4 February 2014 Last updated at 16:50 Of 810 patients at Watford General Hospital reviewed, 686 have been told there are no clinical concerns Two cancer patients died after failing to be given follow-up appointments at Watford General Hospital, in breach of NHS rules, a report has found.
West Hertfordshire NHS Trust started an internal review of the process for monitoring patients referred to the hospital with suspected cancer.
Of 810 patients reviewed, 686 have been told there are no clinical concerns, while 121 are still being reviewed.
It says the care of three patients was compromised, two of whom have died.
A spokeswoman for the trust said one of these patient's "diagnosis was delayed because of the proper process not being followed, however, their cancer was still found at the earliest stage. We have apologised for the delay".
She added: "We have also met the family of a patient who has since died. Our clinical view is that a delay in seeing the patient may have contributed to their death, but it is not certain.
"We are also in the process of contacting the family of another patient who has since died. Sadly, this patient was already at an advanced stage of their illness when the initial referral was made. We have offered our sincerest apologies to both of these families."
Two managers have been suspended.
The trust said a number of measures have been put in place following the review:
A new IT system to track each patient's appointments, missed appointments and cancellationsWeekly meetings to review the overall management of all referrals and appointmentsRetraining and better supervision of staffDaily review of all patients who miss a booked cancer appointment to ensure they receive a new appointment
Samantha Jones, chief executive of the trust, said: "These concerns date back a number of years and were identified as part of the new management team's commitment to improve the way we administer and manage patient care. I would like to apologise to each and every patient who has been affected and particularly to the relatives of those who have since died.
"We have, of course, made significant changes to help prevent this ever happening again and will share the outcome of our investigations with those affected and with the wider public."
5 February 2014 Last updated at 07:51 By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News The health secretary says the culture of the NHS will not be transformed straight away The NHS in England has "changed for the better" in the year since the Francis Inquiry, the health secretary says.
The report, published on 6 February last year, accused the NHS system of betraying the public over the Stafford Hospital scandal.
The criticisms led to a series of changes, including a new inspection regime and tougher measures for failing hospitals.
Jeremy Hunt will say later these moves are making a difference.
'Shift in priorities'
Addressing a health conference in London, he will also point to data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre from October 2013 - the latest available information - which shows the number of hospital nurses has been risen by more than 3,500 in the past 12 months to top 172,000.
Continue reading the main story
The Francis Inquiry report made 290 recommendations. The government has claimed it has accepted all but nine of them.
Those not taken forward include the call for the regulators Monitor and the Care Quality Commission to be merged.
This was never likely to happen as both organisations had recently been given extra responsibilities and undergone changes under the reforms to the NHS made earlier this year.
But of the 281 recommendations the government says have been met, one in four have not been accepted in full.
For example, the report called for a system of registration for healthcare assistants, but the care certificate being introduced falls short of that.
Meanwhile, the inquiry wanted the duty of candour to apply to individuals not just organisations.
Nonetheless, inquiry chairman Robert Francis QC said he was happy, describing the government's response as a "comprehensive collection of measures".
Although data from the centre also shows that overall nurse numbers - once those employed outside of hospitals is taken into account - have fallen by more than 5,000 to just over 312,000 since the last election.
Mr Hunt will say: "Twelve months on, we cannot expect to have solved everything or have completely transformed the culture of the country's largest and finest institution.
"But we have seen a real shift in priorities - new inspections, more nurses and a stronger voice for patients with compassionate care starting to replace tick-box targets as the major focus on boards and wards."
Since the report was published, 14 hospitals have been placed in special measures - with management either replaced or supported to make improvements.
A new post of chief inspector of hospitals has been created and the Care Quality Commission has overhauled the way it inspects hospitals.
This is leading to a new Ofsted-style rating system that will be rolled out later this year.
What is more, from April hospitals will have to publish staffing levels on wards and state whether they fall short of recommended numbers.
'Wrong direction'
But Labour focused on the overall nurse figures, which had shown a drop.
Shadow health minister Jamie Reed said: "This winter he's left the NHS facing an A&E crisis with thousands fewer nurses. It is yet more proof that you can't trust the Tories with the NHS."
Royal College of Nursing general secretary Peter Carter said there had been some "good news".
But he added: "We are also not seeing nursing staff spread evenly across the health system - we have severe shortages in mental health and in the community, and district nurse numbers are down which is very worrying and has many knock-on effects.
"We need to see the government put forward a long-term vision for workforce planning and make sure NHS patients get the care they deserve wherever they receive it."
The inquiry was chaired by Robert Francis QC, following events at Stafford Hospital.
4 February 2014 Last updated at 13:20 By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News Care.data, a giant database of health records, is to be rolled out some time after April The roll-out of a new NHS data-sharing scheme involving medical records should be delayed as patients have been left "in the dark", a patient watchdog says.
A giant database, Care.data, is being set up with anonymised records to help aid medical research and the monitoring of performance.
But Healthwatch England said the way NHS England had tried to explain the system had been confusing.
NHS England said privacy concerns were misplaced.
The central database - to be launched after April - will enable experts to assess diseases, examine new drugs on the market and identify infection outbreaks as well as monitor the care patients get.
Information is already available about what happens in hospitals, but to date it has been difficult to link those records with the information that was available about what is happening to patients when they are under the care of GPs.
Continue reading the main story
Once again the NHS has decided it knows best and is ploughing ahead with plans to share this data whether we like it or not”
End Quote Anna Bradley Healthwatch England However, concerns have been raised about the prospect of keeping all of the information in one place, with campaigners saying that it could lead to privacy problems and data breaches.
There is a proposal - to be discussed next month - which could give access to non-NHS bodies, including private firms.
Healthwatch England chair Anna Bradley said nearly a quarter of the 148 local Healthwatch groups had been in contact to raise concerns about the scheme in recent days.
It comes after NHS England started last month a mass mail out to every household explaining the project and giving people the chance to opt out.
Not everyone has received the leaflets yet, but Ms Bradley said there had been reports of people throwing away the leaflets as they did not realise what they were, struggling to understand what they were about and cases where GPs have decided to opt out all their patients themselves.
Concerns
Ms Bradley said: "Once again the NHS has decided it knows best and is ploughing ahead with plans to share this data whether we like it or not.
"To make matters worse, the communications around this have been so poor that we are now in the situation where all of us are about to be automatically opted in to a scheme we know little or nothing about.
