RECENT NEWS

Following inspections carried out last summer, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a review of privacy, dignity and nutrition in both care homes and hospitals.

High blood pressure and obesity are no longer confined to wealthy countries, a new study has found. These health risks have traditionally been associated with affluence and, in 1980, they were more prevalent in countries with a higher income.

Analysis published in the Lancet shows life expectancy in the UK has improved over the last 20 years, but levels of ill health have not. The UK is now below average compared with 18 other countries.

Five senior healthcare leaders from across the UK have been offered a prestigious Quality Improvement Fellowship by the Health Foundation.

Over three quarters of children see a senior paediatrician within four hours of admission, but there remains a shortage of consultants at peak times, according to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s Back to Facing the Future report.

Public satisfaction with the NHS stabilised last year after a record fall in 2011, according to British Social Attitudes survey data published by The King’s Fund.

A new national body has been established to improve health and wellbeing and reduce inequalities.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued a medical device alert for detergent and disinfectant wipes used on reusable medical devices with plastic surfaces.

More than 3,100 lives were transformed by deceased donors in the last year, as the NHS achieved a 50% increase in deceased organ donation – meeting the challenge set by the Organ Donation Taskforce in 2008.

EKF Diagnostics, worldwide manufacturer of point-of-care diagnostic tools, organ injury biomarkers and assays, has announced the launch of a new division to focus on molecular and companion diagnostics.

A new report from the Alcohol Health Alliance UK (AHA) has found that hospital admissions for alcohol-related cancer in England have increased by 28% in just eight years.

As part of the biggest ever reform of the NHS, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has now become the ‘National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’ and officially begins its major new programme of work to bring high-quality guidance and standards to the social care sector.

The British Journal of Healthcare Assistants (BJHCA) has published the results of a survey which shows that healthcare support workers overwhelmingly back recommendations about their role, outlined in the Francis Report.

An Essex hospital is facing a £100,000 fine over an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease that killed two people following cuts in its water treatment programme to save money.

An award-winning hospital has opened the doors to an innovative new surgical cardiac ward offering patients and their families the equivalent of ‘five star’ accommodation.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) is calling for all people with long-term conditions to get their medicines free of charge because the current system unfairly discriminates between patients and can cause financial hardship to those on low incomes who pay for their prescriptions.

Research is under way to show how brain and spine patients at The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust are benefiting from new ways of using a state-of-the art CT scanner.

In response to the Francis report, the Government is launching plans to ensure that patients are always put first and people are treated with respect. Patients First and Foremost sets out a collective commitment and plan of action for the whole health and care system and everyone who works in it.

In response to the Francis report, the Government is launching plans to ensure that patients are always put first and people are treated with respect. Patients First and Foremost sets out a collective commitment and plan of action for the whole health and care system and everyone who works in it.

Figures at the heart of the Francis inquiry will address the UK’s largest gathering of patient safety experts, at this year's Patient Safety Congress.