The number of people admitted to hospital in England for obesity-related reasons rose by more than 30% last year.
But NHS statistics also show the increase in obesity rates in adults seen in recent years may be flattening out.
Experts believe it is too early to say if rates of obesity are now decreasing.
The health watchdog NICE recently advised that more cases of serious obesity should be treated in hospital.
There has also been a change in the way hospital procedures are recorded, meaning more obesity-related operations make their way into the statistics.
The number of weight-loss hospital procedures (bariatric operations) carried out in England rose by 70%, from just over 4,200 in 2008/09 to just over 7,200 in 2009/10.
Eighty per cent of these operations were carried out on women, and more were carried out in the East Midlands and London than any other regions.
Thursday 24 February 2011
Tuesday 22 February 2011
NHS still missing safety alerts - despite progress
Too many trusts are still not responding to patient safety alerts in England, campaigners say.
Alerts are issued when potentially harmful situations are identified in health settings, such as the risk of overdoses or using medical equipment.
Department of Health data showed there were over 650 cases of NHS trusts not complying with alerts within deadline.
This is a 50% fall from last year, but Action against Medical Accidents said there was no excuse for non-compliance.
The charity first highlighted the issue last year when it obtained the figures under a freedom of information request.
But now the government has started publishing the figures itself.
Alerts are issued when potentially harmful situations are identified in health settings, such as the risk of overdoses or using medical equipment.
Department of Health data showed there were over 650 cases of NHS trusts not complying with alerts within deadline.
This is a 50% fall from last year, but Action against Medical Accidents said there was no excuse for non-compliance.
The charity first highlighted the issue last year when it obtained the figures under a freedom of information request.
But now the government has started publishing the figures itself.
Thursday 17 February 2011
Elderly 'to pay more for social care'
The government has been accused of penalising the most vulnerable in society by campaigners after it froze the threshold for social care help.
Social care is means-tested in England, meaning people with assets over £23,250 pay for home help or residential care.
The threshold normally rises each year, but will now be frozen for two years to help councils raise funds.
It will lead to elderly people paying for social care for longer until state help kicks in, Age UK said.
The announcement was made in a letter sent to councils in the past few weeks.
Social care is means-tested in England, meaning people with assets over £23,250 pay for home help or residential care.
The threshold normally rises each year, but will now be frozen for two years to help councils raise funds.
It will lead to elderly people paying for social care for longer until state help kicks in, Age UK said.
The announcement was made in a letter sent to councils in the past few weeks.
Tuesday 15 February 2011
Charity's concern at alcohol-related hospital admission
The number of people admitted to hospital in the UK because of problem drinking could rise to 1.5 million a year by 2015, a charity says.
Alcohol Concern estimates that it will cost the NHS £3.7bn annually if nothing is done to stop the increase.
It wants alcohol specialists to be employed in all hospitals and GP practices.
The Department of Health said it would publish a new alcohol strategy in the summer.
Thousands of people die each year as a result of their drinking, mostly as a result of alcoholic liver disease.
Drinking is also associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers.
Alcohol Concern estimates that it will cost the NHS £3.7bn annually if nothing is done to stop the increase.
It wants alcohol specialists to be employed in all hospitals and GP practices.
The Department of Health said it would publish a new alcohol strategy in the summer.
Thousands of people die each year as a result of their drinking, mostly as a result of alcoholic liver disease.
Drinking is also associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers.
Thursday 10 February 2011
Warwick scientists say lack of sleep 'bad for health'
The risk of developing heart disease can increase by as much as 48% if a person does not get enough sleep, University of Warwick scientists say.
A long period of sleep shortage increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes, according to scientists.
They found most people need between six and eight hours of sleep a night to protect their health.
Professor Cappuccio and co-author Dr Michelle Miller, from the University of Warwick, conducted the research.
Professor Cappuccio
They said they followed up evidence from periods of seven to 25 years from more than 470,000 participants from eight countries including Japan, the USA, Sweden and the UK.
