Medical hot topics Flashcards
Main challenges in NHS
1) Ambulances (wait times)
2) Backlog
3) Care sector (staff shortage)
4) Doctors and dentists (shortage of qualified GPs and availability of dentists)
HIV and PrEP
-PrEP: drug taken by HIV negative people before sexual contact usually with a HIV positive person
-can be taken daily or on demand
-if taken correctly, more than 99% effective
-disadvantages: side effects on kidney function and bone health, regular testing is required, may lead to a greater rate of STIs, promote drug resistant HIV people who take it without knowing they have HIV
Mental health
-40% of people in care homes are affected by depression
-covid-19 impacts
-perinatal mental health
-eating disorders: £30 million goes into funding eating disorder services [er year
-diabulimia: people with diabetes restrict their insulin intake to lose weight
-NHS staff: creating a national support service, developing well being and psychological training
-Five year Forward for Mental Health
GP services and primary care (problems)
-GP shortages
-Increasing demands
-Recruitment issues
-practices are closing
-unsafe patient levels
-long waits for appointments
-unnecessary appointments that waste time
-public satisfaction is low
GP services and primary care (solutions)
-med schools correct misconceptions
-‘golden hello’
-international recruitment
-digital solutions
organ donation
-demand is larger than supply
-waiting lists (7000 people in UK) –> many patients die before they can receive a transplant
-hard to find good matches
-opt-in systems: ethically most correct but this means many potential donors don’t register
-opt-out: presumed consent
abortion
-1967 Abortion Act: abortion legal in England
-methods: surgical abortion (up to 14 weeks of pregnancy- vacuum or suction aspiration) or medical abortion (within 10 weeks of gestation, two pills 24 and 48 hours apart –> first inhibits progesterone and second induces a contraction to pass the pregnancy)
-pro-life arguments: life begins at point of conception, child could be adopted, unborn child is innocent, psychological distress for the woman
-pro-choice arguments: foetus cannot live outside a woman’s body therefore it is not a living organism, fertilised eggs are thrown away, rape/incest, prevent deaths and complications of secret abortions, abortion to save a woman’s life
Euthanasia
-active: acting person deliberately intervenes to end a person’s life
-passive: withholding or withdrawing treatment
-voluntary: request
-involuntary: manslaughter or murder
-assisted suicide: physician gives the patient the means to take lethal medication themself
-assisted dying: assisted suicide but patient is already dying
-euthanasia is legal in Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg
arguments for/ against euthanasia
-for: intolerable suffering., autonomy, having to go abroad to die is not the best option, would provide comfort to the dying, choosing to die would not cause direct harm to others, some may try to end their lives alone which is dangerous
-against: “turn doctors into executioners”, non-maleficence, pressure, premature ending of lives
Ageing population
-by 2050, 25% of the population will be over 65
-increasing number of chronic illnesses (diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, alzheimer’s…)
-complex social needs
-dementia
-cuts in social care spending –> more A&E admissions
-Low Healthy Life Expectancy
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AI in medicine
-medical diagnosis
-radiotherapy
-virtual nursing (wearable devices like smart watches…)
-robotic surgery
-Information services (NHS works with Amazon’s Alexa)
Francis Reports (what happened + effect on NHS)
-Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust
-organisations in charge of regulating and managing the trust weren’t working well
-high mortality rates (400-1200 people died unnecessarily)
-understaffing, poor communication, unanswered calls, poor care
-encourage duty of candour, openness, transparency, stronger leadership, healthcare quality strengthened
