Which? Report says Parking is a battle at NHS hospital car parks

Parking at NHS hospitals is too often a nightmare, new Which? research has found.

Problems finding a space, cost and battling confusing payment systems are just some of the difficulties facing people using hospital car parks.  All when they are probably worried over on-going cancer treatment, feeling tired and low.

67 per cent of people who had used an NHS hospital car park in the last two years thought that the parking charges were too expensive. Which? has previously found that some hospitals make annual profits of £1 million or more.

Over half of people who had visited a hospital recently had problems finding a space, with a third of people having to queue to get one. Unfortunately, things don’t seem to get easier for parkers once they do find a space, as a third of car park users faced problems paying to park.

Peter Vicary-Smith, chief executive, Which? says:

“It’s outrageous that using an NHS hospital car park is such a problematic experience for so many people. Visiting hospital is stressful enough and people don’t need the added burden of battling with the parking system.

“Now we know what people want, the Government must take steps to fix the system and ensure all hospital car parks have sufficient capacity, offer fair prices and have user-friendly ways to pay.”

Which? are echoing Macmillan’s thoughts;  the charity are currently working to get charges abolished.

70 per cent of people using a hospital car park in the past two years experienced a problem

Which? used the Freedom of Information Act to find out the profit margins made from car park fees at 23 of England’s busiest trusts, over three years. Profits described are from 2008/9.

People can tell Which? about their experiences of using NHS hospital car parks at: which.campaigns@which.co.uk

Or contact Macmillan and Give hospital parking charges the boot.

Help Macmillan end hospital car parking charges for cancer patients in England, by signing their pledge to show your support. The more signatures they get the more pressure they can put on the Government to make change happen.  www.macmillan.org.uk

VERITE’S CHOCOLATE MARQUISE

I am not going to deny that this is full  of calories, but whenever I make it for a fund-raising dinner, somehow the money floats in!

Recently I was asked to write this out for two cookery books to raise funds for cancer – so if you want to make it, please pop something into Marie Curie’s tin and buy a daffodil.

Ingredients
for 6 greedy people!

225g/8oz dark chocolate
5 free-range eggs
100g/3½oz golden caster sugar
170g/6oz unsalted butter
vanilla essence or vanilla pod

Optional
splash or glug of brandy, cointreau or Grand Marnier – or one of the cream based chocolate or coffee liqueurs

To serve   Creme fraiche, cream or chocolate shavings to decorate top

Method

1. Place a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water (important that the water shouldn’t touch the bottom of the bowl) and gently melt the chocolate in the bowl.  Crack the eggs, slip the yolks into the chocolate when it is melted, beat in, and remove from the heat.  Cool slightly.  Add sugar

2.  Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat.

3. Whisk the melted butter into the chocolate mixture. If it gets too thick, add a couple of tablespoons of water.

4. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites (use electric whisk if you have one) .  When stiff, add in sugar.

7. Carefully fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture using a metal or silver spoon, along with a few drops of vanilla essence or the seeds from inside a vanilla pod.  Add any brandy etc. to taste.

8. Spoon the chocolate mixture into pretty bowl and put in fridge.  This will keep for at least 24 hours – provided you put a lock on the fridge door!

9. To serve, float cream on top, or add chocolate shavings.   If you want another – less rich -pud, thin orange slices goes well with this.

Enjoy! And don’t forget Marie-Curie!

4.02.10

ARE CELL/MOBILE PHONES DANGEROUS?

One of biggest concerns on the Internet is “are mobile/cell phones safe?”

So far no-one has come up with positive proof one way or another re dangers associated with cancer, but anecdotal evidence talking to researchers shows that they tend to limit or ban these phones for their children’s use.

Recently Glenn Addams of Associated Press in America commented, “Ignoring the health risks of heavy cell phone use invites a cancer epidemic, according to supporters of a bill requiring manufacturers to put labels on mobile phones and packaging”.

“We can do nothing and wait for the body count. That’s what happened with smoking” before warnings on cigarette packs were mandated, David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and Environment at the University of Albany, told Maine lawmakers.

The Health and Human Services Committee held a hearing on a bill that would make Maine the first state to carry warnings that they can cause brain cancer, especially among children. Opponents dismissed research pointing to the risks and said the bill is more about politics than science.

