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US: Diabetes cases to double and costs to triple by 2034

27 November 2009: In the next 25 years, the number of Americans living with diabetes will nearly double, increasing from 23.7 million in 2009 to 44.1 million in 2034. Over the same period, spending on diabetes will almost triple, rising from $113 billion to $336 billion, even with no increase in the prevalence of obesity, researchers based at the University of Chicago report in the December issue of Diabetes Care.

UK: Balls unveils pay rises and royal college to boost social work status

27 November 2009: Ed Balls has set out sweeping reforms to lift the rock-bottom morale and status of social workers, including plans for a Royal College of Social Work, new requirements to train on the job, and higher pay to retain top social workers on the frontline.

SWITZERLAND: Fear of swine flu spurs global hunt for vaccine

26 November 2009: Initial concern over the spread of the A(H1N1) pandemic virus is now being echoed by different worries - over anti- viral drugs, vaccine supplies and the actual or perceived safety of the inoculations. However, reactions across the globe have varied as the death toll from the virus - popularly known as swine flu - mounts.

UK: Hundreds of patients died needlessly at NHS hospital due to appalling care

26 November 2009: Poor nursing care, filthy wards and lack of leadership at Basildon and Thurrock University NHS Hospitals FoundationTrust led to the deaths of up to 400 patients a year. Figures compiled by a health watchdog showed death rates at the Essex trust were a third higher than they should have been.

UK: RCN says 'compelling case' for advanced nursing regulation

23 November 2009: An RCN statement on advanced nursing practice launched last week says there is a 'compelling case' for regulation and standardisation of roles. The statement says: ‘The RCN believes there are compelling grounds for the regulation and standardisation of advanced levels of nursing practice for patient safety and public protection.' It makes clear that nurses are increasingly working beyond the scope of their initial registration in a number of sections of the NHS workforce.

PNG: HIV/AIDS to spread in PNG as funding fails

23 November 2009: Papua New Guinea’s response to HIV/AIDS has been dealt a serious blow by the failure of its latest funding application to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

US: Greatest healthcare? Has anyone tried calling for a nurse when hospitalized?

23 November 2009: BuzzFlash wrote about a study awhile back in which the U.S. was ranked 17th in the quality of its healthcare.  The fact is most of the Western nations with single payer systems have better healthcare at a cheaper cost.  In Canada, which the right wing media shills refer to as a nation with "socialized" medicine, residents live longer than Americans.

US: Nurse seeks help healing hidden wounds of wars

22 November 2009: Often, the wounds are not as obvious as a lost limb or a scar. Of the nearly 2 million men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002, an estimated half-million have been diagnosed with brain injuries, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. One of every five suicide victims in the United States has combat experience, though only 1 percent of the country's population is active-duty military.

US: Nurse practitioners play key role in providing health care

22 November 2009: After eight years of working as an advanced registered nurse practitioner at a busy medical clinic in Yakima, Greg Swart decided to hang out his own stethoscope. It's an unusual move. Only a handful -- 7 percent -- of the roughly 3,600 nurse practitioners in the state practice autonomously, that is, outside the direct supervision of a medical doctor.

UK: The big issue: nursing degrees. Today's nurses need to be caring and clever

22 November 2009: Three cheers for Barbara Ellen, a beacon of sanity in the hysteria that surrounds degrees for nursing ("It's about time we gave nurses a degree of respect", Opinion). Why does bringing nurses in England into line with their counterparts in other parts of the UK, their colleagues in midwifery and other health professions seem a bridge too far?

UK: Nurses to be sacked for carers

22 November 2009: Thousands of nurses are set to be replaced by less-qualified carers in a move that could put patients' lives at risk. Nursing unions have warned of a repeat of the scandal at Stafford Hospital where hundreds of patients died after dozens of nurses were axed.

US: Delay cervical cancer tests – doctors

21 November 2009: The leading US group of women's health care professionals says women should not get their first cervical cancer screening before age 21, and also recommends less frequent subsequent tests. Pushing back the age of the first screening would help avoid giving teen girls unnecessary treatment, which can have "economic, emotional and future childbearing implications", according to the guidelines issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) overnight.

