Latest news with #RoyalCollegeofSurgeons
BBC News
7 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
County Durham and Darlington hospital trust's breast cancer patient apology
A hospital trust has apologised to patients who received care through its breast cancer service, after some received "more extensive surgery than was clinically necessary at the time".The County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust launched a review into its service following a patient safety incident earlier this Burn, executive director of nursing, said: "We fully recognise how distressing this is to hear, and we are truly sorry."The trust said it had appointed two new consultant breast surgeons, invested in modern equipment and strengthened both its multidisciplinary team processes and clinical governance arrangements following the review. In response to the incident and wider concerns raised about breast care delivery, the trust and the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board commissioned the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) to carry out an independent review of the breast surgery RCS team visited the trust in January. Patient helpline The trust, which operates the University Hospital of North Durham and Darlington Memorial Hospital, said it had identified areas where improvements were included how surgical decisions were made and where some outdated practices were still in Burn said: "We know that some patients have not received the standard of care that we would want for them, or that they deserve."For some patients, this may have resulted in more extensive surgery than was clinically necessary at the time."She said in cases where there were concerns about individual care, patients would be contacted directly. Others whose care was reviewed and found to be appropriate are also being contacted to be offered reassurance, she added. The report stated the trust had high rates of mastectomy and low rates for breast also noted performance of some procedures with only cosmetic value not funded by NHS England, which have since been February, the trust has been reviewing the care of patients who had surgery through the breast service in far it has reviewed 123 cases of care and spoken to 80 patients about what could have been done differently."The review is still ongoing and we remain committed to speaking directly with any patient whose care warrants follow-up," Ms Burn said."We also continue to welcome contact from any patient who has concerns about their experience."A helpline has been set up on 0191 333 2126 and patients can also email: Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Irish Examiner
17-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
New HSE guidelines named after Eve Cleary aim to prevent fatal blood clots in future patients
Memories of Eve Cleary, who died after developing blood clots in her lungs, will live on in new HSE national guidelines named after her, the young woman's proud mother has said. The guidelines for the treatment of venous thromboembolism are believed to be the first in Ireland to carry the name of an individual patient. They will be launched on Tuesday at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin. Melanie Cleary said on Thursday: 'When she died, our whole world turned upside down. Eve, within her 21 years, didn't just live and die, she had a phenomenal 21 years. She had a cracking personality and she really cared about other people.' Eve died within hours of her discharge from University Hospital Limerick in July 2019. The family took a High Court case last year following an inquest finding of medical misadventure. Despite her grief, Melanie Cleary joined a HSE working group for the new guidelines as a patient representative. 'I didn't think it would help us, but it does a bit because her legacy does live on,' she said. 'And for somebody as marvellous as she was, it's fitting that she has this legacy. And for our family, I'd never like to see another mam or dad go through what we did. This will save lives.' She, her husband Barry, and their daughters now have a positive date to mark among difficult anniversaries. 'This means the world because we have a day too now to launch this and it's not sad,' she said. 'It's recognising her and what she went through.' Eve Cleary pictured on July 18 the day before she was admitted to UHL and just days before she died. She, her husband Barry, and their daughters now have a positive date to mark among difficult anniversaries. President Michael D Higgins has written to the family to mark the occasion. She said they were 'blown away' by this. His office wrote: 'The president was deeply moved to learn about your beloved daughter Eve and the profound impact she has made through your advocacy and determination.' The email went on: 'The naming of national medical guidelines in her honour is a powerful tribute to her memory, an initiative that will undoubtedly help to protect and save the lives of others in the future.' She also praised HSE Mid West regional executive officer Sandra Broderick for her support. 'I have to say without Sandra Broderick this wouldn't have happened either, she's been amazing as well,' she said. University Hospital Limerick has since implemented enhanced care protocols for the condition. Ms Broderick said in October: 'In memory of the late Eve Cleary, and in the spirit and name of her legacy, we have introduced a rolling audit programme on recognising, reducing and managing VTE each quarter and its findings are shared across our governance group. 'HSE Mid West is committed to Eve's programme to ensure we have best practice.' The HSE's National Clinical Guideline on Venous Thromboembolism, known as the Eve Protocol, takes effect from this month. Read More Hiqa review of emergency services pushed out until September
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Three of London's most gloriously odd museums
London teems with incredible, life-affirming museums and cultural institutions. It also is home to some decidedly irregular ones, which are equally worthy of attention. The Hunterian Best avoided by the squeamish, the Hunterian — named for the 18th century surgeon John Hunter — is a catalogue of anatomical specimens. It is decidedly eerie: shelves are lined with things like dissected toads and squashed skulls, and skeletons are everywhere. There are severed, cartoonish feet, coiled intestines. It is macabre, but tells the fascinating story of how doctors and scientists came to understand so much about both mankind and the natural world. The Royal College of Surgeons, WC2A, London sewing machine museum It is Balham, somewhat confusingly, that is home to Wimbledon Sewing Machines, a sewing machine shop and repair centre. Head up one flight of stairs from it and there is this museum, a red-carpeted room home to more than 600 machines from the early 1800s to the present day. The place is dressed like a theatre set, with furniture and props period appropriate to the machines, so the sense is one of travelling through time. 292-312 Balham High Road, SW17, Museum of Freemasonry Ah, the Freemasons, that shadowy sect — definitely, definitely not a cult — that thrive behind closed walls in the corridors of power, changing the course history to suit its whims. Or, at least, that's what used to happen, until the 1990s came along and all the air was let out of its influence. Regardless, this fascinating museum, first opened in 1838, tells the Masonic story, aided by, appropriately enough, cloaks and daggers. 60 Great Queen Street, WC2B,
The Age
15-07-2025
- General
- The Age
Winston the platypus was shipped to England. Has his mystery death at sea been solved?
