75% More Oldies are Killed off by Doctors
by Nigel Nelson

Numbers of pensioners killed by wrongly prescribed medicine have risen by 75 per cent since Labour came to power. There were 337 deaths among the over 65s from adverse drug reactions last year compared with 194 in 1997.

It has prompted calls for better checks on prescriptions and improved reporting when doctors make blunders. Commons Health Committee Lib Dem member, Paul Burstow said the official figures were "extremely alarming".

He said: 'This is just the tip of the iceberg. Hundreds of bad reactions go unreported every year.' All age groups over 50 have shown an increase in bad drug reactions. It costs the NHS an extra £466 million a year - equal to filling seven 800- bed hospitals.

Mr Burstow said: "People need regular medication checks."
The People, 16th October 2005

Doctors Go on 'Strike' and Death Rates Plummet

Death rates in Israel have dropped considerably since physicians in public hospitals implemented a program of sanctions three months ago, according to a survey of burial societies.

The Israel Medical Association (IMA) began the action in March to protest against the government's proposed imposition of a new four-year wage contract for doctors. Since then, hundreds of thousands of visits to outpatient clinics have been canceled or postponed along with tens of thousands of elective operations. Emergency rooms, dialysis units, oncology departments, obstetric and neonatal departments, and other vital facilities have been working normally during the action.

The Jerusalem Post surveyed non-profit burial societies, which perform funerals for the vast majority of Israelis, and found that the number of funerals has fallen drastically.

According to one funeral parlor manager the same thing occurred in 1983, during a similar action by the IMA, which lasted 4 and a half months. The only area of Israel which was found to not have a reduction in its death rate was the city of Netanya. It also just so happens that all of the doctors at the only hospital in this city have "no-strike" clauses in their contracts and are therefore unaffected by the action.
British Medical Journal 2000;320:1561

50% of Hospital Patients Suffer Malnutrition

Patients are being put at risk by poor quality hospital food, with up to 50% of patients admitted to hospitals affected by malnutrition, experts have warned.

Despite the implementation of the Better Hospital Food programme, the health and recovery times of vulnerable people are being damaged by nutritional failings in the NHS.

The programme was launched in May 2001 to improve catering across the health service. However, while progress has been made, there are still concerns.

Rick Wilson, director of Nutrition and Dietetics at King's College Hospital, and member of the Better Hospital Food programme panel of experts, will be among speakers at a Westminster conference organised to discuss the issue.

Mr Wilson said: "Everyone knows that if you don't eat well then recovery is delayed or maybe will not happen at all! There is still a great deal to be done to integrate food and nutritional care into everyday activity on our wards. Malnutrition is still common in our hospitals and care homes."

Neurologist, Lord Walton of Detchant, will chair the forthcoming seminar (to be held in London on 8 December) which is being organised by the Westminster Diet & Health Forum. He said: "The food provided to patients in hospital deserves very serious and careful attention. It is plainly important that such food should be nutritious, palatable and not overloaded with fat, salt and other potentially unhealthy components."
16th November 2005