April 2003

What the Newspapers said (Mainly the Evening Post) in April 2003

• Charles Clarke died on Easter day. He was a leading member of the City\'s business community. He was a former Senior Partner of Osborne Clarke and was a former Chairman of the United Bristol hospitals. Many of us knew him personally and we greatly mourn his passing.

• The Health on Wheels Scheme in Avon has been allocated £120 worth of cycling sessions per patient through a national charity specialising in practical projects to promote cycling. The scheme has been awarded £75,000 over 3 years by the Department of Health and has the objective of decreasing the risks of diabetes, heart disease, and stress.

• Norwich Union has undertaken a survey of general practitioners in the region and found that almost three-quarters would like to charge £29 for a home visit and 60% want to impose an average of £6 fine on people who fail to turn up for appointments.

• The Jessie May Trust provides specialist nursing care for children who are not expected to live beyond the age of 19. They have recently been awarded a £150,000 grant from the National Lottery.

• Bristol City Council have not drawn up plans for mass evacuation of the area in the event of terrorist attack. A survey revealed that despite Britain being put on the alert in the run-up to the war in Iraq - the Government Office South West, along with 8 of the other English regions, had nothing in it\'s budget to deal with a disaster until April 1st 2003.

• A study in the International Journal of Epidemiology has discovered no evidence that the intake of dietary fibre is related to the incidence of bowel cancer. This appears to contradict previous findings.

• Eliza Dunbar Walker worked at the Bristol Children\'s Hospital on St Michael\'s Hill in the 1870s. She was forced to resign because of hostility from some of the male staff. Her work was recognised by the Clifton and Hotwells improvement society and a plaque, at her former home, was unveiled by Dr Beryl Corner recently.

• A mobile Harm Reduction Unit has been set up to lessen the harm drugs cause by helping addicts to reduce the risks they take.

• A partnership between a specialist sexual health service and a telephone help line, NHS Direct, aims to enable local people who have been subjected to a sexual assault, to receive help more quickly and easily. Trained professionals can guide a caller through the most appropriate support - night and day. The NHS Direct telephone number is 0845 4647.

• Hospitals in Bristol will no longer accept new couples with fertility problems. The waiting lists have been closed until at least next year by the local primary care trusts.

• Children\'s Hospice South West has bought Charlton Farm on the Tyntesfield estate at Wraxall for £1.4 million. The charity now needs to raise £15 million pounds to complete the project.

• Professor Ian Learmonth, Head of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, states in an article in the Observer, that he has refused to cut the time that he spends with patients despite being asked to do so by managers.

• Bristol-based UK Transplant has recorded the highest number of organ transplants for 6 years. The organisation runs the NHS Organ Donor Register for the UK.

• The BUPA Bristol Half-Marathon will be run on Sunday September 7th. Nick Rose, Huw Jones, Steve Cram, and Tim Hutchings, were all part of the Great Britain team in the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. They will be competing in the Bristol Half-Marathon.

• The matron of a former Bristol nursing home in Leigh Woods is facing a professional conduct hearing regarding the death of an elderly resident who is said to have suffered with bed sores.

• The Woodland Trust donated a one acre grove in woods near Westbury in Wiltshire for a permanent memorial to those who were lost in the Bristol Royal Infirmary heart operations \"scandal\".

• Proposals to bring in a \"trouble shooter\" to improve the Bristol Royal Infirmary\'s performance, has been dropped, it has been announced. Instead, senior management from the Authority will be dealing with the budgetary issues internally and making changes within the overall system themselves.

• Mr David Johnson, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, has brought claims against the Medical Defence Union. He claims that the MDU wrongly processed vital information about him and this elevated him into a high-risk category for insurance cover.

• North Bristol NHS Trust was criticised by the Dr Foster Good Hospital Guide 2003 for only admitting 66% of patients within 6 months. North Bristol also had a low score for out-patients being seen by a consultant within 13 weeks - another Government target. However, Frenchay hospital was rated amongst the best A&E Departments in England. The UBHT was praised for its high staffing levels.

• Dr Elizabeth Whipp, who was suspended by the United Bristol hospitals, has spoken out about how she fears women with breast cancer are being wrongly denied treatment. The results of an investigation into her work is expected to be available shortly.

• A £2 million fund to encourage matrons back into every A&E Department in England was announced by the Government.

• A Bristol mother was shocked and upset after her 15 year old son, who was recovering from a leg operation in the Children\'s hospital, was robbed of his Play Station and other games, whilst he was asleep. UBHT and Avon police have a specialist unit of 4 officers to patrol City centre hospitals - including the Children\'s hospital.

• One in 10 hospital wards and general patient areas do not comply with health and safety regulations according to Government figures published in the Times. A backlog of hospital repairs in England is now so great that 10% of patient-occupied floor space is technically unsafe.

• Bristol hospitals are said to have some of the worst infection rates for MRSA. All 3 hospitals were judged acceptable in the latest cleanliness spot checks by Government inspectors published in February. However, the BRI, Southmead and Frenchay, along with Weston hospital, are all on a Department of Health danger list of the 20 specialist and 20 acute hospitals with the highest infection rates.

• Blackberry Hill and Bristol General hospitals could be closed to help reduce the City\'s £30 million health deficit. The proposals are amongst a raft of cost-cutting measures being considered by the Strategic Health Authority (Evening Post - April 17th).