Tory MP speaks out amid anger over 44-year-old’s sentence for taking abortion pills beyond legal limit
Abortion legislation is “very much out of date” and should be overhauled, the chair of the Commons women and equalities committee has said, after a woman was jailed for procuring drugs to induce an abortion after the legal limit.
There was outrage on Monday after the woman, a mother of three, was sentenced to more than two years in prison.
Continue reading...GMC says cases were among 194 incidents of alleged violations of confidentiality between 2017 and 2022
Two-dozen doctors have been disciplined by the UK medical regulator in the last five years after accessing and using information from patients’ treatment records without good reason.
The General Medical Council (GMC) said it had struck off two of the 24 doctors it had sanctioned after finding that they had undertaken “inappropriate use” of medical records.
Continue reading...US researchers discover reduction of signalling in part of the brain could have significant impact on cardiovascular system
Light to moderate alcohol consumption may lower the risk of heart disease because it leads to long-term reductions in stress signalling in the brain, new research claims.
But cardiologists warn the cardiac benefits do not mean we should ignore other dangers of alcohol.
Continue reading...‘I chewed my way through the restraints in front of two security guards who were laughing at me’, says one woman
When Victoria’s mental health royal commission made landmark findings of systemic human rights breaches in 2021, there was little that surprised Anna*.
At the time of the inquiry’s hearings, Anna had numerous stints in the psychiatric wards of Victorian public hospitals. She said the experiences were “dehumanising” and often chipped away at her will to live.
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Continue reading...Dispensers will be in place at schools, parks, sports venues and festivals across country this summer
Citizens of the Netherlands are to be offered free sun protection this summer in an effort to tackle record levels of skin cancer in the country.
Sun cream dispensers will be made available this summer in schools and universities, at festivals, parks, sports venues and open public spaces across the country, according to the government.
Continue reading...Exclusive: £3.2m plan aims to curb rise in people sleeping rough as councils cut homelessness budgets
The NHS will deploy street mental health teams in English locations from Devon to Doncaster in an attempt to curb a rise in rough sleeping in England.
Fourteen outreach teams will aim to get more rough sleepers on to a path to counselling, medication or other treatments and will seek out people “who have often been through incredibly traumatic experiences to ensure they get the help they need”, said Prof Tim Kendall, NHS England’s clinical national director for mental health.
Continue reading...Danone boss urges ministers to help people make healthy choices
One of the country’s biggest food firms has said ministers should consider taxing products high in fat, sugar or salt to combat the obesity crisis.
Danone UK & Ireland, which sells the Actimel yogurt drink brand, says government intervention is required to ensure consumers are offered healthier products. It says some food firms in the UK have not shown “enough appetite to change”.
Continue reading...Anika Wells says taskforce will include consideration of levies but government ‘still not advocating any particular proposal’
The aged care minister, Anika Wells, says Australians want more “choice” on aged care and would be prepared to pay for it, as the government mulls the introduction of a user-pays system.
Wells told ABC’s Insiders the Albanese government’s position on aged care was consistent, playing down calls for a levy before the election because it was “still not advocating any particular proposal”, merely establishing a taskforce which will consider how to make aged care sustainable.
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Continue reading...Exclusive: State officials heard claims about Esther Foundation in 2018 before Scott Morrison announced funding in 2019, inquiry told
Health authorities in Western Australia heard allegations of abuse at the Esther Foundation in 2018 – well before the Morrison government awarded the foundation a $4m grant.
The grant to the religious rehabilitation centre, which has been accused of exorcisms and gay conversion practices, was part of the $2bn Community Health and Hospitals Program (CHHP). The national audit office this week accused the former government of deliberately breaching the CHHP guidelines, giving out grants likely to be unlawful, and falling short of “ethical requirements”.
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Continue reading...Sutton says the pressure of the public role through the worst of the pandemic took a toll on his family
Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, says there were moments during his time as the face of the state’s Covid-19 response that would have “crushed” him were it not for the support of his family, as he announced his resignation on Friday.
Sutton said he would be leaving the Department of Health after 12 years to take up a position as director of health and biosecurity at the CSIRO from September.
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Continue reading...Broadcaster says she has had double mastectomy and was told news on same day as her OBE announced
The broadcasting veteran Anne Diamond has revealed she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The GB News presenter said she received the diagnosis the same day as finding out she was to be made OBE.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed.
