for a ban on human cloning after claims that a girl born on Thursday is an exact genetic replica of her mother.

BBC Health 29/12/02
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Exclusion zones plan for terror attacks

Regulations for setting up "health cordons" to quarantine large parts of London or other major cities in the event of biological attack are being considered as part of new anti-terror law.

The Independent 29/12/02
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Experimenting with life is what all parents do. What's the difference?'

In 1975, Claude Vorilhon claimed to travel by flying saucer to have lunch with Jesus. Now his Rael cult says it has cloned the first human. How far can we believe him?

The Independent 29/12/02
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Fertility experts pour scorn on cloned baby claims

Leading fertility experts across the world last night united in heaping derision on the claim that a biotechnology company had produced the world's first cloned human being.

The Observer 29/12/02

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How cloning process is carried out

In normal reproduction, a sperm cell carrying half the DNA needed fertilises the nucleus of an egg cell, which carries the rest of the DNA. In fertilisation, the DNA mixes to create a unique combination; hence DNA has a different sequence – apart from identical twins. The egg also carries some special DNA outside the cell nucleus, which powers the "cellular machinery". This is mitochondrial DNA. In cloning, there is no sperm. The nucleus of the egg is removed and replaced with the nucleus of an adult cell. It then begins to divide like a normal fertilised egg.

The Independent 28/12/02
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Human cloning is running ahead of morality and the law

First it was the Italian fertility doctor, Severino Antinori, claiming that he was about to produce the world's first cloned baby. Now it is the turn of the "Raelians", a cult that believes that humans are the result of a genetic-engineering project run by super-intelligent extraterrestrials. Yesterday they announced, through Clonaid, an associate group, the birth of a healthy cloned baby girl named Eve, born by Caesarian section on Boxing Day.

The Independent 28/12/02
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Let's go to war on poor schools and hospitals

Radical surgery is needed in the health service. This is no time for sentimentality. Labour cannot plead special treatment because of its role in founding the NHS. Continental countries, with their greater reliance on social insurance, receive better health care. Reform here is long overdue, with the working practices of NHS staff ripe for an overhaul.

The Independent 29/12/02
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'Pregnancy put me in a wheelchair'

Before pregnancy Lia Hattersley was fit and active, snow-boarding and cycling. But after just 22 weeks of pregnancy she was wheelchair bound. She was unable to move around her house-boat unaided and even getting to the toilet became a struggle. For Lia had symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD), a condition caused when the pregnancy hormone relaxin causes the pelvic ligaments to slacken so much that the front of the pelvic girdle - the symphysis pubis separates.

BBC Health 29/12/02
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Resolutions for a healthier 2003>

A cancer charity is urging people to make a New Year's resolution to get healthy and save their lives. Cancer Research UK's new website lists five of the most positive health resolutions you can make for 2003.

BBC Health 29/12/02
:: Kieran 2:02 AM [+] ::
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