Daily digest July 7 2015

Hospital staff destroy doll that woman treated as her own child

A woman with severe learning disabilities has been awarded £65,000 in compensation from the NHS, after hospital staff cut up a doll that she treated as her own child, the Telegraph has reported.

Susan Hearsey may never recover from the cruelty she suffered when her beloved doll was damaged and disfigured in front of her after she was admitted to Walsall Manor Hospital, her lawyers say.

The 64 year old was subjected to inhumane treatment and inadequate care, her family alleged, and the hospital has now apologised and ordered a full investigation into the September 2013 incident.

Ms Hearsey’s family claim nurses damaged the doll, called Rachel, to force her to do as they said when she was admitted following a fall.

Richard Kirby, chief executive of Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, said: ‘We are very sorry that this incident occurred and would like to apologise to Ms Hearsey and her family.’

Read more on the Telegraph website

A third of pregnant women binge drink, a study has found

The research into alcohol use in pregnancy also found that 75% of those studied drank some alcohol while pregnant and were significantly more likely to do so if they smoked. The researchers said their findings raised a significant public health concern.

The study, published in BMJ Open, was carried out by researchers from the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, involving 17,244 women who had given birth in those countries and led by a team at Cork University Maternity Hospital in the Republic of Ireland.

(£) Read more on the Times website

One million older people without basic social care

The number of older people who need help with basic tasks, but have been left to struggle by an unprecedented withdrawal of state-funded social care, has hit one million, according to Age UK.

The charity estimated last year that 900,000 people in England between the age of 65 and 89 had unmet social care needs, but experts at the charity now believe the figure is closer to one million.

It says cuts to social care budgets under the coalition, combined with a growing older population, had led to an ‘exponential’ increase in the number of people left to struggle.

Read more on the Independent website

Patient death rate 8% higher at weekends

Patients admitted to hospital for emergency treatment at weekends are 8% more likely to die than those who arrive on a weekday, research suggests.

Records from 1.3 million patients in 11 hospitals in England reveal there is a significant 'weekend effect' that influences a patient's chance of surviving an illness or accident.

The study, conducted by researchers at Imperial College London, suggests the lower numbers of staff in hospitals on Saturdays and Sundays reduce patients' likelihood of walking out alive.

Read more on the Mail Online website