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#GPnews: Internet reacts to Hunt reappointment

16:41 Some potentially good news here. This afternoon, Pulse can exclusively report that NHS England bosses have relaxed the requirements for vulnerable GP practices wanting to access emergency support, after reports that practices were being put off for asking for help from the scheme.

Read the full story here

16:30 Intense fitness regimes have led to a rise in knee, hip and back problems among young people, reports the Telegraph.

Dr Gorav Datta, an orthopaedic surgeon at Southampton General Hospital, told the newspaper that high-intensity workout regimes had contributed to a four-fold increase in damage to bones and joints in the under-30s.

He warned especially about ‘explosive’ exercise programmes designed for maximum effect in as short a time possible, often adopted by busy young professionals.

Dr Datta said: ‘Over the past few years there has been a real expansion in the fitness market designed to meet the needs of young people with many conflicting priorities.

‘Cult fitness regimes and the use of over-zealous personal trainers, all of which emphasise high-intensity, high-impact work, appeal to those who want to cram exercise into their hectic daily lives.’

But he said the problem with these ‘short and intense bursts and repetitions’ is that they ‘can wreak havoc with joints and, longer-term, lead to the need for surgery’.

14:39 Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has been told he is ‘the only one who is thrilled’ at his reappointment, reports the Express.

The paper has covered some of the Twitter reaction as Mr Hunt was yesterday reported to have been sacked, then reposted elsewhere in the Cabinet, but finally retained in the health secretary role.

The paper reports that ‘thousands of people took to Twitter to vent their frustration, many using an expletive based on his surname, in response to the news’.

Elsewhere, the Telegraph says in a comment piece that keeping Mr Hunt on was ‘the boldest move in this reshuffle’.

Mr Hunt has made himself especially unpopular with junior doctors who are opposing his decision to impose a new contract, despite a majority of doctors rejecting it.

11:55 Women with secondary breast cancer are being ‘ignored’ by medics and face long referral waits, according to a damning report.

The report compiled by Breast Cancer Care said thousands of women were being ‘failed’ by the NHS because the symptoms their cancer has come back and spread are being missed, reports the Mirror.

A survey found one in ten women with secondary breast cancer were diagnosed in A&E rather than at a breast clinic, and one in five said they had to wait eight weeks or more for a secondary care appointment after raising concerns with their GP.

09:40 The zika epidemic in Latin America is likely to rage for another two or three years then naturally die down because people cannot catch the mosquito-born virus twice, reports BBC News.

Referred to as ‘herd immunity’ this simply means there are no more people to infect.

Although symptoms are non-existent or mild in most people, it has been declared a public health emergency because of the risk it poses in causing babies to be born with microcephaly (under-sized heads).

But Imperial College London researchers advised against trying to contain the virus, as this could actually prolong the epidemic. They also said it would not be effective to try to target the type of mosquito that is spreading the virus.

Lead author Professor Neil Ferguson said: ‘Slowing transmission between people means the population will take longer to reach the level of herd immunity needed for transmission to stop.

‘It might also mean that the window between epidemics could actually get shorter.’