A new test to help identify workaholics has been developed, according to research published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology.

The Bergen Work Addiction Scale (BWAS) consists of seven questions relating to a person’s job which draw on different elements of addiction.

Dr Jenny Leeser, clinical director of occupational health for Bupa Health and Wellbeing, said that although other scales exist to test whether or not someone is a workaholic, this is the first one that looks at workaholism as a form of addiction.

She said: “Traditional tests for workaholism have focused on the way a person behaves, for example working long hours and doing more than is expected of them.

“Looking at workaholism as a type of addiction means that a distinction can be made between people who really enjoy their job and are engaged in it, and those who have an uncontrollable motivation to work that negatively impacts on their life.”

Dr Leeser said the test is still being developed but once it has been completed, it may be a useful tool for identifying those at risk of workaholism so that employers can step in before other health problems develop.

The questionnaire was tested on nearly 12,000 people via an internet survey after watching a TV broadcast about workaholism. A further 368 people filled in a longer survey about working life. This was used to compare the effectiveness of BWAS with other surveys used to test workaholism.

Source: HIMAG 27/04/12

UK workers are more stressed, working longer hours and taking fewer holidays as a result of the economic downturn, according to a survey by Nuffield Health.

The poll of 1,500 employees found that 52% said they feel more stressed since the beginning of the downturn, while 41% feel more pressure at work and 23% are working longer hours.

Nuffield Health says even more worrying than these findings are the methods people are using to cope with stress, with 25% using alcohol compared to 23% who go to the gym or exercise outdoors.

The research also shows that 23% of respondents feel stressed about work even when they are out of the office, while 14% are having to work weekends and 12% are taking less holiday entitlement.

Nuffield's research supports the findings from a recent study of civil servants by researchers at the University of Nottingham and the University of Ulster which found that one in four workers suffers work-related stress in times of recession. That study found that the number of staff taking time off due to job stress leaps 25% during economic downturns, while total time due to work-related stress increases by more than a third during a slump.

Marcus Powell, managing director of corporate wellbeing at Nuffield Health, said: “This survey provides an interesting insight into people’s work and home lives since the beginning of the economic downturn. It shows people are feeling more stressed, often caused by work, and have less time for their loved ones.

“More worryingly, a quarter of those surveyed said they are using alcohol to cope with work stress. We would encourage every worker to think about how they can improve their wellbeing at work and at home.”

The figures also show a rise in the number of people working unpaid overtime, with 45% saying they were doing more since the economic downturn, while more than a quarter said that their poor work/life balance was having a negative impact on their partner.

Source: HIMAG 26/04/12

More than half of those on incapacity benefits who were reassessed by the government over a three-month period have been deemed fit to work.

Statistics published by the Department for Work and Pensions this week show that following initial assessments for new Incapacity Benefit claims between June and August 2011, 54% were found fit for some form of work.

An additional 19% were found fit for some work with the right help and support, while the remaining 27% were found to have limited capability for work and to be allowed the benefit.

Those found fit to work will be moved to Job Seeker’s Allowance, while those found to be fit for some work with the right support will be placed in the Work Related Activity Group, where they receive a higher payment than those on Jobseekers' Allowance and are provided with help to prepare for work where possible.

Employment minister Chris Grayling said: “Our reforms are built around the simple premise; we want to look at your potential to work not just your limitations. For too long people were left with no support sitting at home on benefits. It is clear that the majority of new claimants to sickness benefits are in fact able to do some work.

“For those who need additional support getting into work, the Work Programme provides tailored support to help overcome whatever barriers they may face.”

The Government is currently reassessing those on incapacity benefit using the work capability assessment to determine whether they are eligible to move to the new Employment and Support Allowance.

Source: HIMAG 25/04/12

Musculoskeletal patients face a ‘postcode lottery’ for NHS treatment, with a thirteen-fold variation in spending existing between Primary Care Trusts, according to the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance.

A report published by the body this week based on Freedom of Information data revealed that expenditure on treating musculoskeletal patients in 2009-10 ranged from £275 per patient per year in Peterborough, to £764 in Hartlepool.

ARMA said a significant number of PCTs reduced their spending between 2008-09 and 2009-10, with NHS Barnet spending 41% less per patient. However, Hammersmith and Fulham increased spending by 170% per patient.

ARMA said that while some variation between PCTs is to be expected, this level of disparity is concerning as it cannot be justified by differences in health needs alone.

The report said that while overall expenditure on musculoskeletal services has increased at a faster rate than overall NHS expenditure between 2007-08 and 2009-10 at 16% compared to 11%, it is not clear that this increase ‘has delivered the improvements required by either patients or the taxpayer’.

