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GPs on watered-down new voluntary contract ‘will not provide seven-day access’
NHS England calls out ‘transformation’ plan for failing to support GPs
15:20 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn again focused on NHS in his weekly question time with Prime Minister Theresa May in the House of Commons.
In an emphatic statement, Mr Corbyn said: ‘The legacy of her Government will be the blighting our NHS for decades. Fewer hospitals, fewer A&E departments, fewer nurses and fewer people getting the care they need. We need a Government that puts the NHS first and will invest in our NHS.’
Ms May retorted that the Government was giving the NHS more funding and more doctors and nurses.
The Tories have put NHS & social care into a state of emergency – and Theresa May has no answers to @jeremycorbyn’s questions. RT ↓ #PMQs pic.twitter.com/JyCe6R748D
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) February 22, 2017
PM: NHS needs more doctors, we’re giving it more doctors & more funding. It doesn’t need a bankrupt economy that Labour would give it #PMQs
— CCHQ Press Office (@CCHQPress) February 22, 2017
15:00 Yo-yo dieting – when a person loses weight only to gain it back on again – is better for overweight people’s health than not losing weight at all, a study has suggested.
The scientists, which have yet to publish their findings, said that people should not be disheartened by the fact that nine in ten diets fail because a cycle of weight loss and gain is still beneficial, reports the Telegraph.
Dr David Allison, a biostatistician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told a US science conference: ‘We just finished a study in mice and what we found is that when mice who are obese keep on repeatedly losing and gaining that weight, they live longer than the mice that are allowed to stay obese.
‘So we think it’s probably not a bad idea to lose weight even if you are going to gain it back and redo it every few years.’
He went on to compare the process with going to the dentist.
He said: ‘If you go the dentist for your six-month evaluation, they find there’s some plaque around your teeth and scrape it off, and then they give you a toothbrush and piece of string and send you out and say keep up the good work.
‘And six months later, guess what, the plaque is back on. Just like weight loss. Nobody says dentistry is a failure. They say that’s ok.’
12:00 NICE has released a consultation on new guidance to better integrate child protection against abuse and neglect, asking the likes of teachers and police officers to consider child abuse if a child is acting up.
The Department of Health and the Department for Education has asked NICE to extend guidance beyond medical professionals in order to better support the efforts of NHS and social care staff, reports Pulse’s sister title Nursing in Practice.
Professionals who work with children such as teachers are not legally obligated to report abuse or neglect in the UK but do have a professional requirement to voice their suspicions.
Professor Corinne May-Chahal, child protection researcher at Lancaster University and chair of the NICE guideline committee said: ‘Our awareness of the different forms of child abuse and neglect is developing all the time but it is difficult for professionals to keep track of the best ways to assess abuse and intervene effectively.
‘This guideline is important as it will help professionals spot the warning signs and then focus on what early help and interventions can be provided.’
09:40 People will be born with a life expectancy of 90 years in just a little over a decade, according to a study.
The Imperial College London and World Health Organization analysis looked at lifespans in 35 industrialised countries, concluding that South Korean women will be the first to live to an average of 90 years.
UK females will be born with a life expectancy of 85 by 2030 (currently 83), and males of 82 (currently 79), according to the analysis.
‘South Korea has gotten a lot of things right,” Professor Majid Ezzati told the BBC News website.
‘They seem to have been a more equal place and things that have benefited people – education, nutrition – have benefited most people.
‘And so far, they are better at dealing with hypertension and have some of the lowest obesity rates in the world.’
The researchers added that the good news comes with consequences, posing big challenges for pensions and elderly care.
