Health & Beauty

A survey for Sight Care, a support network for independent opticians, has revealed that a shocking number of people in The South West may be on the roads with eyesight poor enough to fail a driving test.

November 17-23 is National Road Safety week, where thousands of organisations, schools and community groups come together to highlight the dangers of the road and find ways to improve road safety.

The Sight Care survey indicates that drivers could do their bit to reduce road risk by ensuring that they can see properly.

Although the UK driving licence includes a...

Health experts are to investigate whether replacing face-to-face doctor’s visits with telephone or internet consultations would bring benefits for patients and GPs.

The project will explore the perceived advantages and disadvantages of using communication technologies to deliver GP services.

Researchers will investigate whether consultations can effectively be conducted by email, text message, telephone or over the internet, based on the experiences of those who have tried it.

The two-year study will be conducted by researchers from the Universities of Exeter,...

One in eight women in the UK wrongly believes that a stroke could never happen to them, according to the findings of a poll published today by the Stroke Association(i). Around 30,000 women die from a stroke every year(ii). The condition is the third leading cause of death in women in the UK), and the second biggest killer worldwide(iii). The charity’s latest poll, commissioned to mark World Stroke Day (29 October), uncovers widespread misconceptions about stroke amongst people living in the South West. The findings, based on the responses of 170 people in the South West who took part in...

Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (NEW Devon CCG) is set to announce a series of 'urgent and necessary' measures to address a worsening of its financial situation. Last year the CCG returned a £14.5 million deficit (known as a control total) and this year it had been predicting the same. But its confidence in meeting this at the end of the current financial year has gradually declined as the situation has become clearer; in short, demand for services is outstripping what it can afford. Whatever the actual cause of the increase in demand, it is having a...