Month: January 2025

High patient acceptance of immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) as part of a one-stop see-and-treat pathway within an innovative NHS cataract unit

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Alsusa, M., Ahmad, S., Smith, Z. et al. High patient acceptance of immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) as part of a one-stop see-and-treat pathway within an innovative NHS cataract unit. Eye (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-024-03567-3

Abstract

Background

Constituting ~0.5% of all NHS cataract operations, national provision of immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) is limited. Combining offering ISBCS within a novel one-stop see-and-treat (S&T) cataract pathway would offer patients the opportunity for two cataract operations in a single hospital visit. Patient acceptance of ISBCS amongst urban populations has been investigated. However, little is understood about ISBCS acceptance rurally.

Methods

Retrospective observational study at the Nightingale Hospital, Exeter investigating patient acceptance of ISBCS within S&T; following the implementation of a S&T cataract pathway entailing a pre-operative patient-clinician telephone consultation and subsequently scheduled single date of assessment and surgery. Patient acceptance and factors potentially influencing decisions were investigated.

Results

200 patient telephone consultations between 22nd August 2023 and 9th January 2024 were evaluated. 198 (99%) patients referred were suitable for S&T cataract surgery, of whom 109 (54.5%) were deemed eligible for offering ISBCS S&T cataract surgery. Of the eligible participants, 78 (71.56%) favoured ISBCS. No significant differences in age, sex, distance from hospital or refractive data were identified between ISBCS accepting and declining participants.

Conclusions

Our results illustrate a high patient acceptance rate (71.56%) of ISBCS within our population in contrast with published national rates. Offering ISBCS within a S&T model would allow patients to benefit from having both cataracts assessed and treated within a single hospital visit.

H.R. 8371: The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act

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VETERANS.HOUSE.GOV
H.R. 8371: The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century
Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act
Courtesy of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Majority Staff


BACKGROUND:
The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act would ensure
that the men and women who have served have access to the modern, good care and services they have
earned. This bill includes a number of bipartisan proposals that would enhance and reform the delivery of
services at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by ultimately putting all veterans, their families, and
their survivors – not bureaucracy – first.

HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Includes the House passed VET-TEC Authorization Act (H.R. 1669) which would fully fund the VA VETTEC educational assistance program to expand high tech career opportunities for veterans and transitioning servicemembers. This program has an 84% graduation rate and an average starting salary
    of over $66,000.
  • Includes the House passed Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act (H.R. 542) which would expand access to
    Home- and Community-Based Services at every VA medical center, which would allow severely ill and
    aging veterans the dignity of receiving their care at home rather than in institutions.
  • Includes the Veterans Care Improvement Act (H.R. 3520) which would improve the timeliness and
    quality of care and services delivered to veterans under community care by improving the rate at which
    community care providers return medical records to the VA. This would streamline administrative
    processes to ensure veterans receive timely and high-quality care. It would also ensure that VA provides
    veterans with more information and transparency regarding their eligibility for community care.
  • Includes the House passed HOME Act (H.R. 3848) which would raise the Grant and Per-Diem rate for
    veteran homelessness providers who partner with VA and provide rideshares to veterans for medical,
    housing, and employment appointments and ensure veterans can get the resources they need to be
    lifted out of homelessness.
  • Includes the Veterans Education Assistance and Improvement Act (H.R. 3874) which would cut through
    red tape for the GI Bill and allow student veterans to use their benefits that best meet their needs.
  • Includes the Servicemember Employment Protection Act (H.R. 3943) which would modernize USERRA
    protections and increase accountability at the Department of Labor so that deployed National Guard
    and Reservists have the proper employment protections in place back when they return home.
  • Includes the House passed COPE Act (H.R. 3581) which would recognize the mental strain often
    experienced by caregivers of certain veterans by providing community mental health grants to help
    alleviate caregiver’s concerns about stigma.
  • Includes Gerald’s Law Act (H.R. 234), which would allow survivors of certain veterans who choose to die
    at home or while in receipt of VA hospice care, to receive a certain burial and funeral allowance.
    Currently, this allowance is provided to survivors of those veterans who passed away at a VA facility.
  • Includes the Commitment to Veteran Support and Outreach Act (H.R. 984), which would authorize VA to
    provide grants to state and Indian Tribes to support county Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) and
    tribal VSOs to provide improved outreach and assistance to underserved, rural, and Native American
    veterans regarding VA benefits.
  • Includes the Modernization of VA Disability Benefits Questionnaires Act (H.R. 4461), which would
    update IT systems and processes to ensure that disability examination reports completed by contracted
    disability examiners are standardized and machine-readable, which would improve efficiency in VA’s
    processing of disability compensation claims for veterans.
  • Includes the VA Office of Inspector General Training Act (H.R. 2733) which would require all new VA
    employees to receive training on reporting wrongdoing and cooperating with the VA Inspector General.
  • Includes the VA Medical Center Security Report Act of 2023 (H.R. 3504) which would require VA to
    conduct a survey of each of their facilities on security weaknesses and the status of their police force as
    well as provide a report on the results of these surveys to Congress.

