News

The number of heart attacks and strokes in England will soar in the next two decades as the diabetes epidemic sweeping the country takes its toll, a charity has warned.

The growing number of people with diabetes could trigger a 29% rise in the number of heart attacks and strokes linked to the condition by 2035, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has predicted.

UK house price growth slowed in June to the lowest annual rate in five years, driven by falling prices in London, according to official figures.

Average house prices across the country increased 3% in the year to June, down from a 3.5% gain in May, the lowest annual rate since August 2013, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The average price of a UK home was £228,000 – about £6,000 higher than in June 2017 and £1,000 higher than in May.

There have been 89 violent deaths in London since January and violent crime has risen by 40% since 2010. Gang-related violent crime has nearly halved over the same period, according to Met Police figures obtained by the BBC.

But some experts are unconvinced the statistics really show gangs have gone.

The Met Police has put the drop down to the implementation of the Gang Violence Matrix. The database, set up in the wake of the 2011 riots, holds information on about 3,800 people of interest.

The NHS standard is for children to receive a wheelchair within 18 weeks from the time of referral, but in 2017-18 it was missed for more than 5,100 children, according to an analysis published on Tuesday in the Health Service Journal (HSJ).

That equates to 82% of eligible children receiving their wheelchairs on time, compared with the target of 92%. NHS England has set a more ambitious target of 100% by the end of 2018-19, although the latest figures suggest commissioners will struggle to hit it.

A study of how long men and women are living in 18 wealthy countries has found that life expectancy is on the rise in Australia but declining in Britain, the United States and several other nations.

By comparison, British women and men have seen their life expectancy dip to 82.7 years and 79 years respectively. There’s been a similar pattern in the US, where men now live an average of 76.4 years and women for 81.4 years. Overall, Switzerland has the longest life expectancy for men at 81.6 years, while Japanese women live to a ripe old age of 87.2 years.

For the 11th time since 2005, Health Consumer Powerhouse (HCP) is asking health campaigners across Europe to help it compile the annual EURO HEALTH CONSUMER INDEX. The 2018 INDEX will measure the user-friendliness of national healthcare systems across 35 countries in Europe.

ABOUT THIS SURVEY

The survey is being carried out on a specialist survey website, so allowing all responses to be completely ANONYMOUS (unless you wish otherwise). The survey’s closing date is Monday, December 10th 2018. To thank you for participating, PatientView, the survey manager, will be more than happy to provide your organisation with the link to the INDEX, if you wish to receive it, upon publication (February 2019).

To take part in the survey, please click HERE

More than 4 million people a year have been denied the use of a wheelchair despite needing one after breaking a leg or having surgery, the British Red Cross has claimed.

While those who needed a wheelchair for at least six months were generally given one, people needing it for less time often went without, the charity said.

The mercury reached 35C (95F) on Thursday at Heathrow, west London, and is expected to go even higher before thunderstorms bring some relief. The Met Office says the all-time record of 38.5C could be exceeded in south-east England on Friday.

The weather has brought with it serious concerns about health as higher temperatures increase the probability of dying from cardiac, kidney and respiratory diseases for some people, with associated higher air pollution also posing a risk. On Thursday, a “high” air pollution alert was issued for London.

The number of “serious incidents” involving what the NHS calls “sub-optimal care of deteriorating patients” is going up in hospitals, ambulance services and mental health settings.

The trend has emerged in previously unpublished NHS England figures provided to former Liberal Democrat health minister Norman Lamb, who has branded them “deeply disturbing”.