Our roundup of the health news headlines on Thursday 20 October.
Kicking things off is a news story in the Guardian, where RCGP chair Dr Clare Gerada, compares the post-health bill NHS to a budget airline.
‘I worry we're heading towards a situation where healthcare will be like a budget airline. There will be two queues: one queue for those who can afford to pay, and another for those who can't. Seats will be limited to those who muscle in first, and the rest will be left stranded on the tarmac,' she said.
An undercover investigation by Which? has shone a bright overhead light onto the world of dentistry, exposing poor quality assessments and inadequate treatment plans among NHS and private dentists. The investigation, reported in the Guardian, also found three quarters of dentist visited didn't check soft tissue, which can help detect oral cancer and eight of the NHS and five of the 10 private dentists gave inappropriate advice, some missing the need for essential treatment. Wowzas. Daily digest knew there was a reason it hadn't visited the dentist since age 18 (don't tell our Mum).
The Telegraph gives us the concerning news that women who undergo fertility treatment are 40% more likely to develop a serious complication in pregnancy. American researchers, presenting the study at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine's annual conference, had analysed existing studies and found that IVF increases risk of pre-eclampsia.
The Daily Mail tells us with giddy delight that ‘it is not just women that have to worry about their biological clock'. After a study that was presented at the same conference - American Society for Reproductive Medicine's annual conference – found chances of pregnancy fell from 60% for men aged 41 to just 35% for 45-year-olds. But the newspaper implores us to remember the likes of Rod Stewart who became a father for the eighth time aged 66 and Des O'Connor who managed to hit the target at 72 for his fifth child.
