Short cuts

Report criticises emphasis on high-profit drugs A King's Fund report says the government and pharmaceutical industry have concentrated too much on developing medicinal drugs and have 'neglected major groups, such as children, women and older people, whose specific health needs are not taken fully into account'.Getting the Right Medicines says governments have been too content to buy what the industry offers, and drug companies concentrate too much on developing profitable high-profile drugs.

www. kingsfund. org. uk

No cancer link found at RAF Fylingdales Aninvestigation into whether people living near early-warning station RAF Fylingdales (right) have suffered increased rates of cancer has found no evidence of any link.Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale primary care trust ordered the study in response to fears from the local community that the high-power pulses of electromagnetic radiation it emits could cause cancer.The PCT undertook an epidemiological study of cancer registrations from 1991 to 2000 in partnership with Northern and Yorkshire cancer registry and information service. It found that, for all cancers and for three of the four site-specific cancers - lung, female breast and colorectal - the rates for the Fylingdales area were lower than or similar to the PCT region as a whole and that of the regional NYCRIS population.

do not neglect children's NSF, government warned The government should pay more attention to the emerging children's national service framework in its proposals for reform of children's services, the Commission for Social Care Inspection has warned. In its first statement, the CSCI - which will become an official body in April - cautiously supported the 'childcentred'approach taken in the green paper Every Child Matters, designed to reform child welfare services in the wake of the damning Climbié inquiry.However, it warned that the NSF must not be ignored in new legislation.The CSCI said it has been working successfully with the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection to develop an integrated inspection framework for children's services.

www. doh. gov. uk/csci

Scottish trusts given ultimatum on morbidity Trusts in Scotland have been given a last chance to ensure that consultants comply with an annual investigation into surgical deaths before the employers are 'named and shamed'.Only 10 per cent of surgeons do not take part in the Scottish Audit of Surgical Mortality, a voluntary and independent study now in its ninth year which aims to review all deaths of patients under care of a surgeon.But the SASM board has said there is variation in compliance across Scotland.There will still be no obligation on clinicians to take part, but they will have to provide other evidence that their work is being properly audited for safety.

www. sasm. org. uk

Ministerial intervention assurances sought The Scottish NHS Confederation is seeking assurances that proposed new powers to allow ministers to intervene when local health services are 'failing'will be used only as a last resort.Ministers would be given the new power in the NHS Reform (Scotland) Bill, which is currently before the health and community care committee of the Scottish Parliament. In written evidence to the committee, the Confederation said it accepted that ministers, being ultimately accountable for the NHS, should be able to intervene in serious cases.But it added: 'The bill is unclear about exactly what 'intervention'means and it is important this is defined.'