SNP to scrap prescription charges

16 October 2010 Last updated at 01:26 ET

The Scottish government is to confirm it will abolish prescription charges next April, despite huge funding pressures ahead.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon will tell the SNP conference in Perth that the sick should not have to pay for "Labour's economic mess".

Prescription charges in Scotland have been gradually cut from the previous level of almost �7.

Ms Sturgeon will also commit to protecting Scottish NHS spending.

Her move comes ahead of the UK government's Spending Review on Wednesday, which is expected to signal tough cuts to Holyrood's budget next year.

Ms Sturgeon's decision to stick to the SNP's original plan on doing away with prescription charges has come at a time when some are questioning whether such universal benefits can really be paid for.

Proposals to give free prescriptions to people in England with long-term conditions were put on hold earlier this year due to financial pressures on the NHS.

All charges have been scrapped in Wales, and were abolished in Northern Ireland in April.

But Ms Sturgeon will tell the conference that the move will benefit 600,000 people on low incomes and thousands with long-term health problems.

"Some have argued that, in this financial climate, we should not go ahead with our plans to abolish prescription charges," she will tell delegates.

"Times are tight and I believe, and this government believes, the last people who should be paying the price of Labour's economic mess are the sick."

Ms Sturgeon will also accuse Scottish Labour of "ducking and diving" on matching the SNP's commitment on protecting health spending, adding: "At a time when our revenue budget is facing significant cash cuts, there will be no revenue cash cuts in the budget for our NHS."

With next May's Holyrood elections on the horizon, the deputy SNP leader will also issue a rallying call to the party faithful, saying the Nationalists had a "proud record" of their first term in government.

She will say: "We have strong leadership and a wealth of experience.

"Most importantly of all, we have a clear alternative.

"We offer the only alternative to a Labour party that wrecked our economy and a Tory-Liberal coalition whose policies will wreck our society."

As well as Ms Sturgeon's speech, BBC Scotland political editor Brian Taylor will be quizzing Finance Secretary John Swinney in a live webcast from 1100 to 1130.

The webcast, to be shown on the BBC Scotland news website, will feature questions submitted by BBC viewers, readers and listeners.

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Chest compressions 'vital' in CPR

14 October 2010 Last updated at 20:11 ET

Concentrating on chest compressions rather than mouth-to-mouth when giving emergency resuscitation can produce better results, says research published in The Lancet.

A study of 3,000 patients found that chest compressions alone increased chances of survival by more than 22%.

But training in how to give both chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth breaths is the best option, experts say.

The UK Resuscitation Council is due to produce new CPR guidelines next week.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a combination of chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth breaths, given in a life-threatening emergency like a cardiac arrest or heart attack.

The study, compiled by doctors from the Medical University of Vienna in Austria, looked at the survival rates of people treated by untrained members of the public taking instructions from the emergency services over the phone.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

If you're unwilling or unable to do full CPR then chest compressions are better than nothing."

End Quote Dr Meng Aw-Yong St John Ambulance

Dr Peter Nagele, from the department of anaesthesiology, critical care and pain therapy at the Medical University of Vienna, said that if untrained bystanders avoided mouth-to-mouth breaths during CPR, they were more likely to perform uninterrupted chest compressions.

That then increased the probability of CPR being successful.

Different techniques

The research in The Lancet involved two analyses.

The first used data from three randomised trials involving more than 3,000 patients.

It showed that chest-compression-only CPR was associated with a slightly improved chance of survival compared with standard CPR (14% v 12%).

In the second analysis of seven observational studies, researchers found no difference between the two CPR techniques.

The study authors maintain that continuous, uninterrupted chest compressions are vital for successful CPR.

Dr Jas Soar, chair of the Resuscitation Council from Southmead Hospital in Bristol, said: "Any CPR is better than no CPR. If you witness a cardiac arrest, dial 999 immediately. Those trained in CPR should follow existing guidance of 30 chest compressions followed by two rescue breaths.

"Those not trained should start compressions and follow instructions until an expert arrives," Dr Soar said.

Dr Meng Aw-Yong, medical adviser at St John Ambulance, acknowledged that rescue breaths could be off-putting.

"The current advice is that if you're unwilling or unable to do full CPR then chest compressions are better than nothing.

