In brief

Scientists at the Transport and Road Research Laboratory in Berkshire believe that road traffic accidents can be cut by 10 - 15% by developing traffic restraint programmes in residential areas. Road humps and narrowings are effective in cutting the speed of urban drivers. Latest research suggests that a pedestrian hit by a car at 30 mph has a 55% chance of survival - but this rises to 95% at speeds less than 20 mph.

NHS staffing figures in the new Health and Personal Social Services statistics for England 1990 show a rise of 32,000 whole time equivalents between 1978 and 1988. But within this, the figures reveal a fall in the number of ancillary staff by 70,000 (41%): of maintenance staff by 3,700 (18%).

Despite the ‘Europe against Cancer’ programme, the result of the EC Commission’s agricultural subsidies policy has been to increase the number of tobacco-producing countries in the EC from two to eight. Malcolm Dean notes in the Lancet that the EC ‘spends £5m a year campaigning against smoking but subsidises its tobacco growers to the tune of £740m’.

A survey by Age Concern has found that bathing services for old people have been cut back by health authorities to save money. Some of the elderly interviewed had gone without a bath for years, and others had the service withdrawn without explanation. The report highlights how health authorities and council social services both disclaim overall responsibility for bathing, and calls for all elderly people to be offered a bath or shower at least once a week.

Yorkshire Regional Health Authority has held ‘preliminary discussions’ with Yorkshire Water Enterprises to consider the possibility of contracting out pathology services to the water company. Any deal would be on the basis of ‘job transfers, not job losses’ according to the RHA.

There is surprising variation in prescription costs across the country, the annual report of the Prescription Pricing Authority reveals. Oxfordshire comes top of the list with an average cost per prescription of £7.20, compared to Oldham, by far the cheapest at £5.48 per prescription. But the highest prescribing rates are in Barnsley and Salford, which both chalk up an average of just over 1O prescriptions per patient per year.

Doctors in London have described a ‘striking improvement’ in both adults and children treated with Chinese herbal medicines for their dermatitis. The doctors, writing in the British Medical Journal, report a response rate of 80-90% in patients treated by a Chinese doctor trained in traditional herbal medicine. ‘This exceeds the capability of conventional therapy in our hands’, they say.