Watchdog healthcheck.

The programme consists of four items: Item 1: Cosmetic Dentistry - the effectiveness of veneers and cosmetic toothpastes. Item 2: Errors in Screening for Cervical Cancer - a report from the Juliet Trust on the public's loss of confidence in screening following reports of laboratory errors. However, the national co-ordinator of the Cervical Screening Programme says that in spite of errors, screening has cut the rate of cervical cancer by 40 per cent. Item 3: NHS Waiting Lists. One man waits 15 months for a heart bypass operation; another protests that he had to wait 16 months for surgery to remove a brain tumour. Pressure on hospitals to cut waiting lists has led to manoeuvres such as treating several non-urgent cases rather than attending to one patient needing longer treatment. With a shortage of doctors, how can waiting lists be reduced? Item 4: Funding for Gene Therapy Research for Cystic Fibrosis. The average life expectancy of a person with cystic fibrosis is 30 years. The regime of physiotherapy and antibiotics rules the lives of child and family, to the detriment of other activities. If the disease is not detected very early in life, serious damage to the lungs occurs, as in the case of a child who needed a heart-lung transplant, yet there is no national screening programme. Gene therapy offers the prospect of effective treatment but sufficient funds for this research are not available. Prof. Duncan Geddes (Royal Brompton Hospital) appeals for funds to further gene therapy research for this condition.