Category Archives: Health

The nurses getting huge bills for quitting the NHS – podcast

Posted on by

International nurses working for NHS trusts are being trapped in their jobs by clauses in their contracts that require them to pay thousands of pounds if they try to leave. Shanti Das reports

Nurses are the backbone of the NHS. For the past two years as Covid-19 gripped the country, people lauded NHS staff as heroes. Many nurses join the NHS from abroad, attracted by the stability of the work, the ethos and a chance for a new life in the UK. But joining the NHS from abroad comes with strings attached.

The Observer’s Shanti Das tells Nosheen Iqbal that some nurses working for NHS trusts and private care homes are being trapped in their jobs by clauses in their contracts that require them to pay thousands of pounds if they try to leave. In extreme cases, nurses are tied to their roles for up to five years and face fees as steep as £14,000 if they want to change jobs or need to return home early.

Continue reading...

Respiratory syncytial virus kills 100,000 under-fives every year

Posted on by

The acute lower respiratory infection has surged after Covid restrictions eased, experts say

Respiratory syncytial virus is killing 100,000 children under the age of five every year worldwide, new figures reveal as experts say the global easing of coronavirus restrictions is causing a surge in cases.

RSV is the most common cause of acute lower respiratory infection in young children. It spreads easily via coughing and sneezing. There is no vaccine or specific treatment.

Continue reading...

Assisted dying advocates shift focus to Australian government’s territory ban

Posted on by

After NSW became the last state to pass euthanasia laws, advocates say they will fight to overturn ban preventing ACT and NT from passing their own laws

Advocates for voluntary assisted dying say they will turn their attention to the federal government to strike down restrictions which prevent the ACT and Northern Territory from passing laws allowing euthanasia.

The backlash comes as New South Wales became the last state to pass the laws. The historic voluntary assisted dying bill passed NSW parliament on Thursday after a months-long campaign.

Continue reading...

US reports rare case of monkeypox amid small outbreaks in Europe

Posted on by

Man who recently traveled to Canada has first case in US this year, but officials are preparing for more

Massachusetts officials on Wednesday reported a rare case of monkeypox in a man who recently traveled to Canada, and health officials are looking into whether it is connected to small outbreaks in Europe.

Monkeypox is typically limited to Africa, and rare cases in the US and elsewhere are usually linked to travel there. A small number of confirmed or suspected cases have been reported this month in the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain.

Continue reading...

US supreme court abortion reversal would be global ‘catastrophe’ for women

Posted on by

If Roe v Wade is overturned, it will encourage anti-choice groups – particularly in the developing world, activists warn

The probable demise of abortion as a federal right in the US will be a “catastrophe” for women in low and middle-income countries, with an emboldened anti-choice movement likely to raise renewed pressure on hard-won gains, doctors and activists have warned.

The leak this month of the US supreme court’s draft majority opinion, which argued that the 1973 ruling effectively legalising abortion had been “egregiously wrong from the start”, stunned and enraged many in America.

Continue reading...

PM dismisses need for more measures to limit Covid deaths, suggests Australians dying with, not of, the virus

Posted on by

Scott Morrison says Australia is now ‘living with Covid’ as nation records one of the highest transmission rates in the world

Scott Morrison brushed off the need for further measures to curtail Australia’s ongoing high rates of Covid-19 transmission and deaths, and suggested many Australians are dying with, not of, Covid.

Morrison told reporters on Wednesday medical advice does not currently support a fourth Covid vaccine for the general population and asserted, without evidence, that Labor under Anthony Albanese may return to lockdowns to combat Covid.

Continue reading...

Numbers of nurses and midwives leaving NHS highest for four years

Posted on by

More nurses leave NHS than at any time since Covid struck, many reporting stress as their main reason

More than 27,000 nurses and midwives quit the NHS last year, with many blaming job pressures, the Covid pandemic and poor patient care for their decision.

The rise in staff leaving their posts across the UK – the first in four years – has prompted concern that frontline workers are under too much strain, especially with the NHS-wide shortage of nurses.

Continue reading...

Emotions run high as showdown on NSW assisted dying bill approaches

Posted on by

If passed, the state will be the last in Australia to allow terminally ill people to choose when they die

When she moved from Melbourne to Sydney, Siobhan O’Sullivan did not consider what it would mean for the way she died.

But since being diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer mid-2020, the 48-year-old thinks about that decision a lot.

Continue reading...

Scott Morrison tells A Current Affair ‘jobkeeper saved the country’ – as it happened

Posted on by

Prime minister tells Tracy Grimshaw ‘I could have been more sensitive at times’; nation records 66 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Ita Buttrose:

We will retain an internal system of editorial complaint handling. We accept the recommendations, but we have amended one already. The review recommends that the ombudsman should report directly to the board. We should report to the board and the managing director, but the directors felt that this would simply be continuing the system we already have and we wanted a different more independent approach. So the ombudsman will report directly to the board and the process will be separate from editorial management.

Continue reading...

E-cigarettes ‘as safe as nicotine patches’ for pregnant smokers trying to quit

Posted on by

Pregnant smokers were more likely to quit when using e-cigarettes than patches after four weeks, study shows

E-cigarettes are as safe to use as nicotine patches for pregnant smokers trying to quit, and may be a more effective tool, researchers have revealed.

Smoking in pregnancy can increase the risk of outcomes including premature birth, miscarriage and the baby having a low birth weight. But stubbing out the habit can be a struggle.

Continue reading...