UK: Nurses need degrees, like a hole in the head

20 November, 2009: Do you need to go to university before you become a nurse? Beyond the Bedpan tries desperately to sit on the fence, but readers’ minds appear to be made up. Beyond the Bedpan has been unable to hear itself think lately, such is the deafening roar of the all-graduate nursing debate.

US: Improving sleep during breast cancer treatment

19 November 2009: For most women, sleep problems and fatigue are roadblocks to being an effective wife, mother, friend and employee. It’s so daunting for some that they end their cancer treatment. Ann Berger, Ph.D., University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing professor, tested the effect of a behavioral therapy on sleep quality and cancer-related fatigue in patients undergoing breast cancer treatment. The five-year, $1.5 million study funded by the National Institutes of Health, was published this month in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the journal of the world’s largest association of clinical oncologists.

US: UA nursing professor to spend $100,000 studying AIDS stigma among black rural men

19 November 2009; Susan Gaskins, a professor in the Capstone College of Nursing at the University of Alabama, has received a $100,000 federal grant to study the impact of disclosing an AIDS diagnosis on black rural men. During the 2-year study, funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health, researchers will interview 40 HIV positive African-American men recruited from rural AIDS service organizations and clinics. Participants who have been diagnosed for at least six months will be interviewed about their disclosure decisions and the process of disclosing their HIV status.

Local news

WEEK COMMENCING 21 NOVEMBER 2009

Spotter fee idea for GPs

26 November 2009: A $3000 spotter fee to attract general practitioners to Western Australia might work in Tasmania, the acting president of the Australian Medical Association said yesterday. Today, the AMA's WA branch will launch a national campaign to tackle that state's critical doctor shortage.

Labor cuts cataract rebate

26 November 2009: The Labor Government has cut the Medicare rebate for cataract surgery for a third time in a month, in an ongoing spat with the Opposition-controlled Senate. The Upper House today disallowed Labor's regulations reducing the refund from $624 to $340 - with the effect that no rebate is in place.

Don't let your teenager become a 'Schoolies' statistic

26 November 2009: As Schoolies Week activities begin around the country, parents are urged to talk to their teenagers about the risks of binge drinking. With the Government’s ‘Don’t Turn a Night Out Into a Nightmare’ National Binge Drinking Campaign entering its second phase, it is a timely reminder to parents to educate their teens about the affects of alcohol and drinking to excess.

Roxon: Asbestos Awareness Week

26 November 2009: This week is Asbestos Awareness Week and it aims to commemorate those lives that have been touched and affected by asbestos-related conditions as well as highlight the dangers of asbestos. According to the World Health Organization, Australia and UK have the highest rate of asbestos-related cancer deaths in the world.

Elliot: National Seniors Housing Report – Helping Understand the Housing Preferences of Older Australians

26 November 2009: Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot welcomed the new perspective on housing for older Australians contained in the Moving or staying put: Deciding where to live in later life report released today by National Seniors Australia. The National Seniors report found that two in three Australians are moving home between the aged of 55 and 75 due to factors such as the ongoing need to maintain their homes or a decline in their partner’s health.

Roxon: Don't let your teenager become a 'Schoolies' statistic

19 November 2009: Parents are urged to warn their teenagers about the risks of binge drinking as thousands of school-leavers prepare to head to Schoolies Week activities around the country.

Don't turn a night out into a nightmare

Australiam Government's campaign website targeting young drinkers and parents.

10 tips to stress less

No date: When we asked Dr Timothy Sharp of the Happiness Institute what he thought about this month's tip, he said: “There’s no doubt that happy people differ from those who’re unhappy in terms of how they respond to problems. It’s not as though happy people don’t have problems; they do, but they respond more constructively and tend to focus more on what they can do rather than on what they can’t do. Focusing on solutions and on what you can control tends to lead to more positive emotions and positive emotions tend to lead to more positive outcomes.”

Nanotech widespread in cosmetics, report finds

24 November 2009: Some of the world's most prestigious cosmetic houses have been accused by an environmental group of using Australian women as guinea pigs. The cosmetic industry says the controversial use of nanoparticles is not widespread. But an independent analysis by Friends of the Earth, which has described nanoparticle cosmetics as the 21st-century equivalent of lead and arsenic face powders, found nanomaterials in all 10 randomly selected foundations.