  • *NOTE: Each of these bills has gone through some form of regular order and the entire package is fully
    offset and would not add to the deficit.
  • THE MESSAGE:
  • The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act delivers on
    the promise House Republicans have made to create a modern, efficient VA for today and tomorrow’s
    veteran community.
  • The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act expands
    economic opportunity for veterans, gives veterans a choice in where they choose to live out their
    sunset years or receive healthcare, modernizes the disability benefits claims process, and holds VA
    accountable to the taxpayers and veterans they serve.
  • The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act effectively
    addresses rising crime in major cities by forcing VA to report to Congress on security weaknesses to
    ensure our nation’s heroes are safe every time they visit VA.

U.S. Surgeon General Issues New Advisory on Link Between Alcohol and Cancer Risk

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Washington, D.C. – Today, United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released a new Surgeon General’s Advisory on Alcohol and Cancer Risk, outlining the direct link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. Alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity, increasing risk for at least seven types of cancer. While scientific evidence for this connection has been growing over the past four decades, less than half of Americans recognize it as a risk factor for cancer.

The Surgeon General’s Advisory includes a series of recommendations to increase awareness to help minimize alcohol-related cancer cases and deaths, including updating the existing Surgeon General’s health warning label on alcohol-containing beverages.

“Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States – greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. – yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk,” said U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. “This Advisory lays out steps we can all take to increase awareness of alcohol’s cancer risk and minimize harm.”

The direct link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk is well-established for at least seven types of cancer including cancers of the breast, colorectum, esophagus, liver, mouth (oral cavity), throat (pharynx), and voice box (larynx), regardless of the type of alcohol (e.g., beer, wine, and spirits) that is consumed. For breast cancer specifically, 16.4% of total breast cancer cases are attributable to alcohol consumption.

In the U.S., there are about 100,000 alcohol-related cancer cases and about 20,000 alcohol-related cancer deaths annually. Cancer risk increases as alcohol consumption increases. For certain cancers, like breast, mouth, and throat cancers, evidence shows that the risk of developing cancer may start to increase around one or fewer drinks per day. An individual’s risk of developing cancer due to alcohol consumption is determined by a complex interaction of biological, environmental, social, and economic factors.

In addition to calling for an update on the Surgeon General’s health warning label on alcohol-containing beverages to now include cancer risk, the Advisory makes further recommendations. It calls for a reassessment of the guideline limits for alcohol consumption to account for cancer risk, and it advises individuals to be aware of the relationship between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk when considering whether or how much to drink. Additionally, public health professionals and community groups should highlight alcohol consumption as a leading modifiable cancer risk factor and strengthen and expand education efforts to increase general awareness, and health care providers should inform patients in clinical settings about this link and promote the use of alcohol screening and treatment referrals as needed.

Surgeon General’s Advisories are public statements that call the American people’s attention to a critical public health issue. Advisories are reserved for significant public health challenges that require the nation’s immediate awareness and action. As the Nation’s Doctor, the 21st Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Murthy, has issued Surgeon General’s Advisories on The Mental Health and Well-Being of Parents, Firearm Violence, Loneliness and Isolation, Social Media and Youth Mental Health, Youth Mental Health,  Health Worker Well-Being, and a Framework on Workplace Well-Being.

You can read the full Advisory here. For more information about the Office of the Surgeon General, please visit www.surgeongeneral.gov/priorities.