The NHS is probably using too many expensive treatments, according to health economists and managers. New drugs are generally only used if they cost under £30,000 for each year of good health they provide. But some claim this is too high and forces potentially more effective care to be ditched due to limited funds.
GPs and pharmacists do not know enough about allergies, putting patients lives at risk, campaigners say. Allergy UK said training on the subject was extremely limited and many people were going undiagnosed. And the pressure group said even when diagnoses were made, medics often had nowhere to send patients as there were limited specialist allergy clinics.
Families caring for disabled children are to receive £340m to help improve their lives, Economic Secretary Ed Balls has announced. Over the next three years, money will be spent on improving childcare and support for parents struggling to cope.
Ministers should order the mandatory fortification of food with folic acid, the Food Standards Agency said yesterday.
An autistic schoolboy was told he could not wear a T-shirt because its design was politically incorrect, his parents have said.
A study is being launched to investigate possible links between diet and Alzheimer's disease. Researchers at the Alzheimer's Society will look at the effects of fruit juice, red wine and oily fish on the incidence of mental illness.