This site is intended for health professionals only


Serco under investigation, black market organ transplants and why you should order a curry tonight

Voted as Britain's favourite dish, curry is often slammed as being unhealthy. But curry connoisseurs can rejoice, as the Daily Mail reports on new research that found that eating a curry every day helps bolster the immune system.

US researchers who published their findings in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry found that curcumin, which is found in the turmeric popular in curries, caused a significant increase in a protein that boosts the immune system, helping the body to fight bacteria and viruses. A great excuse for a takeaway!

So curries are in but dads are out. The word ‘dad' has been removed from an NHS parenting leaflet so as not to exclude same-sex couples, reports The Telegraph. The non-gender specific term ‘partner' will now be used in the Ready Steady Baby pamphlet, which has given advice to parents-to-be for the last 14 years.

Some are concerned that traditional family values are being undermined, and believe that the £100,000 cost to the taxpayer is misspent.

There was widespread coverage of the WHO's warning about the rise of transplant operations involving organs bought on the black market.

A Guardian investigation revealed that organised gangs are believed to be harvesting organs such as kidneys from vulnerable people for patients offering up to £130, 000.

A rise in diabetes and other diseases has increased demand, meaning 10,000 people a year- one an hour- are thought to travel to China, India, or Pakistan for illegal transplant operations.

The Guardian led on the news that Serco, a private health company currently commissioned to provide out-of-hours care in Cornwall, and set to win a new batch of outsourced contracts, is under investigation.

Whistleblowers got in touch with NHS watchdogs, claiming the company allowed queues of patients to build up on its helpline and employed too few staff to cover the county.

Serco denies any wrongdoing and asserts it was inspected by an independent auditor who confirmed that they had acted in line with the rules.