First, Winston's backstory. In 1943, the UK's wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill, asked Australia for a platypus to add to his menagerie of exotic pets. He was advised by his closest friend, wartime minister for information Brendan Bracken, that the Australian government had suspended its 'much-cherished law about preventing platypus[es] from leaving the country'. With a platypus set to arrive, Bracken urged Churchill to send his cat Nelson into exile. 'That pussy could (and probably would) slaughter the platypus in a few fell minutes,' Bracken wrote. And so it was that in the midst of WWII on October 2, 1943, a young and healthy platypus, named Winston for his future owner, set sail in a custom-built platypussary for England. Ewan Cowan, Holly Butler, Angela Liang and Zaki reveal that Winston's death was kept secret during the war, and document the fate of other platypuses sent abroad by sea. As part of a cross-disciplinary course, a dozen students worked for 12 weeks at the Australian Museum with its head of archives, Dr Vanessa Finney, to digitise and explore a newly acquired collection, a bequest from the naturalist, zoo owner and educator David Fleay (1907-1993). It included the ship's logbook and glass lantern slides made by Fleay, a fanatical photographer. Finney said Fleay had been a serious scientist and showman with an eye for a great story. 'Behind that was a serious intent to promote and protect Australian wildlife,' she said. Fleay had caught six puggles and chose Winston for his namesake. The young platypus was a 'little beauty' and possessed 'all the attributes of self-possession and good condition so essential to the trials ahead'. Working with Finney, the students discovered who and what was really to blame for Winston's death at sea on November 4, 1943. The students of history and philosophy of science reviewed the logbook kept by a midshipman entrusted with caring for Winston at sea. He recorded the temperature of the air, food and water several times a day, what he was fed and his condition. Sometimes Winston was fed egg custard to supplement worms and grubs. On Sunday, October 3, the log reports the animal was in good condition and eating all its food. But two days short of reaching his destination, as the students report, 'Disaster Struck'. On Saturday, November 4, the midshipman notes, 'Platypus found dead in water'. Writing to Australian prime minister John Curtin, Churchill said he 'was grieved to tell you that the platypus you kindly sent me has died. The loss is a great disappointment to me.' He wrote that the Royal College of Surgeons was anxious to have Winston's remains stuffed because another platypus had been lost in the Blitz. In correspondence between Australia and the UK, there was speculation that a depth charge by a German submarine could have killed Winston. 'With such a timid animal that only a little noise would be harmful, especially if his vitality had lowered by lessened food intake,' an official wrote. Loading By analysing the temperatures in the logbook, the students concluded that Winston was probably killed by heat stress, and exacerbated by a reduction in his food and the reverberations from an explosion. Butler said platypuses eat a lot for their size. Winston's rations had been reduced from about 700 worms a day to 600 a day because the crew feared the 50,000 worms wouldn't last the trip otherwise. Zaki said research on transporting platypuses said they shouldn't be exposed to constant temperatures above 27 degrees, yet for the week when they were crossing the equator, Winston was kept in conditions where the air and water were much higher. Platypuses mostly live in environments where the temperature is 20 degrees and below. Above 25 degrees, they can't regulate their body temperature. Above 34 degrees can be fatal for the species. 'These temperatures don't seem extreme for us humans. They're very high for platypuses,' says their report. In their online series, the students tell the full story of the story of platypus diplomacy. Cowan said platypuses were seen as very exotic from the early days of colonial settlement. 'They were considered paradoxical. Because they have a bill of a duck, they look like an otter and had a tail like a beaver.' And they lay eggs. Liang said they were so strange that scientists assumed the first specimens (taxidermied) sent overseas in the late 1790s were a hoax. 'Like a stitched-up artefact,' she said. Finney said the platypuses caused a sensation wherever they were sent. The courtship of Penelope and Cecil, the 'only two duck-billed platypuses' alive in the United States, was reported like a Mills & Boon romance by newspapers from 1947 to 1957. Loading The Herald's correspondent Ross Campbell covered their New York debut. It was attended by the Australian ambassador and a gang of media, including 20 press photographers, journalists and TV crews. At one stage, it was reported that Penelope was faking a pregnancy to get more food. The students report that Fleay said Penelope was 'shamefully maligned' – rather, she was 'always an ordinary, straightforward lady platypus'. Penelope escaped from the Bronx Zoo in 1957. The New York Times reported that far from being lovesick, Penelope was sick of Cecil.
