RECENT NEWS

In 2007, the National Audit Office reported that primary care Trusts (PCTs) could save more than £200 million a year without compromising patient care if cheaper, generic medicines were prescribed.

Research, published by the University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, warns of a six-month time lag before effective vaccines can be manufactured in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak.

Extra nurses and an experienced assistant director of nursing are being deployed to Stafford Hospital to boost frontline staff and further improve patient care as part of a package of measures in the wake of Health Secretary Alan Johnson’s response to recent reports into the standard of care at the Trust.

The Wellington Hospital in North London, an independent hospital, has installed an Artis zee ceiling-mounted system from Siemens Healthcare for use in general angiography and other interventions.

In 2007 (the last full year of statistics available) the numbers dying in England and Wales from C-difficile were 8,324, and from MRSA were 1,593.

Combat contamination control with the SteriClean range of alcohol wipes and sprays.

The latest data on UK cancer survival show that England’s cancer plan is a step in the right direction, Cancer Research UK believes.

Healthcare excellence and innovation was recently recognised at the Medilink UK Awards 2009. Sponsored by Xiros, the Medilink UK annual awards celebrate cutting edge technologies, outstanding business achievements, international success and collaboration.

Findings of the sixth annual survey of NHS staff show a decline in the number of workers who experienced bullying, harassment or abuse by patients or their relatives, while nine out of 10 felt they “made a difference” for patients.

The Care Quality Commission (which recently replaced the Healthcare Commission) has commended the majority of NHS Trusts for improving infection control.

Vanguard Healthcare, which operates the UK national fleet of mobile operating theatres, has been acquired by its management from Nuffield Health, the UK’s largest healthcare charity.

A study published by the British Medical Journal online (D. Pagano et al) has revealed that people from areas of social deprivation have significantly worse outcomes following cardiac surgery and concluded that social deprivation independently predicted the risk of dying following cardiac surgery.

The number of people working for the NHS has reached an all-time high with virtually all categories of staff seeing increases in numbers, a census by The NHS Information Centre has revealed.

NHS health checks, which could prevent 1,600 heart attacks and strokes each year, are now being rolled out across England.

The NHS is celebrating the shortest waits since its records began, Health Secretary Alan Johnson recently announced – with the average wait for treatment for admitted patients now just 8.6 weeks.

Improving lifestyles now could prevent 12,000 cases (26%) of bowel cancer by the year 2024 – a new report by Cancer Research UK has predicted.

Cases of Tuberculosis (TB) in the UK have increased by 2% from 8,496 cases reported in 2007 to 8,679 in 2008 according to new provisional figures released by the Health Protection Agency.

The first survey of staffing levels in stroke units in England estimates that more than 2,000 whole time equivalent (WTE) extra posts are needed to provide the best care to patients. ”

A survey of nurses and doctors treating patients with alcohol related harm has shown that many believe that action on sales of low priced alcohol is the most important weapon for tackling the rising tide of alcohol problems.

Doctors’ swipe cards are a potential source of hospital-acquired infection, according to research published in the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.