RECENT NEWS

According to the results of new research people aged 16 to 30 years have the poorest understanding of ways to avoid skin cancer and are more likely to get sunburnt than older age groups, new research shows.

Six new collaborative research and development projects are set to receive nearly £6 million of Government funding in the latest stage of a five year initiative to ensure that the UK is a world leader in the development of personalised medicine.

NICE, in partnership with the Health Protection Agency (HPA), is developing advice on the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) in secondary care settings as part of a pilot project. Draft advice identifies the organisational characteristics, arrangements and practices that indicate whether a secondary care Trust is effectively preventing and controlling HCAIs.

A new Superhero has just emerged in the battle to beat the bugs – Des, the knight in shining armour and the champion of hand hygiene has just been unveiled by schulke. Des is the standard bearer for desderman – schulke’s rapid acting hand disinfection gel, which is ranked number one by NHS Supply Chain.

Although Pseudomonas and other infections have long been accepted as an endemic hazard for patients in intensive care and other high dependency units, the last decade has seen increasing worldwide recognition of the role of water in the transmission of these nosocomial organisms. SUSAN PEARSON reports.

A charity consortium has been formed to aid the development of the latest version of a paediatric online training programme for use by healthcare professionals across the UK.

A campaign to raise awareness of the work of Children’s Hospices is being backed by Simon Cowell, patron of Children’s Hospices UK.

A new unit designed to help medical scientists translate their research into effective treatments for patients has been set up at The University of Nottingham.

A National Institute of Health-funded international study has found that people infected with HIV reduced the risk of transmitting the virus to their sexual partners by taking oral antiretroviral medicines when their immune systems were relatively healthy.

New research suggests that gently heating cancer cells could enhance the effects of experimental new drugs. Previous studies have shown that heating tumours can improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiation, but it was not known why.

Marking International Nurses’ Day, Dr Peter Carter, Royal College of Nursing chief executive & general secretary, said that the value of nursing staff was ‘clearer than ever’ and called for their achievements to be recognised.

The final report of the National Sentinel Stroke Audit, commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP), shows that care for patients with stroke is still improving 12 years after the start of the audit.

The NHS Blood and Transplant’s (NHSBT) strategic plan for 2011-2014 sets out new plans for blood, organ, stem cell and tissue donation. The NHSBT wants to maintain the current price of blood until 2014, releasing savings to hospitals of £10 m per year to reinvest in frontline patient care.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned of the risk of patients being forced into hospital due to short-sighted cuts to specialist nursing services. An RCN survey identified that Trusts are cutting specialist nursing care for sufferers of conditions such as cancer, diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

The length of a person’s fingers could reveal their risk of motor neurone disease, according to a study carried out by researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry, London.

Following a great deal of lobbying from the MS Society, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has agreed to consult on a proposed update of the clinical guidelines for the treatment of people with MS.

Pregnant women with epilepsy who are taking anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) have an increased risk of pregnancy complications, caesarean section and major malformations of the newborn, says research published in BJOG:

Commenting on the reforms in the NHS, Cathy Warwick, General Secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, has said: “We are becoming increasingly uncomfortable about the direction of NHS reforms.

The 2011 Pfizer Excellence in Oncology Awards are now open for entry. The Awards seek outstanding individuals, teams and services who are improving outcomes for cancer patients across the UK.

Waiting times for hospital treatment have reached their highest level for three years according to a new quarterly monitoring report produced by The King’s Fund.