Author: healthprofessionalradio

Overview:
• Australian children are finding it increasingly harder to hold a pencil due to overuse of keyboards and touch screens, an occupational therapist says.  Recent NAPLAN test results showed Queensland had the second lowest writing test score averages across years 3, 5, 7, and 9. Paediatric occupational therapist Katrina Davies said children’s hands today were lacking strength and fine motor skills to hold a pencil correctly.

• The scandal involving a doctor mistreating more than 100 patients at St Vincent’s hospital widened yesterday, after it was revealed a second oncologist had given incorrect doses to at least three patients at Sutherland and St George Hospitals.

• Russia has confirmed 21 cases of anthrax, including one fatality, after an unusual heatwave melted permafrost in its remote far north, releasing potentially lethal spores from the soil. The number of those hospitalised on suspicion of infection rose to 90 people, 45 of them children, regional officials said.

Overview:
• Last month, NSW Health confirmed three newborn babies were affected during incidents with the oxygen supply outlets at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital in Sydney’s south-west. The State Government has released an interim report into the mix-up, stating the engineer involved in commissioning the gas line had been stood down, pending the outcome of the investigation.

• The State Government made the announcement into the under-dosing of patients by Dr John Grygiel at another Sydney hospital, St Vincent’s in Darlinghurst. The report found 103 St Vincent’s patients with head and neck cancers had been given low doses.

• University of Queensland human movements researcher Llion Roberts said his team was trialling an External Counterpulsation (ECP) device, which stimulates the effects of physical activity, as part of their work looking at how mimicking exercise can improve a patient’s health. Mr Roberts said it works by placing cuffs on the lower and upper legs that apply compression as you relax.

Overview:
• An independent investigation of prostate cancer testing errors in South Australia has blamed kits provided to SA Pathology laboratories for incorrect readings. The errors affected 52 men when they had follow-up testing this year after prostate cancer surgery. SA Pathology executive director Ken Barr was sacked because of his handling of the matter.

• The distressing encounters which Brendon Bullock and other police officers suffering from PTSD have had with insurers and private investigators were detailed in ABC’s Four Corners program. In response to queries from Four Corners, MetLife announced it had changed its procedures and now no longer uses surveillance in the assessment of claims related to mental illness.

• More than 500,000 Australians are on the spectrum of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and specialists say it is a significant health burden which is not getting the attention it deserves. Doctors and those affected by the disorder are calling for further investment in FASD services and say it should be managed like other lifestyle diseases like diabetes.

Overview:
• Childhood cancer specialist Dr Antoinette Anazodo is the clinical leader of an application currently under consideration to list the procedures on the Medicare Benefits Scheme.Collecting reproductive tissue prior to treatment and freezing it is considered a valuable strategy and one of the only options for young patients, particularly for those yet to reach puberty, doctors say.

• Government reports from the South Western Sydney Local Health District state that Bankstown Lidcombe Hospital should have at least 13 special care nursery beds by 2016 to meet the region’s growing needs. The news comes less than a week after it was revealed a newborn died and another received suspected brain damage after nitrous oxide was incorrectly administered instead of oxygen at the hospital.

• The Federal Government is heralding its "no jab, no pay" policy as having led to an extra 5,700 children being vaccinated since its implementation at the start of the year. The policy involves the withholding of family payments worth up to $15,000 per year to parents who fail to have their children vaccinated.