RECENT NEWS

A more accurate way to identify pre-cancerous cells in the lining of the oesophagus is being developed by biomedical engineers at Duke University and has already been successfully tested on patients during a clinical trial.

The number of coroner autopsies carried out every year in England and Wales could be reduced by over 60% – or 80,000 dissections – if a system of post-mortem examinations used in Scotland was adopted, say the authors of a paper published in the January issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Reflecting the growing trend in living organ donation, with nearly one in three kidney transplants now being made possible through a living donor, the NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) has appointed Lisa Burnapp to the newly created role of lead nurse – Living Donation.

It has been announced that Earl Howe, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Quality, will the closing keynote speaker at this year’s NICE Annual Conference that takes place on 10-11 May 2011 at the ICC in Birmingham.

Under health reform plans announced in December, a national body is being set up to oversee medical education and training in England. However, the BMA has voiced concern that measures intended to bring about necessary change could threaten national standards and the quality of training, especially if pushed through too quickly.

The first national conference aimed at community midwives will take place on 14 April in Doncaster, supported by the RCM.

The Royal College of Nursing says that members’ angry reaction to a proposal from NHS Employers to freeze incremental pay for NHS staff means the RCN is likely to reject the plans.

BCS has set up a working group to review and make recommendations on the future of coronary care units in the UK. The group aims to release a full report by June 2011.

Significant health inequalities still exist between the country’s richest and poorest, according to the latest findings for The Health Survey for England, conducted by UCL and the National Centre for Social Research and funded by the NHS Information Centre.

The results of Phase 1 of a nanomedicine clinical trial that uses nanoparticles of gold as the core of a delivery system for tumour targeted drug delivery, showed promising results, according to research published in the current edition of Clinical Cancer Research

Key NHS leaders, from many UK Trusts, have expressed their support for the proposal to freeze pay increments for all NHS staff, both clinical and non-clinical, for two years, in return for a commitment to avoid compulsory redundancies for over 80% of NHS staff.

An interim report published by the Royal College of Psychiatrists has identified that 95% of hospitals do not have mandatory training in dementia for all staff.

Circle, the employee-owned social enterprise, has been chosen as the preferred partner to run Hinchingbrooke Healthcare NHS Trust in Huntingdonshire. In a historic move, the East of England Strategic Health Authority (SHA) has selected a non-state owned provider to take over the delivery of NHS services at Hinchingbrooke Hospital.

Anti-inflammatory drugs currently used to treat diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis may also help prevent cognitive problems after surgery, according to a new study by researchers at Imperial College London and University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

Almost 27,000 NHS posts in the UK are already earmarked for cuts, with almost 18,000 in England alone, the Royal College of Nursing has revealed. This is more than three times the number of posts identified by the RCN in England in April, and could leave patients vulnerable and services at risk.

Scotland’s acute hospitals are “generally clean and improving”, according to the first annual report of the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI). However, more work needs to be done in key areas, most notably in the cleaning of hospital equipment (including commodes and mattresses) and infection control policies being up to date on wards.

The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has issued advice aimed at minimising risk associated with anti-cancer medicines. A themed review of patient safety incidents involving anti-cancer medicines recommends that all clinical protocols, prescriptions and all other documents are written in a clear manner to minimise error.

An 89-year-old man died after hospital staff left him with only one rail on his bed to prevent him from falling out. Pensioner Francis Steele, of Lower Netchwood, Dilton Priors, near Bridgnorth, died two weeks after falling from his bed at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital on 21 November 2007.

Perioperative practitioners are now being invited to submit their applications for this year’s Hilda Winifred Mears Award to be in with a chance of winning £1,000 towards a trip overseas as a medical volunteer.

Figures from the NHS Security Management Service show there were almost 57,000 violent assaults on NHS staff in the past year (a 3% rise), with the acute sector particularly badly affected.