Surrey and Sussex NHS Trust receives £12.7m for two new theatres
The trust's chief executive, Angela Stevenson, said: "This new funding from NHS England will be truly transformative for the future of our hospital and our patients. "In the midst of some tough financial decisions, this is a really positive step-change in how we deliver for our patients."
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Telegraph
10 minutes ago
- Telegraph
‘Cosmetic cowboys' to be banned from carrying out Brazilian butt lifts
'Cosmetic cowboys' will be banned from performing high-risk procedures under new Government plans. The crackdown follows incidents in which patients have been maimed, and deaths linked to poor care and rogue operators. Under the measures, only qualified healthcare professionals such as doctors and nurses will be able to deliver procedures such as Brazilian butt lifts. These will only be able to be carried out by providers regulated by the health regulator, the Care Quality Commission. Clinics administering Botox and fillers will have to meet new standards and be licenced by councils. Under-18s will be banned from high risk procedures, such as injectables, amid concerns that children needed to be protected from 'dangerous beauty trends on social media'. Health officials said the steps aimed to protect the public from 'rogue operators' with no medical training, who often provided 'invasive' procedures in homes, hotels and pop-up clinics. The move would also reduce the cost imposed upon the NHS to fix botched procedures, the Department of Health and Social Care said. Karin Smyth, the health minister, said: 'The cosmetics industry has been plagued by a wild west of dodgy practitioners and procedures. There are countless horror stories of 'cosmetic cowboys' causing serious, catastrophic damage. 'This Government is taking action to protect those seeking treatments, support honest and competent practitioners, and root out the cowboys as part of our Plan for Change. 'This isn't about stopping anyone from getting treatments – it's about preventing rogue operators from exploiting people at the expense of their safety and keeping people safe. We're giving them peace of mind and reducing the cost to the NHS of fixing botched procedures.' Those who break the rules on high-risk procedures could face sanctions from the watchdog and financial penalties. The department said it would launch a consultation next year, seeking views on the range of procedures that should be covered by the new restrictions. Last month, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute warned that fat injections, Brazilian butt lifts, Botox and fillers are being offered by untrained people in places such as public toilets. There have also been concerns about rising numbers of people poisoned by fake Botox, leaving consumers struggling with breathing and swallowing problems, and slurred speech, after suffering from botulism. Millie Kendall, the chief executive of the British Beauty Council, said: 'Any measures that increase protection for the general public and professionalise the industry will help instil confidence, as well as helping to prevent the normalisation of horror stories that have become synonymous with our sector.' Ashton Collins, the director of Save Face, a register of accredited practitioners, said: 'I am delighted that the Government has recognised the significant and potentially fatal risks posed by highly dangerous procedures like liquid Brazilian butt lifts and has made it a priority to implement restrictions to protect public safety. 'I have seen first-hand the devastating impact these procedures can have on the lives of victims and their families, none more so than the family of Alice Webb.' Webb died last year, aged 33, after suffering complications from having a non-surgical Brazilian butt lift, which involved cosmetic fluid being injected into her buttocks. The mother-of-five worked in the beauty industry and lived in Gloucestershire.
The Sun
40 minutes ago
- The Sun
Man, 45, died ‘taking de-worming drug for animals after seeing fake claims online it could cure cancer'
A MAN died after taking a de-worming drug for animals as he believed it would cure cancer, an inquest heard. Lee Redpath, 45, was rushed to hospital with signs of liver failure after dosing himself with an anti-parasitic drug called fenbendazole across a three-week period. 7 7 7 He tragically died in Addenbrooke's Hospital, in Cambridge, on April 29. Lee had ordered the drug, believing it to be safe, from a supplier in Ukraine. The 45-year-old saw fake social media posts which claimed fenbendazole could be a cancer cure - despite it being banned for human use. It's designed to be used against a number of gastrointestinal parasites in animals including giardia, roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, tapeworms and pinworms. However, even A-list celebrities have promoted the drug for humans, including actor Mel Gibson. He told Joe Rogan earlier this year how three of his friends were cured of stage four cancer after taking it with the anti-parasitic Ivermectin. The inquest, held in Lawrence Court, Huntingdon, Cambs, heard how Lee believed the de-wormer could prevent cancer. His long-term partner Lauren Laul gave evidence at the inquest. She told how her boyfriend believed it was safe to use and popular in the States. 'He saw it online, thought it was safe, people in America are using it," said Lauren. 'He didn't have medical assistance taking it so I think some sort of warning should be made. 'I am seeing it advertised online and people can get it themselves like Lee did and unknowingly be killing themselves because they didn't have all the information.' Lauren also suggested Lee may have been taking them for as long as two years before his death. Dr Gwilym Webb, a consultant hepatologist at Addenbrooke's warned fenbendazole had 'no proven benefit for preventing or treating cancer in humans.' 7 7 7 He told the inquest Lee was not eligible for a liver transplant due to alcohol misuse in the three months before. But a post-mortem concluded Lee's liver failure was due to the fenbendazole. Assistant coroner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Caroline Jones, concluded Lee died of liver and renal failure due to fenbendazole induced liver injury on a background of alcohol related cirrhosis. 