As the Night Starts to Close In

Er...first off Happy Birthday Ken. OK another catch up, the reasons for which will become apparent....

Revenge of the Rodent in Happyville

Friday and the curse of Fade with train travel this week comes to visit me. Earlier in the week Nicola has hassle getting to Salford and the curse of unfortunate train ticketing, I got it on Friday as my ticket wasn't valid. My own fault though. Other than that the travel to Oxford Road was fine. Sort Coffee and wander to Picadilly. Back into the 'Blackhole of Gateway House II: The Revenge'. Figuring on the amount I need to achieve in the day and the fact that I suspect I've over estimated the achievable I begin the day with a call to Tracy. I get Shan. We chat and it cheers me up more than it should. I call Tracy, sort a few things and it's down to work. The blackhole still suffers from a water laden, dripping pipe and I aim to record the records in the two racks in this part of the room to get away from the drip. My worst fear it that the pipe is some sort of soil pipe, I suspect it deals in reality with the water from the sinks in the canteen (bes scenario). The presence of gurgling water and drips means the preventative application of Joy Division (when in Manc listen to the local sounds, yes I know they were from Salford but it's all the Land of Manc to me). This it turns out is a good choice and by the time of enforced recharge break I'm over half way through. The downside is that I'm covered in dust fom the work that created the pipework and covers the boxes, discover that the place has evidence of rodents and I'm hoping that there wasn't too much mouse shit amongst the dust I have so liberally covered myself in.

Lunch is spent searching for Radian B Minera bath for Monst. I fail (I suspect eau de sweaty athelete ain't popular), refuse the invite of a bunch of Bush Baptists to a drink and chat about Jesus (they're too nice to put through my usual rant on the subject) and I resist the temptation to grab a pint. Result is I work like a loon on return and by 3.30 I'm done, desperate for a pint and nip for a Guinness at the station's Sports Bar (and horrify the barman by waiting for the thing to settle only to down it in one - mind you I needed it!)

Home, feed the family and rest my weary bones, only to receive a bollocking for alleged snoring. I say alleged because I was awake at the time of the accusation and I'm not certain you can snore while awake. I question the definition of snoring currently applied by Monst, it don't go down well!

It's a Strange Way to Go About Things

Saturday, the day to argue with the boy about homework, it's traditional, routine and upsets Monst who is sleeping in to get over the lack of sleep induced by my alleged snoring. Anyway prior to that I use the opportunity of an early rise to watch 'The Godfather II'. I'm a sucker for Gangster movies.

News, Spacemen 3, Experimental Audio Research and a retread of the Radian B experience fill the rest of the day. Plus this blog catch up.

Drones Whisper Sweet Patterns Gently to My Ears

Listen to Saturday's edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade

New Section

National News

New Story

Vouchers seen as aid to kicking heroin habit - The Guardian 27th January 2007

Drug users on methadone for heroin addiction should be given shopping vouchers and other rewards as incentives to stay clean, according to draft guidance published for consultation. Voucher schemes have worked well in the US, according to the guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. Users should be given a prompt reward for a urine or blood sample that proves they are free of heroin or other illicit drugs, rising in value the longer they stay that way.

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£10 shopping tokens 'would help addicts to stay clean' - The Times 27th January 2007

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Nice wants incentives for addicts days after refusing cancer drug - The Telegraph 27th January 2007

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Shopping voucher plan for addicts - BBC Health News 26th January 2007

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Stress in pregnancy 'can affect child's development' - The Guardian 27th January 2007

Researchers have linked stress experienced by pregnant women to higher incidences of mental and behavioural problems in their children. The research, presented yesterday at a Royal College of Psychiatrists conference in London, suggests high levels of the stress hormone cortisol in amniotic fluid in the womb could affect the development of the brains of foetuses, affecting their future social skills, language ability and memory.

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Stress 'harms brain in the womb' - BBC Health News 26th January 2007

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Alexander Linklater: The family locked out by doctors - The Guardian 27th January 2007

The call came at 4am. The voice was hoarse and feral. It was the way Luke often sounded when spiralling out of control. His father gripped the phone blearily. "Dad, I've got bad news. I'm in the locked ward and ... you remember Stevie, that nice charge nurse? I ripped out his eye.

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Couple escape jail over MS cannabis bars - The Guardian 26th January 2007

A couple who supplied thousands of bars of chocolate laced with cannabis to ease the pain of multiple sclerosis sufferers escaped jail yesterday. Lezley and Mark Gibson, both 42, got nine-month jail sentences, suspended for two years, after being found guilty at Carlisle crown court of conspiring to supply the class C drug. Marcus Davies, 36, who ran a PO box and website for their organisation, received the same sentence.

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'Cannabis bar' suppliers escape jail - The Independent 27th January 2007

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Judge sentences cannabis chocolate dealers - The Times 27th January 2007

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Chocolate drugs trio spared jail - BBC Health News 26th January 2007

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Babies taken into care 'to meet targets for adoption' - The Times 27th January 2007

Babies are being taken from their parents and placed in care before all other options are exhausted so that local authorities can meet targets on adoption, a group of MPs claim. They say that a sharp rise in the number of babies removed from families in the past ten years, then adopted a year or so later, is linked to pressure on local authorities to increase by 50 per cent the number of adoptions by 2006.