"While we recognise that sharing the data could be of significant benefit to researchers, the NHS has a moral duty to consult with all of us and trust us to make our own decisions."
She said Healthwatch England has now written a letter to NHS England chief executive Sir David Nicholson asking him to put back the roll-out of the scheme so patients could be consulted more.
Dawn Monaghan, of the Information Commissioner's office, also said she had concerns.
"At the moment, we don't think it is clear enough on the website or in the information that has been sent out exactly what data is going to go and what is not going to go."
But Tim Kelsey, NHS England's national director for patients and information, said patients need not have concerns as the information would not be "identifiable".
"This data is stripped of all the identifiers so, for example, the name and address features nowhere on this data; postcode, numbers, the data is stripped of all the identifiers and in their place are substituted meaningless pseudonyms in order that this data can be linked with other data sets.
"Can I be categorical? No one who uses this data will know who you are."
6 February 2014 Last updated at 00:43 By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News The Nuffield Trust is concerned money worries could undermine efforts to improve care Financial pressures could get in the way of the drive to improve care following the Stafford Hospital scandal, experts say.
Figures released last week showed nearly one in three NHS trusts is forecasting a deficit this year.
Now a review by the Nuffield Trust - published a year on from the Stafford public inquiry - said money worries could hamper efforts.
The warning was echoed by inquiry chair Robert Francis QC.
He criticised what he saw as the "oppressive reactions" of the system to hospitals that ran into trouble with budgets and hitting targets.
He said hospital leaders needed to be "frank" about whether they could provide high-quality care with current levels of funding.
"It is unacceptable to pretend that all can be provided to an acceptable standard when that is not true," he added.
'Safety and quality'
Mr Francis was responding to a report by the Nuffield Trust based on in-depth interviews with 50 staff at five hospitals and online feedback from chairs and chief executives of 53.
Many reported they were taking action to improve care, but their overwhelming concern was that the state of finances was going to harm their ability to succeed.
One hospital chairman said: "The one good thing Francis has done, the really good thing, is that it has ensured that safety and quality have become more prominent - that's really important.
Continue reading the main story
Things are moving in the right direction. I believe people working in the NHS have a real appetite for change”
End Quote Julie Bailey Cure the NHS "But I am left with a real concern about the doability of it all and the need for us to find a way forward."
But despite these concerns, Mr Francis said he was pleased with the reaction to his report, published exactly a year ago, as many of his recommendations had been accepted.
"The strong message sent out to the health service by government was that important and fundamental change was required," Mr Francis said.
But he added that this represented "only a start" and that the emphasis on quality of care needed to continue.
Julie Bailey, founder of Cure the NHS, the campaign group that led the calls for the public inquiry, said she was disappointed the government had not agreed to full regulation of healthcare assistants, as the Francis Inquiry had recommended.
But she added that overall she was pleased with the progress being made.
"Things are moving in the right direction. I believe people working in the NHS have a real appetite for change."
The publication of the report came after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt praised the "Francis effect" in a speech to NHS staff in London on Wednesday.
"Twelve months on, we cannot expect to have solved everything or have completely transformed the culture of the country's largest and finest institution.
"But we have seen a real shift in priorities - new inspections, more nurses and a stronger voice for patients with compassionate care starting to replace tick-box targets as the major focus on boards and wards."
4 February 2014 Last updated at 08:01 By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News The BBC received Freedom of Information data from more than 100 councils Most councils in England are paying less than the industry recommended minimum for personal home care, a BBC investigation suggests.
The UK Homecare Association (UKHCA), which represents providers, want them to be paid a minimum of £15.19 an hour, to cover wages, training and travel.
But data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act found the minimum paid met that in just four out of 101 cases.
One provider said quality care was not possible at the levels being paid.
Cutting corners
Trevor Brocklebank, chief executive of Home Instead Senior Care in Warrington, refuses to bid for council contracts.
Continue reading the main story
Former care worker Michelle Brazier Huelsman said she often started work at 6am or 7am and finished at 10pm or 11pm.
Her schedule frequently required her to be in two places at once with no time allocated for travelling between calls, she said.
"I used to go into the office and say if I had a pair of shoes I'd click my heels - that's the only way magically I'm going to get from one place to another place.
"It all boils down to cost ultimately and for quality care what you put in is what you get out."
He said: "It's impossible to deliver quality care for the hourly rate that's been offered. You have to cut too many corners, cram too may calls and that's not acceptable."
The investigation, by BBC Radio 4's File on 4 programme, found the average minimum rate paid by councils was £12.26 an hour.
Home care services are paid for by councils - and often delivered by agencies - to the elderly and younger disabled adults in their own homes if they qualify through a means-tested assessment.
They include help with activities such as washing, dressing and eating.
Colin Angel, of the UK Homecare Association, said fees being paid were too low.
"Many councils exploit their dominant purchasing power in local markets to reduce prices."
And he urged councils to work with providers to ensure a sustainable care sector was maintained.
'Value for money'
Sandie Keene, president of the Association of Directors of Social Services, said she thought the "value of care should be higher", but added the £15.19 figure felt a little high.
Continue reading the main story
It assumes a care worker is receiving the minimum wage - currently £6.31 for workers over the age of 21.
Added to that is the cost of travel - that is the time and mileage the care worker racks up doing their job.
The cost of covering national insurance contributions, holiday pay, training and pensions is also taken into account.
Then there are the costs the agency accrues. These can add another 30% to the cost, according to the UK Homecare Association.
"We're strongly recommending that people use the UKHCA model to work through with providers alongside looking at all local conditions that would then determine what is a reasonable price for care.
"But there isn't a set amount for the price of homecare because of course it costs very different amounts of money depending on where people are in the country, whether it's a rural area or a city and urban area."
She also said the situation needed to be seen in the context of the squeeze on local government finances. While ministers have put extra into social care, the overall funding for all council services has been cut.
Steve Reddy, operational director for adult social care services in Warrington, which had one of the lowest rates at £9.09 an hour, said councils frequently paid more than the lowest rate, particularly for more urgent, complex care.
He added: "The feedback we're getting from those who use our services and their families and carers, generally is very good.
"It's also public money and councils and individuals like me are also challenged to ensure that we deliver value for money."
Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb said: "Local authorities must consider how they can do things differently to deliver better outcomes and quality care for people who need it.
"We know there are plenty of good examples of commissioning by councils, but we want this to be the reality everywhere."
