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      Public satisfaction with the NHS at its lowest ever level, poll shows

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Yesterday - 00:00

    Only 24% of people in England, Scotland and Wales content with heath service, with long waits to be seen the commonest complaint

    Public satisfaction with the NHS has fallen to its lowest ever level, with long delays to access care the biggest source of deepening frustration, a study has shown.

    Just 24% of people across England, Scotland and Wales – the fewest on record – are satisfied with the health service, according to the latest British Social Attitudes research.

    Eighty-four per cent think the NHS has a major or severe funding problem.

    Forty-eight per cent want the government to increase taxes and spend more on the NHS.

    Conservative voters are now almost as likely as Labour ones to not be satisfied with the NHS.

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      More than half of England’s army veterans have health problems – report

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 3 days ago - 00:01

    Survey finds many ex-military personnel fear being misunderstood and are reluctant to seek professional help

    More than half of England’s army veterans have experienced mental or physical health issues since returning to civilian life, and some are reluctant to share their experiences, a survey has revealed.

    The survey of 4,910 veterans, commissioned jointly by the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA), found that 55% have experienced a health issue potentially related to their service since leaving the armed forces. Over 80% of respondents said their condition had got worse since returning to civilian life.

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      UK doctors involved in climate protests face threat of being struck off

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Saturday, 16 March - 06:00

    GPs with convictions over protests face tribunals to determine whether they can keep licence to practise

    Dr Sarah Benn has long been concerned about the climate crisis, diligently recycling until she was “blue in the face”. But the rise of the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion in 2019 inspired her and her husband to go further. “We thought: well, if we don’t do it then who else is going to?”

    While working as a GP near Birmingham, Benn became increasingly involved in direct action over the next few years, and once glued her hand to the door of the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy in protest at the government’s inaction on the climate.

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      Why ME/CFS is still so poorly researched and treated | Letters

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Friday, 15 March - 17:07

    Readers respond to George Monbiot’s article on the treatment and attitude of the medical profession to the debilitating condition

    I am writing to express my appreciation of George Monbiot’s perceptive article ( ‘You don’t want to get better’: the outdated treatment of ME/CFS patients is a national scandal, 12 March ). I have lived with severe fatigue for more than three years, following a mild Covid infection. It is difficult to describe what it is like and it is not surprising that it is not well understood. My experience is that it is necessary to overcome my instincts to push myself, since running out of energy results in even more limited stamina over weeks or months.

    It must appear to others that I am neither constantly exhausted nor pushing myself. But if I give in to the instinct to do more, I push myself back into a state of self-perpetuating exhaustion, where my expectation of what I can manage lags behind my declining stamina.

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      Russia suspected of jamming GPS signal on aircraft carrying Grant Shapps

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Thursday, 14 March - 17:50


    RAF jet was taking defence secretary back to UK from Poland, and flying near Russian exclave of Kaliningrad

    Russia is believed to have jammed the satellite signal on an RAF aircraft carrying Grant Shapps back from Poland, according to government sources.

    Defence sources said there was no danger to Shapps, who was travelling back to the UK, though they called it a “wildly irresponsible” act of electronic warfare.

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      Forerunner 165 review: Garmin’s budget OLED running watch

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Monday, 4 March - 07:00

    Squeezing high-end features into a more affordable frame makes for an excellent mid-range smart sports tracker

    Garmin’s latest smart sports watch condenses all the great features from its higher-end Forerunner models into a cheaper, simpler running tracker with a bright OLED screen and long battery life.

    The Forerunner 165 is the new base model in Garmin’s new lineup, priced from £250 (€280/$250/A$429) compared with the £430 Forerunner 265 .

    Screen: 1.2in AMOLED

    Case size: 43mm

    Case thickness: 11.6mm

    Band size: standard 20mm

    Weight: 39g

    Storage: 4GB

    Water resistance: 50 metres (5ATM)

    Sensors: GNSS (GPS, Glonass, Galileo), compass, thermometer, heart rate, pulse Ox

    Connectivity: Bluetooth, ANT+ (wifi with music)

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      Worst-off find it harder than well-off to access NHS care, survey finds

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Monday, 4 March - 05:00

    Exclusive: findings raise concerns over ‘two-tier service’ with poorer people also feeling less heard by medics

    Poorer people find it much harder to access NHS care than the well-off and have a worse experience when they do get it, research by the health service’s consumer watchdog has found.

    Those on the lowest incomes have much more difficulty getting a GP appointment, dental care or help with mental health problems, according to a survey by Healthwatch England.

    42% of those who described their financial situation as “really struggling” said they had trouble getting to see a GP, double the 21% of those who were “very comfortable”.

    38% of the worst-off found it hard to get NHS dental care, compared with 20% of the better-off.

    28% of the very poor had difficulty accessing mental health treatment, whereas only 9% of the very comfortable did so.

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      Record £150k salary offered to solve GP shortage in Outer Hebrides

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 3 March - 13:58

    NHS aims to tempt at least five doctors to move to the Uists and Benbecula amid recruitment crisis

    Wanted: family doctors to enjoy a life of adventure, “shimmering beaches” and an idyllic landscape. And if that is not enough, what about earning nearly £150,000 a year to work a 40-hour week?

    That record salary is being offered by NHS executives in the Outer Hebrides in a fresh effort to solve a recruitment crisis at one of the remotest medical practices in the UK, serving the dispersed communities of the Uists and Benbecula.

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      The Guardian view on the patient-doctor relationship: human connection is part of health | Editorial

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Monday, 26 February - 18:25 · 1 minute

    A groundbreaking study shows that having a regular GP helps people stay well. Policymakers should take note

    In the book that Anatole Broyard wrote about being diagnosed with cancer, he described wishing that his doctor “would brood on my situation for perhaps five minutes, that he would give me his whole mind just once … survey my soul as well as my flesh, to get at my illness, for each man is ill in his own way”. Given the desperate state of the UK’s health services, such appeals for personalised attention might sound like messages beamed in from another world. But a new study from the University of Cambridge offers some of the strongest proof to date that strong doctor-patient relationships contribute positively to health.

    The research, which focused on GPs, found that seeing the same one on each visit meant patients chose to wait on average 18% longer between appointments. While this study did not look at outcomes, it treated the frequency of visits as a proxy on the basis that patients in better health are less likely to seek help. An existing body of evidence has highlighted the benefits of continuity of care in primary (non-hospital) settings, including higher patient satisfaction and reduced hospital admissions . This latest study points to the advantages within primary care, as patients leaving longer gaps between visits could free up millions of appointments.

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