The Health News United Kingdom November 10 2017

• The number of alcohol-specific deaths in people aged 50 and over has risen 45% since 2001, prompting fresh warnings about excessive drinking among baby boomers. According to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, last year there were 5,208 deaths of people aged 50-plus wholly attributable to alcohol, compared with 3,582 in 2001.
• The Duchess of Cambridge met with children who have been supported by a mental health charity, of which she is a patron. Kate attended the two thousand seventeen Gala Dinner for the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families (AFNCCF), held in The Orangery at Kensington Palace on Tuesday November 7. The Duchess’ continued desire to draw attention to child mental health issues is evident as her return to public duties has seen her focusing on this topic.
• Each year, there are over 500,000 pregnant women in the workplace. 1 in every 20 women are made redundant during their pregnancy, equivalent to  6% of all pregnant women and new mothers at work. The timing of redundancy varies, with 1% of women made redundant when they were pregnant, 3% t on maternity leave and two per cent on their return from maternity leave. EHRC research has shown maternity-related discrimination has worsened significantly over past decade.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 10th of November 2017. Read by Tabetha Moreto.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/07/baby-boomers-warned-over-drinking-as-alcohol-linked-deaths-in-over-50s-soar

The number of alcohol-specific deaths in people aged fifty and over has risen forty five percent since two thousand one, prompting fresh warnings about excessive drinking among baby boomers. According to Office for National Statistics figures, last year there were five thousand two hundred eight deaths of people aged fifty-plus wholly attributable to alcohol, compared with three thousand five hundred eighty two in two thousand one. Over the same period, the number of alcohol-specific deaths remained stable among under-fifties – it was exactly the same for fifteen to forty nine-year-olds – two thousand one hundred eighteen – last year as fifteen years previously. Although the number of older people in the UK has risen, the alcohol-specific death rates per one hundred thousand of population has also increased among those aged fifty five and over, while falling for all younger age groups.

Doctor Tony Rao, the co-chair of substance misuse in the older people working group at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “The latest statistics are a wake-up call to the rising problem of alcohol misuse in a generation of baby boomers that need urgent consideration by our public health and clinical services in the UK.
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Alcohol treatment in England was managed by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse before April one, two thousand thirteen but local authorities are now responsible for such services. With councils forced to tighten their belts, concerns have been voiced that many drug and alcohol addicts are not getting the help they need.The previous definition was “alcohol-related” deaths but was changed to create harmonisation among different government departments and agencies and reduce ambiguity. The ONS said the new measure produces a death count that is on average eighteen point seven percent lower for males and twenty four point six percent lower for females. Among men aged seventy to seventy four the alcohol-specific death rate rose by fifty percent from two thousand one, while among women aged sixty to sixty four it increased by thirty five percent. The largest jumps – fifty five percent for men and forty percent for women – were in the eighty to eighty four age group, although the absolute rates were lower.

Figures published in May showed that more than half a million adults aged between fifty five and seventy four were admitted to English hospitals with alcohol-related injuries, diseases or conditions, an increase of sixty four percent in a decade.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/duchess-of-cambridge-childrens-mental-health-gala_uk_5a01c5e2e4b066c2c03a3e43

The Duchess of Cambridge met with children who have been supported by a mental health charity, of which she is a patron. Kate attended the two thousand seventeen Gala Dinner for the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families or AFNCCF, held in The Orangery at Kensington Palace on Tuesday November seven, where she chatted with families.
The Duchess attended the reception to hear more about the work of the AFNCCF and to meet with some of the charity’s service users, including families who have benefitted from the work of the organisation. The AFNCCF has built a new Centre of Excellence which will bring together people and organisations in mental health, education, social care and neuroscience alongside children and families often in vulnerable situations.

At the heart of this new campus will be The Family School for children aged between five to fourteen who have been excluded from mainstream education, which will combine mental health care and education. The Duchess has now resumed royal duties after taking a short break following the announcement on  September four that she and the Duke of Cambridge were expecting their third child. The Duchess’ continued desire to draw attention to child mental health issues is evident as her return to public duties has seen her focusing on this topic.
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The event was held to recognise the progress, hard work and dedication of those working in the mental health sector across the UK.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/work/fear-couldnt-provide-baby-overwhelming-mothers-call-maternity/

For many women, maternity leave can be difficult; it’s terribly lonely, if you don’t have other friends with babies, and it’s exhausting coping on your own when your other half goes back to work.
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Each year, there are over five hundred thousand pregnant women in the workplace.
One in every twenty women are made redundant during their pregnancy, equivalent to six per cent of all pregnant women and new mothers at work. The timing of redundancy varies, with 1 per cent of women made redundant when they were pregnant, three per cent on maternity leave and two per cent on their return from maternity leave. Equality and Human Rights Commission research has shown maternity-related discrimination has worsened significantly over past decade. Seventy percent of women aged sixteen to sixty four were in employment in October-December two thousand sixteen, the highest proportion since comparable records began in nineteen seventy one. The gap between the earnings of men and women or ‘the gender pay gap’ remained at nine point four per cent for full time employees and eighteen point one per cent if part time employees are included. Gingerbread, a group which represents single parents, reports that forty seven per cent of all single parents are in poverty, of whom ninety per cent are women.

Most women will receive statutory maternity pay when they have a baby. This is ninety pc of your salary for six weeks, and then the lower of one hundred forty point ninety eight pounds or ninety pc of your salary for thirty three weeks.