Sydney Morning Herald
15-07-2025
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
Winston the platypus was shipped to England. Has his mystery death at sea been solved?
First, Winston's backstory. In 1943, the UK's wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill, asked Australia for a platypus to add to his menagerie of exotic pets. He was advised by his closest friend, wartime minister for information Brendan Bracken, that the Australian government had suspended its 'much-cherished law about preventing platypus[es] from leaving the country'. With a platypus set to arrive, Bracken urged Churchill to send his cat Nelson into exile. 'That pussy could (and probably would) slaughter the platypus in a few fell minutes,' Bracken wrote. And so it was that in the midst of WWII on October 2, 1943, a young and healthy platypus, named Winston for his future owner, set sail in a custom-built platypussary for England. Ewan Cowan, Holly Butler, Angela Liang and Zaki reveal that Winston's death was kept secret during the war, and document the fate of other platypuses sent abroad by sea. As part of a cross-disciplinary course, a dozen students worked for 12 weeks at the Australian Museum with its head of archives, Dr Vanessa Finney, to digitise and explore a newly acquired collection, a bequest from the naturalist, zoo owner and educator David Fleay (1907-1993). It included the ship's logbook and glass lantern slides made by Fleay, a fanatical photographer. Finney said Fleay had been a serious scientist and showman with an eye for a great story. 'Behind that was a serious intent to promote and protect Australian wildlife,' she said. Fleay had caught six puggles and chose Winston for his namesake. The young platypus was a 'little beauty' and possessed 'all the attributes of self-possession and good condition so essential to the trials ahead'. Working with Finney, the students discovered who and what was really to blame for Winston's death at sea on November 4, 1943. The students of history and philosophy of science reviewed the logbook kept by a midshipman entrusted with caring for Winston at sea. He recorded the temperature of the air, food and water several times a day, what he was fed and his condition. Sometimes Winston was fed egg custard to supplement worms and grubs. On Sunday, October 3, the log reports the animal was in good condition and eating all its food. But two days short of reaching his destination, as the students report, 'Disaster Struck'. On Saturday, November 4, the midshipman notes, 'Platypus found dead in water'. Writing to Australian prime minister John Curtin, Churchill said he 'was grieved to tell you that the platypus you kindly sent me has died. The loss is a great disappointment to me.' He wrote that the Royal College of Surgeons was anxious to have Winston's remains stuffed because another platypus had been lost in the Blitz. In correspondence between Australia and the UK, there was speculation that a depth charge by a German submarine could have killed Winston. 'With such a timid animal that only a little noise would be harmful, especially if his vitality had lowered by lessened food intake,' an official wrote. Loading By analysing the temperatures in the logbook, the students concluded that Winston was probably killed by heat stress, and exacerbated by a reduction in his food and the reverberations from an explosion. Butler said platypuses eat a lot for their size. Winston's rations had been reduced from about 700 worms a day to 600 a day because the crew feared the 50,000 worms wouldn't last the trip otherwise. Zaki said research on transporting platypuses said they shouldn't be exposed to constant temperatures above 27 degrees, yet for the week when they were crossing the equator, Winston was kept in conditions where the air and water were much higher. Platypuses mostly live in environments where the temperature is 20 degrees and below. Above 25 degrees, they can't regulate their body temperature. Above 34 degrees can be fatal for the species. 'These temperatures don't seem extreme for us humans. They're very high for platypuses,' says their report. In their online series, the students tell the full story of the story of platypus diplomacy. Cowan said platypuses were seen as very exotic from the early days of colonial settlement. 'They were considered paradoxical. Because they have a bill of a duck, they look like an otter and had a tail like a beaver.' And they lay eggs. Liang said they were so strange that scientists assumed the first specimens (taxidermied) sent overseas in the late 1790s were a hoax. 'Like a stitched-up artefact,' she said. Finney said the platypuses caused a sensation wherever they were sent. The courtship of Penelope and Cecil, the 'only two duck-billed platypuses' alive in the United States, was reported like a Mills & Boon romance by newspapers from 1947 to 1957. Loading The Herald's correspondent Ross Campbell covered their New York debut. It was attended by the Australian ambassador and a gang of media, including 20 press photographers, journalists and TV crews. At one stage, it was reported that Penelope was faking a pregnancy to get more food. The students report that Fleay said Penelope was 'shamefully maligned' – rather, she was 'always an ordinary, straightforward lady platypus'. Penelope escaped from the Bronx Zoo in 1957. The New York Times reported that far from being lovesick, Penelope was sick of Cecil.