File on 4 will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 8pm on Tuesday 4 February.
5 February 2014 Last updated at 19:46 Dennis Aabo was able to feel what was in his hand via sensors connected to nerves in his upper arm Scientists have created a bionic hand which allows the amputee to feel lifelike sensations from their fingers.
A Danish man received the hand, which was connected to nerves in his upper arm, following surgery in Italy.
Dennis Aabo, who lost his left hand in a firework accident nearly a decade ago, said the hand was "amazing".
In laboratory tests he was able to tell the shape and stiffness of objects he picked up, even when blindfolded.
The details were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Implant
An international team carried out the research project, which included robotics experts from Italy, Switzerland and Germany.
It was a very exciting moment when after endless hours of testing....Dennis turned to us and said with disbelief, 'This is magic! I can feel the closing of my missing hand!'”
End Quote Dr Stanisa Raspopovic Bioengineer, EPFL Lausanne
"It is the first time that an amputee has had real-time touch sensation from a prosthetic device" said Prof Silvestro Micera from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa.
The scientific advance here was not the hand itself, but the electronics and software that enabled it to give sensory feedback to the brain.
Micera and his team added sensors to the artificial hand which could detect and measure information about touch. Using computer algorithms, the scientists transformed the electrical signals they emitted into an impulse that sensory nerves could interpret.
During an operation in Rome, four electrodes were implanted onto nerves in the patient's upper arm. These were connected to the artificial sensors in the fingers of the prosthetic hand, so allowing touch and pressure feedback to be sent direct to the brain.
Mr Aabo, 36, a property developer, spent a month doing laboratory tests, firstly to check the electrodes were functioning, and then with these fully connected to the bionic hand.
Dennis Aabo spent a month doing laboratory tests of the bionic hand
He said: "The biggest difference was when I grabbed something I could feel what I was doing without having to look. I could use the hand in the dark.
"It was intuitive to use, and incredible to be able to feel whether objects were soft or hard, square or round."
Hero
The bionic hand is still a prototype, and due to safety restrictions imposed on clinical trials, Mr Aabo required a second operation to remove the sensors.
"He is a hero," said Professor Paolo Rossini, neurologist, University Hospital Agostino Gemelli, Rome.
"He gave a month of his life and had two operations to test this device.
"We are all very grateful to him."
Prof Rossini said a lot of pre-training was done involving surgery on pigs, and with human cadavers, to ensure they knew exactly how to attach electrodes to the tiny peripheral nerves in the upper arm.
Another member of the team, Dr Stanisa Raspopovic said: "It was a very exciting moment when after endless hours of testing....Dennis turned to us and said with disbelief, 'This is magic! I can feel the closing of my missing hand!'"
Those working in the field in the UK were also enthusiastic.
"This is very interesting work, taking research in upper limb prosthetics into the next stage by adding sensory feedback, said Dr Alastair Ritchie, Lecturer in Biomaterials and Bioengineering, University of Nottingham.
"This technology would enable the user to know how firmly they are gripping an object, which is vital for handling fragile objects - imagine picking up an egg without any feeling in your fingers."
Although a milestone in prosthetics, the bionic hand of movies remains the stuff of science fiction
The international team is now working on how to miniaturise the technology so that it could be used in the home.
"We must get rid of the external cables and make them fully implantable" said Prof Thomas Stieglitz, University of Frieburg, Germany, whose laboratory created the ultra-thin implantable electrodes.
Recently, scientists in Cleveland, Ohio released a video of a patient using the fingers of a prosthetic hand to pull the stalks from cherries while blindfolded. But the research has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
There is no precise timetable, but scientists think it could be a decade before a sensory feedback bionic hand is commercially available.
And they believe it may pave the way for more realistic prosthetic devices in the future which can detect texture and temperature.
'Bring it on'
But it will undoubtedly be very expensive, well beyond the means of most patients. And artificial hands still lack the precision and dexterity of the real thing.
The super-functioning bionic hand of science fiction films remains the stuff of fiction.
Nonetheless, Dennis Aabo, who now has his old prosthesis back, is ready to swap it for the bionic hand in any future trial.
"If they offer it to me, I will say bring it on, I'm ready."
4 February 2014 Last updated at 11:41 The misconduct took place at Basildon Hospital between 2002 and 2007 A nurse who made a colleague do personal errands for her has been suspended from the nursing register.
Abiola Apara asked a support worker at Basildon Hospital to take her car to a garage, drive her to Ikea and maintain her home - all while he was on duty.
The Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) found six out of seven charges proven.
The NMC decided that striking her name off its register would be "disproportionate", but suspended her for 12 months.
The disciplinary panel heard the worker was told to fit new lights at Ms Apara's home, put sealant around her bath, fix a leaking tap, install a washing machine and mend a conservatory lock.
Basildon & Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Trust said Ms Apara was dismissed in May 2007 after bullying allegations were made against her.
'You! Office! Now!'
Ms Apara, who worked on the hospital's Lionel Cousins ward, denied the charges dating from 2002 to 2007 and claimed they were part of a "conspiracy" by her former colleagues.
She was not at the hearing, but the tribunal heard she was able to produce a good reference from her current employer in Nigeria.
During the hearing, the panel heard Ms Apara did not speak to a ward sister for five weeks and only communicated with her via notes left in the staff room.
She also behaved inappropriately to a ward hostess by shouting "You! Office! Now!" at her and not speaking to her for 17 weeks, the hearing was told.
In its judgement, the NMC panel said it was not certain Ms Apara had "fully learnt from these incidents".
But it also felt her misconduct was "not fundamentally incompatible" with her continuing to be a registered nurse.
4 February 2014 Last updated at 02:35 By Michelle Roberts Health editor, BBC News online A young child's skin is thinner than an adult's, making it more susceptible to scalds and burns Hair straighteners and hot mugs are the leading causes of childhood scalds and burns, and one-year-olds are at greatest risk, data reveals.
Researchers looked at admissions to three leading burns units as well as five emergency departments in the UK.
The commonest injury was from toddlers reaching up for a steaming cup.
Parents appear unprepared and underestimate how mobile and far youngsters can reach, say the authors in Archives of Diseases in Childhood.
Nearly three-quarters of the 1,215 children treated in a two-year period were under the age of five, with most burn and scald injuries occurring in one-year-olds.
Any hot drink can scald a baby even 15 minutes after it's been made.
