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Thousands of heart patients could be denied life-saving NHS stents treatment ‘due to cost’

Daily Mail
By Daniel Martin
July 23, 2008
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1038070/Thousands-heart-patients-denied-life-saving-NHS…

Thousands of heart patients could be denied life-saving treatment because the NHS believes it is too expensive. The decision to restrict drug-coated stents - special tubes which are fitted into arteries to prevent them from narrowing - to all but the most at-risk patients could put lives in danger, critics warned. Around 40,000 people a year are fitted with the devices, known as ‘drug-eluting stents’ or DES, which are more expensive than traditional ‘bare metal’ varieties.

NHS Sending Patients to Serbia for Treatment

The Daily Squib
By Dr. Dragan Dabic
July 23, 2008
http://www.dailysquib.co.uk/?c=117…

The Government has admitted to transporting British patients to Belgrade in Serbia for treatment to relieve pressure on hospital waiting lists, it has emerged. Surgical procedures such as organ transplants and leg amputations could be carried out by Serbian doctors competent in the art of butchery and herbal medicine under the controversial scheme, which would be funded by the NHS. Serbia’s minister of health, Vlad Draco Bilosovic, told a conference of doctors in London that the matter had been discussed with the British Government. Mr Bilosovic said he had discussed in detail the issue of transferring British patients to Serbia where they can be butchered.

Bedworth man denied life-saving cancer drug

Coventry Telegraph
By Siân Powell
July 22, 2008
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2008/07/22/bedworth-man-denied-life-saving-cancer-drug…

Dying cancer patient William Porter is being denied a life-saving drug available elsewhere in the country because Warwickshire NHS bosses refuse to fund it. Mr Porter, of Derwent Road in Bedworth, says if he lived in Birmingham or any one of more than 50 other British regions he would be prescribed the special drug to help him fight cancer. But because he lives in Bedworth, he’s the latest to fall foul of Warwickshire Primary Care Trust’s policy not to routinely prescribe the drug Sutent. It follows the case of Wellesbourne father Ade Cure and two Rugby men, Colin Howe and Russ Jones, who were also denied Sutent. Mr Jones, a retired head teacher, died of cancer last year.

Terminal patient hit with NHS bill

The Press & Journal
By Alistair Beaton
July 21, 2008
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/748200?UserKey=0

NHS bosses have told a terminally ill north-east cancer patient he must pay £1,000 a month to have a free drug administered. Grandfather-of-four Barrie Clark, from Insch, was given a free supply of a new kidney cancer drug on compassionate grounds by its maker in an attempt to prolong his life. NHS Grampian initially vetoed the medicine temsirolimus – brand name Torisel – because it was not on the list of prescribed medicines. But last week the 61-year-old was told he could have the free treatment if he paid Health at Home nurses £1,000 a month to administer it. Mr Clark faces having to come up with the cash if he decides to go ahead.

Life-saving cancer drug denied victim

Burton Mail
By Adrian Jenkins
July 21, 2008
http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/burtonmail-news/…

NHS CHIEFS have refused to fund a drug which could prolong the life of a Burton cancer victim by as much as two years. Pat Hollingworth, 56, of Bearwood Hill Road, Winshill, has been denied lung cancer drug Tarceva by South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT). It has told the former hairdresser and dinner lady that it does not ‘routinely fund’ the drug and that her case is not exceptional enough to warrant treatment. Mrs Hollingworth and her haulier husband, Alan, 49, are fighting to overturn the decision but are to pay out thousands of pounds to pay for the drug themselves.

NHS limits ‘lifeline’ arthritis drug that could help 60,000 patients

Daily Mail
By David Derbyshire
July 21, 2008
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1036836/NHS-limits-lifeline-arthritis-drug-help…

Thousands of patients with rheumatoid arthritis will be denied drugs under a ruling by the Health Service’s ‘rationing’ body. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is restricting access to three £100-a-week arthritis drugs known as Anti-TNFs. By reducing inflammation in the joints, these drugs offer a lifeline to around 60,000 of the 400,000 Britons with the condition. But Nice’s ‘appraisal document’, published today, recommends that NHS patients should no longer try a second or third Anti-TNF if their first attempt has been unsuccessful.

