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Seven days in medicine: 6-12 Feb 2019

BMJ 2019; 364 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l667 (Published 14 February 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;364:l667

Brain injury

Two thirds of women in prison show injury signs

Almost two thirds of inmates at a women’s prison may have had traumatic brain injuries at some stage in their life, a study in England found.1 The Disabilities Trust and Royal Holloway, University of London screened 173 women at Drake Hall prison in Staffordshire, and 64% reported a history indicative of a brain injury—96% of which indicated a traumatic brain injury. The authors called for brain injury screening to be a routine part of induction assessments on entry to prison.

Addiction

MPs warn over budget cuts in alcohol and drug services

Almost six in 10 local authorities in England (58%) reduced their budgets for treating alcohol and drug dependence last year despite rising alcohol related hospital admissions, MPs warned. A freedom of information request by Liam Byrne, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Children of Alcoholics, found that 16 councils had cut their budgets by at least £500 000 (€570 000; $640 000) in 2017-18 and that four had reported cuts of over £1.5m. Some 38 authorities reported that alcohol related hospital admissions were rising in their area amid funding cuts.

Society backs online gambling rules for children

The Royal Society for Public Health welcomed new rules from the UK Gambling Commission for online operators, aiming to protect children from the harms of gambling. Current rules give online operators 72 hours to carry out age verification checks. The new rules, which will …

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