Clinicians say there is concern that the country’s healthcare system is inadequate to protect most vulnerable
Canada is delaying plans which would allow people with mental illness to access medically assisted death amid concern from some clinicians that the healthcare system is not prepared to handle the complicated cases.
Starting March 2023, Canada is expected to become one of the few countries in the world to allow physician-assisted death for chronic mental disorders.
Continue reading...Sport governing body says ‘such behaviour has no place in Australian football’. This blog is now closed
‘We will look at the facts’
James Johnson is asked whether Melbourne Victory has any outstanding sanctions for past incidents. He says he is not aware of any but past events may be considered as an “aggravating factor” as an investigation into the incident unfolds:
There is no other suspended disciplinary action that I’m aware of, but what I will say is that we will be working through that today. We have already started working on the show cause process as of late last night, and we will be moving forward as quickly and swiftly as possible to finalise it, because it is important we get ahead of this issue as a sport.
What I can say is that we will look at the facts, we’ll look at it objectively and we will take a decision that we believe is in the overall best interest of the game but I prefer not to comment on the specifics of the outcome because we have to go through that process first.
What happened during the game last night and what happens with the result;
A “show cause letter” to Melbourne Victory;
An attempt to identify individuals involved in the pitch invasion.
This is an element that … infiltrates our game and tries to ruin it for the people who love us was in. We’ll be looking to weed out those people from the sport.
Continue reading...Authorities say recalled spinach which causes delirium and hallucinations has affected more than 120 people across Australia
A child admitted to hospital is among more than 120 people believed to have suffered symptoms after consuming spinach amid a widespread recall of fresh food items contaminated with a weed.
Authorities say the recalled spinach products, thought to be from a farm in Victoria, have caused delirium and hallucinations.
Riviera Fresh – Riviera Farms Baby Spinach
Fresh Salad Co – Fresh and Fast Stir Fry
Woolworths – Chicken Cobb Salad and Chickpea Falafel Salad
Continue reading...Government accused of prioritising contingency planning ahead of securing a deal with workers
Unions have lashed out at plans for the armed forces to cover for striking public sector workers in the run-up to Christmas, claiming the military are not “sufficiently trained” to plug staffing gaps on the frontline.
The government is deploying 1,200 troops from the army, navy and RAF to fill in for ambulance drivers and border staff during widespread strikes over the festive period, with more than 1,000 civil servants also drafted in to help.
Continue reading...Ambulance workers and nurses are taking action in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Here’s what to expect
• Nurses pledge tougher strikes
Nurses will hold their second day of strike action on Tuesday in more than 70 trusts and health organisations in England, Wales and northern Ireland. On Wednesday, three unions, the GMB, Unison and Unite, will take strike action at ambulance trusts across the country. More than 10,000 ambulance workers in the GMB have voted to strike at nine trusts in England and Wales.
Continue reading...Nursing union gives ministers until Thursday to open pay talks as first signs emerge of bid to end dispute and prevent NHS collapse
• How will NHS strikes affect you?
Union leaders threatened on Saturday night to order a fresh wave of more severe strikes in the new year in which nurses would offer “less generous” support inside hospitals, in a dramatic escalation of their pay dispute with the government.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), in a marked hardening of its line, said there would be “more hospitals and more nurses taking part than at present” in strikes throughout January, unless ministers backed down by Thursday.
Continue reading...NHS Providers boss says nurses’ strike had ‘significant impact’ as senior Tories urge government to negotiate
Planned strikes next week will be “very challenging” for the health service, hospital bosses have warned, after they conceded that Thursday’s nurses strikes had had a “significant impact”.
The comments from NHS Providers came amid mounting pressure on the government from senior backbenchers and usually supportive newspapers to try to resolve the dispute.
Continue reading...Supermarket warns over 11 own-brand products, following earlier recalls by Woolworths and Costco
Coles has recalled 11 own-brand spinach products as the scare over contamination of fresh produce in Australia widens.
On Saturday the supermarket announced it was recalling the products as a precaution because health authorities had advised that some spinach “may potentially be contaminated with unsafe plant material”.
Continue reading...Prime minister says he is ‘committed’ to fixing issues but says there is no deadline on talks
In his latest column, Simon Jenkins argues that instead of fighting for the centre ground, Keir Starmer should look to the radical changes pushed through under Harold Wilson.
Wes Streeting has declined to say whether a Labour government would agree to a pay rise for nurses.
Continue reading...Multiple Labour MPs join picket lines after Tory MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich urges government to improve offer
On the picket line outside St Thomas’ hospital in Westminster, Linda Tovey, a critical care nurse, said: “It’s increasingly difficult to come to work and go home and think: ‘Actually I don’t think I can turn the heating on.’
“My wages aren’t bad for a nurse but I still have to think about what I’m doing with my money every month and that is not the position I imagined myself being in.
“People do a huge amount of extra work, in terms of studying and all that kind of stuff, and you don’t get the recognition in terms of wages.
Scottish government promises to tackle health and social care crisis to protect weakest and poorest
The Scottish government has promised to spend another £1bn on tackling the crisis in health and social care by raising taxes on higher earners and holiday homes.