Right to Pay: NHS spurns gift of free cancer drug

The Sunday Times
By Sarah-Kate Templeton
July 20, 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/…

Bosses in the National Health Service have refused to administer a drug to a patient with advanced kidney cancer even though the medicine is being provided free. Barrie Clark, 61, was told in May that he could receive a free supply of a new kidney cancer drug on compassionate grounds from the pharmaceuticals company that makes it. Clark was then astonished to be told by the NHS that he could not take up the offer at his local hospital because it was against management policy. He could receive the drug, which has been approved as safe, only by paying for nurses to administer it privately.

Plan to curb arthritis drug use

BBC
July 20, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7513484.stm

People with rheumatoid arthritis should have access to a particular class of drugs limited, NHS advisers say. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence said patients in England and Wales should only be able to try one anti-TNF drug. Currently, patients can move on to a second or third anti-TNF if their first drug stops working. Arthritis charities estimate 40,000 people will be affected if the draft guidance is approved later this year

Grandfather’s hope for longer life

Norwich Evening News
By Sarah Hall
July 18, 2008
http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/search/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline…

A grandfather with a rare liver cancer has teamed up with a national health campaigner to try to overturn a decision to refuse him a life-prolonging medication. Jackie Knight, of Hellesdon, has been told by medical professionals he needs to take the drug Sorafenib to help control his condition but he is not allowed it on the NHS. The 65-year-old was diagnosed with metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma last November after a routine check up revealed a tumour on his liver. Following a biopsy he was told by a consultant the most effective treatment would be Sorafenib, which is also called Nexavar.

Rhyl heart pensioner’s 160-mile hospital hell

Daily Post
By Kelly Fenna
July 18, 2008
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2008/07/18/rhyl-heart-pensioner…

A PENSIONER with a serious heart complaint was bundled into a taxi and taken over 160 miles to a hospital in Leicester for major surgery. Father-of-two Peter Jones, 76, travelled for over four hours in his dressing gown and slippers with a non-medically trained driver and an oxygen tank packed away in the boot. He had already contracted MRSA during his 11-day stay at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd. Medics at the Bodelwyddan hospital said no ambulance was available and refused to let Mr Jones’ family transport him to Glenfield Hospital in Leicester.

Son’s pain exacerbated by flawed health system

Peace Arch News
By Lance Peverley July 7, 2008
http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/peacearchnews/…

On June 6, less than two hours before we were to leave for the hospital, we received the call. Elijah’s long-awaited surgery was off. Why, they couldn’t say. What would happen next, they had no answers. Elijah, you see, was born with a vascular ring – an artery and ligament from his growing heart had wrapped itself around his esophagus, effectively choking him. It was discovered his first week of kindergarten last year, when he vomited into his new school bag. It took another 5½ months on a waiting list for an MRI to confirm before they would book surgery, and until June to set the date.

Health watchdog highlights NHS dental care failures

Guardian
By David Batty
July 31, 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/31/nhs.health1

The government today faced renewed criticism over its reforms of NHS dentistry after a survey found a fifth of people in England had been unable to get a checkup for the last two years. The Healthcare Commission found that more than a quarter (26%) of the people it surveyed did not see a dentist once every two years; in some areas, the figure rose to more than two-fifths (43%). More than eight in 10 (81%) of those who had not seen a dentist at all in the last two years had wanted to do so. Half of those interviewed visited an NHS dentist every two years, while 24% saw the dentist as non-NHS patients.

NHS waiting times probe

Western Mail
By Madeleine Brindley
July 31, 2008
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health-news…

MORE than 500 people are waiting more than the 22-week target time for an operation in Wales. The vast majority of these patients are suffering delays after being referred to Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust for treatment. The latest waiting list figures reveal the full extent of the problems affecting the trust. Health Minister Edwina Hart has ordered the trust to carry out two reviews into the management of waiting lists and into the trust’s leadership, processes and governance. She said she has concerns about the fitness for purpose of the trust’s leadership and specific concerns about orthopaedic waiting lists.

