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Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides
HSE: Measures bed manufacturers have taken to successfully reduce manual handling injuries feature in a new report aimed at promoting good practice in the industry. Employees in the bed manufacturing industry are around twice as likely to suffer manual handling injuries (such as back & upper limb disorders) than those in any other manufacturing sector.
This prompted the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), with the support of the National Bed Federation, to identify the key risk activities and encourage companies to identify solutions that would work best for them. In a series of seminars, bed manufacturers were given the report findings and asked to produce 3-year action plans to show how they could improve health and safety in these areas.
NICE: The NHS must improve how it treats people with physical health problems caused by alcohol misuse, according to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Around 1 in 4 men & women in the UK regularly drink above the recommended safe limits, which can cause them to suffer a variety of long term physical health problems, such as liver disease, pancreatitis and Wernicke’s encephalopathy (a brain disorder caused by a lack of thiamine - vitamin B1).
Those who regularly drink excessive amounts of alcohol may also experience physical withdrawal symptoms (such as tremors, seizures & hallucinations) if they abruptly reduce their intake or suddenly quit - the consequences of which can be fatal.
Recognising that the NHS needs a standardised approach to treat the physical complications caused by excessive alcohol consumption, the NICE has published guidance, which outlines which diagnostic tests & treatments healthcare professionals should use & when.
Press release ~ Alcohol-use disorders: diagnosis and clinical management of alcohol-related physical complications
NICE: Alcohol needs to be less affordable and less easy to buy if we are to save thousands of lives each year, says new guidance from NICE. To help create an environment that supports lower-risk drinking, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published guidance outlining the most effective measures that can be taken to lower the risks of alcohol-related harm.
As well as the detrimental health consequences, there are a number of other knock-on effects that alcohol misuse can have, such as on antisocial behaviour, crime, costs to the NHS, relationship breakdown and work absenteeism.
Press release ~ Alcohol-use disorders: preventing the development of hazardous and harmful drinking ~ Related DH press release
ScotGov: Children with additional support needs are to receive an improved service as a result of new measures that will make it easier for teachers & health staff to work together. More than 44,000 children in Scotland require additional support for their learning and many of these are likely to receive assistance from Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), who include speech & language therapists, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists, among others.
However, there are fears that the quality of service children receive can vary depending on which part of the country they live in. Following a wide-reaching consultation, the Scottish Government has now published national guidelines for health & education staff showing clearly how they can best work together.
Press release ~ Guidance on partnership working between allied health professions and education ~ Getting it right for every child ~
WAG: The Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr Tony Jewell, has advised parents that children under 15 should not drink alcohol in new guidance on drinking among young people. Dr Tony Jewell points to research that shows clear evidence that alcohol can harm the development of children.
The new guidance - You, Your Children and Alcohol - aims to help protect children & young people from the risks linked to alcohol consumption. Research shows that 40% of Welsh 15-year-olds drink alcohol on a weekly basis and that 20% of 15-year-olds report having been drunk for the first time at the age of 13 or younger.
Press release ~ You, your child and alcohol ~ < font color="#800080" size="2">Chief Medical Officer's Annual Report 2008
FSA: The Food Standards Agency is reminding parents not to feed honey to babies who are under a year old. There have only been 11 confirmed cases of infant botulism in the past 30 years, but 3 of these have occurred in the past year and all have had possible links to honey. The most recent case involved a 15-week-old baby.
Honey is safe for children over the age of one, but a younger baby’s gut is not sufficiently developed to be able to fight off the botulism bacteria. This is why parents are advised not to give babies honey until they are one year old.
FSA: The Food Standards Agency has updated its list of product ranges that do not contain the 6 food colours associated with possible hyperactivity in young children. Another manufacturer producing product lines free of the colours has been added to the list: Candyking Ltd's Candyking products.
The list includes companies whose product ranges have never contained the 6 colours and companies whose product ranges that have been reformulated to remove the colours.
