Displaying items by tag: NHS

Hospitals are putting vulnerable female patients with men on NHS mental health wards. 1,019 sexual assaults were reported by male and female patients between April 2017 and October 2019. 491 attacks were so serious that they required safeguarding action, with 104 incidents reported to police. Over the same period, just 286 cases reported on single- sex wards. The figures sparked calls for the Government to invest in mental health infrastructure where wards are out of date, forcing men and women to mix together. In 2018, the Care Quality Commission investigated concerns around sexual safety in mental health wards and identified 1,120 sexual incidents involving patients, staff and visitors between April and June 2017. Although ministers pledged to eliminate mixed NHS wards, a loophole in the rules means male and female patients can still mix without breaching the guidelines.

Christian doctor David Mackereth, with over 26 years of experience, found that for upholding Biblical truth you can lose your job. A judge has ruled that his belief in Genesis 1:27 is ‘incompatible with human dignity’. The judge is saying that there is no protection in law for the Biblical belief that God made humans unchangeably male and female, putting Christian truth in the same category as racist and Neo-Nazi views. David held to what God says about men and women and his Christian views were not protected in a UK court of law. He lost his job for telling the truth, and now an Employment Tribunal has ruled against him. Christian Concern’s expert legal team has already started work to take this case to an appeal tribunal.

A Christian man is calling for more caution from medical and mental health services after undergoing irreversible gender reassignment surgery. His story represents a stark warning to parents, government, and medical and educational services, at a time when figures released by the NHS reveal a 2,500% increase in referrals to gender identity clinics over the past decade. After an appointment with a psychiatrist, despite having suicidal thoughts and mental health issues on his medical records, he was automatically put on a waiting list for gender identity clinic with ‘no underlying medical conditions’. The NHS paid for the operation, which he now deeply regrets, saying, ‘When I see and hear of books such as “10,000 Dresses” being read to schoolchildren, I see the same influence that led me to this harmful addiction. More must be done to protect our children, not to encourage them to pursue the same destructive path that I did.’

A survey of 1,400 women with Down’s syndrome babies found that 69% were offered a termination. Nearly half who wanted to continue with the pregnancy were asked again. 91% were offered further tests after discovering a high chance of Down's. Of those who declined further tests, 44% were pressurised regardless. One mother said that, even though they made it clear that wasn't an option for them, professionals pushed them about fifteen times to terminate. ‘At 38 weeks they said if I changed my mind on the morning of the induction to let them know, because it wasn't too late; until the baby had started travelling down the birth canal, I could still terminate.’ Millions of pounds are poured into refining the Down’s screening process, whilst £5.33 per person per year is spent on research to improve the lives of people with Down's syndrome.

Favouring one food over everything else for a length of time can lead to health issues. A survey of 2,000 parents found that nearly half believe their child is a fussy eater. Autism-related sensory aversions are common as the person insists on ‘sameness’ and consistently eats the same food. This week a British teenager was left blind and partially deaf after living on a diet of chips, sausages and crisps because he did not like the ‘texture’ of fruit, vegetables and other foods. He developed a condition normally only seen in under-developed countries. Pray for dangerous eating to be recognised early by friends and family so that an NHS referral can be implemented. Pray for more feeding therapists to be trained so that families who identify unhealthy eating habits can access help, learn what is contributing to the condition, and develop overcoming strategies.

Over the past three years there has been a 50% increase of pupils aged 11 and under with mental health issues being referred to child health services. Some stay on waiting lists for years before being offered help. Three head teachers told the BBC of the lack of support for disturbed children in their schools where 4 and 5 year-olds self-harm (head-butt, punch walls, pull out chunks of their hair). Nationally, primary school head teachers are reporting a year on year increase of more and more seven and eight-year-old children with a variety of problems and they are finding it harder to manage the acute crisis. Four pupils have attempted to kill themselves on primary school grounds. Please pray for the teachers who are trained to teach, not engage in welfare work or embark on mental health counselling. Pray for the NHS to hear this cry from Educators and act now before the current support system breaks down. See also article in World section – Global Mental Health of the young and BBC report .

Hospitals are meant to start cancer treatment within 62 days of an urgent GP referral. Government cancer strategies have always insisted that meeting that deadline is vital in order to ease patient anxiety, lower the risk of complications, and improve outcomes. It is impossible to tell exactly what impact waiting longer might have: much depends on the type of cancer and whether it is diagnosed at an advanced stage or not. Nearly three-quarters of services are failing to meet that deadline. The worst performer was the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust, which saw fewer than 61% of patients within 62 days. Bosses there said they had seen a larger surge in demand than in other services. Other trusts have also pointed to increased demand, with the biggest regional centres seeing the most complex cases that tend to take the longest time.

Up to fifty patients who should be released, some with learning disabilities and autism, are stuck in secure units run by mental health hospital charities. St Andrew's Healthcare treats up to 900 patients with severe mental health and learning difficulties. 90% of referrals are from the NHS and need specialist care. However there is a lack of suitable community places, so seclusion is the emergency response. Seclusion rooms are bare, with a hatch in the door for patients to receive food and have physical contact. BBC TV footage showed a teenager locked in seclusion, able to touch their parent only through a door hatch. Patients are supposed to be admitted to these units for nine to 18 months, but the average stay nationally is five years. One patient was detained an extra 524 days after they should have been released.

Blood transfusions in the 1970s and 80s infected 4,800 patients with hepatitis C or HIV. As a public inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal begins this week, the victims and families of the 2,000 who died want justice and the Government held to account. The stigma attached to HIV meant that victims received hate mail and death threats, and the scandal was hushed up. This inquiry will finally give people the opportunity to tell their stories as evidence is heard. One victim said, ‘They will be horrified to hear what happened’. The UK relied on blood products from America manufactured from blood from thousands of paid high-risk donors (prisoners and drug addicts). Campaigners say there is evidence that the health service knew the blood was contaminated but carried on giving it, and there have been allegations of a government cover-up.

Children should have two measles inoculations to be fully protected, but 527,000 UK children were not given the vaccine between 2010 and 2017. The NHS has warned that measles cases had almost quadrupled in 12 months, and urged families to get vaccinated. One person with measles could infect ninety others who are not immune. Measles is infectious before the rash appears, so you cannot simply 'keep away'. Public Health England said that unimmunised people were in danger of catching the disease while outbreaks continued in Europe. In Greater Manchester, more cases were recorded this year than in 2018 and 2017 combined. NHS chief Simon Stevens warned that ‘vaccination deniers’ gained traction on social media, leading to false information spreading. Matt Hancock, the health secretary, called for legislation to force social media companies to remove content promoting incorrect information about vaccines.