Professor Cappuccio said: "If you sleep less than six hours per night and have disturbed sleep you stand a 48% greater chance of developing or dying from heart disease and a 15% greater chance of developing or dying of a stroke.
"The trend for late nights and early mornings is actually a ticking time bomb for our health so you need to act now to reduce your risk of developing these life-threatening conditions.
"There is an expectation in today's society to fit more into our lives. The whole work/life balance struggle is causing too many of us to trade in precious sleeping time to ensure we complete all the jobs we believe are expected of us."
A long period of sleep shortage increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes, according to scientists.
They found most people need between six and eight hours of sleep a night to protect their health.
Professor Cappuccio and co-author Dr Michelle Miller, from the University of Warwick, conducted the research.
Professor Cappuccio
They said they followed up evidence from periods of seven to 25 years from more than 470,000 participants from eight countries including Japan, the USA, Sweden and the UK.
Professor Cappuccio said: "If you sleep less than six hours per night and have disturbed sleep you stand a 48% greater chance of developing or dying from heart disease and a 15% greater chance of developing or dying of a stroke.
"The trend for late nights and early mornings is actually a ticking time bomb for our health so you need to act now to reduce your risk of developing these life-threatening conditions.
"There is an expectation in today's society to fit more into our lives. The whole work/life balance struggle is causing too many of us to trade in precious sleeping time to ensure we complete all the jobs we believe are expected of us."
Tuesday 8 February 2011
Public sector urged to create jobs for mentally ill
People recovering from mental illness should be offered work in the public sector, a leading charity has claimed.
Action Mental Health (AMH) has urged the government to create jobs and training schemes for patients with mental illnesses.
Chief Executive of AMH, David Babington, said the charity has strong links with businesses in the private sector.
But he criticised the public sector for failing to "open up" in the same way.
"We deliver training programmes and support work based training and employment placements with a view to helping our clients re-enter the workforce," he said.
"But the largest employer in Northern Ireland, the public sector, needs to engage further than it has to date.
"These schemes could be extended at little cost, with huge benefit both to the people involved and to the wider economy."
The charity said cases of mental illness are 25% higher in Northern Ireland than in the rest of the UK.
Action Mental Health will launch its manifesto at Stormont on Monday.
Mr Babington said he hopes government departments will "lead by example" and recruit more people who are recovering from mental illness.
"They need to lead the charge in combating stigma, and offer work placements to people with mental health needs."
Action Mental Health (AMH) has urged the government to create jobs and training schemes for patients with mental illnesses.
Chief Executive of AMH, David Babington, said the charity has strong links with businesses in the private sector.
But he criticised the public sector for failing to "open up" in the same way.
"We deliver training programmes and support work based training and employment placements with a view to helping our clients re-enter the workforce," he said.
"But the largest employer in Northern Ireland, the public sector, needs to engage further than it has to date.
"These schemes could be extended at little cost, with huge benefit both to the people involved and to the wider economy."
The charity said cases of mental illness are 25% higher in Northern Ireland than in the rest of the UK.
Action Mental Health will launch its manifesto at Stormont on Monday.
Mr Babington said he hopes government departments will "lead by example" and recruit more people who are recovering from mental illness.
"They need to lead the charge in combating stigma, and offer work placements to people with mental health needs."
Thursday 3 February 2011
Small maternity units 'not safe' - Welsh NHS official
NHS Wales' medical director admits that some smaller maternity units in Wales are not "safe or sustainable".
Dr Chris Jones said the units were dependent on temporary agency staff at a cost of millions of pounds a year.
He said the NHS had no way of ensuring the quality and competence of these staff or their immediate availability.
The assembly government said his "honest and transparent" comments reflected the views of the Royal College of Obstetricians.
They come in the wake of controversial proposals to review maternity services in north Wales, being looked at by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
Dr Jones said a number of maternity units in Wales were not delivering enough babies to attract doctors because they did not meet training guidelines for out-of-hours deliveries.
This led to an increase in vacancies at the maternity units, he said.
