Author Archives: Maureen

Basic rights of mentally ill 'violated'

August 14, 2013   Carers, mental health
14 August 2013 Last updated at 01:05

Basic rights of mentally ill ‘violated’

By Adam Brimelow Health Correspondent, BBC News

 The cross-party group of MPs is urging Parliament to take action

The basic rights of some mental health patients in England are being “violated” because of a shortage of beds in psychiatric units, MPs say.

The Health Select Committee said there was evidence some people are being sectioned unnecessarily to secure hospital treatment.

It also warned safeguards to protect patients who lack capacity are often ignored.

The charity Rethink said the findings were “shocking”.

Changes to mental health laws in 2007 were supposed to ease pressure on psychiatric units by extending the treatment available out of hospital.

Legislation provided for Community Treatment Orders so some people previously detained in hospital could be treated – under supervision – in the community.

But compulsory detention has continued to increase.

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Test of famous faces 'helps to spot early dementia'

August 13, 2013   Alzheimer’s, Carers, dementia

Test of famous faces ‘helps to spot early dementia’

13 August 2013 Last updated at 01:30

 Recognising “the King”, Elvis Presley, would score points on the face test…

Asking patients to identify pictures of famous people, such as Elvis Presley and Diana, Princess of Wales, may help spot early dementia, say researchers.

Doctors currently use simple mental agility tests to screen for the disease, but US experts believe a face recognition test should be used too.

A small study in the journal Neurology found it could flag up the beginnings of one type of dementia in 30 patients.

Trials are needed to see if it works for other forms of the disease.

The research at Northwestern University in Chicago found that people with early onset primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a rare form of dementia, struggled to identify black and white prints of 20 famous people, including John F Kennedy, Albert Einstein and Martin Luther King.

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Junior doctors urged to ‘know their limits’ on Black Wednesday

August 7, 2013   Carers, health, hospital

Junior doctors have been urged to “know their limits” to prevent an expected rise in death rates as more than 6,000 medical graduates start their first hospital jobs.

By , Health Correspondent

7:30AM BST 07 Aug 2013

Today has become known as “Black Wednesday” because mortality rates rise by an average of around six per cent when new trainees start work and other junior doctors swap specialties.

Studies have shown that patients admitted as an emergency on the first Wednesday in August – during the changeover – are six per cent more likely to die than on the previous Wednesday

Today has become known as “Black Wednesday” because mortality rates rise by an average of around six per cent when new trainees start work and other junior doctors swap specialties.

Studies have shown that patients admitted as an emergency on the first Wednesday in August – during the changeover – are six per cent more likely to die than on the previous Wednesday.

For those suffering heart attacks and strokes the figure is yet higher, with an 8 per cent increase in deaths.

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