A round-up of today's other health stories in brief
EVENING SURGERY SEEN AS ANSWER:The British government yesterday encouraged hospitals to conduct surgery in evenings to help them reduce waiting times as doctors said Labour had failed to improve the NHS despite billions of extra funding.
Health Minister Andy Burnham said one hospital was already offering staff the chance to work four longer days instead of five normal days to extend the time available for operations.
"That works well for staff but also works for patients too. It can mean appointments at more convenient times," he said.
The government says that by the end of 2008 no patient should have to wait more than 18 weeks for a hospital appointment after being referred by their family doctor.
However, a separate survey of doctors found that those questioned felt the extra billions Labour had poured into the NHS had failed to improve the quality of care.
SUICIDE RALLY:The Action On Suicide Rally will be held tomorrow week in The Round Room adjacent to the Mansion House in Dublin.
Those personally affected by suicide, national and international experts, along with representatives of statutory and voluntary agencies, health professionals and community-based initiatives will attend the rally. Politicians have also been invited.
The rally organisers say it will provide a forum to examine Government policy and initiatives, both public and private, "to assess where Ireland will go from here to prevent further suicide deaths".
The Action On Suicide Rally is a free event and is open to the public by ticket only. Reservations can be made by phoning 01-2139905 or e-mailing 3ts@alburn.com.
KIDNEY PATIENTS AT RISK:People with failing kidneys may frequently use "natural" or homeopathic products and over-the-counter medications that could worsen their kidney function, a new study shows. And these products are sometimes recommended by their physician or pharmacist.
A study of 87 patients with chronic kidney insufficiency found 65 instances of drug-related problems, Dr Lyne Lalonde of the Center de Sante et de Services Sociaux de Laval, Quebec, and colleagues said.
"These results suggest that routine documentation and monitoring of over-the-counter medications and natural products by community pharmacists is warranted," the researchers wrote in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.
Overall, the patients were taking 66 different over-the-
counter drugs and 25 different natural products, usually for pain relief or to treat coughs and colds. Forty-nine per cent of the over-the-counter drugs had been recommended by a doctor or pharmacist, as had 19 per cent of the natural products.
HOSPITAL APOLOGISES OVER BEHAVIOUR:A hospital has apologised to a woman who claimed she was told to look for an alternative maternity unit in the Yellow Pages.
Gail Jordan (38) phoned her local hospital in Solihull, West Midlands, when she began to go into labour on January 31st, it was reported.
The first-time mother, who had arranged to have her baby in Solihull Hospital, was told the maternity ward was full. She said staff advised her to go to a hospital in Coventry but told her she must look up the telephone number herself.
The woman said: "I was absolutely stunned, in shock. You go through sheer panic, thinking am I going to have to deliver this child at home, in the car, what's going to happen?
"You're very afraid, afraid for yourself and for your child."
Instead, her husband Dean arranged for her to give birth to their son, Alexander, at Warwick Hospital.
BAN ON SMOKING IN CARS URGED:Germany may outlaw smoking in cars because it is a health hazard and a safety risk, the government's commissioner for substance abuse, Sabine Baetzing, has said. "We're examining whether it would be possible to ban smoking while driving and how that would work," she told the Kurier am Sonntag newspaper.
CHOLESTEROL FACTS:In last week's Check Up column on the subject of cholesterol, it was inaccurately stated that triglycerides are a form of cholesterol. Triglycerides are in fact a separate type of fat found in the blood along with cholesterol.