15:00 The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) has called on the House of Commons Health Select Committee to conduct an inquiry into the ’escalating crisis in the NHS in England relating to the new junior doctors’ contract’.
The College’s president stated that an urgent inquiry by the health committee could facilitate the timely resolution of the current difficulties and look at the longer-term impact on the NHS in England.
11:55 Elsewhere, a new study has revealed that excessive drinkers are more likely to seek help if they are told where their drinking ranks compared to other people.
Alcohol bottles – online
Researchers at Warwick University Business School found that after a group of drinkers were sent different messages by text – more sought advice when they were sent a message saying they drank more units per week than most of the other participants in percentage terms.
The study also found the message far more effective than sending them a text saying what the recommended level of drinking is, or when told how much they drink compared to the recommended level or what the average is for their age group.
11:00 New data from the HSCIC has revealed that the number of under-16s admitted to hospital in England for self-harming has increased by 76% in the last five years, the Independent reports.
The new figures show that the number has soared from 6,882 in 2009/10 to 12,119 in 2014/15.
9:30 The big news story in the nationals today is a study that claims that vitamin D supplements may help people with diseased hearts.
The trial – which was undertaken by a Leeds Teaching Hospitals team and is based on only 163 heart failure patients – seemed to find that supplements of the vitamin improved their hearts’ ability to pump blood around the body, the BBC reports.
It comes after GP experts were warning that vitamin D prescribing was ‘out of control’ following a Pulse investigation that revealed prescriptions since 2012 had rocketed.
