RECENT NEWS

SterilPlus has won the contract to provide a complete decontamination service for medical instruments used in BMI Healthcare's three hospitals in Scotland.

Pierre Guyot, president of the wound care division within Mölnlycke, has been appointed new president and CEO of Mölnlycke Health Care Group.

The Government has come under fire for the declining number of maternity beds, which have decreased by 40% in some regions. Conservative leader, David Cameron, publicised new figures that show there has been an 18% reduction in the number of maternity beds for every 100,000 people – equivalent to almost 2,000 beds in the last 10 years.

Prostate cancer continues to be the “neglected disease” according to leading healthcare professionals, who recently formed the Brachytherapy Advisory Group. They claim it is being treated as a lower priority than other major cancers –despite being one of the most common. They are particularly concerned that patients continue to encounter a “postcode lottery” system when seeking treatment that could minimise the risks of impotence and incontinence after surgery.

The Medical Defence Union paid out nearly £9million in damages and legal costs to compensate patients harmed as a result of spinal surgery in the independent sector over a recent ten-year period.

Harmoni, one of the largest primary care providers in the UK has secured the provision of additional services for Buckinghamshire Primary Care Trust, with a Single Point of Access (SPA) service.

Treatment of Alzheimer’s patients, in the UK, has been criticised in a damning report by the National Audit Office (NAO) and also by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust. The NAO said the UK lags behind other EU countries in terms of early diagnosis and access to drugs, and added that the disease is being given “too low a priority by health and social services”. It found that UK performance is in the bottom third of Europe, below almost all northern and western European nations.

NICE has overturned its initial decision on the prescription of Pemetrexed for malignant pleural mesothelioma – the asbestos-related cancer.

Researchers have found a gene variant that can more than double the risk of developing the degenerative eye disease “age-related macular degeneration” (AMD), which is the most common cause of blindness in the US and Europe.

Last year hospital staff gave the wrong treatment to the wrong patient on almost 25,000 occasions – 3,000 of these incidents occurred as a result of wristbands used to identify the patients.

The recent development of several new-class anticoagulants and changes to current prophylactic practices may help to revolutionise the management of venous thromboembolism (VTE), according to Professor Ajay Kakkar, Professor ofSurgical Sciences, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Thrombosis Research Institute.

The National Institute for Health Research's Health Technology Assessment programme is investigating a new blood test for helping diagnose or rule out heart attacks.

Orthopaedic implant and instrument manufacturing specialist, JRI, is set to launch a new £6 million facility. JRI will unveil a major re-investment in the UK and Sheffield, when the facility is officially opened by the international cricket star Darren Gough on 14 September 2007.

An innovative re-design of the hospital resuscitation trolley, funded by the National Patient Safety Agency, has won a top award at the Medical Futures Innovation Awards 2007. It beat 1200 entries and 30 finalists to win the overall award in the category of Anaesthesia and Critical Care.

NHS Innovations East was set up to help NHS staff in the region develop new ideas that will enhance healthcare delivery. One of the latest innovations to emerge is a new device designed to improve patient safety in lung isolation for thoracic surgery.

Pavillion Medical Ltd has purchased the assets of T-Med Medical from Turkington Industries.

Talley Group is developing a negative pressure wound therapy range aimed at offering patients faster healing and higher comfort levels.

Healthcare industry specialist Medilink West Midlands is working with Safe Surgery Systems to secure a second round of funding to back national trials of a system aimed at preventing surgery errors through mistaken identity.

New research is being conducted to find the best type of urethral catheter for reducing urinary tract infections in hospital patients. The clinical trial will be conducted across eight hospitals – comparing antibiotic and antiseptic impregnated urethral catheters.

The Queen’s Hospital in Burton upon Trent has significantly speeded up its breast cancer surgery with a digital radiography system that can X-ray tumours in the theatre, immediately after removal and display the images within seconds.