Soaring obesity levels could result in up to 12,000 cases of weight-related cancer being diagnosed annually in the UK by 2010, say experts. The Department of Health predicts a 14% increase in obesity by 2010, which will mean 27.6 million people in the UK will be classified as obese. Cancer Research UK has calculated that this will lead to around 1,500 extra weight-related cancers a year.

In the face of a government letter to patients rejecting their request to opt out of inclusion in a national electronic database of health records, the British Medical Association (BMA) is seeking urgent assurances from the Department of Health over the way the National Care Records Service will operate. Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the BMA’s GPs Committee, said:

The number of suspects charged with race-hate crime soared by more than a quarter in the past year, figures show. A total of 7,430 people has been charged with racially aggravated offences, up 28 per cent on 2004-05. Prosecutions for religiously aggravated crimes also rose by 26.5 per cent, although just 43 defendants faced charges. Cases ranged from serious assaults to racial abuse.

Patricia Hewitt and other ministers have privately conceded that the government is in real difficulty over its efforts to sell controversial health reforms, a minute of a private briefing reveals.
{mosimage}At a brainstorming on the future of the NHS between the health secretary and ministers last Thursday, some raised anxieties about the way the reforms were being presented to the public. “Too often the debate on public service reforms seemed to pitch the government against frontline staff,” said the minute, which was marked restricted.

One unnamed minister warned Ms Hewitt that financial pressures were mounting too. This was because “increasing life expectancy and medical advances would lead to new pressures, which would need to be reconciled with the public’s expectations about taxation”.

The minute reveals that Ms Hewitt admitted that the government needed to “be smarter about communications”. She said the government needed to involve senior NHS staff to help make the case for change.

Campaigners have staged a protest against cuts in mental health services. In the summer Flintshire Council closed the Ambrose Lloyd Centre in Mold, which provides care for people with mental health problems, along with day centres in Connah’s Quay and Holywell. The council has replaced them with five drop-in centres across the county, claiming reform of the service will provide greater independence.

Toddlers from disadvantaged families in York are to get free nursery places. Under a new initiative, free nursery places are to be given out to 500 two-year-olds in York. The Department for Education and Skills has given £622,000 to City of York Council to spend over the next two years.

There are dozens of people sleeping rough in Leeds but where are they? Graveyards, tunnels, bushes, derelict buildings and stairwells are just some of the places Leeds’ homeless are making their beds, according to a new survey. Few sleep in the city centre, but most of those featured in the study by Leeds Simon Community for Shelter were between friends’ sofas or the streets.

Commenting on reports published by the Department of Health on the need to change how emergency care in England is provided, Dr Jonathan Fielden, Chairman of the BMA’s consultants’ committee said: “Doctors want to ensure that as medicine advances patients have access to high quality, safe care based on the best available evidence. Where the Government and NHS managers are also party to this patient centred agenda we will work with them.

A pioneering scheme to help older people in West Sussex stay in their own homes while giving key workers and other professionals a place to live is being launched. The project, called Homeshare, will put older people in touch with responsible professionals, after thorough checks. They get free accommodation in exchange for helping around the house with tasks such as gardening, cooking and cleaning.

Campaigns to save local A&E departments from closure could lead to more than 1,000 unnecessary deaths each year, a report has warned. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said specialist units were better placed than local hospitals to deal with high-risk patients.

{mosimage}The report comes as Tony Blair is due to urge managers to make the case for reorganising NHS services in England. Financial concerns must not drown out arguments for change, the PM will say.

Mr Blair will outline the government’s case for NHS reform in a speech to local health managers and doctors at the NHS Confederation on Tuesday. He will say service improvements in NHS hospitals are being implemented to ensure the very sick have speedy access to specialist care but also to treat people more conveniently closer to home.

“The best is yet to come with more lives saved, stopping more pain and distress,” he will say.

But critics of the reforms say they will put patient lives at risk and are being carried out to cut costs.