However, “when you put that phone to your head, you are unknowingly playing Russian roulette,” according to Alan Marks of the San Francisco Bay area, who’s been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

If you have concerns, the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) research team has issued a guide to cell phone radiation, rating more than 1,000 cell phones.

And if you are thinking of replacing your mobile or cell phone, they have produced an online guide on  http://www.ewg.org/cellphone-radiation.

“We would like to be able to say that cell phones are safe,” said Olga Naidenko, Ph.D., EWG Senior Scientist and lead author of the study. “But we can’t. The most recent science, while not conclusive, raises serious issues about the cancer risk of cell phone use that must be addressed through further research.  In the meantime, consumers can take steps to reduce exposure.”

Better consumer information is vital. Dr Siegal Sadetzki, an epidemiologist and lecturer at Tel Aviv University, has recently carried out research that linked salivary gland tumours with the use of mobile phones. She says that even if the risk is small, the fact that four billion people use mobile phones worldwide mean it could result in “great damage” and a “precautionary approach” should be adopted by issuing safety advice with mobile phones.

Dariusz Leszczynski, a research professor at the University of Finland, said the current safety standards are not sufficiently supported by science because there has not yet been enough research into the long term effects of mobile phones on humans. He also said health warnings should be issued with mobile phones advising users to hold the devices away from the head, text where possible and use speaker phone.

The evidence given to the committee will now be passed to the US Sentate Health Committee that has the power to influence the regulatory agencies in charge of issuing safety advice on mobile phones.

Health agencies in six nations — Switzerland, Germany, Israel, France, the United Kingdom, and Finland — have issued warnings to limit cell phone use, particularly by children, whose softer, thinner skulls are less able to shield the brain from radiation. Scientists have found that children’s brains absorb twice as much cell phone radiation as those of adults.

However, in one positive step, EWG urges concerned consumers to take action and tell the federal government that cell phone makers should be required to disclose each phone’s radiation output on the label.

The report also offers safety tips for reducing cell phone radiation exposure. Among them:

• Use headsets and the speakerphone option if available.
• Text more, talk less.
• Stay off the phone when few bars indicate a weak signal.

EWG’s new interactive database, based on technical specifications of cell phones currently on the market and some popular older models, can be searched by model. A separate database details radiation levels of smart phones.

EWG’s top 10 phones, based on low emissions:

1. Samsung Impression (SGH-a877) [AT&T]

2. Motorola RAZR V8 [CellularONE]

3. Samsung SGH-t229 [T-Mobile]

4. Samsung Rugby (SGH-a837) [AT&T]

5. Samsung Propel Pro (SGH-i627) [AT&T]

6. Samsung Gravity (SGH-t459) [CellularONE, T-Mobile]

7. T-Mobile Sidekick [T-Mobile]

8. LG Xenon (GR500) [AT&T]

9. Motorola Karma QA1 [AT&T]

10. Sanyo Katana II [Kajeet]

EWG’s list of highest radiation phones:

1. Motorola MOTO VU204 [Verizon Wireless]

2. T-Mobile myTouch 3G [T-Mobile]

3. Kyocera Jax S1300 [Virgin Mobile]

4. Blackberry Curve 8330 [Sprint, U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless, MetroPCS]

5. Motorola W385 [U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless]

6. T-Mobile Shadow [T-Mobile]

7. Motorola C290 [Sprint, Kajeet]

8. Motorola i335 [Sprint]

9. Motorola MOTO VE240 [Cricket, MetroPCS]

10. Blackberry Bold 9000 [AT&T]

One fact we DO know – it has been proven to be dangerous to talk on a ‘hands-free’ phone whilst driving.  Professor Brown at Cambridge, and other research establishments in USA, did tests to measure reaction times of drivers using hands-free phones.

• Tests show that average reaction time to an emergency is 1.5 seconds before your brain activates your foot to hit the brake.
• Average reaction time if on hands-free phone before your brain activates your foot to hit the brake is 2.7 seconds.

Frightening.

And Police in UK are now trying to stop hands-free use by drivers when driving.  Some recent cases show if a driver is involved in an accident, they go through records to see if they were using a hands-free phone within the last few minutes before a crash (it is reckoned our brains take about ten minutes to get back into gear after finishing a conversation).  If the driver HAS been using a phone, it can be jail.

