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No show patients cost the health service millions each year

According to a new survey, missed appointments costs the National Health Service in the UK £21m.

25 Aug 2005

Teen cancer patients need specially designed wards

According to an National Health Advisory Body in the UK, most children and teenagers with cancer are treated on adult or paediatric wards.

25 Aug 2005

Private health screening bonanza as thousands of Brits take unnecessary tests

According to doctors in the UK, thousands of healthy people, encouraged by celebrity endorsements, are having expensive private medical tests done which they do not need and may even be doing them harm.

24 Aug 2005

Fear of superbugs bans nurses from wearing their uniform when not on duty

District nurses in the UK, working in the community, have been banned from wearing their uniforms when they are not on duty, amid growing concerns about superbugs.

23 Aug 2005

Building stronger health systems key to reaching the health millenium development

Building up and strengthening health systems is vital if more progress is to be made towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a new report. Unless urgent investments are made in health systems, current rates of progress will not be sufficient to meet most of the goals.

22 Aug 2005

New guidelines to battle heart failure

Early diagnosis and new treatments can help battle heart failure -- a growing national problem that causes 1 million hospital admissions each year, according to new guidelines released by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA).

22 Aug 2005

Leading British doctor says free NHS is unsustainable

One of Britain's most senior doctors says that the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK is unsustainable and needs to be reformed.

14 Aug 2005

Six Pennsylvania hospitals receive grants to tackle hospital-acquired infections

The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) and the Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) have announced that six Pennsylvania hospitals will receive grants for demonstration projects to quantify the costs, and to reduce the number, of hospital-acquired infections.

11 Aug 2005

Medicare access in the Sunshine state in jeopardy for seniors

The American Medical Association, (AMA), says that access to care for Florida's nearly 3 million Medicare patients will be in jeopardy if Congress does not act to halt a cut in payments to physicians.

9 Aug 2005

Hospital characteristics appear to be associated with use of do-not-resuscitate orders

Hospital characteristics, including size, non-profit status and affiliation with a university, appear to be associated with use of do-not-resuscitate orders (DNR) in California, independent of the patient's characteristics, according to a study in the August 8/22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

9 Aug 2005

More people die as a result of medical errors than from other common causes of death

As part of international efforts to improve patient safety, a new website has been created (www.saferhealthcare.org.uk), run by a partnership of the National Patient Safety Agency, the BMJ Publishing Group, and the US-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

4 Aug 2005

Updated consumer guide explains dispute resolution process

The Kaiser Family Foundation and Consumers Union today released an updated guide to help consumers through the process of resolving disputes with their health plans.

4 Aug 2005

Hospital funding gives radiotherapy cancer boost

Australia's state of Victoria will continue to treat all urgent radiotherapy patients within 48 hours, with an additional $8.9 million for state-of-the-art equipment, Health Minister Bronwyn Pike announced.

2 Aug 2005

American Psychological Association lauds action agendas to transform U.S. mental health system

The American Psychological Association (APA) lauds the release of the Campaign for Mental Health Reform's action agenda, Emergency Response: A Roadmap for Federal Action on America's Mental Health Crisis, designed to help the federal government transform the delivery of mental health services.

2 Aug 2005

Medicare at 40: Past Accomplishments and Future Challenges

As Americans commemorate Medicare's 40th Anniversary, AARP's Public Policy Institute (PPI) has released the report, "Medicare at 40," which examines the program's successes as well as the challenges that lie ahead. It found that Medicare has largely accomplished its original goals of ensuring access to care and establishing financial protections for medical costs.

2 Aug 2005

Communication from physicians and health care teams needs to improve to meet patient's needs

Researchers report in the current issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings that more than one-half of their study patients were unable to list their medications, diagnoses, treatment plan (names and purposes of medications) and common side effects of prescribed medications.

2 Aug 2005

Most undergraduate doctors in the UK receive only 5 minutes education on sleep medicine

Teaching staff at Warwick Medical School have long been concerned that trainee doctors do not get enough sleep. Sleep in the classroom that is. Despite sleep patterns being a major contributor to a number of illnesses on average most undergraduate doctors in the UK receive only 5 minutes education on sleep medicine.

28 Jul 2005

British doctors support Appeal Court ruling on end of life guidance

The British Medical Association (BMA) is supporting today's Appeal Court Ruling on the GMC's guidance: 'Withholding and withdrawing life-prolonging treatment: good practice in decision-making'.

28 Jul 2005

Unemployment has become a serious threat to junior doctors

Intense competition for posts has left many junior doctors (whose training costs around £237,000 each) without jobs to go to when their contracts end next Tuesday. Many are now considering leaving the country, abandoning the profession, or claiming unemployment benefit.

27 Jul 2005

Consultants' leader comments on latest star ratings

"Clearly, the public has a right to know how well its hospitals are performing but patients should not use the star ratings to judge the quality of care they can expect to receive.

26 Jul 2005