John Swinney, Scotland’s acting finance secretary, said the burden of increasing NHS funding would fall heavily on everyone earning more than £43,663 in Scotland as part of a “social contract” to protect the weakest and poorest.
The abolition of a cap on council tax increases next year, alongside £550m extra for councils.
The uprating of all Scottish welfare benefits by 10%, increasing welfare spending by £433m.
£222m on school support for the poorest and extra free school meals in primaries.
£15m for a pilot project to scrap peak-time rail fares.
£336m on home energy efficiency and reducing fuel poverty.
The abolition of non-domestic rates for 100,000 smaller shops and businesses and a freeze in business rates charges, which would cost £356m.
Continue reading...For many striking in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, staff shortages are a bigger issue than pay
In many professions, working a 14-hour day with no break would be unthinkable, but for many nurses on freezing picket lines across the country on Thursday it is increasingly becoming the norm.
“It’s tough at the moment,” said Ella Savage, a children’s specialist nurse at Leeds General Infirmary, where about 200 nurses were gathered at one of 125 Royal College of Nursing (RCN) pickets across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Continue reading...Some Beijing hospitals have as many as 80% of staff infected, according to one doctor, leading to serious staff shortages
Chinese doctors and nurses are being told to keep working even when infected with Covid-19, staff and residents reported, as the virus rips through the population in the wake of eased restrictions.
Some hospitals in Beijing have up to 80% of their staff infected, but many of them are still required to work due to staff shortages, a doctor in a large public hospital in Beijing told Reuters, adding he had spoken to his peers at other big hospitals in the capital.
Continue reading...Post-pandemic relaxation of restrictions could weaken animal protection and pose a hazard to public health, say experts
China appears to be weakening its post-Covid restrictions on the farming of wildlife such as porcupines, civets and bamboo rats, which raises a new risk to public health and biodiversity, warn NGOs and experts.
Before the pandemic, wildlife farming was promoted by government agencies as an easy way for rural Chinese people to get rich. But China issued an outright ban on hunting, trading and transporting wildlife, as well as the consumption as food, after public health experts suggested the virus could have originated from the supply chain.
Continue reading...Ambulance service blames demand, staff sickness, and patient handover times for elderly man being taken to hospital on plank
The health board for the area where an 89-year-old man was taken to hospital strapped to a plank because no ambulances were available has said the flow of patients through its hospitals is blocked because hundreds of medically fit people have nowhere safe to be discharged to.
They have urged people to stay away from emergency departments unless their need is dire.
Continue reading...Accused had a gynaecological condition and was unaware she was pregnant, court told, as verdict hailed a victory by women’s rights activists
A woman in Argentina accused of killing her baby after suffering an obstetric emergency has had her case dismissed.
A court in Buenos Aires, cleared La China*, 43, after the prosecution withdrew its charge of aggravated homicide.
Continue reading...Crammed wards, burnt-out GPs, patients waiting hours for ambulances – the health service is at breaking point
Inside the dimly lit command centre at King’s College hospital, staff arriving for the first beds meeting of the day are greeted with a warning: the hospital is already under strain. “So, we are under pressure this morning,” the head of nursing, Naomi Hosking, informs colleagues stood around her in a semi-circle. No one registers surprise. “We’ve got a lot of patients in ED [emergency department] with little space to see new patients, so we need to get some early movement.”
It’s 8.32am and ED – maximum capacity 60 – is packed, with 61 patients inside. The oldest is 98; the youngest 30 days old. Later, that pressure will intensify: the number of ED patients – in beds, on trolleys or in chairs – will more than double to 137.
Continue reading...Health minister maintains reform is needed and other mental health advocates back wholesale changes to Better Access system
The federal government is under pressure to scrap controversial plans to halve the number of annual Medicare-backed psychologist appointments, amid claims it has disregarded a key finding of the top level report it relied upon to justify the decision.
The health minister, Mark Butler, maintains reform of the Better Access system is needed, saying the former government’s model led to ballooning wait times and denied access to new patients and those on low incomes.
Continue reading...Royal College of Nursing leader criticises ‘belligerence’ in meeting with Steve Barclay at which ministers refused to discuss pay
Nurses’ strikes will go ahead this week after a meeting between the union and the health secretary ended in deadlock, with the Royal College of Nursing condemning ministers’ “belligerence” for refusing to discuss pay.
Six hundred military personnel from all three armed forces will start training to drive ambulances to cover for striking NHS workers across the UK later this month. A further 150 are being readied to act as logistical support, defence sources said, with training for both groups to start “shortly”.
Continue reading...Labour highlights issue to back up pledge to invest heavily in addressing shortages
The number of operations cancelled by the NHS in England because of staff shortages may have doubled in three years, with an estimated 30,000 not proceeding because no staff were available to perform them.
At least a third of cancelled operations were those that were deemed urgent, according to the analysis by Labour. It suggested at least 2,500 cancelled operations for cancer patients and 8,000 on children.
Continue reading...