More information can be found in my other post, “Does using mobile or cell phones cause cancer?”

Mini-meals made easy

Want to make mini-meals for yourself to see you through treatment days?

- Or you are the kind person who makes up little goodie-bags for friends in hospital

- Or you want to throw a party but hate making all those fiddly eats?

The KITCHEN at Parsons Green, in London’s fashionable Fulham,  has the answer.  It  runs fun courses giving easy lessons on making the food that will go down a treat – one super helpful one is called a CANAPE MASTER CLASS – with a twist.

Given by rugby-fan and Michelin Star chef Thierry Laborde from Brittan, he was a pupil of the legendary Alain Ducasse.  I found the twist came with Thierry’s attitude to a crass amateur like myself.  He was incredibly helpful if I mentioned that some ingredients weren’t a good idea – smoked fish could be a no-no for instance if on chemo – so he recommended “leave it out – the recipe won’t mind” .

Don’t think Thierry is all pompous and ‘cheffie’.  There wasn’t one four or five-letter word, he talked to us and gave us superb tips as part of his talk, and agreed that some farmers are taking the mickey out of customers with the way they load prices just because the food is organic.

Classes are 3 – 8  ’students’ , and range from 3-year old kids to catering professionals who come to learn tips from Thierry.  The one thing they have in common is they are FUN.

And you learn!  Starting on our first Canape, Quails Eggs and Celeriac Remoulade, within a minute Thierry had told us to peel the eggs (boiled for two minutes) and pop them in to malt vinegar for two hours.  When they come out they are simple to peel.  So if you don’t like the thin membrame that surrounds a Quails Egg – this is the easy way to        get rid of it.

Already around the table we were becoming neater with our chopping, and Thierry hadn’t    finished with the helpful advice.  Don’t bother to make fiddly little pastry cases – most good delicatessens or Waitrose sell them, but make sure they are the savoury ones as there are also sweet pastry cases.

Fish cakes are always popular, and Thierry’s advice was to boil the freshest fish in milk – leave it to one side to continue cooking, and then we had lovely moist fish to make our cakes.  But the potato should be dry.  Combine the ingredients with parsley, leek if you want a veg, and form fish cakes.  Dip these gently in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs (he uses Japanese ones).  Cook them in a lightly oiled frying pan until golden brown, freeze when cold, then take out and finish in a pre-heated oven at 180° for 5 minutes. This also makes marvellous meals for kids, who don’t notice the fish cakes are healthy!

More and more lovely Canapés were produced, with simple instructions;  these could be frozen, even a wonderful easy-meal of Croque Monsieur which would make a hearty snack, and a little tray of these goodies would make tasty treats to take to someone undergoing treatment at home, or if a friend is in hospital.

Thierry worked at many of the top restaurants here and in Europe, and organises different cooking sessions:

• Kids’ clubs
• Make-aways where you get to make a special dish and take it away
• Master Classes
• etc.

He has a sensible and practical attitude to cooking, saying, “if you have to put on weight, put on weight properly”, as he advised us to scrape butter over the outside of Croque Monsieur, to give it “a lovely golden colour”.  But he is very slim, so obviously eating well doesn’t necessarily make you fat.

All the sessions are priced at £89 per person, and the washing up is done by willing minions! and you get all the canapes you made packed in special boxes to take home.

www.visitthekitchen.com

House of Lords launch for innovative health care programme.

Lord Darzi was constantly saying he wanted patients discharged earlier, and in February a report was launched which  showed by treating chemo patients at home, the NHS could save between £46 – £73 million a year – according to the report  ‘Hospital Care at Home’.

Now the current report produced by the Daily Telegraph is lauding this way of treating patients.

‘Home care’ is already happening in some areas,delivered by a company called Healthcare at Home.  Spokesman Steve Davies says in a recent survey of over 500 patients in Britain who now receive chemo in the comfort of their own homes, 86% said their quality of life was better, 100% of Consultants were in favour of the scheme (now they have evaluated the effects), and the only complaints were from a tiny minority who said they missed the ‘buzz’ of a hospital.