The paper said that for too long musculoskeletal conditions have been 'under-prioritised' in the NHS, while it also raised concerns that PCTs are failing to communicate with pathfinder commissioning groups on musculoskeletal conditions and that more than half of commissioners do not define them as long-term conditions.

Souce: HIMAG 25/04/12

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has today turned down two drugs for the treatment of breast cancer.

In its final draft guidance, NICE does not recommend lapatinib (Tyverb) or trastuzumab (Herceptin) with a type of hormone therapy called aromatase inhibitors for a particular type and stage of breast cancer.

It says this is because it is unclear how much either drug can improve overall survival compared to existing treatments, and because they do not appear to represent value for money for the NHS.

NICE is currently developing guidance for the NHS on the use of lapatinib or trastuzumab specifically as first line treatment options to delay the growth of advanced breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, and which reacts with the hormones oestrogen or progesterone, as well as having high levels of a protein called HER2 on the surface of its cells.

Once published, the guidance will only advise on the use of these drugs alongside aromatase inhibitors.

This final draft document published today follows a public consultation in February on NICE’s provisional recommendations.

Sir Andrew Dillon, chief executive of NICE, said: “Having reviewed the available evidence, our committee of experts has found that while both lapatinib and trastuzumab can reduce the growth and further spread of metastatic breast cancer tumours when taken alongside the aromatase inhibitors letrozole and anastrozole, the extent to which these treatments can improve overall survival appears to be small or difficult to quantify.

“Furthermore, independent economic analyses indicate that neither treatment combination appears to be cost effective for the NHS. Confidence about the additional benefits that new treatments provide is important both for patients and for those who have responsibility for managing the resources available to the NHS.”

He added that the draft guidance has been published on the NICE website for interested parties to respond before it publishes final guidance for the NHS, which is expected to come out in June 2012.

NICE says that if women are already receiving either option when the final guidance is published, they should be able to continue treatment until they and their doctors consider it appropriate to stop.

Earlier this month, NICE published draft guidance in which it turned town the breast cancer drug bevacizumab (Avastin) for use in combination with the chemotherapy drug capecitabine.

Source: HIMAG 27/03/12

The Patients Association is calling for the Government to take action to cut NHS waiting times after research by the body revealed a 6% increase in waiting times last year.

A Freedom of Information request from the Patients Association to NHS Acute Trusts in England revealed that waiting times for routine procedures such as knee replacements increased by 6% between 2010 and 2011, while the number of operations taking place fell.

Across the 93 trusts that responded with sufficient data, there were 18,628 fewer operations performed in 2011 compared to 2010, a decline of 4.6%. The biggest fall was in cataract procedures, which saw a 7.5% decrease.

Meanwhile, the largest increase in waiting times was for knee replacements, which saw an increase of 10.3 days on average, from 88.9 days to 99.2.

Waits for hernia operations increased by eight days, from 70.4 to 78.3, while waits for gallstone procedures rose by seven days, from 73.2 to 80.6.

The Patients Association says the rise in waits for hip, knee, hernia, gallstone and hysterectomy operations was significant, with waits for knee, hernia and gallstone operations all seeing increases of 10%.

The patients' campaign group published similar research last year, which also showed a fall in the number of procedures and an increase in waiting times for 2010 compared to 2009.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: “Unfortunately the results this year show a continuation of the trend and an even more marked increase in waiting times.

“We hear lots of talk from the Government about waiting times falling but whilst this may be true in other areas, it doesn't address the problem in relation to elective surgical procedures.”

She said that action must be taken now to ensure this trend does not continue into 2013 and beyond.

Murphy added: “Patients are calling our helpline to tell us that they are being left to wait in agony, and that their desperate calls to the hospital for help are being ignored. Clinicians may deem these procedures to be of low clinical value, but that is irrelevant for a patient being asked to put up with a lower quality of life for longer.

“There needs to be transparency about waiting times for particular procedures, and problem areas need to be tackled.”

Source: HIMAG 19/04/12

Ken Livingstone, the Labour candidate to be Mayor of London, has been accused of hypocrisy after it emerged that he uses private healthcare.

A spokesperson for the 66-year-old – who has in the past spoken out against the so-called “privatisation” of the NHS – told City AM he uses an “external provider” for annual check-ups.

“Like many people he has an annual check up from an external provider – if he ever needs to see a doctor for anything it is with his local GP, or with other NHS services,” a spokesperson told the newspaper.

According to City AM, at a lunch with political reporters in Westminster earlier this week, Livingstone said he had been having an annual check up for “ten years”, adding “I’m as fit as I’ve ever been”.

He added: “I’ve lost a stone on this campaign. I went for my annual medical and the doctor almost had an orgasm because I’m so fit. My heart, liver and kidneys, the whole lot are absolutely amazing.”

