RECENT NEWS

From this month, six centres across the UK will enable selected people with Type 1 diabetes to live free from blackouts and hospital admissions associated with hypoglycaemia. The Department of Health has announced that it will invest up to £2.34 million in islet transplant services in the first year, increasing to a maximum of £7.32 m to meet the predicted annual need in the longer term.

To improve care pathways for cirrhotic patients, new national information and communication network structures need to be established, delegates at the recently-held British Society of Gastroenterology Annual Meeting were told.

The Government plans to instruct NICE to compare the cost-effectiveness of complementary therapies with other treatments, with the aim of ensuring PCTs are aware of the evidence where it is available, health minister Dawn Primarolo revealed.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge claim to have a made a potential breakthrough in the treatment of spinal injuries.

The College of Operating Department Practitioners is organising the conference: Every Patient Matters, 9-10 May, Fontwell Park Racecourse, Arundel.

An ICM poll commissioned by The Prostate Cancer Charity asked men over 45 years of age what would most stop them from visiting their GP, if they were getting up to urinate several times at night. The findings paint a shocking picture of fear, lack of awareness about the symptoms of prostate cancer and most worryingly, men not being able to secure an appointment to see their doctor.

NICE has recommended that osteoarthritis patients needing NHS joint surgery are referred promptly when other treatments have failed them.

More than 200 jobs could be lost at Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust in a bid to avoid a £7 m deficit.

This year sees the launch of the new “Clinical Engineering Team of the Year” award from Welch Allyn. The award seeks to reward teams of clinical and biomedical engineers by recognising their contribution to healthcare in the UK.

Patients in the North West of England and North Wales are set to benefit from innovative cardiac imaging services as a result of an agreement signed between the University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust and medical imaging company Alliance Medical. The eightyear agreement will see thousands of NHS patients scanned over the lifetime of the contract.

The target of reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease for people under 75 by 40% has been met by the Department of Health five years early, according to the Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) National Service Framework (NSF) Progress Report.

Prosurgics and Adept Technology are to collaborate in the launch of a new generation of surgical robotic systems for image guided and navigated neurological and soft tissue surgery.

Ecolab’s centre of excellence for contamination control, Shield Medicare, is celebrating a major step in its development with the opening of a purpose-built manufacturing facility at Baglan Energy Park, near Swansea.

A study conducted by the Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies of Ovarian Cancer has indicated that the contraceptive pill offers women substantial long-term protection against the disease.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson has announced a package of measures to recruit an extra 4,000 midwives to the NHS over the next three years. During a visit to the Royal Victoria Infirmary Maternity Unit in Newcastle, the Health Secretary outlined plans to give former midwives a “golden hello” worth up to £3,000 to help them return to work after a break in service.

Architects Race Cottam Associates have designed a new critical care unit at the Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital. The development will provide wards with a higher proportion of single rooms, where nursing staff are more able to cope with complex medical conditions.

Skin secretions from South America’s Paradoxical frog could be used to treat Type 2 diabetes, according to research announced at Diabetes UK’s Annual Professional Conference in Glasgow.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson has issued a statement supporting new immigration rules that will restrict international medical graduates’ (IMGs) access to UK post-graduate medical training.

Only one in ten of women with breast cancer have access to reconstruction surgery at the time of their mastectomy, despite recommendations from NICE. These are the early findings of the National Mastectomy and Breast Reconstruction Audit, published by the Royal College of Surgeons and the NHS Information Centre.

A request by the Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP) to its members for information on outsourced decontamination of instruments has highlighted concerns. More than threequarters of those who responded are said to have reported negative experiences.