Daily digest May 1 2015

Monthly figure for FGM treatment hits new high

A total of 578 girls were treated for female genital mutilation in England in March in what campaigners said was just the tip of the iceberg.

The figures, from the Health and Social Care Information Centre, bring the total of identified cases of FGM to 3,963 since data began to be collected in September.

Read more on the Guardian website

New treatment to halt Alzheimer’s

A wonder drug has been developed that can halt Alzheimer’s in its tracks, according to the Express.

The drug, which stops a toxic protein from building up in the brain, could spare millions of Britons from the devastating disease.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have said that in just a few years a pill could be given to people at high risk of Alzheimer’s before tell-tale symptoms, such as memory loss, appear.

Read more on the Express website

Doctors warn of delays in skin cancer testing

Thousands of potential patients are facing deadly delays in diagnosis due to a shortage of specialist staff, leading doctors warn.

Experts suggest a quarter of all GP visits involve skin complaints, the Sun reports.

But the British Association of Dermatologists said members are struggling to cope with the workload and poor GP training means many are being wrongly diagnosed.

(£) Read more on the Sun website

NHS scores better than private GPs

Out-of-hours GP services run by private companies are scored worse by patients than NHS ones, according to the Times.

Researchers at the University of Exeter used responses from 85,000 people to the GP Patient Survey to compare scores for promptness of care, trust in the doctor and overall satisfaction.

Private companies scored an average of 69 out of 100 for satisfaction, compared with 72 for not-for-profit organisations and 73 for the NHS, the researchers report in the BMJ.

(£) Read more on the Times website