The NHS still 'has a mountain to climb' in the treatment and prevention of diabetes despite Goverment boasts of good progress, experts have said.

NHS diabetes care 'still has mountain to climb', experts warn
Article in the Telegraph:

Extract:

"Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "This report shows the NHS has taken a step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go before people with diabetes are getting the help they need to manage their condition.

"But what is most striking about the report is what it doesn't say. Almost no mention is made of the big risk that, unless we effectively tackle obesity, the number of people suffering with diabetes will almost certainly increase.

"A diabetes strategy will not be worth the paper it's written on if a greater focus is not put on obesity."

Health Minister, Ann Keen, said: "Today's report shows that the NHS is getting better and better at identifying people with diabetes and at supporting them to manage their condition.

"The Next Stage Review made prevention a priority for the NHS and this is especially relevant to diabetes, as a disease whose global increase in prevalence is partly a consequence of rising obesity.

"Our vascular risk assessment programme, Putting Prevention First is expected to prevent thousands of people developing diabetes each year and our strategy to tackle the rise in obesity will help many more reduce their risk of the disease.""

The best strategy for the prevention of diabetes would tell the truth about what causes obesity and thus what causes diabetes. Plus curb doctors' freedom to prescribe the drugs that frequently cause salt sensitivity/fluid retention/obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes - i.e. mainly steroids such as prednisone, prednisolone and HRT, and tricyclic antidepressants like amitriptyline and imipramine. Plus curb the amounts of salt that manufacturers are allowed to add to to bread and other processed foods BY LAW and UNDER SANCTION.

Obesity is caused by salt sensitivity leading to fluid retention, and is easily and safely reduced/prevented by avoiding salt and salty food. - Sadly the Putting Prevention First makes little mention of salt...

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Children and Obesity

vulnerable groups

See Sodium in foods

Britain's hospitals are buying special equipment to cope with increasingly obese patients. - They should be providing low salt/sodium meals for them.

Hospitals on 'supersize' alert - Sunday Telegraph

Extract:

"Hospitals have doubled their spending on "supersize" beds, trolleys and mortuary fridges to cope with increasingly obese patients.

An investigation of 150 hospital trusts shows the amount spent by the NHS on equipment that can take the weight of increasingly huge patients has risen from £5.8 million to £13 million in just three years.

Hospitals said they were treating increasing numbers of "super-heavy" patients weighing 40 stone and more. Several said they had been forced to ban the heaviest patients from floors which could not take their weight.

Data collected by the Liberal Democrats under the Freedom of Information Act shows the average hospital spent £60,000 on supersized equipment this year, compared with £30,000 spent three years ago."

Its health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "This is a stark and depressing demonstration of the failure of this Government to tackle the problem of obesity.""

The main cause of morbid obesity is pharmaceutical drugs, recklessly over-prescribed by doctors insufficiently knowledgeable about their adverse side-effects and failing to do appropriate monitoring. - The main drugs that cause obesity are steroids like prednisone and prednisolone, oestrogen-containing medications like HRT, and tricyclic anti-depressants like amitriptyline. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html and http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

How to Lose weight!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

British hospitals: filthy, verminous, appallingly unhygienic kitchens.

Scandal of filthy hospital kitchens - Observer

Extract:

"A searing indictment of the cleanliness of hospital kitchens is revealed today in research showing that almost half are plagued by vermin, risk infections by storing food incorrectly or employ staff with poor personal hygiene.

Official inspection reports reveal that breaches of food hygiene laws include infestations of mice and cockroaches, kitchen staff not washing their hands, food being kept at the wrong temperature and remnants of meals becoming stuck in equipment.

Other hazardous incidents included ice cream and prawns being stored together in fridges and freezers, orange juice kept next to chemicals and patients' meal trays being used to transport contaminated material from the wards.

The reality of the conditions in which hospital food is prepared is laid bare in a series of official hygiene examinations carried out by environmental health officers, which have been passed to The Observer.

Of 377 National Health Service and private hospitals surveyed in England, 173 - 46 per cent - were found to have poor cleanliness in their kitchens, or canteens or cafes used by staff, patients and visitors. Nine of the 377 were private hospitals, of which six were found to have at least one area of concern. Eleven of the 173 had experienced a vermin or pest problem, 57 employed catering staff who displayed inadequate personal hygiene and 18 were found to stock out-of-date food. Sixty-eight did not meet the legal minimum standard for food storage and 66 were storing food at the wrong temperature, which can stimulate the growth of bacteria.

'These findings paint a shocking picture of hospital food hygiene,' said the Liberal Democrats' shadow health secretary, Norman Lamb, who used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain from 145 local authorities their most recent food hygiene inspection reports for hospitals they monitor.

'It is simply unacceptable that such terrible practices are taking place in an environment where hygiene and safety should be paramount. Sick people are already vulnerable to infection. They don't need the added risk of food-borne bacteria spread by lax standards.'

He suggested the creation of a new system of clear and accessible ratings for hygiene levels in hospital kitchens, with the worst performers being 'named and shamed' as a way of driving up standards to benefit patients."

I'm well impressed by Norman Lamb's tenacity in getting at the facts in this and other health matters. While bad practice is hidden, it continues and usually worsens. Once light is shed on bad practice, there is much more likelihood that some remedial action will be taken. - 'Naming and shaming', as he suggests, sounds an excellent idea. - 'Naming and sacking' would be even more effective, in my opinion...


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
How to Lose weight!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

One in four local NHS organisations in England is failing to comply with basic hygiene standards, reports Healthcare Commission.

Quarter of hospitals miss superbug targets - Telegraph

Extracts:

"A Healthcare Commission report shows 99 of 394 healthcare trusts admitted to failing to have adequate infection control, safely decontaminate reusable medical equipment or keep their facilities clean."

"Katherine Murphy, of the Patients' Association, said: "We are killing more people with C. difficile than on our roads. The death toll with MRSA is equivalent to two train crashes every week.

"These are avoidable infections. Every week there is a different priority for the Government. Infection control has never been given a high priority.""

"Compliance with two standards on treating patients with dignity and respect, and privacy and confidentiality, also fell slightly."

"Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: "It is shocking that after countless Government initiatives the number of hospitals failing to protect patients from these infections has doubled."

• To view the full report, visit www.healthcarecommission.org.uk"

"Four trusts reported failing to meet any of the three hygiene standards. They were:

• Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
• Sheffield PCT
• Sutton And Merton PCT
• Wiltshire PCT"

What do you think should be done about this deplorable state of affairs?

Do you fear to go into hospital because of the lack of cleanliness and hygiene there? Or because of the way you are treated there? Dare you remonstrate with a doctor or nurse who hasn't washed their hands when they should have done? - Have you written to your MP about your concerns? Has s/he done anything about the matter?


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)