The Week in Health News (Week Begining 10th March, 2008)

 

An Elderly Lady in Bromley, South East London, has been denied access to medication that could stop her from going blind. Margaret Coates, 79, suffers from wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which can often cause sufferers loose sight in both of their eyes. Bromley Primary Care Trust (PCT)—who determine the availability of medication in the area—have refused to pay for Lucentis, a medicine developed to treat the condition. This goes against the guidance of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), who are responsible for issuing guidance to the NHS on new medications and treatments. Last year NICE recommended that Lucentis be available for those with wet AMD. Despite this, the availability of the drug varies dramatically between PCTs. This is another example of the ‘postcode lottery’ that exists in the NHS today. Charities including the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) are campaigning against the decision.

 

A recent study has raised questions over the efficacy of screening patients for MRSA.  

 The Study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and conducted in Sweden, compared the incidence of the super bug between a group of subjects who had been screened for MRSA and a group who had not. They found little significant difference between the groups.

 These findings will have important implications for the government who have called for the introduction of screening for all routine operations by next year, and for emergency patients over the next three years.

 However, others have speculated on the differences between the situation Sweden, where the study took place, and England. Professor Mark Enright of Imperial College, London, suggested that the screening could be more effective in a British hospital as infection rates are higher in Britain than in Sweden.

 A Department of Health spokesman responded to the findings: "MRSA screening is one part of a range of measures needed to ensure good hygiene and to drive down infection rates.”

 The government has also outlined other measures including the deep-cleaning of hospitals and the recruitment of more infection control nurses.

 

 

A forthcoming review of drugs used to treat Pulmonory Hypertension (PH) could be putting lives at risk, according to the mother of a toddler suffering from the condition.

 The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)—the independent organisation responsible for issuing guidance on the use of new and existing medicines, treatments and procedures within the NHS—are due to review the cost of medication used to treat the condition, which can kill sufferers.

 Two-year old Oliver Sherwood, is currently taking Viagra four times a day to treat his Pulmonory Hypertension, but will need to progress to the stronger drugs Epoprostenol and Iloprost as he grows older. Should the upcoming review judge these drugs too expensive to provide on the NHS, Oliver’s mother Sarah Sherwood fears the worst: "The only hope we had was that he would be maintained through medication but if anything happens in the future that hope may be taken away."

 NICE has provoked anger from patients groups in the past due to some controversial decisions it has made in limiting access to crucial medicines. Most notably, NICE provoked anger following its decision to withhold the Alzheimer’s medication Aricept, which, at £2.50 a day, was deemed too expensive when judged against the benefits it would bring. 

 

 

A team of scientists in the UK have given a new hope for treating ‘superbugs’ in the future.

 The research, conducted by a team at the University of Warwick, focused on streptococcus pneumoniae, which kills 5m children a year worldwide, and is among a number of diseases which has in recent times become resistant to traditional antibiotics; earning it the title of a ‘superbug’.

 The research found out many details about how specific enzymes in streptococcus pneumoniae work to neutralize and resist the antibiotic penicillin. It is hoped these findings will help scientists create ‘designer drugs’ to target ‘superbugs’. The findings could help tackle not just streptococcus pneumoniae but other conditions such as MRSA.

  

A Government report published today revealed that the gap between the life expectancy of rich and poor women is widening, despite the Government’s pledge to cut the health gap in society.

 ‘The third annual analysis of the implementation of a 2003 strategy to tackle health inequalities’ revealed positive news as well. The life expectancy of those living in some of the most deprived areas of the UK has risen over the last ten years by two and a half years for Men and one and a half years for women. 

 The Chair of the Group who compiled the report, Professor Sir John Marmot, stated "While it is too early to see any short term impact on health inequalities, the report shows a very welcome improvement in life expectancy for all social groups, including disadvantaged groups.”

 Commenting on the widening gap in life expectancy between rich and poor women, Health Minister Dawn Primarolo, "This report proves what we already know - health inequalities are difficult to change.”

 In 2003 the government launched a strategy with the aim of reducing the differences in the life expectancy of rich and poor men and women, as well as inequalities in infant mortality rates. 

 

The potential savings from the NHS IT project have been limited by delays in the programme, the government admitted today.

 The government estimated that they were on course to save £1.14bn, which they said was a positive thing but admitted that it could have been more.

 The 10-year programme’s central aim of linking up 30,000 GPs to nearly 300 hospitals by 2014, is also running two years behind schedule.

 

 

Community Hospital services in Powys should be transferred to other areas as soon as possible because of failings in patient care, an NHS investigation has concluded.

 The NHS Clinical Governance Support and Development Unit (CGSDU) found a "series of serious incidents" when investigating patient care in 10 community hospitals

The CGSDU recommended that “arrangements are made for clinical in-patient services for acutely ill patients, surgical patients, age care consultant patients, and patients transferred from district general hospitals to community hospitals in Powys, to be provided by NHS trusts as soon as possible.”

 A Welsh assembly spokesman said: "Patient safety must be our top priority."

 

 

The British Medical Association (BMA) has accused the government of putting local health groups under pressure to introduce polyclinics, even in areas where they are not suitable.

 Health Minister Lord Darzi announced the plan for polyclinics—which offer a range of specialist health services under one roof—as part of his recent and wide-ranging review of the NHS.

 The BMA have raised concerns that the clinics will be too large and complex to offer patients continuity of care, which is often an important and valued part of a patient’s experience of the NHS. 

 Concerns about the ‘one-size-fits all’ approach to polyclinics have also been raised. Whilst the plans may suit patients in urban areas, making healthcare more accessible, some have speculated that the clinics may not be well-suited to other areas. The Deputy Chairman of the BMA’s Patient Liaison Group, John May conceded that the clinics may be appropriate in areas like London, but “for those living outside London, there could be problems about how to get to the polyclinic.".

 This echoes calls from other BMA spokesmen that the plans for polyclinics need to be rooted in the local context that they are introduced.

 The Department of Health has denied that they are trying to impose polyclinics on anyone. A department spokesman said: “[polyclinics] are about the local NHS making changes that suit patients' needs: clinically led, locally driven and fit for the 21st century.".