RECENT NEWS

Medical research charity, The National Kidney Research Fund (the Fund), has announced a unique collaborative partnership in the field of long-term outcomes in renal transplantation. The STEPP programme brings the resources of three of the UK’s leading transplant companies – Astellas (formerly Yamanouchi and Fujisawa), Roche and Wyeth, together with the expertise of the major professional groups in the field – The Renal Association and British Transplantation Society. The project will use IT-based solutions to ensure better management of patient information, promote evidence-based decision-making and improve the health and well being of patients who are transplanted, or are considering transplantation as a treatment for renal failure.

Cancer Research UK will launch a three-year campaign in November 2005 to raise awareness of the risks and symptoms of mouth cancer, with funding from the Department of Health. The new campaign will focus on raising awareness of the early signs of mouth cancer and the importance of early detection.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has launched a £1 million audit project aimed at revolutionising the way cardiac rehabilitation services in the UK operate. The National Cardiac Rehabilitation Audit Project will, for the first time, begin to harvest quality data about the effectiveness and uptake of cardiac rehabilitation programmes across the UK.

Strokes could be predicted and prevention improved by use of a risk score developed by scientists at Oxford University, according to new research published by The Lancet in June 2005. The findings, part-funded by The Stroke Association, could mean a change to the way that people who have had Transient Ischaemic Attacks (TIAs) or “mini strokes” are assessed and treated.

The training of doctors and other healthcare professionals looks set to be transformed with the launch of the country’s newest post-graduate medical school by Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, in June 2005.

A new drive to help beat bowel cancer has been unveiled by Health Minister Rosie Winterton. Beginning in April 2006, men and women aged 60-69 will be offered screening every two years for a disease that kills 16,000 a year, yet if caught early, has a survival rate of 90%.

Chief Nursing Officer Chris Beasley has launched the consultation regarding the future development of mental health nursing in England.

Leading cardiovascular disease experts attending the annual meeting of the European Society of Hypertension in June 2005, have issued a “call to action”, urging members of the worldwide medical community to shift treatment practices for cardiovascular disease (CVD) away from treating individual risk factors in isolation to a comprehensive strategy focusing on the whole patient.

New figures published recently by Health Minister Lord Warner show a continued fall in the NHS’s three-month vacancy rates, which, according to the Department of Health, means more NHS jobs are being filled.

The Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) has announced new support arrangements which will ensure full backing for the coming year to allow Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) forums to influence health decision making.

In its recently published report on 200 A&E departments in England, the Healthcare Commission has urged hospitals to monitor variations in the quality of care in accident and emergency departments. The report states that the majority of patients are happy with the standard of care they receive in A&E, but it suggests that performance varies widely.

Four inter-linked research studies into a pilot project in London offering patients choice on where to have their operations have been published, showing that choice is broadly welcomed by patients, who are often sophisticated in their decision-making.

Significant findings from two UK clinical trials targeting the third biggest cause of sudden death in Britain suggest that the initial benefits of a new minimally invasive surgical technique are maintained at four years for low risk patients. However, for high risk patients – for whom the technique was designed in the first place – endovascular aneurysm repair offers no benefit.

NHS nurses fear they will not be able to give patients the best care unless the Government gives them more information and training about NHS IT developments. The call for more nurse involvement in NHS IT projects follows the recent release of a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) on-line survey. Nurses remain positive about the potential of IT to improve patient care but demand to be consulted on the way future systems are designed and used.

Public Health Minister Caroline Flint has announced a further £15 million to help transform sexual health services across the country.

“Illuminating” and “Motivational” were just two descriptions given by delegates at the Federation of Holistic Therapists’ (FHT) lecture day examining the role of complementary therapy (CT) in cancer and palliative care. Attracting over 100 delegates, the event, held at the Royal College of Surgeons in July 2005, provided a comprehensive series of lectures, examining the current role of complementary therapy and speculating how this could be given more credibility in the future.

Thousands of people will soon find it easier to visit a GP thanks to a wave of new GP practices and walk-in services set to open next year in towns and cities hit by the poorest access to primary care services.

NHS and social care organisations have been issued with a new practical guide to help to improve ethnic monitoring within their services and workforce. The new guide has been drawn up by the Department of Health, the Health and Social Care Information Centre and NHS employers to guide and improve health services for NHS patients and current working practices for staff.

The new NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement was launched on 1 July 2005 by Health Minister, Jane Kennedy. The NHS Institute’s role will be to lead the way in encouraging modernisation, innovation and learning in the NHS and this will result in an increased uptake of new healthcare products, treatments and procedures. Above all, the NHS Institute will improve care offered to patients.

Seven out of ten bowel cancer patients are still not being involved in treatment related decisions and six out of ten are not being offered a choice of treatments. These are some of the conclusions of the second annual patient survey carried out by leading UK bowel cancer charity, Colon Cancer Concern (CCC), which was published in August 2005.