Two pharmaceutical companies have been fined £120,000 after harmful chemicals leaked causing many staff to fall seriously ill. Archimica Chemicals and Euticals, both of which have recently gone bust, both admitted to health and safety breaches following the incident.  Archimica Chemicals admitted to six charges, while Euticals admitted to two.

After Medway NHS Trust was placed under special measures following the Keogh report earlier in the year, the lack of improvement has resulted in the trust being threatened with urgent action or a leadership change if services don’t get better. The hospital trust was put under special measures after major failings were identified across multiple departments.

An NHS report has revealed that last month an 87-year-old man died after an East Midlands Ambulance Service crew lost the keys to their vehicle.  The elderly man had suffered a cardiac arrest on a local golf course, Derbyshire golf pavilion, and died there despite having been provided with treatment.  The report does not explicitly state that the lack of hospital transport was the reason for his death, but it has been listed as one of the eight EMAS incidents that were highlighted as being particularly serious in October.

The government has proposed new legislation that will see willful negligence being treated as a criminal offence under NHS changes that are to be revealed next week.  This decision has been made following the recent Mid Staffordshire scandal and others similar, which will see those guilty of “willful neglect” being sentenced to jail.  If found guilty, the offence will be punishable by up to five years in prison under the Mental Capacity Act.

The company responsible for the recent death of 18-year-old Suzanne Cornwell has been fined £10,000 for breaching health and safety laws.  When Miss Cornwell’s scarf became tangled in her go-kart in December 2009, she suffered “critical” neck injuries and was unconscious when paramedics arrived at the Cambridgeshire raceway.

A Manx heart charity has donated 40 defibrillators to primary schools on the Isle of Man after raising over £60,000 in recent charity events.  Paula Lunt founded the charity donating the defibrillators - Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation - after her son died of an undiagnosed heart defect in April 2005. Since then the charity has been working hard to equip schools and sports clubs across the island with the potentially life-saving equipment.

42-year-old John Crockford is taking part in a 500-mile fundraising race this weekend after having survived a crash on his superbike in 2011.  The former superbike rider suffered 30 fractures when he collided with another rider at 130mph at a race on the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent.  The father of one has returned to the track to raise money for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance service after having made a full recovery.

A street in Leeds has been labeled the worst stretch of road for potholes in the country after more than £500,000 in compensation has gone out to those that have sustained injuries on it.  Kings Lane was found to be the worst street after a YEP, Yorkshire Evening Post, investigation uncovered the fact that Leeds City Council bosses have had to payout a total of £526,449 to personal injury claimants over the last four financial years.

A coroner has described 63-year-old Mike Martin’s case as “unacceptable” after he had to wait 13 hours in hospital before being taken into surgery, and sadly died during the wait.  Mr Martin was taken into Northampton General Hospital in February 2012 after complaining of such severe pain that he could not lie down – he was then left for 13 hours before surgery was available to him.

A health visitor working for Cambridgeshire Community Services has been struck off after failing to recognise that a baby in her care had a broken arm.  Despite the mother of the baby raising concern over worrying bruising that had appeared on her baby’s arm, Deborah Kendall failed to carry out any examination and failed to recognise the breakage.

With fears on the rise about the standard of basic nursing care in our NHS, a recent BBC clip followed two retired nurses, Trudy O’Connor and Deborah Harrison, to investigate whether or not standards really have slipped.  Having themselves trained in 1968, they believe that the current level of care is not as high as it was when they were nurses.  One of them complained that when her son was in hospital, he was not washed in nine days, and when there, she also witnessed an elderly patient struggling to eat without any assistance from a nurse.

An 82-year-old dementia sufferer has sustained severe cuts and bruises after falling into an open sewer at her care home in Doncaster. The council has been fined over £7,000 for leaving the 2 meter-deep manhole unguarded at Oldfield House in Stainforth. 

With the Clostridium difficile (C. diff) bug causing major concern within the NHS, a woman has died after frequently complaining about a lack of hand washing in her ward.  Ann Gregory (81), from Colwyn Bay, was being treated at the Clan Clwyd hospital in Denbighshire, and a community hospital, after suffering a stroke.  She had frequently complained to her daughter, Judith Gavin, about the way in which hospital staff took no notice of hand washing reminders, and said she was “appalled” by what she had witnessed in her time at the hospital.

The Cheshire-based Children’s Immunisation Centre – who had been selling separate mumps, measles and rubella vaccines – has received numerous complaints after claiming online that a link was present between the MMR jab and autism.  The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) told the centre to remove the “misleading” claim from their website, arguing that it “could have caused fear and distress”.

A small fire in the newly opened South Bristol Community Hospital has meant that patients requiring urgent medical advice are being forced to go to their GP, a walk-in centre, or an A&E department.  The fire broke out in the early hours of the morning, which forced staff to cancel and rearrange scheduled procedures and appointments.  A total of 58 patients were in the building at the time when the fire was discovered in a plant room on the roof (04:25 BST).

The beginning of the week saw yet another cyclist killed on a London road where no space is dedicated for cycling.  Only a week today, the day before the accident, tens of thousands participated in the traffic-free RideLondon event to protest the lack of cycle paths in the UK.

Although early onset dementia has only ever been associated with boxing, Dr. Willie Stewart - a brain injury specialist - has revealed a worrying link between the illness and many other high impact/injury sports, including rugby.  A recent BBC interview heard Dr. Willie Stewart discussing research that he had carried out with a former rugby player over the last few months.  He examined tissue sections and discovered abnormal proteins that are usually related to dementia and head injuries.

Steven Bond-Lewis will spend the rest of his life on medication following a serious accident at his workplace.  The metal worker from Hereford was crushed by falling machinery containing molten metal, leaving him with such severe organ damage that he expects to live the rest of his life on medication.

Detectives have released details regarding a recent dog attack that took place on Blackpool promenade.  Lesley Wilson (54) was viciously attacked at around 23:00 BST on the 8th July near the sea wall, in the south side of the popular resort.  Following the attack, Ms Wilson has endured two operations – one being a skin graft.