Author Archives: Maureen
New test to identify which patients should take statins
Thousands of patients could be needlessly taking statins even though they are at low risk of suffering heart attacks or stroke, research suggests.
Scientists say they have found a much better way to work out which people are in danger of developing heart problems.
Half of the middle-aged adults they studied were found to have no coronary artery calcium, and only a handful of them went on to suffer a heart attack or a stroke.
They say the findings have “important public health implications” and could mean large cost savings if the cholesterol-lowering drugs are prescribed only for those whose health would genuinely be improved by taking them.
More people are facing long waits for NHS treatment
NHS patients ‘face longer waits’
Source : Press Association
Published on 19 August 2011 10:00 AM
More people are facing long waits for NHS treatment, with hundreds enduring delays of more than a year according to fresh figures.
Some 11,857 people in England had been waiting more than six months for treatment in June, a rise of 61% compared with last year.
Within this figure, 718 people had been waiting more than 12 months to begin treatment, an increase from 430 in June 2010.
Only 1 in 3 stroke patients receiving prompt brain scans
Only half of stroke patients are receiving some of the treatments doctors believe are crucial for saving their lives.
7:00AM BST 18 Aug 2011
A national audit carried out by the Royal College of Physicians has found that just 33 per cent of those treated at NHS hospitals after suffering a stroke receive a brain scan within an hour.
Only 52 per cent were given a clot-busting drug when they were eligible for it and 53 per cent were seen by a nurses and a therapist within 24 hours after having the devastating brain attack.
In addition, 55 per cent of patients were taken either directly to a dedicated stroke unit or admitted there within four hours.
