Hi, how are you? Good to see you again, it’s been a little while. Are you feeling ready for Autumn yet?
You may (or may not) have noticed that there was no health round-up last month. I had a little summer break, focusing on getting my four-year-old ready to start primary school. But I’m back and feeling refreshed, which is a good job because there’s been quite a lot going on since July.
The big thing to happen most recently of course is the Saatchi Bill. If you’ve not heard of it then you’ve obviously not been on twitter recently. A host of bloggers including Chris (Thinly Spread) Vicky (Verily Victoria Vocalises), Mary (Keynko), Laura (Tired Mummy of Two), Penny (Alexander Residence) and Alice (My Life, My Son, My Way) went to hear all about it at the Houses of Parliament earlier this month.
The Bill (also known as the Medical Innovation Bill) is being championed by Lord Maurice Saatchi who lost his wife to ovarian cancer in 2011. The Bill aims to encourage ‘bold, scientific innovation’ and research. It would let doctors try new things without the fear of legal proceedings hanging over them and it could help find new cancer treatments. Who knows, it might eventually help to find a cancer cure – we can but hope. Vicky explains the Saatchi Bill very nicely in her post The Meaning of True Love. The Saatchi Bill for Cancer Cure and Penny also has a straightforward explanation of the Saatchi Bill on her blog. Mary asks if the Bill can really make a difference and Laura wonders if the Bill could help our generation find a cure for cancer.
The Saatchi Bill is garnering huge support and you can get involved too. Chris sets out how you can help get the Saatchi Bill passed into law.
Meanwhile, it’s Colgate Oral Health Month and did you know that one in five parents use chocolate and sweets to get their children to brush their teeth? That’s according to a survey by Colgate looking at parental attitudes towards oral health in children. It found that some parents don’t take dental care seriously when children are young because milk teeth fall out regardless, but this puts children’s oral health at risk. I was invited to a roundtable discussion to hear all about it, as was Vicky, writer of Honest Mum, and Bianca (AKA Richmond Mummy). My article for Working Parents United highlights some top dental care tips for children while Vicky reveals 10 things you didn’t know about brushing your teeth and I’ve published ten dental care myth-busters to mark Colgate Oral Health Month on Chez Mummy.
Elsewhere, Kate of Kate on Thin Ice fame has written about how some hospitals have been put under special measures. These is what happens when a hospital isn’t performing adequately and Kate has discovered that two hospitals involved in the care of her father are both subject to these special measures. On hearing the news, Kate talks about feeling powerless and angry with herself for trusting that the hospital knows best when perhaps it didn’t. Kate – I hope you’ve been able to remedy these feelings and am feeling a bit better about this now. We all put all our trust in the NHS and for the most part, it does a good job.
Finally, spare a thought (and possibly a pound or two) for the #MuddyEssexGirls team – Alice (An EssexWife) and Kate (The Secret Life of Kate) – who are taking part in Cancer Research UK’s new fundraising event, Pretty Muddy, this weekend. I was originally planning on swapping white stilettos for running shoes but unfortunately, an error meant that I had to hang up my muddy trainers at the start of this month. There’s still time to sponsor Alice and Kate ahead of Saturday though, just head to their JustGiving fundraising page. And good luck girls!