Primary Health Care Forum, Parliament House

24 November 2009: 24 representatives from peak stakeholder organisations with an active interest in primary health care attended a Primary Health Care Forum with Health and Ageing Minister Nicola Roxon at Parliament House, Canberra on Monday 23 November 2009.

Senate overturns cataract rebate cuts

24 November 2009: The Senate has again voted to reinstate generous cataract surgery rebates for elderly Australians, overturning the federal government's cuts to them.

Urgent review to be undertaken of 'tainted' ADHD guidelines

24 November 2009: Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon's advisers were warned in August last year that drug company payments to a world-renowned US expert on ADHD could have tainted proposed new Australian guidelines for the drug.

Hunter doctors baulk at bulk billing

24 November 2009: Hunter residents are routinely being left $30 out of pocket for a 20-minute visit to a general practitioner as the Medicare rebate fails to keep pace with inflation. A survey conducted by The Herald found only a handful of practices in the Hunter offered bulk-billing without restriction.

Are patients the best advocates for improved cancer services?

23 November 2009: It’s telling that a new report from the NSW Cancer Council called Roadblocks to Radiotherapy is using the power of patients’ stories to raise broader issues of concern about the inequitable access to radiotherapy that have been highlighted in literally dozens of reports and inquiries over the years. It will be interesting to see whether this report has more impact than all those that have gone before.

Australia strengthens background checks for bioweapons handlers

23 November 2009: Australia will be enhancing its already stringent requirements to secure biological disease agents following the passing of a new measure.

Greens: Cross-border patients denied access to Commonwealth facilities in NT

23 November 2009: "The Rudd government is failing in its responsibilities to Aboriginal Australians by failing to ensure the health facilities it provides to the Northern Territory government are accessible to all on the basis of need," said Australian Greens health spokesperson, Senator Rachel Siewert today. "It is simply not good enough that someone living just on the wrong side of a state or territory border should be denied access to facilities provided by our national government for the good of all Australian citizens." "At a time of chronic health crisis, all Australians should be able to gain access to their nearest health service."

Red tape bottlenecks doctors' moves to regions

23 November 2009: The Australian Medical Association of Queensland (AMAQ) says State Government red tape is making it hard to attract new doctors to regional areas.

Doors close as Hunter GP shortage hits critical

23 November 2009: Doctors in the Hunter treat twice as many people as some of their Sydney counterparts and are increasingly shutting their doors to new patients due to overwhelming demand.

State looks to 'buy' surgery

21 November 2009: The State Government is considering buying more surgery from private hospitals in an attempt to make up for critical problems in the public health system. But doctors have criticised the plan as short-sighted, saying it should not be adopted as a substitute for investing in public hospitals.

Rollback of red tape is supported

21 November 2009: [Queensland Health Minister] Mr Lucas said he was working towards a system of standardised forms to cut down on red tape for doctors and allow them to see more patients. “One of the most important things we can do in Queensland Health is to work to standardise our forms. People might not know that we have different forms in different hospitals for the same thing,” Mr Lucas said.

A tiny worm highlights intervention's failure

20 November 20, 2009: The health of a tiny parasitic worm starkly illustrates how Australia is still failing thousands of vulnerable Aborigines more than two years after the $1.6 billion intervention in remote Northern Territory communities. Its name is strongyloides, a silent killer whose ability to burrow into the skin and make people unwell has been known for decades.

Health department at odds with senior doctor

20 November 2009: The Northern Territory health department is at odds with one of its most senior doctors about how long Indigenous children are having to wait for important tests.

Heartbreak hospitals

20 November 2009: Julie Robotham and Natasha Wallace are left asking the same question as doctors, nurses and patients: what's been done to fix the system?

No time for complacency on swine flu – Australian Medical Association

20 November 2009: AMA Vice President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the AMA is encouraging people to visit their GP to be immunised against swine flu.

Overdose fears for WA schoolies

22 November 2009: Doctors have warned schoolies that binge drinking and taking illegal drugs could kill them or put them at risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies.

Roxon: More space for headspace

20 November 2009: The Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, today officially opened the new national premises of Australia’s youth mental health foundation, headspace. headspace was created to overcome the barriers that young people perceive in getting help for mental health issues from traditional medical services and now provides access to youth mental health services across 30 sites.