RECENT NEWS

Independent health watchdog the Healthcare Commission (HC) has found that failings at the Mid Cheshire Hospitals Trust led to unacceptable levels of care for older patients.

The Royal College of Nursing’s campaign to encourage Chancellor Gordon Brown to reconsider his recommendation of a pay award based on the 2% inflation target is in full swing with the sending of over 2,000 e-cards from RCN members demanding a more substantial pay award.

Groundbreaking independent academic research, conducted anonymously with doctors by Professor Clive Seale, Brunel University, reveals that there were 2,865 patients deliberately helped to die by doctors in 2004. That equates to eight patients every day.

In a joint statement, issued by the Department of Health (DH) and the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI), The DH has stated a requirement for all Independent Sector Providers to comply with Equal Pay and Discrimination Legislation. This will mean consultant anaesthetists gain pay parity for all NHS work undertaken in the Independent Sector.

A lack of new doctors could damage the Government’s plans to boost the country’s healthcare system, the British Medical Association (BMA) has warned.

A new study has found that suicide might be prevented among psychiatric in-patients by improving ward design and removing fixtures that can be used in hanging.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has set out the two-year programme for the next stages of NHS reform. In doing so she announced that Government was committed to pressing ahead with root and branch reform in order to create a modern, self-improving, value-for-money NHS that better meets the needs of both patients and taxpayers.

Professor Nick Bosanquet (pictured centre) has joined TBS G.B. Telematic & Biomedical Services as a director and will be developing new services for clients as the NHS faces a powerful series of changes which are going to mean much greater economic pressure on all providers.

In an ongoing effort to foster good relations with the community and assist local causes, surgical instrument manufacturer Bolton Surgical held a “spirit of Christmas” afternoon at its new premises on 13 December 2005. Neighbouring businesses and associated organisations were invited to attend and the company provided a buffet lunch. Children from the choir of Greengate Lane School, High Green visited and sang a Christmas medley for the staff and visitors, who kindly donated money for school funds in return.

Patient monitoring and diagnostic equipment manufacturer, Welch Allyn is holding a series of six regional meetings across the UK in February for clinical and biomedical engineer managers to celebrate the launch of two new monitoring products.

A revolutionary new test to diagnose active TB won top honours at the 2005 Medical Futures Innovation Awards, held in November in London. Developed by Dr David Moore from Imperial College London, the Microscopic Observation Drug Susceptibility (MODS) test relies on the characteristic growth pattern of Mycobacterium growth in a special liquid media and viewed using an inverted light microscope. Using this technique the bacteria can be identified in days, unlike traditional culture methods, which can take up to six weeks.

Patients across the UK can look forward to an increase in the availability of “keyhole” or minimally invasive surgery thanks to the opening of a new training centre at Colchester General Hospital called the ICENI Centre. The Clinical Services Journal was present at the official launch in November 2005, and witnessed a live gall bladder removal operation which demonstrated the abilities not only of the dedicated team of surgeons at Colchester, but also confirmed the department’s position as a leader in the teaching, training and research of laparoscopic surgery.

The 14th European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress, held in London in October 2005, examined in detail how the burden on European communities of diminished quality of life due to skin diseases and also sexually transmitted diseases could be significantly reduced. Discussed also were rapid major advances in diagnostic and treatment techniques in these fields over recent years, which can now deal with the problems in ways not possible even two decades ago.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has set out new financial diagnostic checks and the next steps for NHS Trusts wanting to apply for Foundation status. She announced a new diagnostic programme to be rolled out to all NHS Acute Trusts to improve financial management in the NHS and to test whether potential applicants are ready before they make the step up to Foundation status.

England’s sickest children and their families will have more choice about the way they receive their care, following the launch of a new guide from the Department of Health. The guide will show local health chiefs how to give more choice to the children who need it most, with a range of palliative care options that includes the right to be treated at home.

The results of the consultations around smoking and health care associated infections, which contributed to the Health Bill, have been published on the Department of Health website (www.dh.gov.uk).

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has welcomed the Turner report into pension reform and is calling on the Government to stand by its promise to protect midwives and other healthcare workers when it considers its response.

Despite a 23% increase in the nursing workforce in England since 1997, urgent action is needed if the UK is to avoid a return to the chronic nursing shortages of the early 1990s. This looming crisis is revealed in a recently published report from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

M"lnlycke Health Care AB, Regent Medical and Medlock have merged to form a new corporate organisation, the M"lnlycke Health Care Group. This announcement means that the new company will be able to deliver a higher quality service and range of single use surgical and wound care products and is committed to continued investment in research and development.

Patients will get quicker access to care thanks to the introduction of American style “ER” roles. A recently published consultation document lays out proposals for a new role, medical care practitioners (MCPs), which will help doctors and nurses to treat patients in both primary care and hospital settings, as physicians’ assistants do in the US.