Researchers say in most cases condition is mild but it can increase risk of heart attacks and strokes
One in four healthy people aged 60 and over in the UK have undiagnosed heart valve disease, research suggests.
The conditions develops when one or more of the heart valves do not work properly. The main problems are caused by the valves either not opening fully or not closing correctly.
Continue reading...Agent says columnist and presenter has been missing since he went for a coastal hike on Greek island of Symi
A search is under way for the TV doctor and newspaper columnist Michael Mosley, who went missing after going on a coastal walk on the Greek island of Symi.
The 67-year-old, known for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, was last seen when he set off hiking along St Nicholas beach at 1.30pm local time (1130 BST) on Wednesday. His wife, Dr Clare Bailey, alerted authorities after he failed to return by 7.30pm, but they were unable to locate him overnight.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak says timing of action days before general election appears to be ‘politically motivated’ to help Labour
Up to 100,000 patients in England face having their NHS care cancelled days before the general election after junior doctors announced a fresh wave of strike action, with Rishi Sunak saying it appeared to be politically motivated.
Health leaders expressed alarm, warning the five-day strike would jeopardise efforts to tackle the record waiting list and “hit patients hard”.
Continue reading...Push to reopen borders essential to get aid in and humanitarian workers out ‘before we have another Zomi Frankcom’
An Australian doctor trapped inside one of Gaza’s few remaining functioning hospitals has urged the Australian government to do more to get him and his colleagues out and additional medical aid in.
Sydney-based Dr Modher Albeiruti is among 16 international doctors and medical workers who have been stranded inside the European hospital in Khan Younis since Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing this month.
Continue reading...Budget includes $227m funding boost but health expert says ‘the value of urgent care clinics is yet to be established’
Doctors and health policy experts have questioned the federal government’s decision to fund an extra 29 urgent care clinics in the absence of strong evidence that they work.
Tuesday’s budget included $227m to fund the clinics, which will bring the total number across Australia to 87. The clinics offer bulk-billed walk-in care, seven days a week over extended hours, with the intention of reducing the burden on emergency departments and easing out-of-pocket health costs.
Continue reading...Philip Morris International has supported non-smoking programmes around the world ‘to advance its own interests’, say health professionals
The tobacco company Philip Morris has sponsored courses for doctors in multiple countries, in what critics have called a “grotesque” strategy.
Medical education programmes on quitting smoking and harm reduction in South Africa, the Middle East and the US have been supported by Philip Morris International (PMI) or its regional subsidiaries, according to advertising material seen by the Guardian.
Continue reading...Doctors’ groups say improved rate is ‘encouraging’ but more investment in health system is needed
The federal government’s bulk-billing changes have helped more Australians see a GP, but peak doctors’ groups say the reforms are only a “down payment” on what they want to see in next month’s budget to help reduce healthcare costs.
New data from the health minister, Mark Butler, released overnight, shows 77.7% of all visits to general practitioners were bulk billed in March, a 2.1% rise since the Albanese government’s moves last November to triple incentives for doctors to take bulk-billed appointments.
Continue reading...Scottish NHS boards have spent more than £125m since 2019 to provide temporary cover amid drop in consultant numbers
Mental health campaigners have protested about the significant use of temporary locum psychiatrists in Scotland, alleging that it leads to substandard and harmful medical care.
Peter Todd, a campaigner based in Caithness in the north of Scotland, said the heavy reliance on locum psychiatrists by the NHS was a sign of a growing crisis in mental health services across the country.
Continue reading...The paediatrician, who has been advised to stop using public transport, describes ‘straight disinformation’ about report
The doctor behind a landmark review of the NHS’s gender identity services for children and young people has said fears had been raised about her personal safety amid online abuse after the report’s release.
Dr Hilary Cass told the Times she wished to address the “disinformation” circulating about the findings and recommendations handed down by the Cass review when it was published on 10 April.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Millions more GP appointments potentially created as a result of closures
Almost 1,000 pharmacies in England have closed since 2017, potentially leading to millions of extra GP appointments, the Guardian can exclusively reveal.
There are more than 11,000 pharmacies in England. Guardian analysis of the official register of these chemists has found that parts of the country have lost more than one in five pharmacies in the last six years, with poorer areas experiencing proportionally more closures.
Continue reading...Some professors will submit their resignations while others will cut their hours over a government plan to boost medical school admissions
Medical professors in South Korea have said they will reduce the hours they spend in practice, while some say they plan to resign, in a widening of a doctors strike in the country.
