Victorino Chua

Victorino Chua
The Filipino father-of-two was first arrested in January 2012
Nurse Victorino Chua, found guilty of murdering and poisoning patients at Stepping Hill Hospital, has been jailed for a minimum of 35 years.
Chua killed Tracey Arden, 44, and Derek Weaver, 83, at the hospital in Stockport by injecting insulin into saline bags and ampoules.
The father-of-two was convicted on Monday following a three-month trial.
Judge Mr Justice Openshaw described Chua as an "experienced nurse who used cunning" to poison patients.
He was found guilty of tampering with saline bags and ampoules while working on two acute wards at the hospital in Greater Manchester, in June and July 2011.
These were unwittingly used by other nurses, causing a series of insulin overdoses to mainly elderly victims.
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Relatives of Derek Weaver described Chua as 'evil' and said they were 'delighted' with the verdict
Detectives described Chua as a narcissistic psychopath.
His victims' families were at Manchester Crown Court as Chua was told he would serve at least 35 years in prison before being considered for parole.
Speaking outside court after the verdict, Mr Weaver's sister, Lynda Bleasdale, said: "My sister had a heart attack the day before Derek died. Seeing all the stress of it was obviously a contributory factor to that."
She said Chua "obviously enjoyed watching people suffer".
Gary Arden, whose sister Tracey was murdered by Chua, said he felt "surprisingly nothing" for his sister's killer.
He added: "He's been sentenced and the important thing is he's not able to do this to anybody else."
Tracey Arden and Derek Weaver
Chua was found guilty of murdering Tracey Arden and Derek Weaver
Judge Openshaw said it was "strikingly sinister and truly wicked" that Chua did not personally administer the insulin to most of the patients, so it was left to chance which of them were poisoned.
He said Chua poisoned Jack Beeley, 72, to "shut up a patient who he found particularly troublesome".
Grant Misell, 41, was left brain damaged after being poisoned, as the insulin overdose starved his brain of oxygen.
Chua was found not guilty of the murder of 71-year-old Arnold Lancaster but convicted of poisoning him in an act the judge described as "indescribably wicked".
In all, Chua was convicted of two murders, 22 counts of attempted grievous bodily harm, one count of grievous bodily harm, seven attempts of administering poison and one count of administering poison.
He received 25 life sentences in total and showed no emotion as he was taken down to the cells. Judge Openshaw said he would be 84 years old before he was eligible for parole.
Chua's letter
A handwritten letter, described as the "bitter nurse confession", was found in Chua's kitchen
Among the evidence produced by the prosecution was a self-penned letter found at Chua's home, in Stockport, after his arrest in January 2012 for changing prescription charts so patients would get dangerously incorrect amounts of drugs.
In the letter, described as "the bitter nurse confession" by Chua, he said he was "an angel turned into an evil person" and "there's a devil in me". He also wrote of having things he would "take to the grave".
Det Supt Simon Barraclough, who led the investigation for Greater Manchester Police, said Chua failed to show "any form of remorse" throughout the investigation and trial.
Even when being sentenced "there was not a flicker of emotion on his face, apart from what appeared to be just a general contempt for all the proceedings", he added.
'Great distress'
Investigations by police found inconsistencies in Chua's medical qualifications, which they raised with the Department of Health and the Home Office, as well as contacting the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
Concerns were also raised by a BBC investigation which revealed that fake nursing degrees were being sold in the Philippines for £20.
Nazir Afzal, who was responsible for prosecuting Chua, said the Stepping Hill case raised the "extremely worrying" prospect that many untrained foreign workers could be working in UK hospitals.
However, the NMC said a review of nurses who trained outside the European economic area - including 11,500 Filipino records - found just four with fraudulent qualifications in the last 10 years.
Chief executive Jackie Smith, said: "We checked every single record - I think that was a proportionate response to this one-off but very tragic and very serious event."
She said not all the records of other overseas countries had been checked, adding: "We took advice on what would be a sample of a review across the register that would give us confidence.
"There is no such thing as a fool-proof system - we are not a fraud agency - but do we have a system in place that doesn't just rely on documentation."
In a statement, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust said: "Our thoughts have been with the victims and their families throughout this time.
"We know they have suffered great distress but hope this sentence helps provide some closure for them in terms of seeing that justice has been served."

let down by poor end-of-life care

Thousands of dying patients are being let down by poor end-of-life care provision, the organisation that makes final decisions about NHS complaints in England has said.

