RECENT NEWS

Stillbirth and neonatal mortality rates in the UK have shown a downward trend since 2000, says the Perinatal Mortality 2009 report, published by the Centre for Maternal and Child Enquiries (CMACE).

New figures, presented at the British Society of Gastroenterology’s Annual Meeting in Birmingham in March, highlight the quality of colonoscopy and pre-cancer detection rates in the UK since the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme was rolled out in 2006.

Recently published UCL research outlines a strategy for regenerating skeletal muscle tissue using cells from the recipient’s own body.

A study of twin veterans in the US has linked antidepressant use to thicker arteries, possibly contributing to the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Ten million pounds is to be invested over four years to improve care by growing the Scottish telehealthcare sector.

New research, undertaken by PruHealth, has revealed that one-third of Britons want people to pay for “self-inflicted” health issues,

The Stroke Association has joined a partnership that sees telecare response service CarelineUK providing personal emergency alarms and monitoring services to stroke survivors.

Commenting on the release of figures on NHS staff numbers by the NHS Information Centre, Cathy Warwick, general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, said:

According to research from Astellas Pharma Europe the top three challenges facing urologists across Europe are a lack of funding for research and development; a lack of understanding among referrers; and a lack of new treatments available to patients.

The number of managers and senior managers working in the NHS in England decreased last year, alongside an overall expansion in the size of the workforce, according to a report from The NHS Information Centre (IC).

A round-up of NHS quality and financial performance between October and December 2010, published by the Department of Health, shows that the NHS is continuing to provide improvements in the quality of patient care and robust financial management while preparing to transition to a health service more focused on improving patient outcomes.

As endoscopes become more sophisticated, and changes in technology occur, now more than ever it is important to ensure endoscopy unit staff are fully trained on the importance of the basic knowledge of the reprocessing system, and the significant role they play within this process.

Although a parliamentary report states that death rates from cancer have fallen and survival rates have improved since the publication of the NHS Cancer Plan in 2000, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is still calling for more to be done to tackle the gap between the survival rates in England and those seen in the best-performing countries in Europe.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has chosen Skills for Health’s rostering system to manage its junior doctors’ rotas and help deliver its QIPP objectives.

Skills for Health in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support have published new resources to promote greater consistency in the quality of cancer care nursing.

The NHS should not be run in the same way as privatised industries such as water, gas, and telecommunications, the BMA has said. The warning came as MPs prepared to debate the sections of the Health and Social Care Bill relating to new powers to enforce competition in the NHS in England.

An online survey undertaken on behalf of BMA suggests that the majority of doctors are not convinced that potential benefits of the Government’s plans for the NHS in England outweigh the risks.

As high rates of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) continue to challenge hospitals and pose risks to patient safety, new approaches are needed to get HCAIs under control.

Nearly 6,000 cases of invasive cancer detected by the NHS Breast Screening Programme in 2010 were those that would be too small to find by hand, according to figures from The NHS Information Centre.

The Alzheimer’s Society has released new dementia figures that indicated that, in 2021, over half a million people will be living with undiagnosed dementia. The study, Mapping the Dementia Gap, reveals the number of people with dementia in each part of the UK and the percentage who receive a diagnosis.