All scald injuries - 709 in total - had occurred in the home. Hot drinks accounted for more than half of these and in half of cases the child had tipped boiling drink down their front after pulling down the cup or mug from a table or counter top.
Contact burns in the under-fives were mostly caused by items, such as irons and hair straighteners, that had been left within a child's reach. Some were caused by oven hobs, and a few were from hot baths.
Continue reading the main story Any hot drink can scald a baby even 15 minutes after it has been madeHair straighteners can get as hot as an iron. A child can be burned if they touch them - even if they've been unplugged for eight minutesHobs and hotplates can all stay hot even after they've been turned off, and oven doors can be very hot when the oven is onThe study authors, Prof Alison Mary Kemp, from Cardiff University, and colleagues, say parents need to be more attuned to the risks posed to adventurous toddlers by everyday objects in the home.
They said: "The peak prevalence in infants started at nine months of age, when independent mobility begins, infants are exploring their environment without the awareness of dangers.
"Parents appear to be unready for this developmental stage in terms of preventative strategies. They may underestimate the potential reach height of their toddler."
The average height of one-year-olds is about 75cm (2ft 6in), which is about the same height as a dining table, and kitchen work surfaces or cooker hobs will still be in arm's reach.
The prevalence of burns and scalds falls dramatically at three years of age, which the researchers say may coincide with an increased cognitive awareness of the dangers of heat, a more vigilant approach by parents or a greater proportion of time spent outside the home.
Katrina Philips, chief executive of the Child Accident Prevention Trust, said: "This research bears out the sad truth that burns are all too common in under-fives, with injuries peaking in one-year-old babies. Babies develop as such a rapid pace - suddenly they can grab, pull themselves up, crawl and reach things that parents thought were out of reach. This makes them very vulnerable to burns.
"Getting into habits early on, like always putting your hair straighteners on a high shelf or in a heat-proof pouch to cool, always putting hot drinks far out of reach, keeping children out of the kitchen when you're cooking, etc. all help to greatly reduce the risk of them suffering the pain of serious burns."
The hypernova of Eta Carinae is affecting our region of the galaxy
Eta Carinae is among the largest, most volatile stars in our galaxy. Its temperature is so high that it is unable to hold onto its own gas, with constant streams being ejected from the surface. It first came to attention in 1843 when it flared to magnitude -0.8, becoming the second brightest star in the night sky.
It subsequently died down, before brightening again in the late 1990s. This fluctuation continues – with periodic flaring and dimming – until one day the inevitable happens. Unable to maintain its cohesion, Eta Carinae erupts into one of the deadliest known forces in nature: a hypernova.
For a brief period, this colossal explosion outshines the entire galaxy. It is bright enough to be visible during daytime on Earth, while at night, it is similar to the full moon.*
Of much greater concern, however, are the lethal jets of gamma radiation released by the dying star. These begin to shoot outward, at such high energies that even systems thousands of light years away are affected. As a result, numerous planets in our region of the galaxy undergo mass extinctions during this time.*
12,000 AD
Our Sun is exiting the Local Interstellar Cloud
The Local Interstellar Cloud (also known as the "Local Fluff") is a cloud of neutral hydrogen 30 light years across and flowing outwards from the Scorpius-Centaurus Association, a nearby star-forming region. The Solar System is thought to have entered the Local Interstellar Cloud sometime between 150,000 BC and 42,000 BC. Its density is about six times greater than the Local Bubble – a much larger region measuring 300 light years in diameter that surrounds both it and the G-Cloud, another cloud of gas.
In 2009, Voyager 2 data suggested that the magnetic strength of the local interstellar medium was much stronger than previously expected (3.7 to 5.5 μG, against previous estimates of 1.8 to 2.5 μG). The fact that the Local Interstellar Cloud is strongly magnetised was said to explain its continued existence, despite the pressures exerted upon it by the winds that blew out the Local Bubble. Its potential effects on Earth were prevented by the solar wind and the Sun's magnetic field.
By 12,000 AD, our Sun has exited the Local Interstellar Cloud and is heading towards the neighbouring G-Cloud, which contains the stars Alpha Centauri, Proxima Centauri and Altair.*
19,500 AD
Betelgeuse is colliding with a dusty wall
Betelgeuse is the nearest red supergiant star to Earth. It can be seen with the naked eye in the northern hemisphere winter night sky as the orange-red star above and to the left of Orion's famous three-star belt.Roughly 1,000 times the diameter and 100,000 times the brightness of the Sun, Betelgeuse is on its way to becoming a supernova, having already swelled in size and shed a significant fraction of its outer layers.
The star's winds are crashing against the surrounding interstellar medium, producing a curved "bow shock" as the star moves through space at 30 km/s. A series of broken, dusty arcs ahead of the star's direction of motion testify to a turbulent history of mass loss.
In the early 21st century, the Herschel Space Observatory found a mysterious wall-like structure in far-infrared. It was seen further away from the star, beyond the dusty arcs, its linear shape indicating that it was completely separate from and unrelated to Betelgeuse. It was, however, being illuminated by the supergiant. Astronomers of the time believed it was either a linear filament linked to the Galaxy's magnetic field, or the edge of a nearby interstellar cloud.
In 7000 AD, a collision occurs between the wall and the bow shock zone. This is followed by a collision between the wall and Betelgeuse itself, some 12,500 years later.*
22,000 AD
The Chernobyl disaster site becomes fully safe
The Chernobyl explosion, which occurred in 1986, was the worst nuclear accident in history – affecting tens of thousands of square kilometres of land. Radiation at the centre of the former disaster zone has decayed to negligible levels by now.*
30,000 AD
The first wave of sub-light vessels has reached the galactic core
The core region is located 27-28,000 light years from Earth. At its centre lies the largest black hole in the galaxy – a supermassive black hole.*Having travelled for many millennia, the first wave of sub-light spacecraft has now arrived in its vicinity.
These ships contain no physical human crew, being entirely computerised and automated. Numbering in the trillions, they have self-replicated along the way, using local stellar and planetary material gathered en route.*Systems encountered during this epic voyage have become seeded with computational substrates and saturated with artificial intelligence – individual planets and moons becoming like brain cells in a gigantic, artificial organism. It is almost as though the galaxy itself is waking up and achieving self-awareness.*
There is no competition or battle to claim ownership of the core. Wars, greed and archaic concepts of nationality have long since disappeared, with sentient beings now united under a common heritage.