“I would like to think that we have had some influence on the government”, says Steve.  “They have seen a lot of our work.  Not only do patients find treatment at home to be highly acceptable, but the NHS can also save serious amounts of taxpayer’s money doing it this way, or can treat more patients for the same amount”.

So if you are faced with chemo, and don’t want the long journey to the treatment centre, or would rather have one-to-one attention from a nurse who stays with you during the whole process, contact www.hah.co.uk

‘Come Dine For Spencer’ is a charity in memory of one of the Contestants

A charity has been formed by a team of ‘Come Dine with Me’ contestants, in memory of fellow contestant Spencer Uren, with the aim of having fun whilst raising funds for Basingstoke and North Hampshire cancer treatment.

This project is focusing in the first instance in two areas. Firstly, they say ” our priority is the people undergoing Cancer treatment; it is both daunting and emotional for all.  Chemotherapy is very important, yet time consuming.  We plan to make it as comfortable as possible for patients and their families.  We would like to improve the waiting room and family room area of the Elizabeth Hall Centre with a refurbishment and comfortable furnishings.  And to help pass the time waiting receiving treatment, we want to give free Internet access, TV’s and games such as X-boxes and PlayStations”.

So  —- You have watched the show and shouted out, ‘I can do a better than that!’  Well this is your opportunity to prove it, to host YOUR very own ‘Come Dine For Spencer’ evening and raise money for Cancer.

Invite your friends and family, cook them a delicious meal and ask them to make a contribution to ‘Come Dine with Spencer’,  the value of their contribution is dependent on the score they give you.  Download our scorecards and ask them to score your meal.  Whatever they score is their personal donation to our charity, so a score of 8 would equal £8.00. Ensure they play fair though!

Consider making it a group effort. Ask your guests to return the favour and invite the same group to a follow-up ‘Come Dine For Spencer’ evening at theirs, where you get to score them.  That’s when the competition really starts heating up.

Make it fun, and maybe consider a theme for your dinner party. We are big fans of Paella and Pyjama Parties, with a large jug of sangria!

How about a Mexican Night, Tapas Night, Italian, French, American cuisine, the list is endless, incorporate a Murder Mystery or even a Karaoke competition.

We plan to keep this charity site ongoing, for at least the next year or two, so BBQ’s in the summer could be considered too.

You could replicate a ‘Come Dine with Me’ menu, as cooked by a contestant of the show; demonstrate how it should be done, with a touch of your own creative flair!
Share your Dinner party info with Come Dine with Me

Anyone who’s hosted a dinner party and taken some snaps can come to the site and create their own mini CDWM episode to share with their friends, complete with Dave Lamb voiceover.

All the episodes submitted to the site are automatically entered into a competition to win amazing prizes. The first prize is a Siemens fridge freezer.

Take a look here  http://dine.channel4.com

http://www.comedineforspencer.co.uk/index.html

Miracles do happen!

When Stinne Holm Bergholdt, 32, was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a type of bone cancer, in 2004, she was told she was most unlikely to conceive.  Chemotherapy would give her an early menopause, but …. she decided it was worth while  freezing part of her right ovary.

After her recovery, doctors re-implanted 20 percent of the ovary and she became pregnant with her first daughter, Aviaja, through in-vitro fertilization. Then, in September 2008, Bergholdt gave birth to another daughter, Lucca, who was conceived naturally, and she now has two beautiful babies, living in Odense, Denmark.

As far as I know eight other women have given birth to single children after ovary transplants, but Stinne is the first to have two.

“It’s hard to believe it’s really true,” said Bergholdt. “It’s like a dream that I never would have thought possible a few years ago.”

“We were really surprised that she had done it herself,” said Dr. Claus Yding Andersen, one of Bergoldt’s doctors at University Hospital of Copenhagen. “We did not expect the ovary transplant to still be working after four years.”

But some doctors are not as surprised.

‘They just get pregnant naturally with intercourse,” Dr. Sherman Silber, director of the Infertility Center of St. Louis, at St. Luke’s Hospital told WebMD.com.

Bergholdt’s success at conception is a good sign for cancer patients looking to preserve their fertility.

“It shows we can stop the clock by freezing the ovaries,” said Andersen.

