By Steve Nowottny
Our round-up of health news headlines on Thursday 29 July.
We begin this morning with a story reported in a number of papers based on comments from public health minister Anne Milton, who yesterday told the BBC that GPs should shy away from calling patients ‘obese' – and be much blunter.
‘Obese? Just call them fat' screams the Mail's headline, in a story somewhat unfortunately juxtaposed with a picture of an even-skinner-than-usual Cheryl Cole, who was photographed yesterday for the first time after her recovery from malaria.
The Guardian, Press Association and even the Sydney Morning Herald all carry the story (the ‘call-them-fat' story rather than Cheryl Cole's photoshoot, that is).
The Guardian covers a report due out today which will call for the John Radcliffe hospital to stop children's heart surgery for good after an investigation into the deaths of four babies.
Meanwhile as the health service prepares for massive cuts, the Mail has another example of profligate spending. This time it's temporary managers at Dorset County Hospital in the spotlight, in a story headlined: ‘Cash-crisis hospital paid this man £2,557 a day… to cut costs!' The Times also carries the story (although you'll need to pay to read it online), as does the Guardian.
And finally, it's official, it must be summer… because the obligatory unlikely-threat-to-public-health story makes page three of the Daily Mail.
‘Beware of the superfly with a taste for humans', we're warned, in an article illustrated with a frankly terrifying close-up of an evil-looking fly, and two case studies entitled ‘The nurse took one look at my foot and gasped' and ‘My boys thought I was turning into a zombie'.
So, if you encounter any patients this morning reporting a close encounter with the Blandford fly – ‘the creature may be just two or three millimetres long but it packs a painful and unpleasant punch' – be afraid. Be very afraid.
Spotted a story we've missed? Let us know, and we'll update the digest throughout the day...
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