In addition to the black hole, there are dense concentrations of ancient, metal-rich stars; in places separated by only a few light weeks or light days. These provide an enormous pool of resources for the approaching fleets.
Gamma radiation is so high in this region that almost nothing biological can survive, except for the hardiest of extremophile bacteria. Were an observer able to stand on a planet near the core, the sky above them would appear as a dazzling display of light and colour.
Having reached the galactic centre, efforts are now underway to explore the far side of the galaxy and the mysteries that lie beyond. Dozens of globular clusters have also been reached by now.*
35,000 AD
Ross 248 becomes the closest star to our Sun
Alpha Centauri was previously the closest star. Ross 248 is a red dwarf, with approximately 12% of the Sun's mass and 16% of the Sun's radius, but only 0.2% of its luminosity. However – it is also a "flare star", that periodically undergoes sudden, dramatic increases in brightness for a few minutes.
In 2010, Ross 248 was 10.3 light years from Earth, with a radial velocity of -81 km/s. By 35,000 AD, it is closer than Alpha Centauri. It reaches its closest point in 38,000 AD – moving to within 3.1 light years – before receding again, becoming further from the Sun than Alpha Centauri in 44,000 AD.
42,000 AD
Voyager 1 is passing near the red dwarf star, AC+79 3888
Launched by NASA in 1977, the Voyager I space probe continues to drift through interstellar space. It is now passing near AC+79 3888, an M-type main sequence star in the constellation of Camelopardalis, close to Polaris.*Its sister probe, Voyager 2, will reach Sirius in approximately298,000 AD.
52,000 AD
The KEO time capsule re-enters the Earth's atmosphere*
KEO was a time capsule launched in 2012 and intended to orbit Earth for 50,000 years – the same length of time that had elapsed since early humans began drawing in cave walls.
The project was supported by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as well as the European Space Agency (ESA) and other institutions.
The public were invited to contribute messages.*These were encoded in glass-made, radiation-resistant DVDs, along with instructions to future generations on how to build a DVD reader. Samples of human blood, earth, air and seawater were also placed on board.
The capsule itself is a hollow sphere, 80cm in diameter. The sphere is engraved with a map of Earth and surrounded by an aluminium layer, a thermal layer and several layers of titanium, intertwined with vacuum. The sphere is resistant to cosmic radiation, atmospheric re-entry and space junk impacts.
Placed into orbit 1,800 km high, the satellite's altitude has slowly degraded by a few dozen metres each year. As it finally re-enters the atmosphere, its thermal layer produces a bright, artificial aurora to signal its return.
100,000 AD
The red hypergiant star, VY Canis Majoris, has exploded by now, producing one of the largest supernovas the galaxy has ever seen*
VY Canis Majoris, at between 1800 and 2100 times bigger than our Sun (8.4–9.8 au, 2.7 billion km or 1.7 billion miles in radius), is the largest known star in the Milky Way, and also one of the brightest known. It is located around 4,900 light years from Earth, in the constellation Canis Major.It was discovered to be very unstable, throwing off much of its mass into the surrounding nebula. By 100,000 it has finally exploded, creating a supernova bright enough to be seen during daylight hours on Earth.
200,000 AD
Constellations visible from Earth have been rendered unrecognisable
Proper motion – the continuous movement of celestial bodies due to changing orbits or the remaining effects of the Big Bang – has radically changed the view of the night sky from Earth. Stars naturally move at different velocities, depending on the manner in which a star formed from its original dust cloud. By 50,000 AD, constellations were beginning to be twisted and bent into new shapes*and by 200,000 AD have become completely unrecognisable.*This includes once famous groups of stars like the Big Dipper, Orion, Ursa Major, Perseus and Gemini. As a result of changes in Earth's axial orientation, Gamma Cephei, Iota Cephei and Vega have taken the position of the North Star.
298,000 AD
Voyager 2 is approaching Sirius
Voyager 2 was an unmanned space probe launched in 1977 to investigate the outer planets of the solar system. Identical in form and function with its sister craft,Voyager 1, it was launched on a slower, more curved trajectory that allowed it to be kept in the plane of the Ecliptic. This enabled it to be sent on to Uranus and Neptune by means of utilising gravity assists during its fly-by of Saturn in 1981 and of Uranus in 1986.
By 2010, Voyager 2 was around 92 AU (13.75 billion km, 8.5 billion miles, or 0.001443 ly) from the Sun, deep in the scattered disc, and traveling outward at roughly 3.26 AU per year.
The probe survives for thousands of years in the emptiness of interstellar space. It eventually passes by Sirius, having covered a distance of over 25 trillion miles.*Sirius is the brightest star in the sky when viewed from Earth.
1,000,000 AD
Planet-sized computers are dominating the Local Group of galaxies; humanity's descendants are a Type 3 civilisation on the Kardashev scale
Purely biological (non-cyborg) humans are exceedingly rare now. The very few which do remain comprise only a tiny fraction of the total sentient minds in existence. Though free to come and go as they please, they have practically zero influence in any governmental systems on Earth or elsewhere, being regarded as wholly subordinate to AIs and other entities. As a species,homo sapienshas continued to evolve over time. This has led to a further increase in cranial size, a near-total absence of hair, an elongation of limbs, a more robust and capable immune system, and increased lifespan.
The vast majority of humans have long since abandoned these primitive biological forms, making the transition to machines or other substrates and achieving practical immortality. The entire Milky Way galaxy has been explored by these transhumans and their sentient ships.
Faster-than-light travel is now possible using Alcubierre drives, which are compact and miniaturised enough to be found in even personal, single-occupancy vessels. These use such colossal amounts of power that they cause the fabric of space ahead of a ship to contract, while the space behind it expands. This bypasses the laws of relativity, allowing travel to even neighbouring galaxies such as M31 (Andromeda) and M33 (Triangulum).
Planet-sized computers are being constructed throughout the Local Group of galaxies, with every available resource going towards their production. All of the "dead" worlds, comets, moons and asteroids considered uninhabitable are being converted into these machines, forming a vast network millions of light years across space. Each computer is capable of instant communications with any other, regardless of distance.
A number of alien intelligences have been contacted by now. In addition, ancient ruins have been uncovered on some worlds, indicating advanced civilisations that somehow failed or destroyed themselves in the distant past. Thousands of other planets have been discovered to have rich ecosystems, brimming with diverse plant and animal (and other) life. Most of the fauna being catalogued is small and insect-like, but some is more developed with intelligence comparable to higher mammals such as dolphins, monkeys and cats.
