The Health News Unite Kingdom July 13 2017

Overview

• More than fifty thousand people in the UK are alive today because of organ transplantation, new data suggests.The NHS added that it marks the first time the 5,000 barrier has been broken.
• According to a survey of employees in junior and senior roles more than a third of the UK workforce is experiencing anxiety, depression, or stress, Mental health problems are said to affect around one in six people in any given week.
• Nokia says it is “regrettable” that problems with its Health Mate fitness-tracking app have frustrated users.  Nokia took over health tech firm Withings in 2016 and recently replaced the Withings Health Mate app with a Nokia-branded version. Nokia told the BBC they will not be satisfied until the final issues have been addressed to deliver the quality user experience consumers have come to expect from Nokia products.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 13th of July 2017. Read by Tabetha Moreto. Health News

http:www.bbc.comnewshealth-40564329

More than fifty thousand people in the UK are alive today because of organ transplantation, new data suggests.  National Health Service Blood and Transplant said that figure included thirty six thousand three hundred kidney patients, nine thousand eight hundred given livers, one thousand nine hundred who received a pancreas,  and one thousand who were given an intestine transplant.

The NHS added that it marks the first time the fifty thousand barrier has been broken.  The number of registered organ donors also reached a record of twenty three point six million to up four point nine million over five years.

Yearly transplant figures have risen by twenty percent over the last five years to a record four thousand seven hundred fifty three in two thousand and sixteen and two thousand and seventeen with some of those patients receiving more than one organ.  Some thirty six percent of people in the UK are now on the NHS Organ Donor Register,  compared with thirty percent  five years ago.  Currently in England and Northern Ireland,  people must join the register or their family or close friends must give consent before their organs can be used.

Sally Johnson, director of organ donation and transplantation for NHS Blood and Transplant,   said: “Our specialist nurses in organ donation are now almost always involved in discussions with families over organ donation.’’

http:www.independent.co.uknewshealthuk-workers-depression-stress-anxiety-survey-a7827656.html

According to a survey of employees in junior and senior roles more than a third of the UK workforce is experiencing anxiety, depression, or stress.  Mental health problems are said to affect around one in six people in any given week.  Of two thousand workers who responded, thirty four percent said they had a health and wellbeing problem.

The findings, published by management consultancy firm PwC, come as NHS managers warn that the Government’s commitment to improving mental health services is being undermined by rising demand, staff shortages and the failure of funding to reach the front line.

The survey found two in five, thirty nine percent, of employees said they had taken time off work or reduced their responsibilities due to their health.  And nearly a quarter, twenty percent, said they do not think their organisation takes employee wellbeing seriously.

Theresa May has promised to reform mental health legislation and the Queen’s Speech said the Government will “ensure that mental health is prioritised in the NHS in England”.

However of those who had taken time off work for health reasons, thirty nine per cent said they did not feel comfortable telling their employer about the issue.  Previous research by mental health charity Mind found that nearly half or forty eight per cent of all public sector workers have been forced to take time off because of problems with their mental health.  

http:www.bbc.comnewstechnology-40555752

Nokia says it is “regrettable” that problems with its Health Mate fitness-tracking app have frustrated users.  Nokia took over health tech firm Withings in two thousand and sixteen and recently replaced the Withings Health Mate app with a Nokia-branded version.

Health Mate has been downloaded more than one million times from app stores.

But many users have left one-star reviews, saying the new app removed popular features from the Withings version and had technical issues.  The company told the BBC an update would “integrate missing features”.  Before being taken over by Nokia, Withings made internet-connected health products such as weighing scales and air quality monitors, which provided data for the Health Mate app.

A set of smart scales currently retails in the UK for ninety pounds  or one hundred and sixteen dollars in the US , direct from Nokia.

Negative reviews on app stores claim a number of issues, including:

• Difficulty syncing products with the new app
• Bugs in the app making it difficult to use
• A new “modern” theme that makes the app less user friendly
• The removal of features present in the previous Withings app

One reviewer called Pander wrote that the previous app from Withings had long-term charts and much more.

Nokia told the BBC the Withings Health Mate app had been replaced as part of a transition of Withings products “to the Nokia brand” saying “Regrettably, a few users faced bugs and syncing issues, others were frustrated to find some features from the previous version were not included,”

It has also stated that they will not be satisfied until the final issues have been addressed to deliver the quality user experience consumers have come to expect from Nokia products.