The Health News United Kingdom February 15 2018

• Every February, the British Heart Foundation marks National Heart Month, a campaign to encourage everyone to make small changes for a healthier lifestyle. There are currently about 2.6 million people in the UK living with coronary heart disease. Recent analysis from Public Health England has revealed that 1 in 10 men aged 50 have a heart age that’s 10 years older than their actual age. According to PHE, 7,400 people in the UK die each month from heart disease or stroke. A quarter of these occur in people under the age of 75, and many are preventable.
• Help Musicians UK has responded to unprecedented demand for its Musicians’ Hearing Health Scheme by launching more audiology clinic locations and opening up its eligibility criteria to include music journalists, producers, technicians and more. The scheme gives musicians access to a specialist hearing assessment and bespoke hearing protection worth over £200 for the subsidised amount of £40. Since launching in 2016, nearly 3,000 musicians have benefited from the scheme, with the charity forecasting around 21,000 more musicians to take part by 2021.
• The Oxford Mail has reported that a growing shortage of GPs in Oxford is forcing health bosses to rethink how care is provided in the city. More treatment from specialist nurses, pharmacists and home visits, as well as practices sharing staff and flexible medical appointments, form Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s vision for how health care needs to change over the next 5 to 10 years.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 15th of February 2018. Read by Tabetha Moreto.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/heart-age-can-make-youthful/

Every February, the British Heart Foundation marks National Heart Month, a campaign to encourage everyone to make small changes for a healthier lifestyle. There are currently about two point six million people in the UK living with coronary heart disease. Recent analysis from Public Health England has revealed that one in ten men aged fifty have a heart age that’s ten years older than their actual age. According to PHE, seven thousand four hundred people in the UK die each month from heart disease or stroke. A quarter of these occur in people under the age of seventy five, and many are preventable.
…..
Associate Professor Jamie Waterall, head of cardiovascular disease prevention at PHE says: “Cardiovascular diseases affecting the heart, brain and blood vessels are a major cause of premature death and ill health, but they’re largely preventable.” It’s often said that knowledge is power, and the benefit of the heart age tool is that it looks at different contributing factors and presents the information most relevant to you.
….
According to the British Heart Foundation, smokers are almost twice as likely to have a heart attack compared with people who have never smoked. It even states that “quitting smoking is the single best thing you can do for your heart health.”

https://www.m-magazine.co.uk/news/help-musicians-uk-expands-musicians-hearing-health-scheme/

Help Musicians UK has responded to unprecedented demand for its Musicians’ Hearing Health Scheme by launching more audiology clinic locations and opening up its eligibility criteria to include music journalists, producers, technicians and more. The scheme gives musicians access to a specialist hearing assessment and bespoke hearing protection worth over two hundred pounds for the subsidised amount of forty pounds.

Since launching in two thousand sixteen, nearly three thousand musicians have benefited from the scheme, with the charity forecasting around twenty one thousand more musicians to take part by two thousand twenty one.

The scheme – delivered by audiologist partners Musicians’ Hearing Services and the Musicians’ Union – was launched following a two thousand fifteen HMUK survey that revealed that musicians are four times more likely to suffer hearing damage than the general population.Joe Hastings, Health and Welfare Manager at HMUK said: ‘Hearing is critical for musicians, and the impact of losing it can be a profound and sensitive issue.”
….
Diane Widdison, National Organiser of Education and Training at the Musicians’ Union said: “We have been involved in helping our members protect their hearing for over ten years and are therefore delighted to be partners on this scheme, which allows musicians to access the affordable ear protection which is needed and from specialist providers who understand the specific issues musicians face.”

https://practicebusiness.co.uk/health-rethink-over-falling-gp-numbers-in-oxford/

The Oxford Mail has reported that a growing shortage of general practitioners in Oxford is forcing health bosses to rethink how care is provided in the city. More treatment from specialist nurses, pharmacists and home visits, as well as practices sharing staff and flexible medical appointments, form Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s vision for how health care needs to change over the next five to ten years.

Julie Dandridge, head of primary care and localities at the CCG, said difficulties in recruiting and retaining GPs combined with an increasing and aging population meant a new approach was essential. She said: “It’s a culture change more than anything and making sure the NHS evolves to meet the needs of people today.”
….
The plan, which is one of six created to cover the entire county, has been developed in conjunction with OxFed, which is the Oxford federation of GPs, as well as patient participation groups.
….
A workforce survey in October found two Oxford practices were already full, and while there was the capacity for up to fourteen thousand nine hundred additional patients this was only as long as recruitment and GP sessions remained stable and still ‘some way’ below the spaces needed to cope with expected housing growth.