Daily digest March 4 2015

Doctors mistake grief of bereaved older people as depression

When experiencing bereavement, many older people seek help from a GP to cope with the crushing feelings of loneliness.

But they are often misdiagnosed with depression and given powerful drugs they do not need, a study claims.

Widows and widowers are also tarred with the stigma of mental illness, say experts.

Read more on the Daily Mail website: click here

GPs to prescribe new boilers for patients in fuel poverty

GPs will be encouraged to ‘prescribe’ free boilers or insulation to vulnerable patients living in cold homes, under plans backed by energy secretary Ed Davey.

Ministers yesterday announced £1 million of funding to build on current small-scale trials of ‘warmth on prescription’ programmes, which have so far helped a small number patients in the north east of England.

Patients experiencing respiratory diseases that are exacerbated by the cold have received home improvements worth about £5,000 each under trials.

Read more on the Telegraph website: click here

A&Es received less than 1 per cent of emergency winter cash

Less than 1 per cent of the £700 million allocated by the government for emergency care in England this winter ended up directly in A&E departments, according to a survey of senior clinicians on the NHS front line.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine, which commissioned the research published today, said the results suggested the cash was not spent in a way that would improve emergency services, with some of it even used to pay off trust debts.

NHS England accused the college of ‘blatant inaccuracies’, while the Department of Health called the figures 'nonsense’.

Read more on the Guardian website: click here