This week Prep, Ian Patterson and mental health have dominated the news.
Prep, the HIV drug will be available on the NHS from September
The NHS has announced this week that from September it will begin a three year, £10 million trial to give the drug Prep to 10,000 people at risk of HIV. The drug is considered a game changer as it disables HIV before it takes root in the body. Read more on Sky News.
Ian Patterson, the rogue breast surgeon has sentence increased
Ian Patterson, the Greater Manchester breast surgeon this week had his sentence increased from 15 to 20 years in prison. Patterson performed unnecessary operations on at least 10 patients in the West Midlands between 1997 and 2011, leaving them scarred and traumatised. Read more on The Independent.
Mental health care urgently sought for suicidal teenager
A 17-year-old girl, who is in the formal care of Cumbria County Council, has tried to kill herself on a number of occasions. The girl is due to be released in 11 days, and the senior judge on her case Sir James Munby, has said it is “utterly shaming” that a new secure place has not been found for her yet. Read more on the BBC.
The Lullaby Trust has raised concerns about the Finnish-style ‘baby boxes’
The cot death charity, the Lullaby Trust, has raised concerns this week about the cardboard boxes given out by some NHS trusts and in Scotland. The boxes are cited as helping to reduce cot death in Finland. The Lullaby Trust is concerned about the safety and quality of the mattresses, and have called into question the claim that they reduce cot deaths. Read more on The Guardian.
£385 million GDE funding approved by the Treasury
This week the Treasury has approved £385 million for the Global Digital Exemplar (GDE) programme, with further money hoping to be released in 2017/18. The funding has come from the £1.3 billion “Paperless 2020”. Matthew Swindells has reported that the GDEs will be put on a new procurement framework. Read more on DigitalHealth.
Quote of the week – Saleyha Ahsan writes an open letter to all first-year junior doctors
“Most rewarding of all is the knowledge that on any particular day you will help another human in the most crucial of ways. Never forget in among all the noise that your patient is the most important person. That moment you ease someone’s pain, suffering or discomfort is a privilege. Eleven years on, that has never dulled. Remember it because there will be times when you want to give up. Look instead for the reasons why you became a doctor, and never let anyone take that away.” – The Guardian