RECENT NEWS

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in collaboration with the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has issued guidance to the NHS on how to improve processes to ensure that any medication patients are taking prior to admission to hospital is properly documented on admission.

General Healthcare Group has agreed terms with Nuffield Hospitals for the purchase and sale of nine hospitals. The hospitals will form part of BMI Healthcare, General Healthcare Group’s acute private hospital division.

The Royal College of Physicians has released a report warning that access to palliative care is “poor” and that there are unacceptable variations in quality – geographically and across different demographic groups. The report claims there is a particular disparity between patients with cancer and those suffering from non-malignant conditions. The College also called for an increase in NHS funding of palliative care – the NHS currently provides about 30% of funding while the rest is supported by charities and the voluntary sector.

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The Royal Marsden hospital reopened its doors just one a week after a fire swept through its roof. Seventy-nine patients and around 200 staff had to be evacuated on the early afternoon of 2 January.Two patients in theatre (who were safely taken off their anaesthetic and ventilators) and three in recovery at the time were safely transferred to the nearby Royal Brompton, accompanied by specialist staff.

The numbers of midwives joining the NHS in London fell sharply this year, a new survey from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) reveals. At the same time births in the region have increased from 104,162 in 2001 to 120,883 in 2006, a 14% increase.

Reorganisation of neonatal services has improved care for premature and low birth weight babies with fewer babies travelling long distances for suitable treatment. But, according to the National Audit Office, further improvements to the service are being limited by shortages in nursing staff, a lack of cots in the right place at the right level of care and a lack of widespread specialist 24-hour transport.

Every hospital trust in England will be able to recruit two infection control nurses, two isolation nurses and an antimicrobial pharmacist with millions of pounds of extra investment for infection control in the NHS, Health Secretary Alan Johnson has announced.

The Royal College of Pathologists and the British Medical Association says that a shortage of paediatric pathologists means that children’s bodies are being illegally transported across the country – adding to the distress of families.

The Government has unveiled a £132 million wave of new NHS community hospitals and “super-surgeries”. Facilities will now be built or refurbished in towns and cities across the country as part of a major drive to provide NHS patients with better primary care services and more minor operations, medical tests and follow-up care outside of large hospitals.

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust has decided to introduce Bardex I.C. silver alloy and hydrogel coated Foley catheters to help reduce HAIs. The technology is proven to reduce catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) by over a third.

Research published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation claims that the drug Etanercept can start to reverse the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease within ten minutes.

A new survey from the breast cancer charity, Breakthrough Breast Cancer, has found confusion amongst GPs in the UK when it comes to referring women with breast problems and that many do not proactively discuss breast awareness and screening with women over 50.

The Royal Berkshire Hospital has initiated a six month pilot scheme to deliver hospital care at home services for patients who require acute nursing but do not need to be in hospital.

Many British surgeons with new product procedure ideas they would like to see commercialised, believe only one in ten will actually reach the market in the next few years. Asurvey of surgeons was carried out by medical solutions firm Xiros at this year’s British Orthopaedic Association’s annual congress, launch pad for the firm’s £2 m R&D investment fund, designed to speed ideas to market.

NHS Fife is extending the scope of its Patient Administration System (PAS) to include community and mental health services. This is beyond the current use in the acute hospital facilities and the first “joined up” patient records roll-out of its kind in the UK.

In a message to health service staff, to mark the 60th anniversary of the NHS, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that patients’ rights are to be spelled out in a new “constitution”. This is expected to cover minimum waiting times, an emphasis on prevention and the right to be treated in clean hospitals.

A House of Common committee has called for NICE to revise its approach on assessing treatments, to provide faster decisions on new medicines and technologies. The committee recommended that a “rough and ready” approach, similar to that used in Scotland, should be adopted.

The Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust has recently expanded the new technology Agfa HealthCare NX 2.0 Computed Radiography (CR) equipment across all departments.

The Department of Health is encouraging pregnant and breastfeeding women to boost their intake of vitamin D in the darker winter months.