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Babies put in care 'for adoption targets' - The Telegraph 27th January 2007

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Babies 'removed to meet targets' - BBC Health News 26th January 2007

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Brown accused of Olympic bank raid - The Times 27th January 2007

Gordon Brown was accused yesterday of raiding dormant bank accounts to meet the increasing cost of holding the 2012 Olympic Games. The Conservative Party claimed that a Treasury e-mail disclosed proposals to distribute about £400 million of unclaimed assets to the Big Lottery Fund. The plans, expected to be published next week in a consultation paper on a new law on unclaimed assets, suggest that this could indirectly be used to fund the Olympics.

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Brown 'to raid social funds for Olympics' - The Telegaph 27th January 2007

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Pioneering keyhole heart surgery starts in Britain - The Times 27th January 2007

Heart specialists in Leicester are planning what they say is the first heart valve replacement operation in Britain using keyhole techniques. On Tuesday Jan Kovac will lead a team of cardiologists in carrying out a percutaneous aortic valve replacement, a technique pioneered in France and carried out at only a few hospitals around the world.

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Pioneering valve surgery planned - BBC Health News 26th January 2007

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Work without pay, NHS ask - The Times 27th January 2007

A debt-ridden Kent hospital has suggested that staff work a day without pay to ease its financial woes. Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, which reported a £16.7 million deficit last year, put the suggestion to staff in a letter from Terry Coode, director of human resources.

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Take two paracetamol. Grit teeth tightly - The Times 27th January 2007

What if the doc doesn’t recognise a broken leg? My hero of the week is Robert Moore. He’s 49 and lives with his partner and dogs in Roker, near Sunderland. They have a holiday place in Scotland and love going for long walks there. The trouble is, Robert had both his legs broken on Christmas Eve in a hit-and-run outside his own front door.

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Hospice helped dying man lose his virginity - The Telegraph 27th January 2007

A young disabled man who receives care for his life-limiting illness at a hospice run by a nun spoke yesterday of his decision to use a prostitute to experience sex before he dies. Sister Frances Dominica gave her support to 22-year-old Nick Wallis, who was born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Sufferers usually die by their thirties.

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Get a life - The Telegraph 27th January 2007

A man with a mission came to my Life Club this week. Self-employed and as charming as you have to be when you are self-employed, he wanted a change of career but was lacking confidence and dreading the thought of having to sell himself all over again. "It feels like a mountain," he told me. His metaphor for the future was of being surrounded by mountains, one of which he'd have to climb in order to get where he wanted.

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Topshop boss to ban skinny models - The Telegaph 27th January 2007

One of Britain's biggest fashion houses has pledged to set an example during London Fashion Week next month and not use ultra-thin models on the catwalk. Sir Philip Green, head of the Arcadia group, which owns Topshop on size zero skinny models at Fashion week Sir Philip Green: 'I hope everyone else follows' Sir Philip Green, head of the Arcadia group, which owns Topshop and is a sponsor of the event, said his labels would not use "waifs" and hoped all designers would follow his lead.

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NHS 24 helpline sued over death - BBC Health News 27th January 2007

A woman is suing the NHS 24 helpline service for £750,000 over the death of her partner, BBC Scotland has learned. Father-of-two Steven Wiseman died in December 2004 at the age of 30 after complaining of flu-like symptoms.

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Scientists shed light on research - BBC Health News 26th January 2007

The ways in which light can be used to diagnose and treat disease is the focus of an international conference. The Medical Photonics workshop, being held at St Andrew's University next week, will examine how light can be used for a variety of techniques.

New Story

NHS to get work accident payouts - BBC Health News 26th January 2007

The NHS could claim back over £150m a year for treating employees injured at work, the government has said. The money would be recovered from insurance companies in cases where personal injury compensation has been paid to workers.

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Bullies 'exploit' healthy eating - BBC Health News 26th January 2007

Children vulnerable to eating disorders are being put under increased pressure by the government's school dinner reforms, a teachers' union has said. The healthy eating plan in England has given bullies "seeming justification" to target children about their size, warns the NASUWT.

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International News

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Fat is a fashionable issue - The Guardian 27th January 2007

Diane von Furstenberg, inventor of the wrap dress, is leading the resistance to new rules about skinny models on the catwalk. Jess Cartner-Morley meets the designer in Paris

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Measuring up: Spain wages war on size 0 - The Times 27th January 2007

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The selfless gene - The Times 27th January 2007

Why do some people risk their lives for others? It’s all in the brain “UNDERGROUND hero” was the big headline this week, with the story of the firefighter Angus Campbell, who challenged an alleged Tube bomber to protect his fellow passengers.

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Gum disease cancer link disputed - BBC Health News 27th January 2007

Men with gum disease have a 63% higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer, according to US researchers. The Harvard-based study suggests mouth bacteria, and the body's attempt to fight them, may produce carcinogenic chemicals which trigger disease.