Bergholdt’s entire story was published by medical journal Human Reproduction.

So the message is -never give up hope!

Feeding in Hospital

Maybe those Third World Countries where the families go in to feed members have a thing or two.

Conservatives claim 50,000 patients died from malnutrition in one year – don’t know about this, but do know that an elderly female relative didn’t eat whilst in Hospital.  She is deaf and blind, and staff were leaving the tray at the end of her bed.  She had no idea it was there, couldn’t get up because her pelvis was broken, and I saw trays being taken away without being touched.

Eventually she complained to me that “I am starving.  I haven’t eaten whilst I have been here”.

Solution?  I went in three times a day at meal-times to feed her.

So why not get Sister to have a word with relatives, get family to arrange a rota for friends and relatives to come in one at a time to feed their relative, and give them a card with acceptable and ‘forbidden food’ listed?

• Relatives feel they are involved
• Nursing staff don’t have to make time to feed elderly
• Patient will get special treats of food they like
• It will also cut down the hygiene hazard when a large group of relatives clusters around a patient at one time

Leaving more staff time to feed those with no relatives who need assistance.

Older Female Cancer Survivors Have Added Health Issues Compared To Their Counterparts

As cancer survivors live longer, questions arise about what kind of care long-term they require.

Survivorship for older patients now seems top of the agenda;  in Britain the NHS has now come out with statements that they are doing more to help this age group,  and a recently published study from Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences in the USA found 245 older married women who survived cancer had more health problems as compared to a sample of 245 married women without cancer.

The article, “Health and Well-Being in Older Married Female Cancer Survivors,” was published as part of a special supplement of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, along with other articles that resulted from a conference at CWRU on geriatric oncology, said Aloen Townsend, the lead researcher and associate professor of social work.

“There is a pressing need to study older cancer survivors,” Townsend said. “It is critical to disentangle the experiences that are unique to older cancer survivors from experiences that are common to aging individuals.”

Health care for cancer survivors is a growing concern, according to the researchers.

http://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/article/32923.htm?c=NL20100224

http://www.case.edu/

Tips from Lisa Fayed

Lisa Fayed edits a very succesful website as part of the  www.About.com  family, and recently had this Guide to handling nausea:

Nausea is one the most common side effects …. and can also be one of the most miserable ones. Although nausea may seem like a harmless side effect of chemotherapy, it can lead to a loss of appetite and in turn,  dehydration, which can be serious.

If you get an attack, here are her Tips

1. Eat small meals throughout the day. It is easier to keep down small amounts of food when you are nauseated than  large amounts, even when you feel really hungry. Wait until the nausea has passed before attempting to eat larger amounts.

2. Do not eat fatty, greasy foods right before or during treatment. Fatty and greasy foods are often difficult to digest in the first place, let alone with bouts of nausea. Plus, another goal is to keep the food you eat down, and greasy foods can often make nausea worse, leading to vomiting.

3. Rest after eating, but do not lay completely flat. Try laying in an upright position or in a recliner. This will aid in digestion.

4. Avoid strong scents or odors. This may mean no cooking in the home for the rest of the family while you are at home. You may want to dine out for some meals to avoid scent or food aversions.

5. Avoid your favorite foods during treatment if you are experiencing nausea. Your body may learn to associate these foods with nausea and vomiting, a condition called a conditioned food aversion. This may make them difficult to eat when you are feeling less nauseous.

(I found I was suddenly sick when faced with my favourite foods – and found she is right).

6. Talk to your doctor or Clinical Nurse specialist about your nausea. Most people need to drink large amounts of fluids a day and if you are vomiting, this is not being achieved.

7. No smoking. Some people continue to smoke during treatment, but this habit can easily upset the stomach, worsening the nausea. If you are having trouble kicking the habit during treatment, talk to your doctor. Several smoking cessation therapies are available to help you in your quest to quit.

9. Drink fluids at room temperature. Cold or warm beverages may increase or trigger nausea in already sensitive stomachs.

And on a personal note, Tonic Water (Schweppes) works for me.  It goes horribly flat very quickly if you buy the large bottles, but you can get it in small ring-pull cans, which make an ideal dose.

www.about.com/cancer

This is part of the New York Times website family.