Trying a dry month or simply cutting down?
Many people drink alcohol because it is there. # Stock up on alternative non-alcoholic drinks. # Tonic water with ice and lemon. # Try syrups - but beware the sugar content. # try a non-alcoholic spirit such as Seedlip, a refreshing gin replacement. # Buy half-bottles of wine.
Going out? Ask for your soft drinks to be served in a wine glass - it stops people asking why you are not drinking, plus it is somehow satisfying to hold the stem of a glass.
Be mindful. Before opening a bottle, ask yourself if you are anxious, bored or lonely. Try to deal with these feelings in a positive way rather than numbing them with alcohol. # Plan distractions like going for a walk, having a relaxing bath or chatting to a friend. # Start a drinking diary and note down what you drink, and when and why.
Many people drink in social situations because of anxiety. # Try slipping into parties late, when awkward small talk if over and the mood is more relaxed. # Socialise at brunch and breakfast as there is no expectation to drink. # Plan your alcohol drink choice in advance, so you are not put on the spot and panic and agree to wine.
Make a list of all the reasons you want to give up for a while and refer to the list when willpower weakens.
Source: Item in Good Housekeeping, Feb. 2018
Monday, 30 April 2018
Monday, 23 April 2018
Washing Tips for Various Fabrics
To keep your garments looking their best, take care how you wash them.
Silk. Fill a washing up bowl with lukewarm water and a small amount of liquid detergent for delicate fabrics. Lightly agitate for three to five minutes and then rinse well. If the care label advises machine washing, choose a gentle cold water cycle.
Jeans. Always wash inside out and do up the zip and button to help them keep their shape. Use a detergent designed for colours as these do not contain bleach. Don't tumble dry or dry in sunlight.
To Prevent Fading. Turn tops inside out when washing to limit direct exposure to detergent. Use a liquid detergent designed for colours (detergents for whites contain optical brighteners) and don't dry
items in direct sunlight.
Bras. Don't wash too often - every 3 to 4 wears is fine. Wash in a pillowcase to protect washing machine from metal fastenings. Avoid tumble drying. Line dry and store by hanging from central section.
Various sources.
Silk. Fill a washing up bowl with lukewarm water and a small amount of liquid detergent for delicate fabrics. Lightly agitate for three to five minutes and then rinse well. If the care label advises machine washing, choose a gentle cold water cycle.
Jeans. Always wash inside out and do up the zip and button to help them keep their shape. Use a detergent designed for colours as these do not contain bleach. Don't tumble dry or dry in sunlight.
To Prevent Fading. Turn tops inside out when washing to limit direct exposure to detergent. Use a liquid detergent designed for colours (detergents for whites contain optical brighteners) and don't dry
items in direct sunlight.
Bras. Don't wash too often - every 3 to 4 wears is fine. Wash in a pillowcase to protect washing machine from metal fastenings. Avoid tumble drying. Line dry and store by hanging from central section.
Various sources.
Monday, 16 April 2018
NHS and the Future
Your Life In My Hands: a junior doctor's story by Rachel Clarke.
Metro, 2017 ISBN: 978 1 78606 451 6
The author worked originally as a journalist before training as a doctor. The book covers aspects of her training, and work in the NHS, together with the facts about the junior doctor's strike in 2016. I have picked out the important facts - but urge you to read this.
The UK's NHS is 'under-doctored' due to not enough funding. The OECD's 2015 Health at a Glance report showed that the UK has 2.8 practising doctors per 1,000 head of population, lower than almost any EU country, inclusing Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. Per 1,000 head of population Italy has 4.0 doctors, Germany 4.1, Austria 4.8 and Greece 6.1 doctors.
The NHS is understaffed, resulting in staff covering two jobs due to gaps in rotas.
In 2015 Jeremy Hunt wrongly claimed 6,000 (later he raised this to 11,000) avoidable fatalities due to consultants refusing to work at weekends. He also claimed consultants opt out of weekend working, then offer themselves as locums with 'extortionate' rates of pay. The truth is otherwise as RC points out.
Bed blocking is due to social services underfunding which means that home care plans and support are not available in time.
Cardiac arrests in hospital: 25% survive to be discharged. Cardiac arrests in the community: less than 10% survive to be discharged, even with prompt transport to A&E.
