Catch up on the week's most vital healthcare news with Julie McAnulty's News Roundup.

Health campaigner Julie McAnulty gives her unique take on the week's news and its implications to the NHS.

Sex, Money and Obama
In an age where sex is talked about freely, sexually transmitted diseases are seen as a taboo subject. Anyone who mentions STDs is seen as a spoilsport at best and a prudish murdering medic at worst. That’s why the scheme to bring chlamydia screening to nightclubs and bars was never going to take off, as the most recent report on the project admits.

If pigs could fly
From now on I intend to travel anywhere far away solely by train. There will be no more waiting in endless queues at the airport, no security checks to reveal the condition of my socks. I will not need to arrive at the station three hours in advance, or navigate hell and high escalators, moving floors, check-ins and baggage controls. The most I will ever end up spending in a railway station is the inflated price of a packet of crisps from a grimy hole in the wall. And the seats on a train are so much more comfortable.

Promises and lies
It is cold outside and my car falls prey to the icy grip of winter. There is one final key-turn of the ignition, a feeble half-cough. And with the union of jump leads, the frozen battery is given one last kiss of life.

Sparing the rod
Lines were always the most common form of punishment at my school. But for one teacher in particular, they held a very special appeal. In his case, the lines were not of the written variety, but instead referred to the alternating strips of red and white left on young flesh after a resounding slap.

Santa Claus 'aint coming to town
With only days to go until Christmas, the children can barely wait to start hanging up their brightly coloured stockings. The excitement is tangible, the anticipation hanging heavy and pungent like a rotten sprout. For at some unknowable moment of the night, Granny Christmas will descend through the chimney to reward those children who have not committed knife crime this year.

Liz Patience is our new agony aunt, and is always willing to give you her sensitive, qualified advice.

With extensive experience in the NHS and in General Practice, Liz is ready to help, whether your problems are to do with relationships, are work related or otherwise.

Read her latest replies to questions put to her by our registered users! Doctor Who
I am a social worker and I have been having problems with the doctor assigned to my cases. In our hospital meetings he constantly ignores the points that I make and talks down to me. One lady that I had warned was not capable of looking after herself suffered a fall in her home and lay there for 2 days. Had he listened to my advice (to put her into a home) she would not have suffered needlessly. I don't want to take the situation as far as a tribunal (mostly because I still think I will be ignored in favour of him) but how can I approach him without getting his back up? His back is already up! Jen H
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