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16:05 Concussions last twice as long in teenage girls compared with teenage boys, reports the Daily Mail.
Researchers said this was due to teenage girls experiencing higher levels of anxiety and stress.
They said this suggested mental state had an impact on the brain’s ability to recover.
The study involving young American athletes found boys’ concussions cleared in 11 days when girls’ concussions took 28 days to clear.
14:40 A hospital trust is advertising for volunteer magicians after a successful trial which saw mental health inpatients learning magic tricks.
The Middlesbrough hospital said it helped boost patients’ confidence and had ‘transformed their lives’, reports the Sun.
Eamonn McClurey, community health and learning disability nurse at Tees, Esk and Wear Valley’s NHS trust, who launched the initiative, said: ‘It is a completely new idea. We go onto the wards for two hours and show them simple tricks.
‘A fortnight later we go back later and show them improvements and how to improve their patter.
‘It is about teaching them to do something others can’t which boosts the self-esteem of people who think they are not worth anything. It is amazing to see.’
12:40 Only women at risk of complications will be offered a hospital birth in a new trial being launched across five Scottish health boards.
As a result of the ‘Best Start’ five-year plan for maternity services, all other women will be expected to give birth at home or at midwife-led community units, reports Pulse’s sister title Nursing in Practice.
Speaking to The Herald, Mary Ross-Davie, Scotland director for the Royal College of Midwives, claimed that midwife-led units were the best option and led to fewer medical interventions.
She said: ‘We have midwives who have very good training and education, and can pick up on problems as they emerge and respond to them.
‘Sometimes if someone is in labour you get early warning signs that things aren’t quite going to plan, and in that case the decision would be made to transfer the patient to a consultant-led unit.’
09:30 The CQC’s new chief inspector for hospitals has used an interview with the Telegraph to complain about ‘wholly unsatisfactory arrangements’ in A&E departments, such as letting ambulances queue up outside and leaving patients waiting on trolleys in corridors.
Professor Ted Baker has written to all hospital chief executives to call for improvements to be made amid ‘a culture of learned helplessness’ in some departments.
He said the NHS isn’t fit for the 21st century, which was due to chronic underfunding and a failure to adapt services to larger numbers of older patients.
