RECENT NEWS

Public Health England (PHE) has announced the start of the new MenACWY vaccination programme, which will offer teenagers protection against meningitis (inflammation of the brain) and septicaemia (blood poisoning) caused by four meningococcal strains including MenW.

The number of people waiting for a heart transplant has more than doubled in just five years, according to the latest statistics. Annual figures published by NHS Blood and Transplant, showed that there is still a vast shortage of organ donors. There are currently 286 patients on the waiting list for a heart transplant, compared with 126 in 2010. The figure was as low as 88 in 2007.

Two academics from the University of Warwick have called for more research to understand why patients are more likely to die in hospital at the weekend. Professor Richard Lilford and Dr YenFu Chen of the University’s Warwick Medical School, raised the issue following a study that states hospital weekend death risk is common in several developed countries – not just England.

Changing clinical thresholds for the single leading reason for blood transfusions could safely produce significant savings for the NHS, according to NHS Blood and Transplant research published in The Lancet. The results come from the first reported multicentre randomised trial comparing red blood cell transfusion strategies for Acute Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding (AUGIB).

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has upheld a recommendation against screening for risk of sudden cardiac death.

Royal Philips, Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and NHS West Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group have announced the launch of the Supported Self Care Champion Project in Cheshire.

Researchers at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals have received awards for their work investigating coeliac disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), two common gastrointestinal conditions.

Varian Medical Systems UK has signed contracts to equip and service two new national NHS proton therapy centres in England with the Varian ProBeam proton therapy system.

The health sector regulator has set up a team of experts to reduce the amount of money the NHS is spending on agency staff. Monitor figures show spending on temporary staff in the NHS rose by 29% to £2.4 billion in 201314. A recent report to Monitor’s board suggested that Foundation Trusts spent over double (£1.8 billion versus £766 million) what they had originally planned on contract and agency staff.

NHS Blood and Transplant has launched a new NHS Organ Donor Register to meet the needs of the 21st century, with more options for those who join, while still ensuring the process is as quick and easy as possible.

Smith & Nephew has announced a partnership with Scopis GmbH, the German developer and manufacturer of surgical navigation systems, as the exclusive distributor of Scopis TGS Target Guided Surgery system in the UK, Ireland and Belgium.

Figures published by the BMA show that the vast majority of consultants never have time off to rest before treating patients after a busy night on call.

The Secretary of State has announced a move to a single leader of Monitor and the Trust Development Authority (TDA).

Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has ordered a ‘clampdown’ on spending on staffing agencies and management consultancy contracts as part of a package of measures to cut costs.

NHS England, the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) and the University of Bristol have announced the world’s first national programme to review – and ultimately reduce – premature deaths of people with learning disabilities.

A new Faculty of Physician Associates has been launched. The UK Association of Physician Associates (UKAPA), the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and Health Education England (HEE), in conjunction with other medical royal colleges, have been working together over the past two years to set up the faculty.

The latest Census of consultant physicians in the UK produced by the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, highlights support for plans for a sevenday-service. Surveyed before the recent announcement on the plans by David Cameron, 68% of consultant physicians stated they would ‘in principle’ support the plan.

A report has highlighted alarming variations in access to emergency bowel surgery that are resulting in patients dying unnecessarily.

A new Cochrane systematic review of surgery for stress urinary incontinence has recently been published, with the aim of providing women with more information to make informed choices.

The Global Fund, an organisation dedicated to overcoming AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, has selected Abbott as one of seven diagnostic companies to help provide affordable, highquality infectious disease testing to low and middle income countries.