Category Archives: Health

NHS trust that treated Valdo Calocane to be subject of special review

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CQC will conduct review into Nottinghamshire Healthcare in tandem with mental health homicide review

A troubled NHS trust that treated Valdo Calocane for paranoid schizophrenia before he killed three people in Nottingham last year is to be the subject of a special review.

Ministers said the review into Nottinghamshire Healthcare foundation trust would help provide answers to the families of Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates, who were killed by Calocane last June.

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Playing a musical instrument or singing is linked to better memory in older age

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Piano especially associated with improved mental processes in those over 40, Exeter University research finds

Playing a musical instrument or joining a choir is linked to better memory and thinking skills in older age, research has found.

The piano was especially associated with a better brain in those over 40 in the study from Exeter University, which reviewed data from more than a thousand adults and looked at how much experience the people had in participating in music.

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Disposable vapes to be banned in UK as part of drive to curb youth vaping

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Plans to make vaping less appealing also to include restricting fruity flavours and introducing plain packaging

Ministers are to ban disposable vapes as part of a UK-wide drive to curb youth vaping.

The government is also seeking to make vaping less appealing to children by restricting sweet and fruity flavours, introducing plain packaging and making displays less visible in shops, under newly announced powers. The changes are expected to come into effect towards the end of this year or early 2025.

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NSW watchdog failed to act on contamination risk despite ‘damning’ asbestos findings

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Exclusive: environmental regulator has known for more than a decade that contaminated soil fill might have been used in childcare centres, schools and parks

The New South Wales environmental regulator has known for more than a decade that producers of soil fill made from construction and demolition waste were failing to comply with rules to limit the spread of contaminants such as lead and asbestos into the community.

Internal documents from the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), obtained by Guardian Australia, warned widespread breaches by industry meant potentially contaminated product might have been applied to land across the state, including at childcare centres, residential areas, schools and parks.

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Abortion investigations causing women ‘life-changing harm’, says UK expert

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Women losing ‘everything’ after being accused of illegal abortion in England and Wales, even if not charged, says Dr Jonathan Lord

Women in England and Wales accused of having illegal abortions have been held in custody after pregnancy loss, had their children taken into care and been saddled with debt, an expert has said.

Dr Jonathan Lord, a co-chair of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) abortion taskforce, said he was aware of up to 30 “deeply traumatic” cases where women had been investigated by the police, with some suffering “life-changing harm”.

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Thousands rally in solidarity on Invasion Day in Melbourne, Sydney; AFL clubs call for 26 January date change – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Australian and Aboriginal flags raised during Canberra ceremony

Following the welcome to country, the flag-raising ceremony has begun, with six flags raised including two Australian flags, two Aboriginal flags and two Torres Strait Islander flags.

Australia is home to the oldest continuous culture on Earth, 65,000 years of uninterrupted heritage, demonstrated by the unique archeological evidence found in the very ground that you may are sitting on, found in the rocks and stones of this very place. That makes this continent unique in the whole world.

Ngunnawal’s view of heritage transcends time, it is our way of being with nature, best expressed in the Ngunnawal language through the concepts of respect and deep honour, coming together in the wellbeing for all.

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Penrith council closes park over concern mulch could contain asbestsos

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Asbestos-like fragments found at newly-opened Regatta Park in Emu Plains sent for urgent testing, Penrith city council says

Penrith council has closed part of a park in western Sydney over fears it could contain asbestos-contaminated garden mulch from the same company that supplied the product used at Rozelle parklands.

Penrith city council says the newly opened Regatta Park at Emu Plains in the city’s west was partly closed after a review to determine if any mulch used by the council was provided by Greenlife Resource Recovery.

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World-first blood test for brain cancer may increase survival rates, say experts

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Inexpensive test can help diagnose even ‘inaccessible’ tumours earlier, speeding up treatment and improving outcomes

Surgeons and scientists have developed a world-first blood test for brain cancer that experts say could revolutionise diagnosis, speed up treatment and boost survival rates.

For years, brain tumours have remained notoriously difficult to diagnose. They affect hundreds of thousands of people worldwide each year, and kill more children and adults under the age of 40 in the UK than any other cancer.

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EU plan for medicine stockpile could worsen UK’s record shortages

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Bloc plans to bulk-buy key drugs for all 27 countries, potentially leaving Britain ‘behind in the queue’

The EU is to stockpile key medicines that will worsen the record drug shortages in the UK, with experts warning that the country could be left “behind in the queue”.

The EU is seeking to safeguard its supplies by switching to a system in which its 27 members work together to secure reliable supplies of 200 commonly used medications, such as antibiotics, painkillers and vaccines.

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Australian of the Year 2024: pioneering melanoma researchers Georgina Long and Richard Scolyer named as winners

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The scientists are credited with saving thousands of lives with their work on skin cancer and called on advertising to stop ‘glamourising’ tanning

One of the pioneering melanoma researchers named Australian of the Year gave has given an emotionally charged speech about his own devastating cancer diagnosis and told the audience “I don’t want to die”.

Prof Richard Scolyer and his research partner Prof Georgina Long – who were presented with the Australian of the Year 2024 in Canberra on Thursday night – are credited with saving the lives of thousands of Australians whose diagnoses of skin cancer would once have proven fatal but are now largely curable.

