Recent news
16-May-2012
A government review into the PIP breast implant scandal has said that both the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Department of Health acted appropriately at the time of the health scare, though it warned that decisive action would be needed to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The implants, which were banned in France in 2010, were found to contain industrial grade silicone gel rather than medical grade and this increased the chance of them rupturing. Though the French government recommended their removal, the MHRA said this was not necessary as...
15-May-2012
Leeds General Infirmary, fiercely criticised by the Care Quality Commission earlier this year, has made significant improvements according to the health watchdog’s latest inspection.
The hospital received an official warning following an inspection in February which demanded immediate action. The CQC criticised care standards and reported major concerns about the way care and staff numbers were recorded. On one occasion CQC inspectors themselves had to call for nurses to come to a patient’s aid, while they also witnessed another patient asking staff not to treat him roughly...
11-May-2012
An American study has revealed the dangers apparent when young drivers are behind the wheel with other teenagers in the car with them. The study, by the AAA Safety Foundation focused on those drivers aged 16 and 17 and found that the risk of death per mile driven increased by 44% when carrying a passenger aged below 21 and with no one older in the car with them. However, if there is a person over the age of 35 also in the vehicle, the risk decreases by 62%
In the USA state driving laws changed in the 1990s and “graduated licencing” laws are in place which often restrict...
10-May-2012
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), which was set up by the work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, has contradicted the recommendations of the Dilnot Commission, by arguing that funding for the care of the elderly should be aimed primarily at those who can least afford it.
Ministers are currently considering the Dilnot proposals, which recommend that the threshold of savings and assets should be raised from the present figure of £23,250 to £100,000 and that a limit of £35,000 should be set as to the amount that any one individual should have to pay for their...
08-May-2012
A young mother has been left in a coma-like state for the rest of her life following a hospital error which led to her being administered with a drug 32 times the normal dose.
Nicola Crelling was given the lethal dose of misoprostol to induce labour after being told by staff at West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven, that her fourth child had died in her womb. However, hours after being given the drug, which is designed for treating ulcers, Mrs Crelling suffered a ruptured uterus and a heart attack as fluid flooded her brain, starving it of oxygen. She was left unable to walk or talk and will...
02-May-2012
The police have issued a formal warning to the owners of a Leeds care home for failing to ensure the safety of residents after finding mistakes in controlled drug records.
Police carried out an investigation into the Claremont Care Home in Farsley following an unannounced inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which looked at whether medication was being properly administered. They found that signatures were missing in some cases and there were further concerns over the controlled drug register, with only one nurse signing for the destroyal of three ampoules of Diamorphine...
27-Apr-2012
Barclays has announced better than expected quarterly profits, though they have been affected by the news that the bank has also announced an additional £300m to cover the cost of the payment protection insurance (PPI) scandal.
The bank reported a 22% increase in pre-tax profits to £2.4bn, whereas the city’s expectations were at around the £2bn mark. However, the figures could have been even better had it not been for a recent increase in the number of PPI claims, which have affected the profits of its UK arm in particular. So far Barclays has set aside £1....
25-Apr-2012
Leeds Teaching Hospitals bosses have issued an apology to the family of a woman who suffered two falls on hospital wards which they were not informed about.
Elsie Bellaby, who is aged 88, was admitted to ward 26 at St James’s Hospital, a medical assessment unit and had two falls while she was in the hospital’s care of which her family was not notified until later in her stay. Her son, Stephen, also said that on a visit to see her, she was foaming at the mouth and incoherent but when he called for help nobody came to attend to her.
The trust’s divisional general manager...
20-Apr-2012
A highly critical report by the health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has revealed that elderly patients are repeatedly being let down by staff failings at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI).
Inspectors from the CQC have issued new checks following formal warnings which were issued at the hospital last month as a result of repeated failings. Most of the patients on one ward said that they were not satisfied with their care and blamed this on staff shortages. Inspectors said that they were forced to intervene to help patients on the ward who were saying that nurses were ignoring their...
16-Apr-2012
Sir Bruce Keogh, the medical director of the NHS, has vowed to find out exactly why so many people are being sent home from NHS hospitals in the middle of the night.
He made the pledge after freedom of information requests were made to all 170 NHS hospital trusts throughout the country. 100 trusts replied and the findings revealed that 239,233 patients had been sent home between the hours of 11pm and 6am during the last year alone. Throughout the country, the figure is likely to be closer to 400,000 patients a year and there is a concern that it is being done in an effort to free up...