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Children's drug treatment boost - BBC Health News 27th January 2007

Children will have access to improved treatment following changes to European laws, campaigners say. From this week, any new medicine licensed in Europe must be examined for its potential use for children.

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Impotence fears hit polio drive - BBC Health News 25th January 2007

Health officials in Pakistan say they have failed to immunise over 160,000 children against polio due to rumours the vaccine causes sexual impotence. Parents in parts of northern Pakistan told the BBC news website they feared an "American conspiracy" to cut the fertility of the next generation.

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Cheshire and Merseyside News

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Hospital refuses to cut cleaning costs - Liverpool Daily Post 26th January 2007

EXECUTIVES at a debt-ridden hospital have gone against the team brought into overhaul their finances by refusing to cut cleaning costs. The “turnaround team” sent to Southport and Ormskirk Hospital to sort out its ailing finances told it to reduce the amount spent on the vital service to help wipe out its £15m debt.

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New test opens door to beating cancer depression - Liverpool Daily Post 26th January 2007

DETECTING and treating depression in cancer patients can improve their quality of life, tolerance of pain and give them a better chance of beating the disease, a University of Liverpool professor has revealed. Professor Mari Lloyd-Williams has devised a six-question survey to detect depression in cancer patients to help improve their ability to come to terms with their disease and overcome it.

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Mum's anguish over losing second girl to lung disease - Liverpool Echo January 26th 2007

A LIVERPOOL mother today told of her heartbreak at losing her second daughter to cystic fibrosis. Pauline Sweeney watched as her 24-year-old daughter Rachael lost her fight for life. Rachel’s twin sister Rebecca died of the disease when they were just six months old.

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The human cost of a £40m crisis - Chester Chronicle 26th January 2007

Pensioner Tony Hurst, 66, has to provide round-the-clock care for his 76 year old wife Betty, who suffers from Alzheimer's Disease. The only time he can afford for himself or to spend shopping and cleaning comes courtesy of the Lightfoot Lodge day centre and the respite care provided by a centre in Curzon Park.

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My dying wishes are coming true - Chester Chronicle 26th January 2007

Barbara Buckley and her family have had their fair share of heartache over the years. Last year Barbara, 53, who suffers from heart disease, emphysema and has only one functioning kidney was told her condition had seriously deteriorated and she has only two years left to live. The organisation caring for her and her family, Care UK, decided to try and make her two last wishes come true.

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Home cooking ‘is healthiest’ - Southport Visiter 26th January 2007

SOUTHPORT people have been urged to embrace the joys of home cooking if they want to lead healthy lives. That was the main finding of a food safety investigation carried out across Merseyside, which sampled levels of salt and sodium in a variety of fare looked at in premises from independent shops to supermarkets. Officers from Sefton Council’s environmental protection department were among those taking part.

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Drug screening firm opens for business - Runcorn Weekly News 25th January 2007

A DRUG screening company is being launched in Widnes to help employers tackle the problem of drug and alcohol abuse in the work place. David Coleman, the proprietor of Cheshire Screening Services in Waterloo Road, is expecting a busy opening week as companies in Widnes and Runcorn take advantage of his 'unique' new business.

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Go-ahead for care village for elderly - Ellesmere Port Pioneer 25th January 2007

A NEW development for the elderly in Ellesmere Port has been approved. The extra-care village, with 71 self-contained residential units, will be built at New Grosvenor Road in the Westminster area of town.

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Cumbria and Lancashire News

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Disabled services to be audited - Carlisle News and Star 26th January 2007

CUMBRIANS with experience of learning disabilities are being urged to get involved in the largest audit undertaken in England. The Healthcare Commission, which is running the audit looking at services available in each area, wants to hear from people with learning disabilities, their family members, carers and health workers.

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Action plan to get ill and disabled in work - Carlisle News and Star 26th January 2007

COUNTY council chiefs have drawn up an action plan to get sick and disabled people back into work. They want to make it easier for people to find employment after a survey revealed Cumbria lagged behind the national average for the proportion of disabled people with full-time jobs.

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Cannabis trio freed by court - Carlisle News and Star 26th January 2007

THREE people who supplied thousands of chocolate bars laced with cannabis to multiple sclerosis sufferers walked free from court today. Mark Gibson, his wife Lezley, both 42, who has multiple sclerosis (MS), from Alston, and Marcus Davies, 36, were each given a nine-month jail term, suspended for two years.

Additional Story

Couple escape jail over MS cannabis bars - The Guardian 26th January 2007

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'Cannabis bar' suppliers escape jail - The Independent 27th January 2007

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Judge sentences cannabis chocolate dealers - The Times 27th January 2007

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Chocolate drugs trio spared jail - BBC Health News 26th January 2007

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Who cares for the elderly? - Carlisle News & Star 26th January 2007

YOU live in a house where sensors monitor what time you get up, when you go to bed, whether you remembered to turn off the cooker. It sounds like a scene from Big Brother but this is daily life for 76 elderly people in north Cumbria. And it could be part of the future for many of us.