"The best solution, however, is for people to get trained in how to carry out chest compressions and rescue breaths so they can be the difference between a life lost and a life saved," he said.

The British Heart Foundation says that being able to do CPR more than doubles the chances of survival.

Claire O'Neill, community resuscitation programme lead at the BHF, said: "For someone who is untrained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, doing both chest compressions and rescue breaths really can be difficult.

"We also know that uninterrupted chest compressions are very important for increasing the chance of survival. So being directed to focus solely on chest compressions could make people more willing to attempt resuscitation, which could ultimately save lives," she said.

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Call to axe paediatric heart unit

15 October 2010 Last updated at 01:01 ET By Jane Hughes Health correspondent, BBC News

The children's heart surgery unit at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital should close, a national review of paediatric heart centres in England has said.

Surgery was suspended there in March after four children operated on by the same surgeon died in three months.

The review will recommend that three or four other paediatric heart units out of 11 in England also stop surgery.

The aim is to improve the safety of heart operations by having fewer, more specialised centres.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Pooling surgical expertise into fewer, larger centres is in the best interests of children"

End Quote Leslie Hamilton Review team member

Children's heart surgery at the John Radcliffe has been under the spotlight since it emerged that four children died there between last December and February of this year.

'Serious shortcomings'

An inquiry found that the deaths were not due to errors of judgement, but that the surgeon had not been given appropriate supervision.

It criticised the hospital trust for "serious shortcomings", in the way it had taken on more cases to try to avoid closure of the paediatric unit.

Paediatric cardiac surgery at the hospital remains suspended.

An expert group has been reviewing the work of the 11 centres across England which conduct this type of specialist surgery.

The review was launched in response to the 1990s Bristol heart babies scandal, when children having heart surgery died unnecessarily.

Its full recommendations are due early next year, but it is likely to say that the four or five smallest centres should stop carrying out operations.

This number would include the John Radcliffe cardiac centre, which it has already ruled is too small, and lacks the expertise to offer a good service to patients.

It will recommend that the Oxford children's cardiac unit stops doing surgery, but continues to offer diagnosis and pre- and post-operation care.

Leslie Hamilton, former president of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery and a review member, said the decision was aimed at improving the safety of heart operations.

"The NHS needs to ensure the very best outcomes for children," he said. "Children's heart surgery is complex and must be performed by highly skilled specialist surgical teams.

"Pooling surgical expertise into fewer, larger centres is in the best interests of children and their families."

The recommendation to close the Oxford surgical unit will be the subject of a public consultation. However, it is highly unlikely that children's operations there will now resume.

The John Radcliffe hospital described the news as disappointing for patients, their families and staff. But Director of Planning, Andrew Stephens, said it was not entirely surprising. "Oxford is one of the smallest centres," he said, "and the main thrust of the review is that there should be fewer, larger paediatric cardiac centres in the future."

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Nestle logo permitted 'in error'

14 October 2010 Last updated at 07:16 ET

Nestle, the food manufacturer, was wrongly allowed to use a government health logo on its website, the Department of Health admitted.

The anti-obesity Change4Life logo should only have appeared alongside a healthy lifestyle message.

Instead, it appeared on a website promoting snacks and cereals.

The government says it will review the logo's use and Nestle said they would act on any advice given.

Nestle displays the logo on its getsetgofree.com website, which encourages shoppers to collect tokens from their products to claim free family activities.

A survey by the Children's Food Campaign found that 24 out of 27 products included in the Get set go free promotion are officially categorised as "high in sugar", according to the nutrition labelling system developed by the Food Standards Agency.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

This is another example of the food industry claiming to promote healthy lifestyles whilst in fact encouraging families to eat more junk food"

End Quote Christine Haigh Children's Food Campaign

One of the key messages of the Change4Life campaign, of which Nestlé is a partner, is sugar swaps, asking families to swap food and drink with added sugar for products lower in sugar or sugar free.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley recently announced that government funding for the Change4life campaign would be withdrawn.

Instead, Mr Lansley said he wanted to see business take on responsibility for the campaign.

Promoting activities

The Department of Health had encouraged businesses and organisations to help them promote a healthier and more active lifestyle.

A Nestlé spokesperson said: "The use of the Change4Life logo on our website was approved and agreed by the Department of Health.

"We will continue to work with the Department of Health and will act on any changes they advise us to make."

