RECENT NEWS

A new report from the Surgical Never Events Taskforce makes a series of recommendations for new standards and systems to further improve the safety of surgery in English hospitals.

A report published by Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority has found that progress has been made turning around some of England’s most challenged hospitals.

Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust, has selected McKesson’s cardiology solution to redesign the treatment pathway for patients with cardiac valve disease, in a bid to reduce demand on its cardiology unit.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published findings from 18 pilot hospital inspections completed last year. This concluded that compassionate care is alive and well in the NHS.

Over one-quarter of miscarriages may be preventable, according to the results of a study published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

The Technology Strategy Board is funding a series of radical ideas with the potential to revolutionise the approach to long-term care.

Local commissioners should join forces with NHS England and involve patients when making decisions about the future of walk-in centres, according to Monitor.

An additional 209,000 nurses need to be recruited by 2050 in order to satisfy the longterm needs of the country in line with projected population growth, according to research conducted by specialist recruiter Randstad Care.

A new website that provides information for parents and carers about kidney conditions in babies, children and young people has been introduced. Funded by the British Kidney Patient Association and created jointly by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the British Association for Paediatric Nephrology.

The Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) Service at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which specialises in the treatment of young cancer patients, is the first winner of the Kate Granger Award for Compassionate Care.

Nearly 3,500 patients received the organ transplant they needed in 2013 due to an increase in the number of people donating their organs after their death in the UK. Some 1,323 people became organs donors in 2013 compared to 1,164 in 2012 - a 13.7% increase.

Botox has been approved by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for the treatment of ankle disability due to lower limb spasticity associated with stroke in adults.

Quality assurance systems in NHS pathology services need to be updated and less focused on minimal acceptable standards, a review of pathology services has recommended.

The Association of Respiratory Nurse Specialists (ARNS) and Royal College of Nursing (RCN) have provided joint evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Respiratory Health inquiry into respiratory deaths.

The summary of the presentations at the Institute of Decontamination Science Annual conference on protein removal and detection that appeared in the January 2014 edition of The Clinical Services Journal clearly and concisely reported what was presented.

Two million people in England could be eligible for weight loss surgery according to new research published by JRSM Open, the open access companion publication of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

The time taken to diagnose some common cancers, from the point when a patient first reports a possible symptom to their GP, has fallen in adults by an average of five days.

A patient safety alert has been issued by NHS England on the risk of hypothermia for patients on continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT).

The National Audit Office (NAO) has highlighted the increasing challenge to the NHS of sustaining the 18-week waiting time standard for elective care and the importance for Trusts of having reliable performance information and shared good practice.

Researchers are creating a ‘designer’ protein that could be effective at treating prostate cancer when other therapies fail.