St Leonards disabled man neglected by NHS

Sussex Express
By Julia Taylor
July 31, 2008
http://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/479/St-Leonards-disabled-man-neglected…

A St Leonards man died unnecessarily due to widespread ignorance and neglect within the NHS, a independent inquiry has found. The Inquiry was commissioned by the Department of Health in response to the publication of Mencap’s Death by Indifference report which included the story of 30 year-old Warren Cox, who died in NHS care. The deaths of five other people with earning disability were documented in the report, published on Tuesday (July 29).

The chronic condition of the NHS

The Independent
By Jeremy Laurance
July 30, 2008
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/openhouse…

Sir Jonathan Michael was shocked by the stories he heard of neglect and mistreatment of people with learning disabilities who sought treatment on the NHS. Yesterday’s report of the independent inquiry he chaired into the six deaths highlighted last year by Mencap calls for change “from top to bottom” in the NHS to ensure their needs are met. The subtext, however, carries a broader message. On the face of it, it is astonishing that some of the most vulnerable, most needy patients end up receiving the worst service from the NHS. When patients have difficulty communicating or present with “challenging behaviour” they are trickier to treat and make greater demands of staff. But if the NHS is not there to deal with that, what is it there for?

Shameful neglect of disabled patients reflects wider attitudes

The Independent
July 30, 2008
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-an-unhealthy-mindset…

In the great, swirling debate about reform of the British health system, the dangers of creating a “two-tier” service in which the rich and the poor enjoy different standards of treatment is a recurring theme. Yet the reality is that we already tolerate a two-tier service; except that the divide is not between the rich and the poor, but between the majority of patients and the mentally disabled. A Disability Rights Commission investigation two years ago found that patients with learning difficulties are less likely to receive the care they need. And that point was rammed home with some force yesterday in the report of an independent inquiry headed by Sir Jonathan Michael, the former chief executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

NHS castigated for fatal neglect of patients with learning disabilities

The Independent
By Jeremy LauranceJuly 30, 2008

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/nhs-castigated-for-fatal-neglect-of-patients-with…

The shocking deaths of six patients with learning disabilities who suffered appalling neglect at the hands of the NHS were “not isolated incidents”, an inquiry has concluded. The deaths of the five men and one woman, highlighted in a report last year, were symptomatic of a wider malaise in the health service which has failed to ensure people with learning disabilities get proper treatment in accordance with the law, the inquiry found. The six cases which triggered the inquiry were described in a report, Death by Indifference, published by Mencap last March. The cases included Martin Ryan, 43, who went without food for 26 days after suffering a stroke and Emma Kemp, 26, who was given a fifty-fifty chance of survival after being diagnosed with cancer but was denied treatment as doctors thought she would be unco-operative.

Amanda Healy: The NHS allowed my daughter to die

The Independent
July 30, 2008
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/amanda-healy-the-nhs-allowed…

When my nine-year-old daughter, Daisy, died, a doctor at the hospital said to me: “It’s almost like losing a child.” What did he think my beautiful daughter was? Daisy had gone into hospital with a tooth infection. Three weeks later she was dead. Her experience echoes many of the stories in the Death by Indifference report published by the learning disability charity Mencap last year and in the independent inquiry that the report prompted, the findings of which came out yesterday. We spent three weeks in and out of hospital. During these three weeks, Daisy was never treated as though her life was in danger, nor was there any urgency.

Big rise in NHS feeding concerns

BBC
July 29, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7530902.stm

The number of incidents related to poor nutritional care reported by NHS staff almost doubled over three years. In 2005, there were 15,000 “serious incidents” in England which harmed, or could have harmed patients - in 2007 this rose to 29,000. The National Patient Safety Agency said this was due to better reporting, and included procedures such as feeding tube insertion. It said the most incidents had resulted in little or no harm to patients.

Asthma sufferer turned away

News 24
July 29, 2008
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News…

Cape Town - A four-year-old asthma sufferer who developed breathing problems on Saturday night, was apparently refused emergency treatment at Groote Schuur Hospital. Vincent Vlooh’s mother, Shireen Vlooh, 26, said her son was struggling to breathe when they arrived at the hospital at about 23:30. “One of the nursing staff told us they don’t treat children and that we had to take Vincent to the Red Cross Children’s Hospital.” According to Vlooh, they were not even offered an ambulance to take them to the hospital.

