“NHS wields the axe on 17 unnecessary operations”
Earlier this year the Guardian ran this headline and sited tonsillectomy, grommets for glue ear, carpal tunnel syndrome release and hysterectomy for heavy menstrual bleeding in a list of 17 operations to be discontinued by the NHS “as many of these problems get better without treatment”.
The article went on to say that the health service hopes the measures will not only save millions but that they have a responsibility to the NHS not to request “useless treatment”. Steve Powis the medical director of NHS England was quoted as saying that there can be no more spending money on procedures that are not effective and this is initial list is just the first stage of rooting out futile treatments.
The story of penicillin is less than 100 years old
When it comes to our health and well-being it would be wonderful to have all the right answers first time around but since we don’t what would it take for both medical professionals and Joe Public to be more open to new ideas?
Surely history should at least teach us this… Alexander Fleming worked on his experiments with penicillin for years before fellow scientists took a serious interest.
The global burden of back pain
Low back is a huge worldwide problem. Earlier this year the Lancet published an article that showed back pain was the “leading global cause of disability in 2015 in most countries.” In the UK, back pain affects up to 80% of the population at some time in their lives, costing the NHS £500 million to annually.
Back pain and the Buttafly
I have met many different health practitioners over the course of the last 2 years and had them try out the Buttafly. In ALL cases they felt a difference in their spine after just 5 minutes of lying with one positioned under their pelvis. ALL of them took a Buttafly home… So why have only a handful introduced the Buttafly in their practice? I asked one of them, an advisor to a group of clinics, who I hoped would not only invest in a job lot but help with research – and was shocked by his response that the up-take up would be small. “It’s too good,” he said indicating that the practice owners had their eye on the bottom line and were worried that by using the Buttafly, patients might book less follow-up treatments.
So here is a simple question. As a healthcare provider are you interested in the self-empowerment of your patients? If yes – then you will want to educate them on how to use the Buttafly at home for self care as a preventative measure and for self-management.
Yours in good health
TillyLou James