The few biological (non-cyborg) humans that remain are avoiding the core regions in each galaxy, which are filled with extremely high concentrations of gamma radiation, blackholes and other hazards – dangerous even with the technologies and protections of today.
1,400,000 AD
The Oort cloud is being disrupted by the approach of Gliese 710
The orange dwarf star, Gliese 710, is passing within 1.1 light years (70,000 AU) of the Sun. This is close enough to disrupt the Oort Cloud surrounding our solar system. A shower of comets is now heading in-system.
At its closest approach, Gliese 710 will be a first-magnitude star when viewed from Earth: one of the brightest in the night sky.
2,000,000 AD
Pioneer 10 is approaching the Aldebaran system
Pioneer 10 was the first space probe to travel through the asteroid belt and to directly observe Jupiter, which it passed by in 1973. After completing its mission, it began heading in the direction of Aldebaran – a red giant star located 65 light years away in the constellation Taurus.
The final contact with the probe was made in 2003, when a very weak signal was detected from the craft, 12 billion kilometers (7.5 billion miles) from Earth. An attempt at contact in 2006 was unsuccessful.
After travelling at roughly 2.6 AU per year, Pioneer 10 begins to approach the Aldebaran system in 2,000,000 AD.*
Attached to the probe is a pictorial message, in case of interception by extraterrestrial life. This plaque shows the nude figures of a human male and female, along with symbols that are designed to provide information about the origin of the spacecraft.
4,000,000 AD
Pioneer 11 is approaching the Lambda Aquilae system
Pioneer 11 is the sister craft of Pioneer 10. Launched in 1973, it completed a successful flyby of Saturn in 1979, before heading out to interstellar space, travelling in the opposite direction of Pioneer 10. After four million years, it passes by Lambda Aquilae, a blue-white B-type main sequence dwarf star, around 125 light years from Earth.*Like its sister, Pioneer 11 carries a plaque with a message from humankind.
6,800,000 AD
DNA from the 21st century has completely decayed
Even if preserved under ideal storage conditionsof −5°C, every molecular bond in a strand of DNA will decay after 6.8 million years. Any remaining biological samples from the 21st century which have not been recovered or digitised are now completely destroyed.*
7,200,000 AD
Mount Rushmore has eroded away
Absent human intervention, the famous faces of Presidents carved in the side of this rock formation have disappeared by now. Granite has an erosion rate of approximately one inch per 10,000 years.*
7,600,000 AD
Phobos is ripped apart by Mars' gravity
Phobos is the largest and closest of the two moons of Mars. Because its orbital period is shorter than a Martian day, tidal deceleration has been decreasing its orbital radius at the rate of about 20 metres (66 ft) per century.
By this date, it has passed the Roche limit – the distance within which a celestial body, held together only by its own gravity, will disintegrate due to a second body's tidal forces exceeding the first's gravitational self-attraction.
Phobos begins to break apart. It gradually becomes a ring system over the following 3 million years, with many of these fragments impacting upon Mars itself.*
Neptune's largest moon –Triton– will share a similar fate.
8,400,000 AD
LAGEOS-1 returns to Earth
Laser Geodynamics Satellites (LAGEOS) were a pair of scientific research satellites launched in the late 20th century and designed to provide an orbiting laser ranging benchmark for geodynamical studies. Each was a high density passive laser reflector in a very stable medium Earth orbit (MEO), roughly 5,900 kilometres (3,700 mi) in altitude.
These spacecraft were aluminium-covered brass spheres with diameters of 60cm and weighing approximately 400kg, covered with cube-corner retroreflectors, giving them the appearance of giant golf balls. They had no on-board sensors or electronics, and no attitude control. Measurements were made by transmitting pulsed laser beams from ground stations to the satellites. The laser beams returned to Earth after hitting the reflecting surfaces.
Due to the stability of their orbits, the LAGEOS satellites made it possible to determine positions on the Earth with ultra-high accuracy: better than one inch in thousands of miles. At the time, this made them the most precise location references available. As such, they were used for monitoring the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates, gravitational field, the "wobble" in its axis of rotation, and for determining the exact length of an Earth day.
However, these satellites would fall back to Earth eventually. LAGEOS-1 was predicted to re-enter the atmosphere in 8,400,000 AD. It contained a plaque, designed to allow future descendants of humans to view the arrangement of Earth's continents in the past, present and future.*
10,000,000 AD
Earth is being threatened by lethal levels of gamma radiation
T Pyxidis is a binary star system in the constellation Pyxis. It contains a sun-like star and a white dwarf. Because of the strong gravitational effect of the white dwarf, it draws matter from the other star which causes periodic thermonuclear explosions (so-called novae) to occur.
Around this time, it reaches the so-called Chandrasekhar Limit, causing it to undergo an instantaneous collapse that completely destroys the star in a Type 1a supernova. This catastrophic event releases 10 million times more energy than a typical nova explosion – the equivalent of 20 billion, billion, billion megatons of TNT.*
The system is only 3,260 light years away, close enough to destroy Earth's ozone layer and cause mass extinctions unless the planet is shielded by advanced technology.
Triton’s decaying orbit has led to it breaking up around Neptune, forming a new ring system
That's assuming the moon still exists in a form we would recognise. The descendants of humanity may have converted its raw mass into artificial structures by now. Even Neptune itself may no longer exist – the planet’s hydrogen and helium may have been siphoned off for use in starships and industrial processes.
27,000,000 AD
Smith's Cloud is colliding and merging with our Milky Way galaxy
Smith's Cloud is a high-velocity cloud of hydrogen gas, around 9,800 light years long and moving on a direct collision course with the Milky Way. It was first discovered in 1963 and measurements showed it to be roughly 40,000 light years from Earth, lying outside the galactic plane.
This immense cloud was found to be moving at 150 miles/s (240 km/s),*approaching at a 45° angle and predicted to reach the galactic plane in 27 million AD. By this date,*it has collided and begun merging with part of the Perseus Arm – one of two major spiral arms of the Milky Way.
The impact generates shockwaves creating an intense burst of star formation in that part of the galaxy, like a slow-motion firework display. Over a million new stars are formed – many ending up as supernovae within a relatively short time and exploding with a billion times the brightness of our Sun.*
30,000,000 - 40,000,000 AD
At some point during this period, an asteroid 10-20 km in size comes on a direct collision course with Earth
Impacts of this size tend to happen every 100 million years or so.*The last such event occurred 65m years ago – resulting in the extinction of the dinosaurs.
