Written on July 17, 2011 by Seth Climpson
My husband, David Childs, who has died of cancer aged 64, was head of NHS clinical psychology services in Bath from 1979 until his retirement in 2004, overseeing the provision of psychological therapy to a variety of people, including adults with mental health problems and children with learning difficulties, in the Bath and Wiltshire area.
As head of the service, he defended his psychologists against the imposition of outside managers, encouraged independence of spirit and maintained standards of kindness and decency. He was respected for his wisdom and his ability to ask awkward questions in an unthreatening way. He campaigned to keep the NHS free to all.
As a clinician, David sought to tackle problems in creative ways.
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Written on July 16, 2011 by admin
Babies who were exposed to certain organic pollutants in the womb are at a highly increased risk of neural tube defects leading to conditions such as spina bifida, according to researchers in China.
Neural tube defects, in which the spinal cord, the brain or their coverings fail to develop completely, arise very early in pregnancy and affect more than 320,000 infants worldwide every year. They can lead not just to spina bifida, in which the spinal covering does not close completely, but also to severe cranial abnormalities such as anencephaly, which often leads to stillbirth, and other conditions.
Previous studies have linked certain pollutants, in particular polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), from sources such as indoor coal stoves, smoking and vehicle exhausts, to neural tube defects.
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Written on July 16, 2011 by George Moowattin
GPs, hospital consultants and patients protesting in East London on Saturday (Photograph: Monica Alcazar)
Around 60 campaigners assembled in a park in Hackney before marching to the local Homerton Hospital to speak out against the NHS reforms.
Hackney GP Dr Jonathon Tomlinson said a key message was that the government could not be trusted with the NHS and that the reforms posed a ‘serious threat’ to the viability of local hospitals and other services.
He said that despite the ‘extraordinary weather’ the atmosphere at the protest was ‘very jolly’.
‘It was like being at sea,’ he said. ‘You could ba
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Written on July 16, 2011 by Seth Climpson
National Jewish Health will honor Harry Bock and the Bock family for their service and commitment to the Dallas community on April 27 at The Apartment in Dallas. Community and business leaders Mike Glazer, Burl and Betty Osborne, Richard and Nancy Rogers, and Allan Zidell and Donna Fadal will co-chair the cocktail reception.
Harry Bock, who passed away July 12, 2010, was well-known for his loyalty, honesty and strong work ethic. He learned the jewelry trade from his father, Abram, after the family was liberated from Dachau, Germany, during World War II and moved to Dallas. Harry founded The Harry Bock Company, which owns and operates Bachendorf’s Jewelers. He
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Written on July 16, 2011 by Seth Climpson
Professor Hugh Freeman, who has died aged 81, was effective in changing mental health provision in Britain. He spent most of his professional life in Salford, Greater Manchester, where he was consultant psychiatrist to the city’s hospitals from 1961 until 1988. Beginning in 1967, at Hope hospital and Salford Royal, he pioneered psychiatric units in general hospitals. This was at a time when the hospital was almost the entire focus of psychiatric treatment. Using the meagre resources he was given, Hugh greatly expanded day hospital and outpatient care, thus enabling seriously ill patients to be managed in various settings outside medical institutions.
He also initiated and maintained one of the first psychiatric case registers with the help of Mervyn Susser, Salford’s medical officer for mental health.
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