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Only one in five doctors proud of the NHS, chronic pain ‘inherited’ and why girls think exercise is not cool

Just one in five doctors and nurses feel pride or optimism about the NHS – whereas their managers are much more positive, reveals a survey reported by The Telegraph this morning.

The King’s Fund survey of 2,000 nurses, doctors and managers found just 20% of nurses and 23% of doctors working in the NHS said they felt “pride and optimism” about the service – compared with 63% of executive directors. Nicola Hartley, director of Leadership Development at The King’s Fund said: ‘The survey reveals a mixed picture of leadership and compassion in the NHS. The disconnect between the views of executive directors and other staff, especially nurses and doctors, is cause for concern.’

Elsewhere there’s worrying news about the attitude of young girls to exercise in The Independent this morning, following a survey that revealed a third believe it is ‘socially unacceptable’ to get hot and sweaty.

The survey, carried out by Virgin Active, found 36% of girls said it was ‘socially acceptable’ for boys to get hot and sweaty but that the same was not true for girls, while 32% said leading an active life was not important to them, the paper reports.

Perhaps unsurprisingly in light of this, 39% of 16-year-old girls said they never undertook any strenuous activity while at school.

Finally, an interesting study reported by the BBC suggests chronic pain conditions may be inheritable. The study by Kings College London researchers looked at more than 8,000 sets of twins and found four conditions – irritable bowel syndrome, musculoskeletal pain, pelvic pain and dry eye disease – were common in identical pairs.

The researchers said that while environmental factors probably still play a role in each of the four conditions, genes could account for as much as two-thirds of a person’s chance of developing the disease.

Lead investigator Dr Frances Williams said: ‘The findings have clearly suggested that chronic pain may be heritable within families. With further research, these findings could then lead to therapies which may change the lives of those suffering with chronic pain.’


          

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