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Sam

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  1. Sam
    The twin sister of a woman who died after being found under a coat while waiting for hours at an overcrowded A&E department says she cannot accept what happened to her.
    Mother of two Inga Rublite was discovered slumped on the floor of the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham on 20 January and died from a brain aneurysm two days later.
    An inquest into Ms Rublite's death, which concluded on 25 July, heard that while "opportunities were missed" to diagnose the 39-year-old, she still would have suffered a "devastating" second bleed on the brain, which caused her death.
    Inese Briede said questions around her sister's death remained unanswered and said she would continue to "fight" for her.
    Ms Briede, who travelled to the inquest from her home in Latvia, said although it was the outcome she expected, she could not accept it.
    Speaking from Latvia, she told the BBC: "I think my family was thinking they would get some answers and that the anger and everything would go away - but no.
    "We feel very let down by the system. I believe I've got more questions than before the inquest."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 1 August 2024
  2. Sam
    Pharmacies across England are unable to provide critical NHS and public health services owing to the overwhelming financial and operational pressures they are facing, according to research.
    A poll of pharmacy owners representing more than 2,100 pharmacies found that more than 96% of respondents said they had stopped providing locally commissioned services over the past 12 months.
    These include emergency contraception and products to help quit smoking.
    Four in five (81%) of pharmacy owners polled said they have had to stop offering extended opening hours, while 90% have had to stop employing locum pharmacists owing to the high costs.
    Of the 92 owners polled for the representative body Community Pharmacy England, more than one-fifth said they have had to end free delivery of prescription medicines to patients.
    Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England, said: “Across England patients and local communities are paying the price of our collapsing community pharmacy network, as thousands of pharmacies have been left with no choice but to reduce the services that they can offer. These are not decisions that any pharmacy wants to make, but with a 30% real-terms funding reduction and spiralling costs, pharmacy owners are having to make impossible decisions to try to keep their doors open."
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 5 August 2024
  3. Sam
    Two people with cystic fibrosis have said they are having to eat less due to a shortage in a medication which helps them eat.
    Charlotte Bones, 31, and Steve Horwood, 35, both take Creon to help them digest food, as the condition causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive system.
    But a long-term Europe-wide shortage of the medication, external is affecting how many capsules they can get hold of meaning they are also having to ration their pills.
    The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it was "working closely with industry, the NHS and others in the supply chain" to make sure alternative products were available.
    Ms Bones, from Kilburn, said the shortage had meant she had been changed to a different strength of medication.
    As a result of the shortage, she said she had been having less food and reducing the number of Creon pills she took in a day to stop her from running out.
    Despite contacting six or seven different pharmacies, she said none have had Creon in stock and her hospital pharmacy was not able to signpost her to anywhere with supplies.
    In the interim, Ms Bones said reducing her Creon intake had led to unpleasant side-effects, including stomach aches and diarrhoea, which were "hard to juggle" alongside her job.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 5 August 2024
  4. Sam
    The British Medical Association (BMA) has called for the ban on puberty blockers for under-18s to be lifted.
    The doctors’ union also wants a pause on the implementation of a landmark review into gender care for children and young people.
    It said it wanted to undertake an evaluation of the Cass Review after academics expressed concern about its approach.
    The review, commissioned by NHS England, called for a move away from medical interventions for children struggling with their gender identity and advocated a more holistic model incorporating better mental health support.
    The review was led by leading paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass and prompted the last government to ban the use of puberty blockers for under-18s questioning their gender – a move which was then supported by Labour when they won the election.
    These drugs suppress the natural production of hormones and delay the onset of puberty.
    The ban applied to private clinics, because the NHS had already stopped using them outside of clinical trials, and was challenged in the High Court by campaign group TransActual.
    The BMA said members of its Council, its top decision-making body, voted in favour of a motion last month that was critical of the Cass Review and called on the union to "publicly critique" it.
    The BMA said it was concerned about its impact on transgender healthcare provision because of its "unsubstantiated recommendations".
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 1 August 2024
  5. Sam
    At least 70 incidents that ‘should never be allowed to happen’ have taken place at hospitals in the north in the last five years.
    As severe pressure on the health service continues to grow, figures obtained by The Irish News through Freedom of Information requests show that 70 so-called ‘Never Events’ have occured since 2019.
    The data also shows that two deaths were caused as a result of such incidents in the last five years, one in the Belfast trust area and one in the South Eastern trust area.
    ‘Never Events’ in the NHS are defined as ‘wholly preventable’ incidents where there are ‘strong systemic protective barriers’ in place to avoid them. Each incident has the potential to cause serious harm or death.
    The data provided to The Irish News from the five health and social care trusts in the North show that the Belfast Trust alone was responsible for 37 Never Events.
    SDLP MLA Colin McGrath says the figures are “extremely worrying” and that he has written to Health Minister Mike Nesbitt for an “urgent assessment” of the number of incidents.
    “’Never Events’ by their very title should never occur but the sheer scale of them is worrying,” the South Down MLA said.
    “It is most concerning too to hear that people have died as a result of these events - underlying the serious nature of them.
    “I have written to the Minister on the back of these figures secured by the Irish News and have asked for an urgent assessment of them to ensure learning from the incidents is achieved to reduce their occurrence in the future.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Irish News, 5 August 2024
  6. Sam
    Breakthrough drugs that slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease will reportedly be refused for use on the NHS this week in a blow to thousands of patients.
    The two drugs, Lecanemab and donanemab, slow down the decline in Alzheimer’s patients' ability to carry out daily activities.
    The drugs’ success in halting the progression of Alzheimer’s was heralded as a “new era” by campaigners and researchers.
    However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) is expected to refuse to recommend them on the NHS, according to The Sunday Times.
    The regulator has already issued two decisions, one in October last year and another in March, saying they would not recommend the drugs for use on the NHS. A final decision will be published on Thursday.
    The regulator will reportedly turn down both drugs on the grounds of cost-effectiveness, with one insider telling The Sunday Times: “It is the end of the road for these drugs on the NHS”.
    Hilary Evans-Newton, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said the decision to turn down the drugs would be “deeply disappointing”.
    She added: “These treatments are not perfect, and we recognise the challenges they pose around cost, delivery and safety. But scientific progress is incremental, and these drugs represent a vital foundation to build on.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 15 June 2025

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