Stronger language testing for GPs

Doctors whose English is not up to scratch could be struck off amid fears that patients lives are at risk.

There have been calls for stronger language testing since the death of David Gray in Cambridgeshire in 2008.

David Gray Credit: Picture: ITV Anglia

New book launched to guide bereaved families

WHAT do I do if someone close to me dies?

Answers to this question are what many people search for at the most difficult of times.

'Vital for families': Gary Fox, end-of-life project manager for Care Plus Group, and Lisa Revell, strategic lead for palliative and end-of-life care, with the new booklet.

And help is now available in the style of a 32-page booklet launched to guide bereaved families.

Bipolar disorder sufferer aims to tackle stigma of mental illness with support group

A BIPOLAR disorder sufferer hopes to lift the stigma put on parents with mental health issues by setting up the area's first support group.

Robert Palmer, of Cleethorpes, knows all too well the challenges of bringing up a child while fighting your own health battles.

SUPPORT: Bipolar disorder sufferer Robert Palmer, of Cleethorpes, has set up a website and support group called Parents First to bring together parents living with a mental illness. Picture: Michelle Adamson. Buy photos at www.thisisphotosales.co.uk/grimsby or by contacting 08444 060910

He has suffered from bipolar disorder for the past 14 years, while bringing up his disabled 12-year-old son Morgan.

Now 53, Robert wants other parents living with a mental health problem to feel included within society and to be able to share their experiences with others like themselves.

Battling Chloe to carry Olympic Torch

A GIRL who has suffered an immobilising condition her whole life has been chosen to carry the Olympic Torch.
Chloe Osborne, 13, of Broadway, Grimsby suffers with spina bifida, a birth defect in which the backbone and spinal canal do not close before birth.

Chloe Osborne

This means Chloe is not able to walk more than a few feet without becoming tired.

However, defying the odds and out of sheer determination, Chloe will carry the Olympic Torch in Sutton-on-Sea on Wednesday, June 27, the day after celebrations to mark its arrival in Cleethorpes.

Inappropriate visits prompt urge to only use A&E if it's an accident or emergency

THE dog weeing on a plaster cast, toothache for a week, a sore throat and earache, are just some of the inappropriate reasons people have visited A&E.

And now Accident and Emergency staff at Grimsby's Diana, Princess Of Wales Hospital, are urging people to stop and think before they dash off there as a first port of call – especially with the Easter Bank Holiday weekend coming up.

THINK FIRST: The Diana, Princess Of Wales Hospital, Grimsby.

Clinical director for A&E at Grimsby, Oltunde Ashaolu said: "I would ask people to think very carefully whether their injury or illness really is an accident or an emergency. There are many alternatives to A&E which will see people get the right treatment, if needed, easily and quickly.

"We see a lot of people come to A&E who have dental pain, who have forgotten to renew their prescription from their GP, or who want the morning after pill.

Daughter tells of sadness at seeing her father coping with dementia

With the news that a new care home specifically for people with dementia is to open in July, and a Government pledge to double funding for research in the illness by 2015, Colette Stirling speaks to the daughter of a sufferer.

IT IS one of the most common diseases to affect people in the UK and yet many people are still unaware of the symptoms of dementia. But Linda Stirling is not one of them.

'Always on my mind': Linda Stirling with her dad Samuel Neilson. Submitted picture

Her father, Samuel Neilson, was diagnosed with vascular dementia several years ago, yet at first doctors diagnosed him with Alzheimer's disease – the most common form of dementia.

Linda explained: "When my mother died in 2005, I stayed with him for two weeks as his carer.

"I didn't know he had dementia then, so I just handled it with an inner strength, the way anyone would when faced with that situation.

"One night he came into his bedroom looking lost and confused, he picked up a picture of his wife, sat and cried – I just held him, not knowing what else to do."

It is said 2,975 people in North East Lincolnshire will be living with dementia in 2025.