He said: "Now, although all our rotas are European Working Time Directive-compliant on paper, we know in practice they are only being maintained by significant expenditure.
Medical Director, NHS Wales
"All of our health boards are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds in locum costs, agency costs, extra payments to doctors, to maintain these rotas.
"Betsi Cadwaladr health board is spending up to a million pounds a year to maintain their rotas.
"The difficulty is that this is not a safe or sustainable service, because you cannot always guarantee you'll get someone to fill a shift.
"If you do get someone, you can't always guarantee their experience or their competence.
"We know there are risks with peripatetic locums, and we know that this risk is increasing rapidly.
"So we realise that this is a major area of risk for these services as currently configured, and they will not be sustainable in the way they are configured in the future."
Dr Chris Jones said the units were dependent on temporary agency staff at a cost of millions of pounds a year.
He said the NHS had no way of ensuring the quality and competence of these staff or their immediate availability.
The assembly government said his "honest and transparent" comments reflected the views of the Royal College of Obstetricians.
They come in the wake of controversial proposals to review maternity services in north Wales, being looked at by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
Dr Jones said a number of maternity units in Wales were not delivering enough babies to attract doctors because they did not meet training guidelines for out-of-hours deliveries.
This led to an increase in vacancies at the maternity units, he said.
He said: "Now, although all our rotas are European Working Time Directive-compliant on paper, we know in practice they are only being maintained by significant expenditure.
Medical Director, NHS Wales
"All of our health boards are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds in locum costs, agency costs, extra payments to doctors, to maintain these rotas.
"Betsi Cadwaladr health board is spending up to a million pounds a year to maintain their rotas.
"The difficulty is that this is not a safe or sustainable service, because you cannot always guarantee you'll get someone to fill a shift.
"If you do get someone, you can't always guarantee their experience or their competence.
"We know there are risks with peripatetic locums, and we know that this risk is increasing rapidly.
"So we realise that this is a major area of risk for these services as currently configured, and they will not be sustainable in the way they are configured in the future."
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Labrador Retriever Detects Early Bowel Cancer In Japan
A Labrador retriever has sniffed out bowel cancer in breath and stool samples during a study in Japan. The research which was taken from journal Gut, showed the dog was able to identify early stages of the disease.
It has already been suggested that dogs can use their noses to detect skin, bladder, lung, ovarian and breast cancers. Cancer Research UK said it would be extremely difficult to use dogs for routine cancer testing. The biology of a tumour is thought to include a distinct smell and a series of studies have used dogs to try to detect it.
The researchers at Kyushu University used Marine, an eight-year-old black Labrador. She was then asked to pick from five samples, one of which was from a cancer patient and four from healthy people. In the breath tests she picked out the cancer sample 33 out of 36 times and even more successful with the stool samples, finding 37 out of 38 cancers. Even early bowel cancers were detected which is extremely difficult. Mark Flannagan, chief executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, said: "This study looks interesting but it is for the scientists to verify whether these findings could lead to future developments for screening. The clear message is that screening saves lives and we encourage everyone eligible to take part in the existing NHS bowel cancer screening programme."
It has already been suggested that dogs can use their noses to detect skin, bladder, lung, ovarian and breast cancers. Cancer Research UK said it would be extremely difficult to use dogs for routine cancer testing. The biology of a tumour is thought to include a distinct smell and a series of studies have used dogs to try to detect it.
The researchers at Kyushu University used Marine, an eight-year-old black Labrador. She was then asked to pick from five samples, one of which was from a cancer patient and four from healthy people. In the breath tests she picked out the cancer sample 33 out of 36 times and even more successful with the stool samples, finding 37 out of 38 cancers. Even early bowel cancers were detected which is extremely difficult. Mark Flannagan, chief executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, said: "This study looks interesting but it is for the scientists to verify whether these findings could lead to future developments for screening. The clear message is that screening saves lives and we encourage everyone eligible to take part in the existing NHS bowel cancer screening programme."
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