In the news w/e 25 January

Your media headlines roundup, week ending 25 January…

Differences in GP access across England ‘shocking’
BBC Health – 19 Jan 2019
The variation in the availability of GPs in different parts of England is shocking, doctors’ leaders say. Read the full story.

Mental Health: Tougher checks before Superdrug Botox
BBC Health – 19 Jan 2019
High street retailer Superdrug is to introduce tougher mental health checks before performing cosmetic procedures, following criticism by the NHS. Read the full story.

Women’s frozen eggs ‘should be stored for longer’
BBC Health – 21 Jan 2019
Women who freeze their eggs should be allowed to keep them for longer than 10 years, fertility experts are telling the government. Read the full story.

NHS England wins legal dispute over largest medicines procurement
HSJ – 18 Jan 2018
NHS England has seen off a legal challenge to its largest ever medicines procurement, which is aimed at acquiring drugs to help eliminate hepatitis C in the country by 2025. Email for the full story.

NHS plans alternative transport routes to avoid no-deal medicine shortage
The Guardian – 20 Jan 2019
Letter to pharmacists says plans will ‘maximise the ability for supply to continue unimpeded’ Read the full story.

How diet is changing – the good and the bad
BBC Health – 23 Jan 2019
Children are turning their backs on sugary drinks, with the numbers drinking them falling by a quarter over the past nine years, a survey suggests. Read the full story.

Young at higher risk of asthma attack, says charity
BBC Health – 23 Jan 2019
Young people are at a higher risk of having an asthma attack than any other age group living with the condition, the charity Asthma UK is warning. Read the full story.

Global health research money reaches ‘record high’
BBC Health – 23 Jan 2019
Funding to tackle 33 significant diseases has reached its highest level since figures were taken, says a survey which has tracked this for 11 years. Read the full story.

Teen one of first UK proton-beam patients
BBC Health – 23 Jan 2019
Fifteen-year-old Mason Kettley, who has a rare brain cancer, is about to become one of the first UK patients to have proton-beam therapy, at a new dedicated treatment centre. Read the full story.

NHSE and I has ‘too many’ top execs – staff concern
HSJ – 22 Jan 2019
Staff at NHS England and NHS Improvement have raised concerns that the new structure of their organisations will comprise too many senior managers, HSJ can reveal. Email for the full story.

Council drops CCG from joint commissioning deal
HSJ – 22 Jan 2019
A county council has withdrawn from an agreement in which the NHS commissioned some child mental health services on its behalf, over concerns the expected outcomes were not being achieved. Email for the full story.

Exclusive: Hancock’s ‘NHSX’ power grab for NHS England work
HSJ – 22 Jan 2019
Matt Hancock is pushing to create a new digital unit in government – labelled “NHSX” – which would give him more direct oversight of national strategy currently controlled by NHS England, HSJ has learnt. Email for the full story.

NHSI makes changes to cash ‘bonus’ scheme
HSJ – 23 Jan 2019
NHS Improvement has changed the terms on which trusts can receive “bonus” payments from a national funding pot worth £200m. Email for the full story.

Welcome Week celebrations mark the launch of new Hertfordshire Family Centre Service
Hertfordshire – 22 Jan 2019
Today marked the first round of Welcome Week events to launch and introduce families to their all-new service Hertfordshire Family Centre Service. Read the full story.

New £3.3m ward set to ease pressure on Princess Alexandra Hospital
Bishop’s Stortford Independent – 22 Jan 2019
A new £3.3m general surgery ward has been officially opened at the general hospital for Bishop’s Stortford. Read the full story.

New training for GP receptionists to improve health care in Bishop’s Stortford
Bishop’s Stortford Independent – 23 Jan 2019
GP surgeries in Bishop’s Stortford and Sawbridgeworth are launching a new initiative to get patients the right treatment more quickly. Read the full story.

Million pound milestone for children’s brain tumour charity
Saffron Walden Reporter – 22 Jan 2019
The charity was set up in 2011 by Deborah and Andrew Whiteley after their nine-year-old son, Tom, of Fowlmere, near Duxford, died after a short battle with a brain tumour. Read the full story.

Antibiotic resistance plan to fight ‘urgent’ global threat
BBC Health – 24 Jan 2019
Drug-resistant superbugs are as big a threat as climate change, the health secretary will say as he unveils a new five-year plan to tackle the problem. Read the full story.

Just one trust has 50pc BME board share
HSJ – 24 Jan 2019
Only one trust has as many black and minority ethnic board members as white, while 96 trusts say they have no BME board directors at all, new data has revealed. Email for the full story.

NHS to prescribe ‘app therapy’ for children with mild depression
The Guardian – 23 Jan 2019
Children as young as five will be able to get help for mild depression through apps on their smartphones after the NHS’s treatment advisers recommended the use of such devices in their care. Read the full story.

NHS England invites GP feedback on NHS app as the national roll-out begins
Pulse – 23 Jan 2019
The NHS app is now available to all patients in England, NHS England has announced. Read the full story.

Does gum disease have a key role in Alzheimer’s?
BBC Health – 24 Jan 2019
Scientists believe this may be the case after their study found further evidence of the link between bacteria in a common type of gum disease and people with dementia. Read the full story.

‘High’ survival for many cancers diagnosed at stages 1-3
BBC Health – 24 Jan 2019
Adults diagnosed with stage-1 skin, prostate or breast cancer have the same chance of still being alive a year later as the general population, data from the Office for National Statistics and Public Health England suggests. Read the full story.

Food allergies: Tougher labelling law to prevent deaths
BBC Health – 25 Jan 2019
Stronger food labelling laws are being proposed to prevent further deaths of people with allergies. Read the full story.

Rocking like a baby promotes better sleep in adults
BBC Health – 25 Jan 2019
We know babies benefit from being rocked to sleep – now a study suggests it helps adults sleep better too. Read the full story.

Skinny genes the ‘secret to staying slim’
BBC Health – 25 Jan 2019
Scientists say they have discovered the secret behind why some people are skinny while others pile on the pounds easily. Read the full story.

HPV vaccine: Thousands of girls did not get full dose
BBC Health – 25 Jan 2019
One in three girls in some parts of the UK did not have their full vaccination at school against HPV, the virus that can cause cervical cancer, in 2017-18. Read the full story.

Stroke units could close under new NHS England plans
HSJ – 24 Jan 2019
A planned major reorganisation of stroke services could see the number of acute units in England cut by more than a third, with patients going to more specialised centres, HSJ understands. Email for the full story.