If humanity or its descendants are no longer around to protect it, any remaining life on the planet may be in danger of a similar mass extinction during this time.
An impact of this scale would release around 4×1023joules of energy, equivalent to 100 million megatons of TNT. By contrast, the most powerful man-made explosion in history, the "Tsar Bomba", had a yield of only 50 megatons.
If landing in the ocean, it would produce megatsunamis reaching thousands of feet high. A cloud of super-heated dust, ash and steam would spread from the crater, as the impactor burrowed underground in less than a second. Excavated material and pieces of the impactor – ejected out of the atmosphere by the blast – would be heated to incandescence upon re-entry, broiling the Earth's surface and igniting global wildfires. Meanwhile, colossal shock waves would spawn global earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The emission of dust and particles would cover the entire surface of the Earth for several years, possibly a decade, creating a harsh environment for living things to survive. The shock production of carbon dioxide caused by the destruction of carbonate rocks would trigger a sudden greenhouse effect.
Over a longer period of time, sunlight would be blocked from reaching the surface of the earth by the dust particles in the atmosphere, cooling the surface dramatically. Photosynthesis by plants would be interrupted, collapsing the entire food chain.
50,000,000 AD
The African continent merges with Europe, forming a new mountain range to rival the Himalayas
The Mediterranean no longer exists. The Red Sea, Black Sea and Caspian Sea have also disappeared. Meanwhile, the Atlantic Ocean has continued to widen, and southeast Asia is merging with Australia.
100,000,000 AD
The Milky Way galaxy has stabilised from an earlier collision
Our galaxy is surrounded by dozens of smaller dwarf galaxies. These will occasionally pass through the disk of the Milky Way, disrupting both it and the incoming satellite. One such collision occurred in approximately 100 million BC. This was confirmed by observations of 300,000 nearby stars, whose motions indicated a reverberation or "ringing" like a bell. The stars were found to be moving up and down at speeds of 20-30 kilometres per second while orbiting the centre of the galaxy at 220 kilometres per second.
It would take a further 100 million years (from the time of this observation) for this motion to stabilise and for the Milky Way to stop reverberating. By now, the north-south asymmetry has disappeared and the vertical motions of stars in the solar neighborhood have reverted back to their equilibrium orbits.*
150,000,000 AD
The Atlantic Ocean begins to close
The mid-Atlantic ridge is causing the Americas and Africa to begin moving back together. Australia has become fully merged with Indonesia and Antarctica.
225,000,000 AD
Sol completes one galactic year
By now, our Sun has completed another clockwise revolution around the galaxy – the 21st in its lifetime so far.
The Sun's orbit is roughly elliptical, with perturbations due to the galactic spiral arms and non-uniform mass distributions. In addition, the Sun oscillates up and down relative to the galactic plane, around 2.7 times per orbit.
The Sun's passage through the higher density spiral arms has coincided with mass extinctions on Earth, due to increased impact events.
The orbital speed of the Solar System around the center of the Galaxy is approximately 251 km/s.
250,000,000 AD
A supercontinent is forming on Earth
The next Pangea – Pangea Ultima – is forming, with all of the major continents moving back together, surrounding a small ocean basin.
Our Sun is becoming noticeably hotter and brighter, raising global temperatures by several degrees. Much of Earth is now covered by deserts.
600,000,000 AD
Total solar eclipses are no longer possible on Earth
Due to tidal acceleration, the distance of the Moon from the Earth has been increasing by approximately 3.8cm each year. By 600 million AD, the distance has increased by nearly 23,000 km. At the same time, the Sun has been growing in size by a significant amount.
As a result, the Moon is no longer big enough in the sky to completely cover the Sun's disk, making total eclipses impossible. This is true even when the Moon is at perigee and the Earth is at aphelion.
The reduced gravitational influence of the Moon is affecting Earth's oceans – with smaller waves and less variation in tide heights.
750,000,000 AD
The Sagittarius dwarf galaxy has been absorbed into the larger Milky Way
The Sagittarius dwarf elliptical galaxy (Sag DEG) is a tiny satellite galaxy orbiting the Milky Way. For aeons, it has been stretched and torn apart by the immense tidal forces of its neighbour. By now, it has been completely absorbed into the Milky Way.*
When first discovered, astronomers thought that Sag DEG had already reached an advanced stage of destruction. However, later observations showed that it still had coherence, as a dispersed elongated ellipse. It appeared to be moving in a roughly polar orbit around the Milky Way, reaching as close as 50,000 light years from the galactic core. Computer simulations indicated that stars ripped out from the dwarf would be spread out in a vast "stellar stream" along its path, and these were subsequently confirmed.
Sag DEG may have orbited the Milky Way as many as ten times, prior to being swallowed up. Its ability to retain some coherence, despite such strains, would indicate an unusually high level of dark matter in that galaxy.
1,000,000,000 AD
Earth is becoming too hot to support liquid water
The Sun's luminosity has increased by 10%, causing Earth's surface temperatures to reach an average of 47°C (116°F).*As the seas and oceans begin to evaporate, the atmosphere is becoming laden with water vapour, creating an intense greenhouse effect. Mars is actually becoming more habitable during this time.*
3,800,000,000 AD
The Andromeda Galaxy has begun to collide and merge with our own Milky Way galaxy
The earliest recorded observation of Andromeda – the nearest spiral galaxy to our own – was made in the year 964. Persian astronomer, Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, described the object as a "small cloud". The first description based on telescopic observation was given by German astronomer Simon Marius in 1612. Charles Messier catalogued it as M31 in 1764 and incorrectly credited Marius as the discoverer, unaware of Al Sufi's earlier work. The first photographs were taken in 1887 by Isaac Roberts, and the first radio maps were produced in the 1950s by John Baldwin.
Later observations confirmed the size, distance and velocity of Andromeda. It was found to be the largest galaxy in the Local Group, with over a trillion stars – at least twice as many as the Milky Way. It was 2.5 million light years from Earth and moving at 250,000 miles per hour. It was also found to be on a collision course: heading directly towards the Milky Way.
By 3,800,000,000 AD, a full-scale merger is underway.**A single, giant elliptical galaxy will eventually be formed. Stars and planets within each galaxy almost never collide, however, as galaxies are extremely diffuse. Such mergers are in fact relatively common. Andromeda, for example, collided with at least one other galaxy in the distant past.