Is there a doctor in the city? Please.

The Gazette
By Harriet Harris
July 29, 2008
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/letters/story.html…

One reason I was so excited to move back to Montreal from Georgia two years ago was the renewal of my medicare privileges. But two years later, I still can’t find a physician who’s taking new patients. The only way for me to see a doctor for an ailment and to obtain the papers for basic blood tests is to go to the local clinic. The hours are Tuesday night or Saturday morning. That would be no problem if one could register for these visits. The first Tuesday morning I went to register for the clinic at night, I was told that the clinic opens at 5 p.m. and I needed to be there at 4 p.m. to register. I explained that I was the only employee working in a store that was currently having a sidewalk sale and it would be impossible to close the store to register. They informed me that there were no exceptions.

Overpaid executives ‘running the NHS like a supermarket’, leading surgeon claims

Daily Mail
By Jenny Hope
July 28, 2008
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1039274/Overpaid-executives-running-NHS-like-supermarket…

The NHS is in ‘terminal decline’ caused by incompetent managers and Government targets, claims a leading surgeon. John Riddington Young blames overpaid executives for ‘trying to run the NHS like a supermarket’ using systems that have left patients worse off than 30 years ago. He said morale among NHS staff is at an all-time low, with many senior doctors retiring early and newly qualified medics dropping out of the profession. Billions poured into the NHS in recent years has largely been wasted on growing tiers of poor management, claims the ear, nose and throat specialist who works at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple.

Get me a doctor!

Calgary Sun
By Nadia Moharib
July 28, 2008
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Moharib_Nadia…

Recent figures from the Health Quality Council of Alberta suggest some 250,000 taxpayers would appear to have better luck finding a cure for cancer than a primary care physician. Repeatedly, we hear stories about how it’s sickness-care, catering to you when you are in dire straits, but offering little payback for the tax dollars you invest to help run the ailing system. My family doctor told me this week I’m on my own because he’s calling it quits.

NICE attacked over negative FAD on anti-TNF therapies in RA

Pharma Times
By Kevin Grogan
July 22, 2008
http://www.pharmatimes.com/UKNews/article.aspx?id=13970…

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has issued guidance which again recommends against allowing patients to use a second anti-tumour necrosis factor alpha treatment for rheumatoid arthritis if the first does not prove to be effective.

Medicare rules trap foreign student

The Record
16 July 2008
http://news.therecord.com/article/384013

Tambala Pusey, a recent Wilfrid Laurier University graduate, appears to have been caught by a failing in our two-tier system of government. And as a result, she is no longer covered by Ontario’s public health system.Pusey, who came from Jamaica to study in Canada in 2002, graduated from Laurier and went on to get the proper papers permitting her to work in Canada. She started working at Bessey Tools North America in Cambridge.A problem for immigrant students who want to work arises if the initial job contract ends. Ontario’s health insurance rules require applicants to name an employer before they can claim any benefits.

How care-less: Gander health lottery leaves man cold

CBC
July 15, 2008
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/…

A Gander man who lost out in a controversial central Newfoundland patient registry says it’s unacceptable that he and others have to seek routine prescriptions from emergency room physicians. Paul Gaenge was one of about 4,000 people who entered their names for a lottery held earlier this month by the Gander Medical Clinic, following the hiring of two new general practitioners. Because so many people in the area have not had a primary care physician, the clinic determined the fairest way to respond to its waiting list was a lottery — a move that attracted national headlines.

Son says Bara nurses shrugged off mom’s death

Independent Online
By Louise Flanagan
July 14 2008
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1…

“These things happen.” That’s what nurses at Chris Hani-Baragwanath hospital in Soweto told a man whose mother died after falling out of a hospital bed while sedated. Errasamah Moodly, 66, went to Bara on June 26, in pain from gallstones. She was admitted in the early hours of the next morning, but two days later she was dead. The death certificate says death was due to “unnatural causes”. The postmortem report gives the immediate cause of death as “head injury”.

How did boy get HIV-positive blood?

