Fenwick residents face anxious wait over new pharmacy as future of the village's GP practice could be in danger

Anxious Fenwick residents are panicking about proposals to open a pharmacy in the village, the Daily Record reports.

Some fear it could lead to the loss of Fenwick’s GP practice claiming a new pharmacy would drastically reduce the surgery’s income from prescriptions.

Others however say they would welcome the longer opening hours and other advantages a new ‘chemists’ would bring.

One concerned patient – against the change – told the Kilmarnock Standard: “It is quite possible that the loss of income from the surgery’s dispensary could make the practice uneconomical to run.

CCG 'remain committed' to providing more primary care in Trowbridge

Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group remain committed to increasing primary care in Trowbridge and hope the recently announced merger of three doctor’s surgeries is the step in the right direction, the Wiltshire Times reports.

The assertion was made at last week’s Trowbridge Area Board meeting which saw the CCG outline their position in the future of healthcare in the town including the creation of the Trowbridge health centre.

Simon Truelove, chief finance director at the CCG said: “I think it is fair to say that the level of healthcare we are trying to provide is struggling to keep up with the demand out there, particularly in Wiltshire.

“The vision from the CCG, which is a clinician led vision, is to see an increase in primary care.”

The no-surgery 'gastric band' that helps patients shed a quarter of their weight AND beat diabetes

A simple plastic tube could revolutionise the way the NHS treats diabetes.

The fake intestine lining may provide the benefits of a gastric bypass without the expensive surgery, the Daily Mail reports.

The two-foot tube reduces the amount of food digested and fools patients into feeling full, meaning most shed a quarter of their excess weight in three months.

Doctors at Imperial College London who have begun a £1.6 million trial of the EndoBarrier say the device, which could also combat many problems associated with obesity, could be in use within four years.

MP attacks Manchester devo health deal

The move to devolve Greater Manchester’s £6m health and social care budget is a sham, one of the region’s MPs has said, calling for an independent assessment of the impact of the policy, The Guardian reports.

Debbie Abrahams, the Labour MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth and a fellow of the Faculty of Public Health, said the initiative was about “delegation not devolution” and raised concerns about a lack of clarity surrounding the plans.

In April, Greater Manchester become the first local authority in England to take responsibility for health and social care funding from the central government. Known locally as “devo health”, the deal was struck behind closed doors in February 2015 by the Greater Manchester combined authority and the chancellor, George Osborne, who sees Manchester at the heart of his northern powerhouse project.

Health and well-being are more than just physical

Mental health factors like loneliness, and sensory factors like hearing loss, can matter more to someone's well-being and risk of death than traditional measures like cancer and high blood pressure, Reuters reports.

Particularly in caring for older adults, doctors should consider more than just physical health, researchers say.

"We’re a mosaic of all of these traits," said lead author Martha McClintock, of The University of Chicago. "In order to see the picture of health, you need to look at them together."

Traditionally, health and well-being is measured with the so-called medical model, which is based on physical health and the absence of disease.