Showing posts tagged with: death

Just a 15 minute stroll four times a week can reduce the risk of an early death by 40%

Older people who take a short walk just four  times a week reduce the risk of an early death by a staggering 40 per  cent.

Each walk only needs to be a 15-minute stroll in the open air to give them a better chance of extending their longevity by a few years, say Italian researchers.

Allowing for a host of other factors from smoking to diet, the walking pensioners had a 40 per cent better survival rate than those who did not, they found.

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Ex-CQC executive denies Cumbria baby death cover-up claim

A former deputy chief executive of the Care Quality Commission says she was not involved in any decision to delete a critical internal review.

Last week an independent report into the CQC's investigation of the deaths of babies at Furness General Hospital found evidence of a possible cover-up.

But Jill Finney told the BBC that she and two other senior colleagues did not decide to suppress the review.

She said they agreed it "required much further work" before being published.

More than 30 families have now taken legal action against the hospital in relation to baby and maternal deaths and injuries from 2008.

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'Early access' drugs scheme launched for severely ill

Severely ill patients and those with rare debilitating conditions could be given new medicines years before they are licensed, under new regulations.

The Early Access to Medicines scheme would enable a small number of promising medicines to be fast-tracked.

The idea is to help patients in England with severe illnesses who have no other treatment options.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will oversee the scheme, being launched in April.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "What patients want is sometimes to try medicines that may not be clinically proven to be effective but are clinically safe.

"We are streamlining the process so these medicines can be used much earlier - particularly if they have early promise - and that is something which will bring hope to a lot of patients."

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End-of-life care 'deeply concerning'

The care given to people dying in hospital is "deeply concerning", according to doctors who have carried out a review of standards in England.

The audit found only a fifth of hospitals provided specialist end-of-life care seven days a week - 10 years after this was recommended.

Communication was also particularly poor, the joint Royal College of Physicians and Marie Curie review said.

More than 500,000 people die each year in England - half of them in hospital.

The review looked at the care given to more than 6,500 people who had died last year in 149 hospitals.

Some but not all of them had been on the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway.

This covers care given during the final stages of life and can involve withdrawal of medication, food and fluids, but is being phased out following criticism about how it was being used.

More than 800 bereaved relatives were also asked for their views. Three-quarters said they felt supported during their loved-one's final two days of life.

To read more about this, please click here.

Charity encourages families to talk about old age

Too many people avoid talking about getting old, particularly conversations about end-of-life care, suggests a survey by Independent Age, a charity for older people.