2016: The NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland was short of over 23,000 nurses, 6,000 doctors and 3,500 midwives. Hunt likes to claim an additional 10,000 doctors since the Tories gained power in 2010, but this equates in reality to 5,000 when part-time doctors are factored in. And with a rising UK population, there is actually no increase in the number of doctors per head of population.
In 2016 around 10% of junior doctor training posts were unfilled, and the exodus of young doctors worsened after the 2010 election. In 2011 75% of doctors continued in training posts after completing the first two years of practice, this steadily declined to 67% in 2012, 64% in 2013, 58% in 2014 and 52% in 2015. Leavers have gone overseas, often to Australia or New Zealand. Some specialities (e.g. paediatrics) have a critical shortage of trainees.
Hunt wrongly claimed a minority of doctors working over 56 hours a week were paid "what's called colloquially in the NHS 'danger money' " - no doctor (working or retired has ever heard of this money.
The morning the doctors' strike ballot opened, Hunt said there would be a 'whopping 11% pay rise for junior doctors' but the 11% was in basic pay only, and was offset by huge cuts elsewhere to pay for anti-social hours. The overall effect was likely to be a pay cut for many. The result was that 98% of doctors voted to strike.
Hunt claimed that no doctor would work longer than currently, the new contract reducing overall hours from 91 to 72 per week but the new contract had to deliver 7 day services 'cost-neutrally' - which is simply not possible. (The BMA had under duress, conceded the principle of 7-day services cost-neutrality.)
Junior doctors move from job to job every 3, 4 or 6 months in order to gain experience across the range of medical specialities. This makes life difficult as rosters can be allocated without any notice due to a lack of forward planning by managers.
Women are discriminated against in the new contract. The pay of part-time doctors (80% of whom are women, is set to rise more slowly than for full-time posts. The government admitted this but proposed such doctors find 'informal, unpaid childcare arrangement for evenings and weekends'. In 2016, women made up 60% of the profession.
All of the above leads to rock bottom morale, which is linked to sickness and lower standards of patient care. NHS England estimates sickness absence costs the NHS £2.4 billion per year. If sickness absence were reduced by only one day per person per year, the NHS could save £150 million, enough to pay for 6,000 additional staff full time.
12 Jan. 2016 Junior doctors' strike. Hospital picket lines supported by other hospital staff and the public. Hunt then claimed further 'terrifying' increases in weekend mortality - all this data is contested and challenged by leading academics in the field. The extra deaths from strokes, emergency surgery and newborn babies is mostly if not entirely due to emergency admissions - and would have happened if the admission were on a weekday. Hunt ignored the finite number of doctors, nurses, porters, radiographers, lab technicians and administrators for extra weekend activity. Fantasy politics.
2017 With the state of the NHS still in crisis, Theresa May then blamed GPs for failing to offer proper 7 day services, putting pressure on hospitals and ordered practices to be open 7 days a week or lose some of their funding.
Rachel Clarke writes 'While there are, no doubt, ingenious ways of driving up NHS efficiency, merely shrinking the workforce and rationing the care the NHS provides is the opposite of clever.
Note 1. Jeremy Hunt was in PR before becoming an MP, thus has many years of practising how to spin news to a specific viewpoint.
Note 2. My daughter is a nurse working in an endoscopy clinic, shift hours are long, and every few weeks she is on call overnight and at the weekend to assist with emergency surgery - it is draining to have returned hone from one call out only to get another within the hour, and then to work a day shift the following day. Other specialities place the same demands; she previously worked in cardiac intensive care.
OECD report: Health at a Glance 2015.
END
Metro, 2017 ISBN: 978 1 78606 451 6
The author worked originally as a journalist before training as a doctor. The book covers aspects of her training, and work in the NHS, together with the facts about the junior doctor's strike in 2016. I have picked out the important facts - but urge you to read this.
The UK's NHS is 'under-doctored' due to not enough funding. The OECD's 2015 Health at a Glance report showed that the UK has 2.8 practising doctors per 1,000 head of population, lower than almost any EU country, inclusing Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. Per 1,000 head of population Italy has 4.0 doctors, Germany 4.1, Austria 4.8 and Greece 6.1 doctors.
The NHS is understaffed, resulting in staff covering two jobs due to gaps in rotas.