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Asbestos found in mulch at new sites across Sydney following earlier Rozelle parklands discovery

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Hazardous material found in mulch at railway substations in Dulwich Hill, Canterbury and Campsie and alongside Prospect Highway, authorities say

Asbestos has been found in garden mulch at new locations in Sydney’s inner-west and west after the discovery of contamination at the Rozelle parklands earlier this month prompted wider testing.

The Transport for NSW (TfNSW) secretary, Josh Murray, confirmed on Wednesday that asbestos had been detected in recycled mulch used at three railway electricity substations as well as in landscaping works along a highway.

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Alice is among a growing number of Victorians battling this flesh-eating ulcer. Scientists say they now know why

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As Buruli ulcer cases rise in Victoria, Australian researchers say they have finally solved the ‘transmission enigma’

When Alice Mika was bitten by a mosquito last summer in Melbourne’s west, she didn’t think anything of it.

Then, a small raised bump appeared on her ankle more than five months later and wouldn’t go away. She saw her GP who prescribed antibiotics, believing it to be a spider bite.

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WHO issues measles warning as yearly cases in Europe rise more than 30-fold

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UN agency calls for ‘urgent vaccination efforts’ in region to prevent further spread of disease

The World Health Organization has issued an urgent warning over measles after an “alarming” 30-fold rise in cases across Europe.

The UN agency reported an enormous increase in numbers affected by the disease, which it said had “accelerated in recent months”. More than 30,000 cases were reported between January and October last year, compared with 941 cases in the whole of 2022 – a more than 30-fold rise.

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Psychologists renew demand for doubling of Medicare-subsidised sessions

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Peak body also campaigning for a reduction in the growing gap fee as the cost-of-living crisis puts increases financial strain

Psychologists are renewing calls for the federal government to double the number of subsidised psychology sessions a patient can access, along with reducing the growing gap fee, as the cost-of-living crisis puts households under financial strain.

The Australian Association of Psychologists Inc, one of two psychology peak bodies, wants the federal government to lift the Medicare rebate by more than $50 for some sessions and increase the number of subsidised sessions from 10 to 20.

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Non-surgical gastric balloon available on NHS for first time

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Treatment takes 15 minutes and involves swallowing a capsule with no need for surgery, endoscopy or anaesthesia

A non-surgical gastric balloon which helps weight loss by restricting the size of the stomach has been made available on the NHS for the first time.

The treatment, which was approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) in 2020, takes 15 minutes and involves a capsule being swallowed by the patient which is attached to a thin tube.

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UK medics told not to report illegal abortions to police

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Royal college voices concern at rise in number of prosecutions of ‘deeply traumatised’ women

Medical staff in the UK should not report women to the police if they believe their patients may have illegally ended their own pregnancy, a professional body is to say.

New guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) will say it is never in the public interest to report women who have abortions to law enforcement agencies, according to the BBC.

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Biden abortion ad marks campaign shift to emphasize reproductive rights

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Campaign ad, titled Forced, is designed to tie Donald Trump directly to the abortion issue

The Biden re-election campaign rolled out a new campaign ad Sunday, signaling a shift in emphasis to reproductive rights that the White House hopes will carry and define Democrats through the 2024 election cycle.

The campaign ad, titled Forced, is designed to tie Donald Trump directly to the abortion issue almost 18 months after his nominees to the supreme court helped to overturn a constitutional right to abortion enshrined in Roe v Wade, which would have turned 51 this week.

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‘I couldn’t hide from it any more’: lockdowns drove Chantelle to the brink, and she wasn’t alone

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Exclusive: Sydney University’s Alone Together study finds one-third of group of young adults had moderate to severe symptoms over the two years of lockdowns

In 2020 Chantelle Fogg was 23 and the primary carer for her teenage brother. She had been stood down without pay from her job in hospitality and was in a marriage that was breaking down.

“I had put up with [a lot] for [many] years … and it wasn’t until I was at home all the time, and it was in my face and I couldn’t hide from it any more, that I decided that I’d had enough,” she said.

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US woman donates kidney to man – whose wife donates to donor’s brother

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Tale of generosity between Tony and Tracey Gonzalez from Illinois and Joely Sanders and Frank Pompa from Arizona goes viral

When Tony Gonzalez of Illinois required an organ donor to be freed from the dialysis machine keeping him alive despite his failing kidney, an Arizona woman named Joely Sanders stepped up.

Sanders’s brother, Frank Pompa, also required a new kidney after one of his had failed – and, of all people, it was Gonzalez’s wife, Tracey, who provided the crucial organ donation to free him from his dialysis machine in October.

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EU silver filling ban could lead to dental care crisis in Northern Ireland, says BDA

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Dental union says region will be ‘disproportionately’ affected by EU amalgam phase-out as health service is weakest in UK

Concerns have been raised about the future availability of silver dental fillings in Northern Ireland due to an imminent phasing out of the amalgam across the EU.

The plan to phase out amalgam by 1 January next year will apply in Northern Ireland as a result of Brexit trading arrangements and will also affect dental care in other parts of the UK, dentist representatives said.

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