Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has admitted doctors and nurses in the NHS are working ‘harder than ever’ – but denied there is a crisis in A&E, despite several hospitals declaring ‘major incidents’ in recent days and figures showing that waiting times are at their worst in a decade, The Telegraph reports.
Mr Hunt insisted in a BBC Radio 4 Today programme interview that the NHS ‘was coping’, the paper says.
And, according to the article, health and care minister Norman Lamb said on BBC Breakfast that ‘the whole system is under intense pressure’ but ‘I wouldn’t describe it as a crisis’.
What should really be a good news story is bad news for the NHS, The Independent reports, as a leading cancer charity warns that improved cancer survival rates could cause a crisis of ‘unmanageable proportions’.
Macmillan Cancer Support has said improving survival rates had created a growing number of people who had not returned to full health because of serious side effects. The charity said a record 2.5 million people are now living with cancer or the after-effects of it and the long-term burden would put ‘huge pressure’ on the NHS, the paper reports.
Lastly, in a more light-hearted take on the health news, the Daily Mail reports on how people can help stave off the worst effects of a cold by keeping their noses warm.
Apparently Yale University researchers have found that a drop in temperature does make people more susceptible to a cold – after years of scientists pooh-poohing the notion.
Professor Ron Eccles, director of Cardiff University’s Common Cold Centre, suggested people wrap a scarf around their nose when out and about during the winter to avoid getting a cold.
Professor Eccles said: ‘Crowding is a factor, but I do believe that the cooling of the nose is important. During the winter, we wrap up in overcoats but don’t put anything over our nose.’