In 2015 Jeremy Hunt wrongly claimed 6,000 (later he raised this to 11,000) avoidable fatalities due to consultants refusing to work at weekends. He also claimed consultants opt out of weekend working, then offer themselves as locums with 'extortionate' rates of pay. The truth is otherwise as RC points out.
- Consultants are always there to lead the Saturday and Sunday ward rounds, and are then available by phone as and when needed - at any time of day or night.
- The weekend opt-out is only for elective care (i.e. planned operations or extra weekend outpatient clinics) - and does not apply to emergency care.
- Without additional doctors, nurses and other health professionals, the only way to roster more people at weekends is to take people off weekday duties or work longer hours overall.
- Working longer hours is unsafe. Fatigue levels at the end of a busy shift can impair mental acuity more effectively than exceeding the alcohol limit for driving.
Bed blocking is due to social services underfunding which means that home care plans and support are not available in time.
Cardiac arrests in hospital: 25% survive to be discharged. Cardiac arrests in the community: less than 10% survive to be discharged, even with prompt transport to A&E.
2016: The NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland was short of over 23,000 nurses, 6,000 doctors and 3,500 midwives. Hunt likes to claim an additional 10,000 doctors since the Tories gained power in 2010, but this equates in reality to 5,000 when part-time doctors are factored in. And with a rising UK population, there is actually no increase in the number of doctors per head of population.
In 2016 around 10% of junior doctor training posts were unfilled, and the exodus of young doctors worsened after the 2010 election. In 2011 75% of doctors continued in training posts after completing the first two years of practice, this steadily declined to 67% in 2012, 64% in 2013, 58% in 2014 and 52% in 2015. Leavers have gone overseas, often to Australia or New Zealand. Some specialities (e.g. paediatrics) have a critical shortage of trainees.
Hunt wrongly claimed a minority of doctors working over 56 hours a week were paid "what's called colloquially in the NHS 'danger money' " - no doctor (working or retired has ever heard of this money.
The morning the doctors' strike ballot opened, Hunt said there would be a 'whopping 11% pay rise for junior doctors' but the 11% was in basic pay only, and was offset by huge cuts elsewhere to pay for anti-social hours. The overall effect was likely to be a pay cut for many. The result was that 98% of doctors voted to strike.
Hunt claimed that no doctor would work longer than currently, the new contract reducing overall hours from 91 to 72 per week but the new contract had to deliver 7 day services 'cost-neutrally' - which is simply not possible. (The BMA had under duress, conceded the principle of 7-day services cost-neutrality.)
Junior doctors move from job to job every 3, 4 or 6 months in order to gain experience across the range of medical specialities. This makes life difficult as rosters can be allocated without any notice due to a lack of forward planning by managers.
Women are discriminated against in the new contract. The pay of part-time doctors (80% of whom are women, is set to rise more slowly than for full-time posts. The government admitted this but proposed such doctors find 'informal, unpaid childcare arrangement for evenings and weekends'. In 2016, women made up 60% of the profession.
All of the above leads to rock bottom morale, which is linked to sickness and lower standards of patient care. NHS England estimates sickness absence costs the NHS £2.4 billion per year. If sickness absence were reduced by only one day per person per year, the NHS could save £150 million, enough to pay for 6,000 additional staff full time.
12 Jan. 2016 Junior doctors' strike. Hospital picket lines supported by other hospital staff and the public. Hunt then claimed further 'terrifying' increases in weekend mortality - all this data is contested and challenged by leading academics in the field. The extra deaths from strokes, emergency surgery and newborn babies is mostly if not entirely due to emergency admissions - and would have happened if the admission were on a weekday. Hunt ignored the finite number of doctors, nurses, porters, radiographers, lab technicians and administrators for extra weekend activity. Fantasy politics.
2017 With the state of the NHS still in crisis, Theresa May then blamed GPs for failing to offer proper 7 day services, putting pressure on hospitals and ordered practices to be open 7 days a week or lose some of their funding.
Rachel Clarke writes 'While there are, no doubt, ingenious ways of driving up NHS efficiency, merely shrinking the workforce and rationing the care the NHS provides is the opposite of clever.
Note 1. Jeremy Hunt was in PR before becoming an MP, thus has many years of practising how to spin news to a specific viewpoint.
