HEALTH NEWS
Dive into a clean pool! 98.3 per cent of England’s bathing waters met the EC’s minimum water quality standards in 2009, up from 96% in 2008, tests carried out by the Environment Agency show. In 2007 and 2008, exceptionally wet weather contributed to lower standards of bathing water. Heavy rainfall caused pollution from agriculture and from urban areas to run off and lead to more frequent operation of Combined Sewer Overflows. The Environment Agency investigates the causes of failure at each
bathing water site that falls below mandatory standards and takes appropriate measures to address sources of pollution. Measures taken to reduce and mitigate pollution from agriculture include the Catchment Sensitive Farming Delivery Initiative and the establishment of Nitrate Vulnerable Zones, which now cover approximately 70 per cent of England. Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
Self-help guide Strange rash on skin? Pain in chest? Now you can search information by body map on NHS’s website. There is a handy self-help guide. It’s simply and easy to use. It doesn’t really nurse you but maybe you can avoid queueing in health centre. Check first on website and decide after that if the symptoms need doctor’s look.
www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/help/index
UK Tops International List on Healthcare The NHS has been ranked as having one of the best primary health care systems in the world in a survey by the leading US think tank the Commonwealth Fund, published in November. In a survey of more than 10,000 primary care physicians in 11 developed countries, the NHS was rated top in a number of key areas including being the only country where the majority of doctors feel the quality of healthcare is improving. The annual survey of international healthcare comparisons this year polled primary care doctors for their views on their health systems. The UK was rated top in several categories including: Improvements in quality over the past three years; Least likely to report long waiting times for patients referred for specialist care; Managing chronic conditions with specialist teams; Using financial incentives to reward doctors for good patient experience; The use of patient satisfaction and experience data to improve services; and The use of comparative data to review doctors’ clinical performance. Speaking from Washington at the Commonwealth Fund’s 2009 international health symposium, Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: “This is an important moment for the NHS. The journey to overhaul the quality of care over the last ten years has paid off. The NHS is not perfect but it has moved from poor to good and I want to see it go from good to great on the next stage of the journey. “
Fight for your jab Finns have started to fight for their swine flu vaccines. In November, in Kuopio people got angry in health centre’s waiting room. They have been waited many hours and some clients started to get nervous. In the end members of staff needed to ask for a security guy to come. There have been long swine flu vaccination queues in Finland. People must have returned in another day because vaccines have run out right in the middle. This has frustrated Finns all around the country. www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/help/index
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