Cancer patients funding

I came across an article today regarding a leukemia sufferer who is being refused financial support for a bone marrow transplant.

The article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7257691.stm) states that 68 year-old Alan Francis of Llanelli, Wales, had found a donor in Australia and the operation was scheduled for next month. However he received a phone call saying that funding for the operation had been witheld so it could no longer take place.

Like Mr Francis, I cannot understand how flying some bone marrow from Australia to Wales can be that expensive. Organisations like the NHS (or the HCW in this case) have a duty to help ill people, who have paid taxes all their life, especially if their illness is life-threatening.

It is a subject close to my heart as my step-mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of 2006. Thankfully she was given the all clear after 12 months of treatment. Had she not been allowed this treatment she would not have survived. I hope Mr Francis finds a way of having the operation he needs.

Journalism task

A task in one of my journalism modules - the digital newsroom - is to produce a group presentation covering 4 subjects; entertainment, sport, health and politics.

The question is: "Defining digital: Does the type and style of coverage of news on the web help us define the digital newsroom?"

My part of the presentation will focus on health, and in preparation for it I am planning on posting blogs surrounding the research of the topic.

Meanwhile, these are links to my group members' blogs:

http://www.jonnysaunders.blogspot.com/

http://www.kaytaylordigitalnewsroom.blogspot.com/