Note 2. My daughter is a nurse working in an endoscopy clinic, shift hours are long, and every few weeks she is on call overnight and at the weekend to assist with emergency surgery - it is draining to have returned hone from one call out only to get another within the hour, and then to work a day shift the following day. Other specialities place the same demands; she previously worked in cardiac intensive care.
OECD report: Health at a Glance 2015.
END
Monday, 9 April 2018
Prevent Scammers Faking Facebook Accounts Under Your name
It is a good idea to make your Facebook friends list private.
If someone tries to spoof or fake an account using your name, they will look at your public list of friends and will contact them to say you have got a new account, or they got deleted by accident and can you re-add them.
They can then carry out various scams under your name.
To stop this, do the following.
If someone tries to spoof or fake an account using your name, they will look at your public list of friends and will contact them to say you have got a new account, or they got deleted by accident and can you re-add them.
They can then carry out various scams under your name.
To stop this, do the following.
- Log into your Facebook account (PC or laptop rather than phone or tablet).
- Navigate to your timeline and select the 'Friends' option under your cover photograph.
- You should then see a pencil icon to the right OR a down arrow and you can click on that and select 'Edit Privacy'.
- Choose either 'Only Me' or 'Friends Only' options.
Source: Phil Bradley column in CILIP Update, Nov. 2017
Monday, 2 April 2018
How to Bridge the Brexit Divide
The Brexit vote exposed the deep division between leavers and remainers, but the status quo is not an option.
On the eve of the referendum, Britain was running a record current account deficit, growth was being pumped up by an overheating housing market, factories were still producing less than before the start of the financial crisis, and people in the poorest parts of the country were being targeted with depp cuts to welfare benefits. There was a growing north-south divide: there is a 44% gap between the south-east and the less productive cities in the rest of the country.
Old industrial Britain is still suffering the consequences of the closure of factories and pits three or four decades ago. These communities have higher levels of unemployment and of people on disability benefit. Brexit was about dead-end jobs and run-down communities talked down and bossed around by London.
If a second referendum was held and reversed the decision, the leavers would feel betrayed - and might opt for more violent protest than the ballot box - unless changes were made.
The leave camp faces the same challenge - only empty promises so far by the politicians.
The writer of this piece proposes the following:
On the eve of the referendum, Britain was running a record current account deficit, growth was being pumped up by an overheating housing market, factories were still producing less than before the start of the financial crisis, and people in the poorest parts of the country were being targeted with depp cuts to welfare benefits. There was a growing north-south divide: there is a 44% gap between the south-east and the less productive cities in the rest of the country.
Old industrial Britain is still suffering the consequences of the closure of factories and pits three or four decades ago. These communities have higher levels of unemployment and of people on disability benefit. Brexit was about dead-end jobs and run-down communities talked down and bossed around by London.
If a second referendum was held and reversed the decision, the leavers would feel betrayed - and might opt for more violent protest than the ballot box - unless changes were made.
The leave camp faces the same challenge - only empty promises so far by the politicians.
The writer of this piece proposes the following:
- The north is not short of homes, but its housing stock is often run down and energy inefficient, so there should be a nation-wide programme to improve insulation, starting with cities in the north. This would cut fuel bills, reduce carbon emissions and provide well-paid jobs for local people.
- Start a new national investment bank, to channel funds into traditional manufacturing sectors, such as engineering, and food and drink, where they need modernizing, and to identify the growth sectors of the future.
- Britain should focus on excelling in developments in artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, 3D printing and quantum computing, which will transform the global economy.
- However there is a danger that the benefits will go overwhelmingly to London, Oxford and Cambridge, a university in each of the big northern cities needs to be identified to take the lead in specific areas, and academic funding, tax breaks, state aid and public procurement should be used to establish industrial clusters and develop domestic supply chains.
- Substantial improvement in northern infrastructure is needed. Money earmarked for the HS2 rail link should be spent instead on HS3 - linking Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Hull. As currently planned, HS2 would suck talented people out of the north, while HS3 would encourage them to stay.
- Address the skills gap in the north - companies are currently unsure they can get the people they want. Levels of adult literacy and numeracy are poor. There is a mismatch in further education between the courses on offer and the skills employers need.
- Allow local governments to raise and keep more of their own money. Ensure a new investment bank is based on the banks of the Mersey or the Humber.
- be bold and move parliament to Leeds or Manchester.
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