Other UK News In Brief





BMA Respond To Report On Hospital Productivity



Commenting on today’s Committee of Public Accounts report on the productivity of hospitals in England, Dr Paul Flynn, Deputy Chairman of the British Medical Association’s Consultants Committee, said:

 “Crude measures of productivity fail to take into account some of the most important improvements that have taken place in the NHS. Investment has allowed doctors to spend more time with patients, with major reductions in mortality rates and waiting times.

 Although this report talks about “significant pay rises”, consultants’ salaries have been frozen for two years. We agree that new ways of working are necessary if the NHS is to achieve the efficiency savings demanded of it. However, knee-jerk responses - such as cutting the time consultants can spend on the development of new services - are likely to be counterproductive in the long term.”

Social Policy Expert Appointed To Lead Independent Fuel Poverty Review

Social Policy Expert Professor John Hills has been appointed by Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne to lead an independent Review of the fuel poverty target and definition. A household is currently classed as being in "fuel poverty" if it would need to spend more than 10% of its income on fuel to keep their home warm enough. Chris Huhne said: "The Government is committed to help people, especially the vulnerable, heat their homes more affordably. The Review will analyse how we define and measure fuel poverty from an independent perspective. Professor John Hills will bring insight, authority and understanding to the role of the independent reviewer. I have asked him to report back to me with his final findings early next year." The independent review has been asked to look at fuel poverty from first principles, what causes it, its effects, and how best to measure it. If appropriate based on initial findings, it will identify and consult on options for alternative definitions and associated forms of target.

Heavy Drinking Not Linked To Common Type Of Gullet Cancer



Heavy drinking is not associated with one of the two most common types of gullet (oesophageal) cancer, suggests research published online in Gut.

 Gullet cancer is the sixth leading cause of cancer death worldwide and occurs as one of two main types: squamous cell carcinoma or adenocarcinoma.

 But while rates of gullet adenocarcinoma have soared in many Western countries over the past three decades, those of squamous cell carcinoma have been falling. The squamous cell variety is strongly linked to alcohol consumption.

 The authors pooled data from 11 international studies, involving 15,000 participants and 4,600 cases in the Barrett’s Esophagus and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Consortium (BEACON) on both types of gullet cancer, plus another arising at the junction of the lower gullet and the stomach (oesophagogastric junction or OGJA for short).

 Heavy drinkers (seven or more alcoholic drinks a day) were more than 9.5 times as likely to develop oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma as non-drinkers. 

But the authors found no evidence linking this level of alcohol consumption, or, for that matter, any particular type of alcohol, to heightened risk of either oesophageal adenocarcinoma or OGJA.

 And light drinkers (half to one unit of alcohol daily) had a lower risk of these gullet cancers than non-drinkers, although low alcohol consumption could simply reflect other aspects of a healthy lifestyle, or chance, say the authors. They added: 

“Our results for (oesophageal adenocarcinoma) and OGJA stand in remarkable contrast to results for (oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma) in this and previously published studies.” 

The findings suggest that the risk factors for gullet cancer vary according to the type of disease, they say, adding that other research suggests that weight, smoking, and infection with Helicobacter pylori also confer different levels of risk for the two most common forms of this cancer.

(BMcN/KMcA)