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Overdose man ‘should have been kept in A&E’ - Carlisle News & Star 26th January 2007

A WHITEHAVEN man who died after taking a drugs overdose in hospital would still be alive today if he’d been kept in the A&E department, a court heard. Handyman Peter Weighman had taken an overdose of 50 co-praxamol tablets on the Yewdale ward at the West Cumberland Hospital in September 2002 and then made his own way to the A&E department.

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Blast over £470,000 spent on obesity drugs - Lancashire Telegraph 26th January 2007

BLACKBURN and Darwen health bosses have spent £470,000 in four-and-half years on drugs that stop obese people feeling hungry, it has been revealed. The spend, by the borough's primary care trust, has been labelled "phenomenal" and a "waste of money".

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Cancer sufferer falls foul of treatment ‘postcode lottery’ - Lancashire Telegraph 26th January 2007

WHEN Keith Ditchfield was told he had a cancerous tumour on his right kidney his reaction was, unsurprisingly, one of utter devastation. Yet he said he took for granted that the NHS would do all it could to help him, bringing some comfort that whatever the outlook, he was in the best care.

New Story

GPs asked to open longer to help A&E - Lancashire Telegraph 27th January 2007

FAMILY doctors have been asked if they will stay open until 9pm to take the pressure off struggling A&E departments. A letter has been sent to surgeries in Blackburn with Darwen asking if they will consider the move.

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Greater Manchester News

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Call to save maternity unit - The Bolton News 26th January 2007

SALFORD Council chiefs are continuing their fight to save the city's hospital maternity ward. They have called on Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt to review the decision to close the unit at Hope Hospital.

Additional Story

Blears stays clear of Hope demo - Manchester Evening News 25th January 2007

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This Way Up

Listen to this edition of Another 15 Minutes...Health News from Fade

New Section

National News

New Story

Mothers told caffeine advice is too cautious - The Guardian 26th January 2007

Government advice to pregnant women to cut back on caffeine may be too cautious, according to new research. Pregnant women are advised to drink no more than three mugs of instant coffee a day and are often urged to cut out caffeine altogether because of fears that it can cause premature birth and low birth weight.

Additional Story

Carry on with the coffee, pregnant women are told - Daily Mail 25th January 2007

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Pregnancy caffeine 'reassurance' - BBC Health News 26th January 2007

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Father of scalded toddler may sue over hospital's fatal error - The Guardian 26th January 2007

The father of a 13-month-old boy who died after "incomplete information" was passed from one hospital to another is considering suing a hospital trust. An inquest heard how Zia Islam's son, Ahil, waited for hours for medical help and was then treated for a chest infection when in fact he had blood poisoning.

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Father may sue after baby dies in hospital - The Telegraph 26th January 2007

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GPs prefer salaries - The Guardian 26th January 2006

Like Prof John Fabre (Letters, January 24) I have a GP wife. Her partnership's recruitment of salaried GPs is based not on avarice, as he suggests, but on the market force of reluctant recruits. Today's successful self-employed GP partners need to be visionary entrepreneurs, tight-disciplined business administrators, IT/telecoms analysts, shrewd buyers, motivational leaders, HR managers, local health political schmoozers and national health political second-guessers. Top that with a long-term commitment to the partnership, the role of mother as most GPs are female, and the small matter of sympathetically eared patient contact and the diagnostic doctor bit. Quite a skill set. Most young GPs shirk full responsibility, opting only for medicine and mothering down a salaried, flexible route, leaving the rest to the established partners. My wife's practice has tried to tempt salaried GPs into full partnership, They are having none of it.

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Palliative care is not always the answer - The Guardian 26th January 2007

Anthony McCarthy (Letters, January 20) is mistaken to suppose that all those who wish to be assisted in dying - whether by act or omission - simply need access to palliative care. Indeed the 2004-05 House of Lords select committee concluded that a small but significant group of determined, terminally ill individuals are "unlikely to be deflected from their wish to end their lives by more or better palliative care". The BMA and even the National Council for Palliative Care have expressed similar sentiments.

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Specialist units are key to saving stroke victims - The Times 26th January 2007

Stroke patients who are treated in specialised units are almost 20 per cent less likely to die or suffer disability than those on conventional wards, according to a recent study. The study, which was carried out in Italy and published in The Lancet, followed more than 11,000 patients who had suffered strokes and had been admitted to hospital within 48 hours.

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Insurance cost to rise as NHS chases work-injury payments - The Times 26th January 2007

The NHS is to pursue employers to recover the cost of treating employees injured at work, ministers will announce today. Rules that allow the NHS to claim back money for patients who have been paid personal injury compensation could see more than £150 million refunded each year, the Government says. But insurers, who will bear the brunt of the costs, gave warning yesterday that the move could provoke a multimillion-pound increase in premiums.

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Hundreds on QE2 hit by stomach bug - The Times 26th January 2007

More than 300 passengers and crew on the cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2 have caught the highly infectious norovirus during a world cruise. In what health officials have called an unusually large outbreak, nearly 17 per cent of the 1,652 predominantly American passengers on the Cunard Line’s flagship were confined to their cabins for two or three days by the bug that causes vomiting and diarrhoea.