'I was satisfied as to the toxic effects of fenbendazole and that it was this that was the primary cause of the injury," she told the inquest. 'It is a potent anti-worming treatment which was taken at far higher relative doses than had ever been envisaged and over a far longer time scale. 'During his admission he advised doctors that he had been taking the drug fenbendazole, which he purchased online from a supplier in the Ukraine after seeing videos about its supposed anti-cancer properties. 'It was thought likely fenbendazole was the primary cause of the acute injury. Lee's conditions deteriorated despite treatment but he was not a candidate for transplant. 'He improved briefly but on April 27 his condition worsened, it was recognised Lee's organs were failing and he passed away at 6.06 pm on April 29. 'While Lee may have taken fenbendazole with good intentions to improve his health, it constituted a deliberate act with the unintended consequence of his death.' Lauren urged the coroner to write a prevention of future deaths report, but Miss Jones denied her request. The coroner said there was not "sufficient evidence", although she was "concerned" about people buying the drug online. Lee's death was recorded as misadventure. 7
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Patients whose lives were ruined after being ‘needlessly given cancer drug for years' sue NHS trust
More than 20 patients who say their quality of life was wrecked when they were needlessly given a highly toxic cancer drug are suing the NHS trust involved. Some people were prescribed temozolomide – which should normally be used for only six months – for more than a decade during treatment by the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. They say the overprescribing left them with side-effects including secondary cancers and crippling fatigue. Earlier this year the Care Quality Commission was looking into at least 14 cases, but lawyers say more are emerging all the time. An investigation by lawyers Brabners found that, over the past two decades, numerous patients with brain and spinal tumours under the care of Professor Ian Brown were routinely exposed to prolonged and in some cases 'unnecessary' use of the chemotherapy drug, which has severe side-effects including extreme fatigue, confusion, sickness and seizures. The time periods temozolomide was given for allegedly ran contrary to medical and scientific guidelines. Standard NHS procedure is to use the drug over six months, and the drug manufacturer advises it be used for up to 12 months. One man said he was prescribed it for nearly two years longer than necessary, suffering extreme fatigue and low mood as a result. A woman in her twenties said she was misdiagnosed with cancer, receiving the drug needlessly for about eight years. Some patients are now having treatment for secondary cancers allegedly linked to overuse of temozolomide, the lawyers claim. Others claimed its prolonged use left them unable to pursue career ambitions and normal day-to-day activities because the chemotherapy was debilitating, with a long recovery time. Some reported loss of fertility or abnormal blood test results. The legal team says data shows that the trust's spending on the drug of £3.6m from 2009 to 2024 is 10 times that of other NHS oncology departments. The lawyers are now calling for an extended patient safety review and independent investigation, focusing in particular on treatment received by patients under Prof Brown dating back to 2006. The trust has been conducting an internal patient safety review, covering 2017 to 2023, when Prof Brown retired. A patient who identified only as Michael received an extra 22 cycles of temozolomide at the trust, despite his scans being stable. Prof Brown was not present during consultations, and Michael said he was always seen by a clinical nurse specialist. After suffering extreme fatigue and low mood, he learnt through news reports of mistreatment –not from the trust – that he should not have remained on treatment for so long, according to his lawyers. Another patient, identified only as Becky, says she received at least 100 cycles of the drug unnecessarily after being misdiagnosed with a brain tumour. Fiona Tinsley, head of medical negligence at Brabners, said: 'The extent of this scandal, and the physical and mental impact it has had on Prof Brown's patients cannot be underestimated.' She added: 'We believe there are many more patients out there who haven't yet come forward and some who may have sadly passed away. 'While we welcome the ongoing investigations being undertaken by the General Medical Council and Royal College of Physicians, we believe a full independent inquiry is necessary – including an extension of the trust's own review back to 2006 – not only to ensure justice for victims, but that processes are put in place to better identify and prevent such failings happening again.' A spokesperson for the trust told The Independent: 'We have comprehensively reviewed and spoken to all individuals who were receiving temozolomide (TMZ) treatment at the end of 2023 to ensure appropriate support and care plans are in place. 'A glioblastoma is an aggressive brain tumour with fewer than two per cent of patients surviving longer than 10 years. This is an extremely complex condition and all modes of treatment – surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy – carry the risk of complications and side-effects. 'National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) guidelines recognise that clinicians can exercise professional judgment appropriate to individual circumstances when offering treatment to patients. 'We have commissioned the Royal College of Physicians to conduct an independent review of a representative cohort of patients who received greater than 12 cycles of adjuvant TMZ between 2017 and 2023. 'As this process is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage." It's understood that CQC inspectors have been in touch with the trust to understand the details, and seek assurances that patients are not at risk. The regulator will be reviewing more information to judge whether it needs to be involved.