The health ombudsman's report detailed "tragic" cases where people's suffering could have been avoided or lessened.

In one instance, a patient had suffered 14 painful attempts to have a drip reinserted during his final hours.

The government said improving end-of-life care was a priority.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has investigated 265 complaints about end-of-life care in the past four years, upholding just over half of them.

Catalogue of failings

Its Dying Without Dignity report said it had found too many instances of poor communication, along with poor pain management and inadequate out-of-hours services.

One mother told the ombudsman how she had had to call an A&E doctor to come and give her son more pain relief because staff on the palliative care ward he had been on had failed to respond to their requests.

In another case, a 67-year-old man's family learned of his terminal cancer diagnosis through a hospital note - before he knew himself. This "failed every principle of established good practice in breaking bad news", the report said.

"There was an avoidable delay in making a diagnosis," it added. "An earlier diagnosis would have meant opportunities for better palliative care."

Ombudsman Julie Mellor told Radio 4's Today the report made "very harrowing reading".

She also urged the NHS to learn lessons from the report, adding: "Our casework shows that too many people are dying without dignity.

"Our investigations have found that patients have spent their last days in unnecessary pain, people have wrongly been denied their wish to die at home, and that poor communication between NHS staff and families has meant that people were unable to say goodbye to their loved ones."

'Appalling cases'

Macmillan Cancer Support chief executive Lynda Thomas said: "The report cites heartbreaking examples of a lack of choice at the end of life that are totally unacceptable.

"If we are to improve the current situation, we will have to see a dramatic improvement in co-ordination of care, and greater integration of health and social care."

The chief inspector of hospitals at the Care Quality Commission, Prof Sir Mike Richards, said the organisation had seen examples of excellent end-of-life care, but also instances where it had not been given enough priority.

He said the CQC would continue to highlight those services that were failing.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "These are appalling cases - everyone deserves good quality care at the end of their lives.

"The five priorities for end-of-life care we brought in emphasise that doctors and nurses must involve patients and their families in decisions about their care, regularly review their treatment and share patients' choices to make sure their wishes are respected.

"NHS England is working on making these priorities a reality for everyone who needs end-of-life care."

Lower back pain

Lower back pain linked to chimpanzee spine shape

Chimpanzees are our closest primate relatives

People with lower back problems are more likely to have a spine similar in shape to the chimpanzee, our closest ape ancestor.

A lesion which forms in the disc between the bones of the spine is the reason for the differing shape.

It would have caused the vertebrae to change as humans evolved from using four legs to two legs.

The researchers say their findings could help doctors predict who may be at risk of back problems.

The study, published in BMC Evolutionary Biology, involved scientists from Scotland, Canada and Iceland.

The research team analysed the vertebrae of chimpanzees, orangutans and ancient human skeletons to investigate the relationship between the shapes of the bones of the spine, upright movement and the health of the human spine.

Prof Mark Collard, from the University of Aberdeen and Simon Fraser University in Canada, said they provided valuable insights into our ancestors' health and lifestyles.

Back pain is a very common health issue in humans

The skeletons also provided information about how humans evolved to move on two "rear" legs.

"Our findings show that the vertebrae of humans with disc problems are closer in shape to those of our closest ape relatives, the chimpanzee, than are the vertebrae of humans without disc problems."

The research picked up that these individuals have a lesion called a Schmorl's node - a small hernia which can occur in the disc between the vertebrae.

Although there is not one cause for the node, it is thought to be linked to stress and strain on the lower back.

Evolution is not perfect, so over many thousands of years humans have not all adapted in the same way.

Prof Collard said: "Our study suggests that the pathological vertebrae of some people may be less well adapted for walking upright."

They say their findings could have benefits for modern health issues and be used as a predictive tool.