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Virus forces QE2 to confine hundreds to cabins - The Telegraph 26th January 2007

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Norovirus, the curse of the cruise ships - The Telegraph 26th January 2007

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Vomiting virus sweeps through QE2 - BBC Health News 25th January 2007

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Keep 'skinny model' debate in perspective - The Telegraph 26th January 2007

Once again, the so-called "skinny models" debate is sandwiched between famine in Africa and yet another salvo from the government in the war against obesity in our children, says Hilary Alexander in an online exclusive

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Fashion leaders refuse to ban size zero models - The Telegraph 26th January 2007

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Our children eat the most junk in Europe - Daily Mail 25th January 2007

Youngsters in Britain consume more sweets and fizzy drinks than any others in Europe, fuelling an obesity crisis linked to ill health and early death. Ten to 13-year-olds eat an average of £128.40 of confectionery a year - which is equivalent to 1,167 two-finger KitKat bars or almost 400 Cadbury Creme Eggs.

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Folic acid can cut risk of a harelip - Daily Mail 25th January 2007

Pregnant women who take folic acid can dramatically cut the chances of their baby having a harelip, say researchers. Mothers-to-be are already advised to take supplements of the B vitamin to help prevent conditions such as spina bifida.

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Obese people gorging to qualify for surgery on the NHS - Daily Mail 25th January 2007

Obese people are gorging themselves in order to qualify for stomach-stapling surgery on the NHS. Overweight patients are being forced to pile on the pounds after trusts raised the level of obesity they must reach to get the treatment, a patients' association claimed yesterday.

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The rise and rise - and rise - of edamame beans in Britain - Daily Mail 25th January 2007

It is the magic bean that has virtually all the health benefits of eating meat, but none of the blood and gore. Edamame (or soya beans), which looks something like a cross between a broad bean and a pea, is being hailed as a new super-food. Soya beans have been used for generations in food manufacture and as a meat alternative for vegetarians. However, the humble bean has been given a make-over, dressed up with a new name and sold as a green vegetable in its own right.

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Day-time cot death risk warning - BBC Health News 25th January 2007

Measures to cut the risk of cot death must be taken for day-time naps as well as night-time sleeps, expert say. Researchers said this includes both the advice that babies should sleep on their backs and that they should be in the same room as their parents.

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Warning over temporary nurse use - BBC Health News 25th January 2007

A public sector watchdog has warned health officials to monitor their use of temporary nurses. Audit Scotland highlighted the growing use of bank nursing staff by NHS bosses as a way to cope with staff shortages.

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International News

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Living near a motorway damages children's lungs, research reveals - The Guardian 26th January 2006

New fears of the harmful effects of traffic emissions are raised today in a major study linking motorway pollution with permanent and life-limiting damage to children's lungs. People who live within 500 metres of a motorway grow up with significantly reduced lung capacity, and even children who have never experienced asthma are at risk, scientists warn. Environmental campaigners described the research published by the Lancet as a "bombshell" and the Liberal Democrats said it provided fresh impetus to reduce car emissions. Government health officials are considering the findings to decide if any action is needed.

Additional Story

Children growing up near roads suffer serious damage to lungs - The Independent 26th January 2007

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Growing up near motorways harms lungs - The Times 26th January 2007

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Cycling can also take your breath away - The Times 26th January 2007

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Major roads 'harm children's lungs' - The Telegraph 26th January 2007

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Car fumes stunt child lung growth - BBC Health News 26th January 2007

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Doctors hope to switch off brain’s craving for tobacco - The Times 26th January 2007

Smokers who suffer damage to a particular part of the brain can give up quickly and easily without feeling any urge for a cigarette, according to research that promises new approaches to treating nicotine addiction. A study of smokers who suffered strokes has shown that part of the brain, the insula, appears to be intimately involved in their addiction, indicating that it could be targeted to help people to give up the habit.

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The brain zone that makes us smoke - The Telegraph 26th January 2007

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Brain damage 'cure' for smoking - BBC Health News 25th January 2007

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Cheshire and Merseyside News

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Merseyside war on crime and drugs a Total success - Liverpool Daily Post 25th January 2007

A PIONEERING crackdown on anti-social behaviour and drug crime has led to more than 1,000 arrests by Merseyside police. The landmark figure was revealed yesterday as the force announced its Total Policing operation had also broken the record for the highest number of arrests in any single day.

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Two of three NHS trusts without a boss - Warrington Guardian 25th January 2007

TWO of the town's three NHS trusts remain without bosses at the helm. Both Judith Holbrey, chief executive of the 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust, Warrington's mental healthcare service provider, and Allison Cooke, boss of Warrington Primary Care Trust, quit their posts in December.

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Cumbria and Lancashire News

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Doctor was ‘grossly negligent’ – expert - Carlisle News & Star 25th January 2007

A POISONS expert says a man who died of an overdose at Whitehaven’s West Cumberland Hospital would have survived if he had been given the proper treatment, a court heard. Dr Simon Thomas, of Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, was giving evidence at the trial of Peter Fisher at Carlisle Crown Court.

