NHS is most widely held concern of UK adults, survey finds

The NHS has narrowly replaced immigration and Brexit as a key issue facing Britain in the minds of most voters, according to a new survey of public opinion by pollsters Ipsos Mori.

Two out of five (40% of) people mentioned the health service, hospitals or healthcare as a concern to them – more than cited any other issue. That was just ahead of the numbers who identified immigration or immigrants (39%) as either the most important or an important issue.

The European Union or Europe was mentioned the third highest number of times (35%), according to the poll of 980 adults chosen to be representative of the whole population.

Europe was also identified by the largest number of respondents (23%) as the single most important issue of all facing Britain today, ahead of immigration/immigrants (20%). Using that measure of concern the NHS was only the third most often-cited issue (10%).

The firm’s latest “issues index” monthly tracker poll of what people think is important shows that 4 percentage points more people identified either immigration or the EU last month as a concern when their views were sought compared to those who had done so in August. However, an even larger monthly rise in the number of voters who mentioned the NHS – 9 percentage points – made it the most-mentioned issue. It is the first time that it has been the most widely-held concern since June 2015, when 44% cited it.

“The NHS in particular saw a rise in concern this month, as fieldwork for this survey took place as media attention was focused on the planned and then cancelled junior doctors’ strikes”, said Gideon Skinner, Ipsos Mori’s head of political research.

“But even so, this tallies with other research which suggests [that] while satisfaction with NHS services is holding up, concern about the future of Britain’s favourite public service is growing, with record levels expecting it to get worse over the next few years, while worries over waiting times and funding are perennial underlying factors,” he added.

Voters were not asked why they had specified certain issues when fieldwork for the latest survey was undertaken on 2 and 22 September. But the threatened series of five-day strikes by junior doctor in England over the new contract that has just been imposed on them, missed waiting time targets for treatment and a general unease about the health service’s future amid the rising financial and demand pressures it is under, may explain why the NHS emerged as the commonest concern.

“Although some of the increased concern about the NHS is likely to be driven by the dispute between junior doctors and the government, it shows that concerns about the huge financial and operational pressures facing the NHS are filtering through to the public,” said Professor Chris Ham, chief executive of the King’s Fund health thinktank.

“The public are right to be concerned, as the NHS is under huge financial pressure and waiting times are getting longer.”

Anxiety over increasing rationing of NHS care may also be a factor. September saw media coverage of various NHS bodies in England denying patients access to IVF treatment for infertility, cataract removal operations and breast cancer drugs costing just 34p a day. A major report by doctors also warned that the NHS was “underfunded, underdoctored, overstretched.”

Ham, a Downing Street adviser on the NHS in the early days of the coalition government, urged politicians to be more upfront about the state of the NHS and stop pretending that the extra £10bn ministers have pledged to give the service in England during this parliament will be enough.

“Politicians of all parties need to be honest with the public about the NHS, as it is not credible to suggest it can continue to meet demand for services and maintain standards of care at the same time as staying within the current budget,” Ham added.

The economy dropped five points between August and September; one in four people (25%) said it was an important issue. But education rose five points to 19%. Unemployment and poverty and inequality were each cited by 16%, while and housing fell seven points to 15%, despite widespread concern about the growing unaffordability of property.

Just 13% mentioned crime, law and order or antisocial behaviour, while the numbers citing defence, foreign affairs or terrorism fell from 19% in August to just 11% in September.

“Mrs May is facing a very different public mood to her predecessor when he began his premiership. When David Cameron took over in May 2010 the economy dominated all other topics, but since then it has dropped down the agenda and the importance of issues such as the NHS, immigration and housing has grown,” Skinner added.

“The NHS is of course a traditional strength for Labour, but although this rise in concern may give them an opportunity it doesn’t mean an automatic boost for them. First of all, Conservative supporters are just as likely to say the NHS is important to them as Labour supporters, and secondly when forced to choose the single most pressing issue, the public say Brexit and immigration are more on their minds.”

A recent poll by Britain Thinks found that while 30% of voters trusted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to protect the NHS, even more – 38% – said that Theresa May would do so.

NHS is most widely held concern of UK adults, survey finds

Lithium should be more widely used for bipolar disorder, researchers say

Britain’s 650,000 people with bipolar disorder should take lithium to help control their condition, despite its reputation for dulling the senses, a significant new study has found.

Researchers claim that although the drug does carry some health risks, its overall effectiveness, especially its ability to reduce self-harm and suicide, mean it should be much more widely used.

The findings are contained in the first study comparing the side-effects of the four main mood-stabilising drugs the NHS prescribes. They have prompted calls for a rethink about attitudes towards lithium, given that only an estimated 10% of those with bipolar disorder use it, mainly because patients fear it will cause loss of personality, weight gain and other problems.

The lead author behind the research told the Guardian that widespread “lithium stigma” among patients is leading to them receiving the wrong treatment and ending up admitted to hospital unnecessarily because their condition is not as well controlled as it could be.

“Lithium is a drug with a bad reputation. It is seen by patients, and some psychiatrists, as a dangerous drug. People rightly have suspicions about it. Patients say that the downsides include emotional numbing – feeling that you aren’t connected with your feelings – as well as tremors,” said Dr Joseph Hayes, a psychiatrist at University College London.

But lithium’s reputation is largely misplaced and based on the experiences of patients from the 1960s to the 1980s who were given too large a dose of the drug, he added. The new research, published in the medical journal PLOS Medicine, found that the side-effects of the mood-stabilising alternatives used by most patients are either the same as or worse than lithium, Hayes said.

