‘Round the clock pressure’ in the NHS, Government backs stringent funding plan, and Cornflakes as a cure for self-pleasure

Out of hours services in Scotland dealt with nearly 1 million cases last year, a sign of the ‘round the clock pressure’ that the NHS is under.

The Express reports that out of hours services saw a total of 894,474 patients on evenings, weekends and public holidays, amounting to 997,112 cases in total – and almost one fifth of patients were 75 or older.

The Government has said it backs NHS finance watchdog Monitor’s letter to hospital bosses calling drastic saving measures, which include leaving non-urgent vacancies unfilled, the Independent reports.

But the Royal College of Nursing have warned that patient care could suffer if staffing levels ‘were decided by accountants’, RCN chief executive said, Janet Davies, said: ‘Staffing levels are either safe or they are not, and this must be decided based on patient need, using safe staffing guidance. If staffing levels are decided by accountants rather than clinical staff, patient care will suffer.’

And finally, an unusual remedy for the overly arduous as the Daily Mail reports that the nation’s beloved cornflakes were created as a cure-all for ‘self-pleasuring’.

This tid-bit comes courtesy of blog, Mental Floss, and the Mail reports that puritanical Mr Kellogg believed meat and rich foods would stoke sexual desires, while plainer foods could purify them.

The article goes on to further spoil the most important meal of the day by revealing Mr Kellogg also created a yogurt-based enema machine for maintaining a healthy bowel.

Pulse is unaware of NICE guidance to support any of the treatments mentioned, and wishes to caution any trailblazing GPs that Mr Kellogg was unlikely to have planned for a world of Frosties, Coco Pops and Nougat stuffed chocolate pillows at the breakfast table.