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Pupils taking strides to boost their fitness - Carlisle News & Star 25th January 2007

HUNDREDS of pupils at Cumbrian primary schools will be given pedometers in a bid to tackle child obesity. The Government is to dish out the devices, which allow children to keep track of how far they have walked each day, in an attempt to encourage physical activity.

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Hospital staff won’t police smoking ban - Carlisle News & Star 25th January 2007

STAFF at north Cumbria’s main hospitals will not be expected to police the controversial no-smoking ban which recently came into force. In September bosses outlawed smoking at both the Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle, and the West Cumberland Hospital, Whitehaven.

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220 hospital jobs under threat - Chorley Citizen 25th January 2007

AT least 220 hospital jobs in Lancashire will be at risk under controversial plans to use a private firm to treat NHS patients, a senior manager has warned. A leaked document states up to 360 posts could go at Chorley and South Ribble District General Hospital and Royal Preston Hospital.

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Greater Manchester News

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MP could write a protest letter to himself . . . - Bury Times 25th January 2007

MP Ivan Lewis is Labour's junior health minister responsible for maternity services. It says so on the Department of Health website. As he is proud to claim in his Bury Times letter last week, the policy he is responsible for is designed to reduce the overall number of maternity units.

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Disgusted by the Fairfield decision - Bury Times 25th January 2007

I am disgusted at the decision to close wards in hospitals all around the country to save money. In my own hospital, Fairfield in Bury, they plan to close children's wards including the special care baby unit.

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Healthier life is a call away - Bury Times 25th January 2007

NEW Year resolutions to embark on a healthy lifestyle may have already fallen by the wayside, but help is now just a phone call away thanks to the launch of Bury's Health Trainers. Advice on healthy eating, quitting smoking and becoming more active are just some of topics the 40 trainers can offer.

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Your views sought on mental care - Bury Times 25th January 2007

BURY residents are being invited to have their say on the future of mental care services at Fairfield Hospital. Pennine Care NHS Trust, which provides mental health and specialist substance misuse services at hospitals across the region, is planning on becoming a Foundation Trust to allow people to become "members" of the trust and be consulted on plans for future developments.

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Sam raises mental health awareness - The Bolton News 25th January 2007

FOOTBALLERS at Bolton Wanderers have signed up to help people suffering from mental health problems. Manager Sam Allardyce and his players said the issue, particularly depression among men, was a serious one.

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Hospital staff in protest at £3.7m cuts plan - The Bolton News 25th January 2007

PROTESTERS angry at proposed cuts in jobs and services gathered outside the Royal Bolton Hospital to demonstrate. The protest was organised by the hospital's biggest staff union, Unison, and began outside Bolton's Trinity Street train station.

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Now, Where be I?

Losing track of days so I'm hoping this brings me to a sense of where we are in the week!

Wednesday

First off it was Happy Birthday Callum, all of eight years old. I get up late (around 7'sh which means I'm chasing my tail sorting the news - which means I don't get time to chat to Helen about the delights of Zookoda).

Helen (a different one from the other Helen, look this is gonna get confusing be warned) comes over from Leeds to chat about the delights of Primary Care Librarianship. She's cool and has shared attitudes with us as a service. I'm impressed, poor girl put up with me rambling on....

Leave early to fetch the bike for Cal from Halfords, pick Monst up, head to the school and pick up Cal, Aaron, Liam and Jack. Owen who was also meant to be with us had hurled earlier in the day and been sent home. Quick trip down the East Lancs to Frankie and Benny's. everything is sorted, service is good, food is good and we get out in time to see 'Flushed Away' at the Showcase. The kids behave and the jobs a good 'un.

Home, cake and candles with Lil from across the road, write the start of a Zookoda guide for Helen (feeling guilty because I haven't spent enough time with her hatch the plan to catch up with her at Warrington the following day). Crap TV and bed beckons.

Thursday

In early sort the news, start playing with a blog format for the Nursing E-Newsletter that Pat asked us to pull together the other week. Get told we got the wrong bag of post. Nip to a tenants meeting with a very military gentleman chairing (later learn he's just back from Iraq) that lasts 3 times longer than necessary. Interesting thing is that the PCT folk in the room are all losing the will to live by the end of it, the others bang on, and on, and on, and on.

Dash downstairs and chat to Nicola as I frantically beat up printers and rush away to Warrington. Arrive to find everyone at lunch. Chat briefly to Helen (not of Leeds) explain the guide situation (feel slightly less guilty). Vicky asks a favour (which she knows I'm gonna say yes to anyway). Steve and Mo bum a lift back to Liverpool.

Sort some e-KSF training with Linda Black for Tracy and myself, get a promise of some for Nicola and Helen too. See friendly Public Health folk, chat sort out some materials. Big up the LMI.

Meanwhile Cal goes to St Marks to see if he likes it as a school to go back to mainstream at. That goes well, Monst is impressed at the teachers flexibility (the accommodate some of the things that Cal Likes to do into the mornings lessons - cool or what!) All goes well and Monst contacts the LEA to give the thumbs up. Monst has done a cracking job there with minimal support from me. Result. Now just to determine the how and when!