‘We shouldn’t run a running commentary on the cases,’ says Hume
Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume, appearing alongside Marles on the program, said she believed clarification was still needed:
There is inconsistencies between the reports that we are getting from those text messages and what we are hearing from Labor ministers, and what happened when.
And I think unfolding that, unpacking that, making sure there is some clarification is really important here. Because misleading parliament, misleading the Senate is a big deal, particularly when you rely on the honesty and integrity of ministers and senators, and so there are some questions to be answered here.
Katy has made her position very clear earlier in the week, and she has made clear that she is very comfortable with the statements that she’s made, and that’s the end of the matter in terms of Katy’s position.
Katy is a person of enormous integrity. It is one of my great honours to work alongside her in this government. She does a great job as the finance minister.
Continue reading...North-west Syria regains access to radiotherapy for first time since Earthquake devastated the region but backlog means many remain in limbo
Cross-border treatment for cancer patients from north-west Syria resumed this week after February’s earthquake had left people without access to radiotherapy.
But medical organisations in the area are warning that the backlog means many cancer patients remain in limbo and some could die as a result.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Research reveals only a quarter of primaries will have vital school-based support by end of 2024
Ministers have been accused of failing to grasp the “tidal wave” of mental ill health blighting children’s lives, after research found that only a quarter of English primaries will be able to offer vital school-based support by the end of next year.
With almost one in five pupils aged seven to 16 now thought to have a mental health disorder, specialist support teams were set up to work with children in schools, addressing early symptoms and reducing pressure on overstretched NHS services.
Continue reading...Children’s commissioner points to research showing some are so addicted to nicotine they can’t concentrate in school
The children’s commissioner for England has urged ministers to crack down on the “insidious” marketing of vapes to young people, which is leaving them so addicted to nicotine they can’t concentrate on lessons.
Rachel de Souza said the government would be “failing a generation” if these “highly addictive and sometimes dangerous products” were allowed to become mainstream.
Continue reading...Guild says it adheres to all relevant privacy laws as medical association says patient’s personal information is ‘sacrosanct, not a plaything’
The health department has expressed concern the Pharmacy Guild appears to be using patient contact details from its “Find a Pharmacy” website to campaign against 60-day medicine dispensing.
Meanwhile, the Australian Medical Association has labelled the Pharmacy Guild’s opposition to the new rules a “sick joke”.
Continue reading...Labor MP Tom Smith raises concerns after speaking to alleged victim who was taken in the back of a police car to a hospital 90 minutes away
An alleged victim of a sexual assault was transported by Queensland police to a hospital 90 minutes away as staff shortages meant she was unable to be examined at her local hospital, a state Labor MP has claimed.
Tom Smith, the MP for Bundaberg, said he was concerned about the pressures on the state’s health system after speaking to the alleged victim.
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Continue reading...US vice-president said administration working with Canada to tackle the crisis; Canadian PM accuses opposition leader of fighting climate plan
Protesters are set to descend upon the White House on Thursday amid growing anger among climate activists at Joe Biden for allowing a controversial gas pipeline in Appalachia to be fast-tracked.
Several hundred protesters are expected to demand Biden “reclaim his climate legacy” by blocking the Mountain Valley pipeline, a 300-mile pipeline that will bring fracked gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia.
Continue reading...Lord Butler says there is ‘strong public interest in the inquiry being carried out constructively’
The North Sea oil and gas industry is in decline, the shadow business minister Seema Malhotra said, as she defended plans to block new drilling licences, a move criticised by trade unions. Aubrey Allegretti has the story here.
MPs will hold a debate on Monday on proposals to ban members from the parliamentary estate if they are being investigated for a criminal offence and are deemed to pose a risk to other people.
Last night the government was debating whether to hold a vote on Monday on proposals to ban MPs accused of violent or sexual offences from the estate — after backlash from some Tory backbenchers. One senior Tory MP told Playbook they opposed the plan because it would overturn “common practice that you are innocent until proven guilty”.
Continue reading...Patient advocates say more needs to be done to reduce out-of-pocket costs and improve the health literacy of Australians
The level of Medicare coverage for specialist medical appointments has fallen steadily and significantly over the past two decades and is well below that of GP visits, data shows, prompting calls for reform from patient advocates.
Medicare data published on Thursday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reveals that the proportion of subsidised fees varies widely depending on the type of appointment.
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