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Private health covering more older Australians

Australian Medical Association President, Dr Bill Glasson, said today that the AMA was encouraged that older Australians are taking up private health insurance in greater numbers.

16 Feb 2005

Midwives urge payment equity under Medicare

Legislation introduced into Congress today would provide for long overdue adjustments to Medicare reimbursement rates for services provided by certified nurse-midwives, according to the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM).

16 Feb 2005

Heart specialists increasingly fear that the lack of women in cardiology

Heart specialists increasingly fear that the lack of women in cardiology, despite growing numbers of female medical students, will bring down standards of practice and research in the specialty, reveals a British Cardiac Society report.

14 Feb 2005

New York blood inventory has dropped to crisis proportions

The blood inventory of New York Blood Center, the majority supplier of blood to New York and New Jersey hospitals, has dropped to crisis proportions.

13 Feb 2005

UK tops Euro league for costs of living with heart disease

The UK is shouldering the brunt of economic burden from coronary heart disease, according to new pan-European statistics from the British Heart Foundation and the European Heart Network.

13 Feb 2005

Teaching ethical decision-making in medicine

When medical students at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine learn about ethical decision-making in patient care, one of the things they paradoxically learn is that an "ethical" problem often isn't one.

11 Feb 2005

What can Michael Howard learn from John Howard?

Australia is held up as a model of how to increase use of private health care in the United Kingdom. But experts in this week's BMJ warn that the effects of its reforms are not all beneficial and ask what can British and European conservatives learn from an Australian colleague who has deliberately sought to enhance the role of the private sector?

10 Feb 2005

Junior overseas doctors warned to be prepared for long periods of unemployment

So many junior overseas doctors are struggling to get jobs in the United Kingdom that they are now being warned to be prepared for long periods of unemployment, writes Peter Trewby, of the Royal College of Physicians in this week's BMJ Career Focus.

10 Feb 2005

Chlamydia screening in high street pharmacies across the Britain is now underway

The first step in a drive to make chlamydia screening available in high street pharmacies across the country is now underway, Public Health Minister Melanie Johnson announced today.

8 Feb 2005

Bush Administration opens the door to the elimination of critical health services for the most vulnerable women, infants and children

"The budget proposal released by the Administration this morning opens the door to the elimination of critical health services for the most vulnerable women, infants and children. The March of Dimes strongly opposes any attempt to narrow Medicaid benefits for these at risk groups.

7 Feb 2005

Bush will seek a record $70.8 billion in 2006 for Veterans Affairs

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson announced today that President Bush will seek a record $70.8 billion in the fiscal year 2006 budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), with the overwhelming majority of these resources targeted for health care and disability compensation.

7 Feb 2005

Call for faster action to improve NHS cardiac rehab services

Major failings in National Health Service provision for patients recovering from heart attacks and surgery are revealed in a new report on rehabilitation services in England launched today.

3 Feb 2005

Male surgeons report highest rate of mistakes in patient care

Male surgeons report the highest rate of mistakes in patient care, reveals a study of doctors' attitudes to "adverse events" in Quality and Safety in Health Care.

3 Feb 2005

NHS Trusts meeting government target on stroke units "in name only"

A large proportion of eligible NHS hospital trusts seem to be meeting the UK government target for setting up stroke units, but in name only, suggests a national audit, published in Quality and Safety in Health Care.

3 Feb 2005

Needlestick injuries in healthcare workers still occurring

The latest Health Protection Agency report on the occupational exposure of healthcare workers (HCWs) to bloodborne viruses (BBVs) shows that nine healthcare workers were infected with hepatitis C through needlestick injuries over the last six years, with seven reported between July 2003 and June 2004.

27 Jan 2005

British call for more sperm

The UK needs more sperm and egg donors to meet an increasing demand, the Government has announced.

26 Jan 2005

Minorities who experience pain don’t receive the same care as Caucasians

The first issue of Pain Medicine in 2005 will focus on the inequalities and differences in how pain is assessed and treated amongst various racial and ethnic minority groups. Data from the articles in this themed edition provide evidence that African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians and other racial and ethnic minorities do not receive optimal care in treatment for pain.

26 Jan 2005

BMA Scotland response to Health Committee workforce planning report

Welcoming the publication of the Scottish Parliament Health Committee's findings from its inquiry into workforce planning in the NHS, Dr Bill O'Neill, Scottish Secretary of the BMA, said:

25 Jan 2005

Community-based education programs can reduce falls and injuries among older people

Preliminary evidence suggests that community-based education programs can reduce falls and injuries among older people by as much as 33 percent. In these programs, health advocates introduce multiple fall-prevention measures as a package across an entire community.

24 Jan 2005

Consultation on NHS Pension Scheme Review opens in Scotland

Consultation on the NHS Pension Scheme Review for Scotland starts today (24 January 2005) with the publication of the long awaited consultation document. The BMA will be collecting the views of doctors in Scotland to feed into its formal response.

24 Jan 2005