Home, eat, washing, blog catch up, bed beckons. But before that I investigate the new Blinklist Broadcast Widget which results in this page in minutes. I of course ask it to do stoopid things. Mightily impressed, need to drop a mail to Christina.

Ugly Nora

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Day-time cot death risk warning - BBC Health News 25th January 200

Measures to cut the risk of cot death must be taken for day-time naps as well as night-time sleeps, expert say. Researchers said this includes both the advice that babies should sleep on their backs and that they should be in the same room as their parents.

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Vomiting virus sweeps through QE2 - BBC Health News 25th January 2007

More than 300 people are thought to have caught a highly infectious virus on the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship. The Norovirus, a vomiting and diarrhoea bug, is common in cruise ships, hospitals and prisons.

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Warning over temporary nurse use - BBC Health News 25th January 2007

A public sector watchdog has warned health officials to monitor their use of temporary nurses. Audit Scotland highlighted the growing use of bank nursing staff by NHS bosses as a way to cope with staff shortages.

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National News

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Father tells how toddler died in hospital after minor burns - The Guardian 25th January 2007

The father of a toddler who died after enduring a four-hour wait for hospital treatment told an inquest that "nobody took any notice" of his son's deteriorating health. One-year-old Ahil Islam developed a fever after being scalded by tea on September 30 2005, and was taken to hospital in Watford, Hertfordshire. At some point after burning his neck, chest and arm, he contracted the staphylococcus aureus infection, which poisoned his blood.

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Burns toddler died after a four-hour wait in hospital - The Times 25th January 2007

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Ministers slow to act on child obesity, warn MPs - The Guardian 25th January 2007

Efforts to tackle the obesity epidemic in children are confused, slow-paced and hampered by ministers' attempts to stay friendly with the food industry, a parliamentary watchdog will warn today. MPs on the Commons public accounts committee will call for the appointment of an "obesity tsar" to galvanise a public health drive and say parents must be given clearer guidelines about what to do if their children are obese. More pressure must also be put on food manufacturers to produce healthier brands, the MPs' report insists.

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Strategy to cut childhood obesity mired in 'confusion' - The Independent 25th January 2007

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Obesity target unlikely to be met - BBC Health News 25th January 2007

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Patients overeat to qualify for weight surgery, says charity - The Guardian 25th January 2007

Some obese people are eating more fatty foods to qualify for weight reduction surgery on the NHS, a health charity claimed yesterday. Patients who are severely or morbidly obese - but not quite big enough for an operation - are trying to put on weight, according to the British Obesity Surgery Patient Association (Bospa). Health trusts' criteria for surgery differ, leaving obese people confused and angry, says Bospa. Obesity is measured according to the body mass index (BMI), which is calculated by dividing the patient's weight in kilos by their height in metres squared. A score of 35-40 is regarded as clinically obese, while 40-45 is morbidly obese.

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Daytime naps with parent reduce cot death risk - The Guardian 25th January 2007

Babies should be put down for their daytime naps in the same room as their parents to minimise the risk of cot deaths, according to research published yesterday. A three-year study, part-funded by the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID), has found that three-quarters of babies who die while taking their daytime naps have been put down in rooms alone. The findings contradict advice by the controversial childcare guru Gina Ford, who recommends putting babies to sleep in their own room from birth.

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London fashion week refuses to ban ultra-thin models - The Guardian 25th January 2007

The British fashion industry is ready to defy the government by refusing to rule out the controversial use of ultra-thin models on the catwalk. Organisers of London Fashion Week say they will not dictate to influential international designers about the models they use when they show their winter collections in the UK in two weeks' time.

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Health warning over counterfeit condoms - Daily Mail 24th January 2007

A health warning has been issued after fake condoms were found in a shop. Packets of "Durexx Gossamer" were seized by trading standards from a shop in Walsall, near Birmingham.

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Average woman spends 31 years on a diet, researchers say - Daily Mail 24th January 2007

For many women struggling to keep slim, dieting can seem to last a lifetime. Or to be more precise, 31 years. For researchers have found that is how long the average woman spends on a diet over the course of her life.

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The women robbed of motherhood by a needless hysterectomy - Daily Mail 24th January 2007

Thousands of women may be having unnecessary hysterectomies because doctors are offering out of date advice, experts claimed yesterday. Women as young as 19 are being given surgery that will end their hopes of mothehood rather than alternative treatments that would allow them to keep their wombs.

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Statins won't prevent women getting heart disease, claim doctors - Daily Mail 23rd January 2007

Doubts were have been cast on the value of "wonder drugs" prescribed to millions of Britons to prevent heart disease deaths. A new study claims there is no evidence to show that giving statins to women keeps them free of heart disease.

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Patient forum changes 'will fail' - BBC Health News 25th January 2007

Changes to how the public has its say on the running of the NHS are set to fail because of a lack of funding, leading doctors have said. The British Medical Association said the structure of Local Involvement Networks (Links) was flawed and open to unacceptable variations.