The paper, co-written by Hayes and four colleagues from UCL and Oxford University, concluded that: “Lithium remains an important treatment for individuals with bipolar disorder.” It accepts that “there is clear evidence that its use is associated with a number of adverse events.”

However, it adds: “These risks need to be offset with the potentially superior effectiveness and anti-suicidal benefits of the drug compared to other treatment options.”

The researchers studied a nationally representative sample of 6,671 patients across the UK who were treated for bipolar disorder between 1995 and 2013. Of those, 2,148 had taken lithium, 1,670 had used valproate, 1,477 had been on olanzapine and 1,376 had taken quetiapine. They experienced side-effects including chronic kidney disease, thyroid disease, weight gain and high blood pressure.

The researchers’ analysis bore out one of the two main criticisms of lithium, but found the other to be baseless. They found that patients on lithium had a higher risk of suffering kidney function problems and developing hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism and also hypercalcemia. However, none of the drugs caused more severe kidney problems.

Meanwhile, lithium patients were less likely to put on weight than patients on the other drugs. While 15%-20% of those on the three other drugs were more likely to gain more than 15% of their body weight, just 10% of those on lithium put on the same amount of extra pounds. Those on olanzapine added the most weight and experienced high blood pressure as a result.

I think many patients are missing out quite commonly on the best available treatment

Dr Joseph Hayes

Separate research has shown that patients on the other three medications are 40% more likely to harm themselves than those on lithium. Bipolar disorder carries one of the highest rates of suicide of any mental illness, alongside schizophrenia and alcohol and drug addiction.

The very limited use of lithium is despite the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) advising in 2014 that it should be the standard treatment for bipolar disorder, which is also known as manic depression and is characterised by manic highs and bouts of depression. That superseded its previous view, outlined in 2006, that any of the four drugs were useful first lines of treatment for the condition, which affects about one in 100 people.

“Lithium stigma, which includes some people in the psychiatric community, leads to people using drugs that are less effective [than lithium]. To me as a doctor that’s a big worry because my main aim is to help people to be well and if you aren’t doing that with the best available evidence then you are failing patients,” said Hayes.

“I think that many patients are missing out quite commonly on the best available treatment. That means that people end up in hospital more often than they need to and end up achieving less in their lives than they could do if they were on lithium. The high suicide rate with bipolar disorder should encourage greater use of lithium. There should be more sensible use of it.”

Stephen Buckley, head of information at the charity Mind, said: “We welcome research which adds to our understanding of treatments and medications for people experiencing mental health problems, including bipolar disorder. But as with all areas of mental health there is still more research to be done.

“Different people will find that different treatments help with managing their mental health problems. This may be medication, talking therapies, or a mixture of both.”

Lithium should be more widely used for bipolar disorder, researchers say

KFC and McDonald"s use widely various levels of salt in identical children"s meals

The exact same children’s meals at well-liked quick food chains have been located to have hugely various ranges of salt in different nations, which campaigners say shows that the businesses could lessen levels if they wanted to.

Investigation by campaign group Globe Action on Salt and Well being (Wash) discovered that a KFC child’s meal in Costa Rica contained 18 far more teaspoons of salt than the exact same meal in the United kingdom.

Its evaluation of children’s meals sold in fast meals eating places in 37 various nations also uncovered that eight out of 10 meals have more than 1g of salt per serving.

The greatest advised salt intake for children aged four to 6 is 3g a day, and 5g for 7 to 10-year-olds. Anyone older must consume no much more than 6g of salt a day.

The Uk performed far better than most countries, with a Burger King child’s meal burger and fries containing 1.06g of salt and a Subway child’s turkey sub sandwich containing 1g, in contrast with 2.54g in Finland and one.5g in Germany respectively.

Connected: Salt: no great shakes for your overall health

It was rated lowest of all for a KFC popcorn nuggets and fries meal, which measured at .9g of salt per serving, and the McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets Pleased Meal at .78g.

The highest salt level for KFC was in Costa Rica at 5.34g , and for McDonald’s it was 2.4g in Turkey.

Wash stated too significantly salt in childhood habituates youngsters to its taste, and raises blood stress, major to strokes and heart failure.

The group is calling for all meals producers to universally lessen their products’ salt material, to support obtain the target of 5g salt a day.

Nutritionist and international programme lead at Wash, Clare Farrand, said: “The fact that these fast food chains are capable to make less salty children’s meals in some nations implies they can do the exact same in all countries, and should instantly.

“All youngsters, regardless of the place they are from, should be able to enjoy the occasional meal out, as a deal with, with out putting their overall health at chance.”

KFC and McDonald"s use widely various levels of salt in identical children"s meals

Nationwide recall of two batches of widely utilised hospital anaesthetic

A national recall of two batches of the most widely utilized anaesthesia drug probably will not influence scheduled surgical procedure, physicians say.

The Therapeutic Items Administration alerted public and personal hospitals on Friday that two batches of the anaesthetic propofol could be contaminated with the bacteria Ralstonia pickettii.

But Australian Health-related Association vice-president Professor Geoff Dobb stated the recall probably would not influence surgical procedure due to the fact there ought to be sufficient back-up supplies offered.

He stated drug companies will shift propofol stock and hospitals with plentiful supplies may possibly be ready to share with other hospitals.

“We’re lucky that there is a lot more than one supplier of this drug,” Dobb informed AAP.

“We’re hoping it will all be sorted out in two weeks at most.”

Queensland Health told AAP the state had sourced different supplies of propofol, but was doing work to urgently safe far more to keep away from any cancellation of elective surgical procedure.

Nationwide recall of two batches of widely utilised hospital anaesthetic