Livingstone has said previously that the people of London demand that their healthcare “should not be broken up, sold off or be privatised by the back door”.

A spokesperson for Boris Johnson, Livingstone’s Tory opponent and the incumbent Mayor, told City AM the admission was “yet another example of Ken Livingstone’s hypocrisy – saying one thing but does another”.

The admission comes just weeks after Livingstone was widely criticised for channeling his income through a company to reduce his tax bills, despite describing people who use similarly legal tax planning measures as “rich bastards”.

Source: HIMAG 19/04/12

Thousands of women are putting their health at risk by misdiagnosing themselves by checking symptoms on the internet, it is claimed today.

One in four British women has misdiagnosed themselves online, researchers said, while they are almost twice as likely to check the internet before consulting a doctor.

Half of 1,000 women surveyed by researchers said they would first try to treat an ailment themselves rather than risk embarrassment.

But experts said that checking symptoms online and self-medicating has led a tenth of the country's women to suffer unpleasant side effects as a result of their misdiagnosis.

The research found a quarter of British women will trust the internet for advice on treatments if they find their symptoms embarrassing.

The survey was commissioned by feminine health brand Balance Activ to raise awareness of Bacterial Vaginosis, a condition that is almost twice as prevalent as thrush that two out of three women are misdiagnosing.

The most commonly illnesses that are misdiagnosed by women going online include cancer, especially breast cancer, thrush, high blood pressure and asthma, researchers said.

Source: HIMAG 18/04/12

Some GP surgeries are still charging patients premium phone line rates despite a ban on the practice, MPs have warned in parliament.

In the House of Commons this week, Labour MP John Healey asked for confirmation of the provision in regulation that no GPs should use 0844 numbers for their surgeries.

In December 2009, the government issued directions to NHS bodies stating that GPs should stop using phone numbers that cost more than standard geographic numbers. The final date for numbers to be changed was December 21 2010.

But a Which? investigation in April 2011 found that of a random sample of 100 GP surgeries, eight were still using 0844 numbers.

And this week Healey asked Health Secretary Andrew Lansley in the House of Commons: “Will the Secretary of State confirm the provision in regulation, reinforced by his new guidance, that no GPs should use 0844 numbers for their surgeries? Some patients are having to pay over the odds to contact their GPs.”

Lansley said: “We have made it very clear that GPs should not be using 0844 numbers for that purpose and charging patients for them.”

He added that the government is keen to roll out the new NHS 111 service – a helpline for those in need of urgent medical help or advice that is currently in the pilot stage – as soon as possible.

Lansley said: “One of the benefits of NHS 111 is that it will be a free service for patients, and will give them an opportunity to gain access to integrated urgent care wherever they are in the country.”

But Conservative MP Anne McIntosh said there is a case for delaying the roll-out of the service, as she has used it personally and believes it is not working as well as it might.

A number of health insurance and protection providers, particularly cash plan providers, offer members free access to 24-hour GP helplines.

Source: HIMAG 30/03/2012

Employers could soon be given much needed clarification on employees’ rights to holiday accrued during sick leave, according to an international law firm.

This week the Court of Appeal is reviewing whether employees on long-term sickness absence must exercise their right to take holiday and whether they can carry holiday forward to a subsequent year.

The court heard the case of NHS Leeds v Larner, in which NHS Leeds is appealing against an Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling in favour of a former employee. The tribunal ruled that the employee, who was signed off sick for 12 months, had the right to carry holiday entitlement over to the following year, without having to formally request doing so.

Tim Wragg, senior associate at Eversheds, said the Court of Appeal is expected to announce its decision in the next few weeks, which will hopefully provide some clarification on what is a highly ambiguous issue for both employers and workers.

He said: “The question of how and when holiday rights can be taken by those on long-term sick leave has been considered by the UK and European courts on a number of occasions recently but the decisions reached have not always been consistent.

“A tribunal case reported just a few weeks ago concluded that a sick employee had no right to carry over untaken minimum holiday leave when they had not requested to take it in the year in which it accrued. This decision is at odds with the findings of the lower court in Larner.”

Wragg added that while employment lawyers will be closely watching the verdict in this case, the law could also be influenced by the government’s response to a consultation paper issued last year, which is expected in the coming weeks.

Consultation on Modern Workplaces covers proposed changes to holiday pay entitlement as well as flexible working and equal pay.

Wragg said: “In the case of NHS Leeds v Larner, I am expecting the ruling to be employer-friendly in that it will require employees to exercise their right to holiday entitlement, but I suspect the other aspect of the ruling will be in favour of employees.

“I think the law will move so that employees have the right to carry over holiday accrued while on long-term sick, but the question is whether limits will be placed on how long it can be carried over for.”

Source: HIMAG 30/03/2012