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Health support for deaf people - BBC Health News 24th January 2007

A leading charity says it is to build four residential mental health units to provide specialist care for deaf people. The Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID) wants to tackle what it calls "the crisis" in mental health provision.

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Most support voluntary euthanasia - BBC Health News 24th January 2007

Eight out of ten of people support a law change to allow doctors to actively end the lives of terminally ill patients who want to die, a poll shows. However only 60% supported doctors prescribing, but not administering, drugs someone could use to end their own life.

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Watchdog probes ambulance service - BBC Health News 24th January 2007

Staffordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust is being investigated after serious concerns were raised about its service, a health watchdog said. The Healthcare Commission said management, the community first responder scheme and managing medicines are among the matters highlighted.

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Young women 'complacent over HIV' - BBC Health News 24th January 2007

Seven out of 10 young women do not believe they are at any risk of being infected with HIV, a survey has found. The poll, commissioned by The Body Shop and MTV, also found 92% do not think a condom is an essential handbag item on a night out.

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Bowel cancer drug appeal rejected - BBC Health News 24th January 2007

Campaigners have lost an appeal to make a bowel cancer drug widely available on the NHS. Charities Cancerbackup and Bowel Cancer UK appealed against a decision by the health watchdog to reject the drug Erbitux (cetuximab) for use on the NHS.

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International News

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Spanish shop dummies to put on weight - The Guardian 25th January 2007

Spanish shop window dummies have been ordered to fatten up after the government and big fashion chains agreed that female dummies should wear size 10 clothes or above. The agreement between Spanish retail chains such as Zara and Mango and the country's health ministry came as the fashion trade agreed to a series of measures designed to combat anorexia.

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Scientists discover how to activate genetic 'switch' that stops cancer - The Independent 25th January 2007

A way of ridding the body of lethal tumours has been identified by scientists who have used a genetic "switch" to turn on a key gene for suppressing cancer. The findings suggest there may be a way of re-activating a damaged gene that is normally involved in the natural suppression of the uncontrolled cell division that leads to cancer.

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Gene switch makes tumours shrink - BBC Health News 25th January 2007

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Cheshire and Merseyside News

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Elderly will receive MRSA blood checks - Liverpool Echo 24th January 2007

LIVERPOOL’S elderly are to be screened for MRSA to keep the superbug out of hospitals. The sweep will be the first of its kind in the country and will include tests on other groups considered at risk.

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Patients’ anger as car park fee row rumbles on - Liverpool Echo 24th January 2007

DISABLED people are still being forced to walk from a car park – months after health bosses promised to end their misery. The car park at Broadgreen hospital charges blue badge holders a minimum of £2 and means some patients face a 10-minute, uphill struggle to reach hospital buildings.

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Cumbria and Lancashire News

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Abortion doctor has not found any work - Carlisle News & Star 24th January 2007

A FORMER Carlisle gynaecologist who left a 21-year-old woman with internal injuries in a botched abortion has been unable to comply with strict conditions imposed on him to allow him to continue working. Andrew Gbinigie, 51, has not worked since 2003 when he escaped being struck off amid public uproar following a string of blunders.

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To the top with surgical skill - Lancashire Telegraph 24th January 2007

WHEN Blackburn oral surgeon Maire Morton went to medical school she was one of only a handful of women in her class. Three decades later and she has risen to the top of her specialism - being appointed as the first-ever woman president of the British Association of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Surgeons.

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Greater Manchester News

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Hospital cuts and services protest demo - The Bolton News 24th January 2007

Angry demonstrators walked from the town centre to the Royal Bolton Hospital to protest at the latest proposed cuts in jobs and services. The demo, organised by the biggest staff union at the hospital, Unison, began outside Bolton train station.

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Hospital cuts protest demo - The Bolton News 24th January 2007

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Children to get pedometers in fitness drive - The Bolton News 24th January 2007

THOUSANDS of children in the poorest parts of the country will be given pedometers to encourage them to get fit, the Government has announced. Giving children pedometers, which count the number of steps an individual takes, can improve a whole family's attitude to fitness as enthusiastic youngsters persuade parents to join them walking, ministers said.

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Sugary foods may be back on menu - The Bolton News 24th January 2007

CREAM cakes, chocolate bars and sugary snacks are banned foods for diabetics. But not any more, thanks to a course run by Bolton health chiefs.

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Specialist clinics are a threat to NHS - The Bolton News 24th January 2007

A DOCTORS' association has branded plans to privatise some services at the Royal Bolton Hospital "a threat" to the NHS. The British Medical Association is concerned that initial tests in ear, nose and throat, urology, gynaecology, general surgery and orthopaedics at Bolton and across Greater Manchester are to be carried out in private Integrated Clinical Assessment and Treatment Services (ICATS) centres.

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‘More action needed to tackle obesity’ - The Bolton News 24th January 2007

ONE of Bolton's leading health bosses is urging parents, the Government, schools and the NHS to work together in a bid to beat childhood obesity. Jan Hutchinson, director of public health for Bolton Primary Care Trust, said practical solutions must be offered if the problem of overweight children is to be tackled properly.

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