Australian federal election 2022 live: Albanese calls Coalition housing scheme ‘an attack on future generations’; AEC finds signs in breach

Posted on by

Anthony Albanese labels Coalition housing scheme ‘an attack on future savings’; AEC says Advance Australia ‘Greens’ signs in breach of electoral act; home price increases will be ‘marginal’ under new plan, Scott Morrison says; PM says Labor was informed about Aukus when they ‘needed to be’; NSW records four Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s news live

Labor campaign spokesperson Jason Clare has a new line.

He told ABC TV:

The next week is really important. Australians have a big choice to make this weekend. It is a choice between a better future under Labor and more Scott Morrison.

As Australians think about this, they would be thinking “Do you want to wake up on Sunday morning and roll over and see Scott Morrison?”

Continue reading...

US Covid deaths hit 1m, a death toll higher than any other country

Posted on by

Virus has laid bare America’s fragmented healthcare system and corrosive racial and socioeconomic inequality

More than one million people have died in the Covid-19 pandemic in the US, according to Johns Hopkins, far and away the most deaths of any country.

While the sheer number of deaths from the coronavirus sets the US apart, the country’s large population of 332.5 million people does not explain the staggering mortality rate, which is among the highest in the world.

Continue reading...

Prince William presents damehood to Deborah James as cancer fundraiser raises £5m

Posted on by

Duke of Cambridge makes personal visit after ‘Bowelbabe’ told supporters she was receiving end-of-life care for her condition

The Duke of Cambridge has presented podcast host Deborah James with a damehood at her family home after her Cancer Research fundraising initiative passed the £5m mark in just five days.

James, 40, known online as Bowelbabe after campaigning to raise awareness of bowel cancer, launched the JustGiving page on Monday after revealing she was receiving end-of-life care for the condition.

Continue reading...

More regional aged care homes to close unless government funds pay rise, experts say

Posted on by

With around two-thirds of regional nursing homes operating at a loss, industry says ‘the crisis is upon us, but it’s going to get worse’

Many more rural Australians may have no choice but to spend their final years away from their families and communities given two-thirds of regional aged care homes are operating at a loss.

Closures are already happening and will accelerate if the next federal government fails to properly fund a pay rise for aged care workers, experts say.

Continue reading...

Australia election 2022 live news: former high commissioner to Solomon Islands attempts to confront Morrison on campaign trail

Posted on by

Simon Birmingham says Anthony Albanese ‘making it up as he goes along’ on wage rises; Peter Dutton takes swipe at Clive Palmer over seat preferences; at least 53 Covid deaths recorded. Follow all the day’s news

Josh Frydenberg told ABC TV he believed Scott Morrison won last night’s debate.

He also believes moderate Liberals have done enough to influence the party from the inside:

Let me take those issues individually. Firstly, on climate, I was a strong advocate, so was Dave Sharma, Katie Allen, Trent Zimmerman, Tim Wilson and many others about getting Australia to net zero emissions by 2050.

We argued inside the tent for that commitment and it’s in Australia’s best interest that it’s a bipartisan commitment. It’s Australia’s best interest that we have a long-term economic plan to get there.

Continue reading...

Surge in NSW flu cases sparks concern over hospital capacity with Covid numbers high

Posted on by

State’s chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, urges people to get flu vaccinations as 2,000 cases reported in last week

Surging cases of the flu are putting extra demand on emergency departments around New South Wales, with major outbreaks in boarding houses contributing to a doubling in cases in a week.

According to NSW Health, 2,000 flu cases were reported in the week to 7 May – up from 1,024 the week before.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

IVF treatment faces ‘clear and present danger’ from US anti-abortion effort

Posted on by

Warning from reproductive rights advocate comes as US states pass or debate legislation that would give full rights to embryos

In vitro fertilization treatment is facing a “clear and present danger” and could be a “casualty” of some of the proposed anti-abortion laws that are emerging across the US, according to a key advocate of reproductive medicine.

The warning comes as US states, including Louisiana, have passed or are debating new proposed legislation that would give full rights to embryos, which in some cases means fertilized eggs, created in the process of IVF and not implanted in a woman, would have the same legal rights as children.

Continue reading...

Author of review into aborted GP data sharing in England opted out of scheme

Posted on by

Prof Ben Goldacre cited risks of deanonymisation as his main reason for withdrawing his consent

The author of a government review into medical data sharing personally opted out of the aborted plan to share GP health data, a parliamentary committee has heard.

Prof Ben Goldacre, a former Guardian columnist and the author of the Goldacre Review, exercised his right to opt out of the Government’s General Practice Data for Planning and Research scheme, he told the Commons Science and Technology committee, because he was concerned about the risks of deanonymisation.

Continue reading...

El Salvador: woman sentenced to 30 years in prison for homicide after miscarriage

Posted on by

Activists say case offers a stark warning to women in the US, where the supreme court is considering overturning Roe v Wade

A court in El Salvador has sentenced a woman who suffered a miscarriage to 30 years in prison for aggravated homicide, in a case which activists said offers a stark warning to women in the United States, where the supreme court is considering overturning a key ruling which legalized abortion.

The woman, identified only as “Esme”, was sentenced on Monday, after nearly two years under pre-trial detention, following her arrest when she sought medical care in a public hospital.

Continue reading...

Deborah James ‘cannot thank people enough’ after £2m raised for Bowelbabe Fund

Posted on by

Presenter of BBC podcast You, Me And The Big C said on social media she did not know ‘how long I’ve got left’

The podcaster Deborah James has said she “cannot thank people enough” as a fundraiser for cancer research raised over £2m since she announced she had been moved to hospice at home care.

In a post on Monday, James, who has terminal bowel cancer, told followers on social media that she did not know “how long I’ve got left”.

Continue reading...