Mental health tsar appointed: Professor Louis Appleby, professor of psychiatry at the University of Manchester, has been appointed by the health minister John Hutton to spearhead the government's drive to modernise and reform England's mental health services.
George W Bush proposes healthcare changes: The Republican presidential candidate, George W Bush, has proposed introducing up to $2000 (£1250) in tax credits to help poor families who earn less than $30000 a year to buy health insurance. (Full story in News Extra at bmj.com.)
CHI announces first clinical governance reviews: The Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) has announced the four NHS trusts in which the first clinical governance reviews will be carried out. They are North West Wales NHS Trust (Bangor); Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust; City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust; and Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Royal Hospital NHS Trust.
Charity complains about NHS age discrimination: The English charity Age Concern protested last week that doctors were putting “do not resuscitate” on elderly patients' notes, without consulting the patients or their relatives. The charity says that it has a dossier of 50 such cases.
Euthanasia bill runs out of time: A private member's bill to tighten the law on “euthanasia” ran out of time in the Commons last week. Ann Winterton's Medical Treatment (Prevention of Euthanasia) Bill would have outlawed the withdrawal of medical treatment, nutrition, or hydration from a patient with the intention of hastening the patient's death.