5,000,000,000 AD
Sol is a red giant
The inner planets of the solar system have been destroyed and absorbed by the ballooning Sun. Its radius has now expanded by over 200 times.
12,000,000,000 AD
Sol is shrinking to become a black dwarf
Most of the Sun's mass has been ejected, forming a planetary nebula. Having ended its main sequence life, it now begins to cool and dim – changing from a dense white dwarf into a cold, inactive black dwarf.
100,000,000,000 AD
The Virgo Supercluster is converging into a single galaxy
The Virgo Supercluster – containing hundreds of smaller clusters including our own – is now so ancient that it has begun to stabilise and converge into a single huge galaxy, many millions of light years across.
Other superclusters are also converging, but are now separated from each other by billions of light years due to the acceleration of dark energy.
A significant percentage of galaxies are beginning to "burn out", having been depleted of the gas clouds required to form stars.
2,000,000,000,000 AD
Galaxies beyond the Local Supercluster are no longer visible*
Dark energy has continued to drive the expansion of the universe at an ever-accelerating rate. By now, the volume of the universe is so great – and the speed of acceleration so high – that everything beyond the Local Supercluster is no longer visible.
Even for the highest energy gamma rays, a redshift of 1053means their wavelength is stretched to greater than the physical diameter of the horizon.
Because of this, any remaining intelligent life today may no longer be able to obtain new empirical data on the state of large-scale structures on scales observed in the past.
By now, even some of the longest-lived stars in our galaxy – such as red dwarfs – have begun to fade away, leaving behind only cold "black dwarfs" emitting trace amounts of radiation. This includes once famous stars such as Proxima Centauri, Barnard's Star and Wolf 359.The Milky Way galaxy is becoming a dark, empty place dominated by enormous blackholes.
The last of the main sequence stars in our universe has withered away to nothing. The only stellar-mass objects now remaining are white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes. Brown dwarfs also remain.
Planets everywhere have been dislodged from their previous orbits and left drifting as "rogues", with many ending up in black holes.
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 AD
In this era, the only energy being generated in the universe is through proton decay and particle annihilation. Neutron stars, white dwarfs and black holes are now the only remaining objects. Due to extreme age, all of the planets and moons have disintegrated and decayed into their constituent atomic particles, or else been absorbed into stellar remnants.
Only black holes and subatomic particles remain. The universe has expanded so much that these individual particles may be separated from each other by truly enormous distances. Black holes themselves are now evaporating by Hawking radiation.
2It is unlikely that Earth would be affected. Even if the gamma ray jets point in our direction, the solar system will likely be protected by aDyson shell(or similar giant structure) by then. Less developed colonies in other star systems might not be so fortunate, however. 3"Our Sun may exit the Local Cloud, also called the Local Fluff, during the next 10,000 years."SeeAstronomy Picture of the Day, NASA: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130924.html Accessed 19th January 2014. 4"...the outermost arc will collide with the bar in just 5000 years, with the red supergiant star itself hitting the bar roughly 12,500 years later."SeeBetelgeuse Braces for a Collision: Red Supergiant Star to Crash Into Dusty 'Wall',Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130122105615.htm Accessed 24th January 2013. 5"There is a 17 mile Exclusion Zone around Chernobyl where officially nobody is allowed to live, but people do. These "resettlers" are elderly people who lived in the region prior to the disaster. Today there are approximately 10,000 people between the ages of 60 and 90 living within the Zone around Chernobyl. Younger families are allowed to visit, but only for brief periods of time."Eventually the land could be utilized for some sort of industrial purpose that would involve concrete sites. But estimates range from 60–200 years before this would be allowed. Farming or any other type of agricultural industry would be dangerous and completely inappropriate for at least 200 years. It will be at least two centuries before there is any chance the situation can change within the 1.5-mile Exclusion Zone. As for the #4 reactor where the meltdown occurred, we estimate it will be 20,000 years before the real estate is fully safe."SeeDisasters: Wasted Lives, Valuable Lessons,Randall Bell http://www.amazon.co.uk/Disasters-Wasted-Lives-Valuable-Lessons/dp/1930819439/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=...
Accessed 30th July 2010. 6Galactic Center,Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_Center Accessed 12th February 2011.
7von Neumann Probe,daviddarling.info: ttp://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/V/vonNeumannprobe.html Accessed 12th February 2011. 8"We will ultimately saturate all of the matter and energy in our area of the universe with our intelligence... All of this dumb matter and energy around us will wake up and become sublimely intelligent. Then it will spread out to the whole universe at the fastest speed information can flow. And one could make an argument that it’s not going to take an infinitely long time because there may be other ways to get to other parts of the universe through shortcuts like wormholes, which physics has postulated. Eventually the whole universe will, essentially, wake up."
The technology of universal intelligence,KurzweilAI: http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-technology-of-universal-intelligence Accessed 12th February 2011.
Of 810 patients at Watford General Hospital reviewed, 686 have been told there are no clinical concerns Two cancer patients died after failing to be given follow-up appointments at Watford General Hospital, in breach of NHS rules, a report has found.
The health secretary says the culture of the NHS will not be transformed straight away The NHS in England has "changed for the better" in the year since the Francis Inquiry, the health secretary says.
Care.data, a giant database of health records, is to be rolled out some time after April The roll-out of a new NHS data-sharing scheme involving medical records should be delayed as patients have been left "in the dark", a patient watchdog says.
The Nuffield Trust is concerned money worries could undermine efforts to improve care Financial pressures could get in the way of the drive to improve care following the Stafford Hospital scandal, experts say. 
The BBC received Freedom of Information data from more than 100 councils Most councils in England are paying less than the industry recommended minimum for personal home care, a BBC investigation suggests. 
Dennis Aabo spent a month doing laboratory tests of the bionic hand 
Although a milestone in prosthetics, the bionic hand of movies remains the stuff of science fiction 
The misconduct took place at Basildon Hospital between 2002 and 2007 A nurse who made a colleague do personal errands for her has been suspended from the nursing register.
A young child's skin is thinner than an adult's, making it more susceptible to scalds and burns Hair straighteners and hot mugs are the leading causes of childhood scalds and burns, and one-year-olds are at greatest risk, data reveals. 
Any hot drink can scald a baby even 15 minutes after it's been made. 
