Trial by TV
April 19, 2012
The court room has long been a backdrop for drama, especially when a crime has taken place.
We can look to Portia’s performance in A Merchant of Venice, Perry Mason, Judge John Deed and, of course, Rumpole of the Bailey to see the attraction that the court has to an audience.
This allure could of course be due to the fact that the ordinary person on the street has no reason to know…
Screening for Breast Cancer under review
October 26, 2011
Professor Mike Richards, National Cancer Director for England has published in the British Medical Journal that he wishes to lead a review of the way breast cancer screening is conducted in the UK, following discussion about the effectiveness of the screening.
A review has been conducted involving clinical trials of over half a million women, which concluded that it was not clear whether screening…
NHS Reform
January 20, 2011
Today sees the Coalition Government publish it's Health and Social Care Bill. The Bill will see the end of the 151 Primary Care Trusts in England and power transferred to local commissioning services made up of a consortia of local GPs who will be given money from Central Government funds to spend at local services. These local consortia would be free to use NHS Hospital for treatment or the private…
NICE U-TURN ON ALZHEIMER’S DRUG
October 11, 2010
NICE have decided to allow doctors to prescribe, Donepezil, Galantamine and Rivastigmine for early stage “mild” Alzheimer’s symptoms.
The U-turn has been welcomed by campaigners who say as many as 465,000 people in the UK with Alzheimer’s could benefit.
The drugs which cost as little as £2.80 per person per day are not a miracle cure but do in some people slow the progression of the disease.
Alzheimer’s…
Weight Loss Surgery Pays for Itself in One Year
September 9, 2010
According to the first economic analysis of bariatric surgery (gastric bypass and gastric banding) released by the Royal College of Surgeons show that the cost of gastric surgery pays for itself in one year. Allow me to explain.
The cost of these procedures to the NHS is roughly £8000 to £10000 per year. For those morbidly obese patients who fit the NICE criteria for gastric banding and gastric…
Huge increase in number of operations for the morbidly obese
August 27, 2010
It has been widely reported in the news today that there has been a more than 10 fold increase in the number of gastric bands and gastric bypass operations performed on the NHS in the last few years.
The NICE guidelines state that Gastric surgery should only be offered to the morbidly obese, typically those whose BMI is over 50 or lower if they have some other medical problem like sleep apnea or diabetes.
However,…