The move will begin on Monday in support of trainee doctors who have been on strike for more than a month over a government plan to boost medical school admissions.
Continue reading...BMA members overwhelmingly back further stoppages and overtime bans in long-running pay dispute
Junior doctors in England have voted to keep on striking until the middle of September in their long-running pay dispute, bringing a fresh wave of disruption to the NHS.
Those belonging to the British Medical Association voted overwhelmingly to stage further stoppages in addition to the 41 days of strikes held since last March.
Continue reading...Almost 12,000 doctors have walked out over planned changes, as the country’s health ministry denies services have descended into chaos
South Korea’s government has started taking steps to suspend the medical licences of thousands of striking doctors, as concern grows that the month-long dispute is affecting frontline health care services.
The walkout by almost 12,000 doctors from 100 teaching hospitals has led to surgery cancellations, longer waiting times and delays in treatment, including for patients seeking emergency care, according to media reports.
Continue reading...PM says ‘people trust me on these things’ and refuses to be drawn on whether government would forgo entire £46bn raised from measure
Keir Starmer has accused Jeremy Hunt of repeating the budget mistakes made by Liz Truss during her disastrous premiership.
In comments on the budget during a visit to a building site this morning, Starmer focused on Hunt’s proposal to abolish employees’ national insurance over time, saying that this was a bigger unfunded tax promise than those in Truss’s mini-budget. (See 9.28am.)
How humiliating was that for the government yesterday?
We’ve argued for years that they should get rid of the non-dom tax status, they’ve resisted that. And now, completely out of ideas, the only decent policy they’ve got is the one that they’ve lifted from us.
Nothing that Jeremy Hunt did yesterday, nor anything the OBR said, changes anything very significantly. Which is a shame. Because that means we are still:
-heading for a parliament in which people will on average be worse off at the end than at the start,
Continue reading...Parliamentary inquiry highlights likelihood of Scotland, Jersey or Isle of Man passing new laws
Laws to allow assisted dying may pass in Scotland, Jersey and the Isle of Man in the next few years, leading to a divergence between different parts of the UK and British Isles, MPs have warned.
The government must consider the repercussions of this, a parliamentary inquiry into assisted dying has said.
Continue reading...Fears for impact on NHS workforce as leaked letter reveals ministers stall on aim to increase trainee doctors to 15,000 by 2031
Ministers have dramatically stalled plans to double the number of doctors being trained in England by 2031 in a move that has caused dismay across the NHS, as well in medical schools and universities, the Observer can reveal.
In June last year, ministers backed a long-term plan to expand the NHS workforce and pledged, amid great fanfare, to “double medical school places by 2031 from 7,500 today to 15,000, with more medical school places in areas with the greatest shortages to level up training and help address geographic inequity”. Labour is also committed to raising the number of doctors to 15,000 by 2031.
Continue reading...Study analysing data from 10m consultations in England also says practice can free up millions of appointments
Seeing the same GP improves patients’ health, reduces doctors’ workloads and could free up millions of appointments, according to the largest study of its kind.
Primary care is under enormous strain, with patients struggling to book consultations, GPs quitting or retiring early, and financial pressures causing some practices to close. Four-week waits hit a record high in 2023, with 17.6m appointments taking place at least 28 days after being booked in England last year.
Continue reading...Figure of 20.4% is highest since records began in 2009, prompting warnings over growing reliance
One in five NHS staff in England are non-UK nationals, according to figures that show the pivotal role foreign workers play in keeping the health service afloat.
Healthcare workers from 214 countries – from India, Portugal and Ghana to tiny nations such as Tonga, Liechtenstein and Solomon Islands – are employed in the NHS. And the proportion of roles filled by non-UK nationals has risen to a record high, according to analysis of NHS Digital figures.
Continue reading...BMA votes for further five days of action after meeting with health secretary fails to resolve grievances
Junior doctors are to stage fresh strike action in England for a 10th time after talks between their union and the government broke down again.
Ministers, health officials and representatives from the British Medical Association (BMA) had been locked in negotiations for weeks since last month’s record six-day stoppage, trying to find a resolution to the pay dispute.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Sources say PM has blocked talks due to concerns about knock-on effect of more generous pay offer
Rishi Sunak has been accused of personally holding up a deal to end doctors’ strikes in England despite warnings from the health department and NHS England that waiting lists will continue to soar unless the industrial dispute is resolved.
Sources told the Guardian it had been made “abundantly and repeatedly” clear to the prime minister that there would be no progress on his pledge to drive down NHS waiting lists until a deal was struck.
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