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Daily digest April 10 2015

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Daily digest

Hundreds of twins die annually because hospitals ignore birth guidance

Twins and triplets are dying or suffering severe disabilities such as cerebral palsy every year because so few hospitals are following clinical guidelines during their birth, a charity warns.

The Twins & Multiple Births charity (Tamba) said that ‘multiples’ make up 3% of births every year but account for 7.4% of stillbirths and 18.4% of neonatal deaths, where a baby dies in its first month of life.

More than 500 babies die before or shortly after a multiple birth every year, the Times reports. These babies also carry more than six times the risk of cerebral palsy.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence introduced clinical guidelines in 2011 to try to reduce the risks, but a study by Tamba indicates that fewer than one in five maternity wards had introduced them.

(£) Read the story on the Times website
 

Lib Dem party member says NHS cancer care is a ‘national disgrace’

The Tory-led Coalition’s handling of cancer care has been branded a ‘national disgrace’ by prominent Liberal Democrat party member Tessa Munt, according to the Mirror.

Ms Munt has called for a radical overhaul of the NHS to help save thousands of cancer patients.

Her call comes just 48 hours after 140 doctors signed a letter demanding prime minister David Cameron stops the privatisation of the health service.

Describing the treatment of some patients as ‘brutal’, she wrote on the Mirror Online: ‘NHS England as it stands is unmanageable and unworkable. It is failing cancer patients all over the country.’

Read the full story at Mirror Online
 

Patients can jump the queue for cataract ops by paying themselves

Half of hospitals are letting patients jump NHS queues for cataract surgery if they pay for it themselves, an investigation reported in the Mail Online has revealed.

Some are charging up to £2,700 for one eye – treble what it costs the health service – raising suspicions that they are ripping off older patients.

Read the story at the Mail Online