GPs and hospitals in England to be required to share data to create single patient records

GPs and hospitals will be required to share patient data under legislation to be announced in the king’s speech on Wednesday.Legislation to create a single patient record (SPR) for each person, which would be used across all healthcare providers, is part of a £10bn digitisation of the health service.The health secretary, Wes Streeting, said making the data accessible in one place would be a “gamechanger” that would save lives.The legislation aims to spare patients from constantly having to repeat their medical history when turning up at hospital or being discharged back to their GP.“As patients, there’s nothing more frustrating than having to repeat your medical history at every appointment,” Streeting said

My egg, my wife’s womb, our baby: how we found our way to lesbian motherhood

When Leah and I planned a family, we wanted to be as mutual as possible. Could reciprocal IVF – Leah carrying an embryo made from my egg – be the way forward?Late last year, it became my friend’s favourite party trick. “Rosa’s going to have a baby next week,” she’d say to a group of people who didn’t know me. I’d watch their faces as they tried to inconspicuously scan my body, detecting no sign of a bump. “Congratulations!” they’d say, smiles tight, clearly wondering what other delusions I might have up my sleeve

‘They’ve invented a spurious pseudo-disease’: why are so many men being told they have low testosterone?

A s a young man, Nick Dooley never thought about his hormones. He always considered himself “quite an outgoing, confident, chatty person”. Around the time he turned 30, however, Dooley began putting on weight and struggling with anxiety, “just slowly becoming a shell of my former self”, he says. By 38, he weighed 22st (140kg) and had a range of health issues. “I spent most of my life sat in front of a TV, doing nothing, with zero motivation, and from how I was in my 20s, that wasn’t me

‘A sobering indictment’: 14 homeless people die a year in public parks or countryside in Australia, analysis finds

Fourteen rough sleepers are dying in public parks or countryside areas each year on average in Australia, an analysis of hidden death reports reveals.The deaths of a young international student sleeping rough in Hyde Park, a young homeless mother who died of sepsis in Western Australia, and a newborn baby at a makeshift homeless camp near Wagga beach have prompted an outpouring of grief and shock in recent weeks.The deaths have triggered renewed focus on Australia’s homelessness crisis and the lack of social and emergency housing options, which are pushing vulnerable rough sleepers into precarious situations.An analysis of coronial records, most of which are not public, reveals disturbing numbers of homelessness deaths in public parks and countryside areas, including riverbanks.Between 2010 and 2020, 54 rough sleepers died in public parks, the analysis shows

The emerging cancer treatment that’s exciting scientists: ‘We’ve just scratched the surface on what’s possible’

“Game-changer.” That’s how Prof Misty Jenkins, an immunologist at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, describes CAR T-cell therapy, an emerging but still costly cancer treatment that supercharges the body’s immune system to fight disease.Late last month, Jurassic Park actor Sam Neill put the treatment in the spotlight, revealing his stage three cancer was in remission after undergoing CAR T-cell therapy as part of a clinical trial in Sydney. He stopped short of describing his remission as a miracle – the success, he said, was “science at its best”.The history of CAR (for “chimeric antigen receptor”) T-cell therapy is one of small discoveries accumulating over decades, leading to major advances in patient care

Barrister says ‘dead woman was put on trial’ after husband cleared of manslaughter

A barrister has suggested that a “dead woman was put on trial” in the case of Christopher Trybus, who was cleared of manslaughter by a jury.Charlotte Proudman’s comments came after Trybus was found not guilty by a jury of eight women and four men, who deliberated for more than 40 hours. He was acquitted of all charges: manslaughter, coercive and controlling behaviour and two counts of rape.The case had been brought after his wife, Tarryn Baird, 34, took her own life in 2017. Prior to her death, she made allegations that Trybus had been abusive to her