"Get Set, Go Free is about getting families active and giving them the chance to try out new activities for free. Through the promotion we have given away 1.6 million free activities since 2006.

"It runs across a range of products and to take part in a swimming or an exercise class you only need to buy one box of cereal or three single confectionery products."

The Department of Health admitted that an error had been made when it approved Nestle's use of the logo on the website.

A spokesperson said: "We are harnessing the power that companies like Nestle have with consumers to build awareness of Change4Life and healthy behaviours.

"Nestle has provided support to the Change4Life movement in a number of ways over the past year including promoting the importance of a healthy diet to their employees, as well as encouraging families to be more active as part of their Get Set Go Free campaign.

"We're working with Nestle to review the use of the Change4Life logo on the Get Set Go Free website."

Christine Haigh, co-ordinator of Children's Food Campaign, said: "This is yet another example of the food industry claiming to promote healthy lifestyles whilst in fact encouraging families to eat more junk food.

"No company that uses these practices should be allowed to be associated with a government health campaign, and this should be a wake up call for the Department of Health which wants to see companies like this more involved in the Change4Life campaign, not less."

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Prostate cancer urine test nears

14 October 2010 Last updated at 00:01 ET

British scientists have moved a step closer to developing a simple urine test to identify men at risk of getting prostate cancer.

They have discovered that a protein found in urine is affected by a genetic change linked to the cancer.

More research was needed, but their work could lead to the development of a reliable test costing �5.50.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, killing about 10,000 men in Britain every year.

There is currently no routine screening programme in the UK, although men with a family history of the disease can have a prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test to detect signs of the disease.

But this is notoriously inaccurate and although 10-15% of men will have high enough PSA levels to warrant carrying out a prostate biopsy, only 2-3% will require any treatment.

Research published in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE showed that the protein, called MSMB, is present at reduced levels in men diagnosed with the disease.

Levels also appear to be affected by tumour aggressiveness.

Potentially 'powerful'

Study leader Dr Hayley Whitaker, from Cancer Research UK charity's Cambridge Research Institute, said: "We looked in tissue and urine from over 350 men with and without prostate cancer to find out how much MSMB they had.

"We then looked to see who had the genetic change. It was really exciting to find out that the genetic change and the amount of protein were linked.

"The protein is easy to detect because it is found in urine and would potentially be a very simple test to carry out on men to identify those most at risk of developing the disease."

Dr Kate Holmes, research manager at The Prostate Cancer Charity, described the test as "potentially... a powerful way to predict how likely a man is to develop prostate cancer".

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Walking 'could ward off dementia'

13 October 2010 Last updated at 20:51 ET

Elderly people who get about by walking are less likely to suffer mental decline or even dementia, a study says.

Brain scans revealed that older people walking between six and nine miles a week appeared to have more brain tissue in key areas.

The Pittsburgh University study of 299 people suggested they had less "brain shrinkage", which is linked to memory problems.

The research was reported in the journal Neurology.

The volunteers, who had an average age of 78, were checked for signs of "cognitive impairment" or even dementia.

The Pittsburgh team also had access to brain scan results from four years previously which measured the amount of "grey matter" in their brains.

Brain health

This is found at various parts of the brain and is known to diminish in many people as they get older.

Each of them had been quizzed in their 60s about the number of city blocks they walked each week as part of their normal routine.

The results showed that those who walked at least 72 blocks - six to nine miles - a week had a greater volume of grey matter.

Four years after the scans, 40% of the group had measurable cognitive impairment or even dementia.

Those who walked the most were half as likely to have these problems compared with those who walked the least.

Dr Kirk Erickson, who led the study, said: "If regular exercise in midlife could improve brain health and improve thinking and memory in later life, it would be one more reason to make regular exercise in people of all ages a public health imperative."

Susanne Sorensen, from the Alzheimer's Society, said that the study was further evidence that a healthy heart could lead to a healthy brain.

She added: "One of the benefits of this research is that it eliminates the impact other socio-economic factors may play and focuses specifically on walking rather than exercise more generally.

"Although a link has been found between lack of exercise and brain shrinkage, we need more research to find out why physical activity may affect the brain.

"The best way to reduce your risk is to take regular exercise, eat healthily, don't smoke and get your blood pressure and cholesterol checked."

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