New proposals could transform health in Thurrock

Local health leaders, NHS Thurrock Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), are taking the first steps towards an ambitious plan to transform the way health and care services are accessed across the borough, Your Thurrock reports.

From this week until 31 March 2016, Healthwatch Thurrock will be leading a comprehensive engagement process to share the CCG’s vision For Thurrock in Thurrock.

The vision, For Thurrock in Thurrock, supported by Thurrock Council, will see a new model of health care that would place greater emphasis on neighbourhood based care in communities. Health and social care teams would work closely together to deliver care closer to home, moving away from the current more complex system.

The vision would see district nursing, pharmacy, dentistry and home care teams all working together to develop care plans that are personalised, holistic and delivered by specialist healthcare professionals.

New NHS cancer drugs fund approved

Cancer patients have been promised faster access to innovative medicines by NHS England, the BBC reports.

It has announced changes to the heavily criticised and regularly overspent Cancer Drugs Fund, which pays for drugs the NHS has deemed unaffordable.

The new system will start in July 2016 and have a fixed budget of £340m.

No patients receiving drugs on the old Cancer Drugs Fund will have their medication stopped.

At present, the CDF can choose to pay for innovative drugs the health watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), has rejected for widespread use on the NHS.

But under the new system, NICE will make all the decisions.

Tampax tampons and Always sanitary towels among feminine hygiene products 'contain toxic chemicals'

Tampax, Always and several other brands of tampons and sanitary towels being sold in France may contain “potentially toxic residues”, it has been claimed, the Independent reports.

A study by 60 Millions de Consommateurs magazine reportedly found traces of chemicals including dioxins and insecticides in five of 11 products tested.

The findings caused a brand manufacturing “organic” feminine hygiene products to recall a batch of 3,100 boxes of sanitary towels on sale in France and Canada.