Independent Online
By Tania Broughton
July 14, 2008
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1…

Medical specialists have questioned the safety of blood transfusions after a young boy was given HIV-contaminated blood during brain surgery at a major Durban hospital. The boy has subsequently tested negative for the virus and is out of the window period. But The Star has received as yet unconfirmed reports of another possible contamination, this one involving a 60-year-old cancer sufferer who received a transfusion in February after becoming anaemic after surgery. “That is two cases in less than a year,” a specialist who has links with both cases said. “And I am just one doctor. I am shocked, disgusted, and scared for my patients.”

MS Patients Still Overlooked By NHS

KeeptheDoctorAway.com
July 14, 2008
http://www.keepthedoctoraway.co.uk/showNews.aspx?loadid=001094

The NHS continues to fail people with multiple sclerosis, with guidelines that were set out in 2003 to improve their lives still being ignored, a worrying new survey reports. People with multiple sclerosis (MS) have completely inadequate access to rehabilitation services, with only 36% getting help, according to the audit, carried out by the Royal College of Physicians and the MS Trust.

Death rates in some hospitals ‘three times too high’

The Telegraph
By Kate Devlin
July 10, 2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2281214/Death-rates-in-some-hospitals…

Patients are up to three times as likely to die following a major operation than the health service survival rate target states, official figures show. The Department of Health has said that all hospital trusts in England were within the ‘expected range’ of survival rates Statistics released for the first time, show that many NHS Trusts are failing to hit predicted survival rates for types of heart, hip and knee surgeries. The Department of Health calculations reveal wide variations in death rates for the operations across England. Opposition politicians said that the figures were a “stark demonstration” of inequalities within the NHS.

Patients challenge ban on sight-saving NHS treatment

The Telegraph
By Laura Clout
July 10, 2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/health/2280611/Patients-challenge-ban-on-sight…

Three elderly patients who face blindness have launched a landmark High Court battle to force a health trust to offer them sight-saving treatment. The trio suffer from wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of sight loss in Britain, but Warwickshire Primary Care Trust has denied them access to drugs which halt the disease’s rapid progression. During a two-day test case, the group’s lawyers will argue that they are victims of a postcode lottery, which allows primary care trusts (PCTs) to decide which treatments it will fund. Warwickshire only funds patients it judges ‘exceptional’ because of the high cost of the drugs.

Ban on NHS top up is cruel rationing, says BMA

The Telegraph
By Rebecca Smith
July 9, 2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/health/2275122/Ban-on-NHS…

Doctors believe patients should be allowed to pay for drugs that are not available on the NHS as they called for an independent inquiry into the controversial problem. They warned that not allowing patients to top up their NHS treatment with private medication was a “cruel form of rationing”. In a close debate, doctors at the British Medical Association conference in Edinburgh voted in favour of a motion saying patients should have the choice to purchase non-health service treatments and medications if they wish and still receive the rest of their treatment free. The motion was passed with 62.8 per cent of the vote in favour.

‘Livers for Sale’ Probe at NHS

The Sun
By Emma Morton
July 7, 2008
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1388776.ece

A HOSPITAL was being probed last night after giving livers donated to the NHS by Brits to foreigners – despite a huge UK shortage. Soccer legend George Best’s former surgeon Professor Nigel Heaton and King’s College Hospital, London, struck a deal with the Greek and Cypriot governments. The hospital is believed to receive £85,000 for each op. The practice is allowed under EU law, according to the Department of Health. But it will enrage the 400 Brits waiting for a transplant due to an organ shortage.

Drugmakers Offer Aid To People ‘on the Edge’; Some Patients Who Lack Insurance Find Ways To Receive Pricey Pharmaceuticals for Free

The Washington Post
By Justin Moyer
July 1, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/27/…

After surviving a diabetic coma in 2001 and losing her health insurance in 2004, Hewitt, a freelance writer based in Fort Myers, Fla., found herself financially devastated. In the face of mounting prescription costs, she turned to a little-discussed option in the ongoing debate about providing health care to the un- and underinsured: prescription assistance programs (PAPs). “I have found enough programs I financially qualify for to cover $8,500 of my $10,000 annual prescription bill,” Hewitt says. “That’s a lot of dollars.”

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