Regularly using bleach linked to higher risk of fatal lung disease

Regularly using bleach linked to higher risk of fatal lung disease

Use of disinfectants once a week could increase risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by as much as 32%, finds study Regular use of bleach and other common disinfectants has been linked to a higher risk of developing fatal lung disease, researchers have found. The use of disinfectants is linked to a higher risk…

NHS waiting times ‘driving people to turn to private treatment’

NHS waiting times ‘driving people to turn to private treatment’

Report says private providers have seen 15 to 25% annual rise in ‘self-payers’ as patients resort to using savings or loans Growing numbers of patients are paying for private treatment to beat rationing and delays for treatment imposed by the cash-strapped NHS. People who do not have health insurance are increasingly paying up to £14,880 for…

Tackling health anxiety could save NHS over £400m a year, study finds

Tackling health anxiety could save NHS over £400m a year, study finds

Researchers find people who have had a serious illness fear it will happen again and symptoms persist when nothing is wrong The NHS could save more than £420m a year by offering treatment for health anxiety and “cyberchondria”, a psychological ailment caused by people obsessively looking up their symptoms online, a study has estimated. The study, funded…

Ministers drop ‘misguided’ plans to privatise NHS Professionals

Ministers drop ‘misguided’ plans to privatise NHS Professionals

Labour welcomes U-turn on sell-off of employment agency that supplies doctors and nurses to hospitals The government has abandoned plans to privatise an NHS employment agency it owns that supplies doctors and nurses to hospitals to ease their understaffing. Labour welcomed what it called “a major U-turn on a misguided policy from a government with no solution…

Worst nurse shortage ever as NHS exodus leads to fears for patient safety with record 40,000 vacancies unfilled

Worst nurse shortage ever as NHS exodus leads to fears for patient safety with record 40,000 vacancies unfilled

Britain’s top nurse Janet Davies speaks out as it emerges the health service faces an “unprecedented” crisis Large numbers of NHS nurses are ­quitting because of staff shortages and poor pay, it is claimed today. Britain’s top nurse Janet Davies spoke out as it emerged the health service faced an “unprecedented” crisis with the number of unfilled…