RECENT NEWS

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued a new draft version of its guidance on the clinical and costeffectiveness of carmustine implants and temozolomide for the treatment of newly diagnosed high-grade glioma, with final guidance expected in June 2007.

Stefan Dräger, Chairman of the Executive Board of Drägerwerk Aktiengesellschaft, is to provisionally take over as Chairman of the Executive Board of the subgroup Dräger Medical AG&Co. KG.

An initiative to keep patients and visitors informed about MRSA and other healthcareassociated infections is being launched by the charity MRSA Action UK.

The Government believes that NHS clinicians will be better equipped to identify patients with long term conditions who are most at risk of unplanned and unnecessary hospital admissions, thanks to a model recently launched in the NHS.

The BUPA Foundation reports on a recent grant to fund a study into whether important lessons can be learned by surgical teams to improve communication.

The Healthcare Commission is responsible for carrying out independent, authoritative and patient-centred assessments of the performance of each local NHS organisation. On 1 April 2005, it launched a new approach to assessing and reporting called the annual health check.

Bandolier provides short reports on studies relating directly to evidence in healthcare, so it will be of special interest to note a short piece in Bandolier 145 related to studies of the relationship between chocolate and cardiovascular health.

It is wise to make a regular check of the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory products Agency which highlights recent alerts and safety information on medical devices and medicines.

The World Alliance for Patient Safety is embarking on a consultation process (the “Delphi Survey”) for the International Patient Safety Event Classification (IPSEC).

Department of Health chief nursing officer Christine Beesley has launched a new report setting the context and framework for nursing careers in order that the profession is able to meet the challenges of changing patient need into the future.

The history of healthcare is complex, confusing and contested, writes Nick Black in a new book just published by Royal Society of Medicine Press (£14.95).

Anew multimedia digital display station of patient data designed for operating theatres has been launched by ISIS of France.

Migraine patients often suffer unnecessarily because their ailment is wrongly diagnosed, scientists criticised at the 16th annual meeting of the European Neurological Society.

Young people with cancer are not getting the care they need, according to Clic Sargent, a charity for children and young people with cancer.

Anew radiography skills centre was officially opened in September in London, backed by equipment donated by Varian Medical Systems. The Saad Centre for Radiography Clinical Skills Education will provide a major boost in training future radiotherapy radiographers.

Professor Maurice Stephan Michel, MD, PhD has been awarded the Arthur D. Smith Endourology Lectureship by the Endourological Awards Committee chaired by Prof. Dr. med. Jens Rassweiler.

Using bedside pulmonary artery catheterisation (PAC) in the management of critically ill patients provides no demonstrable benefit for patients, according to new research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA).

Atlas Genetics, a company that develops rapid tests for serious diseases including meningitis and the hospital superbug MRSA, is the latest to benefit from the £25 million South West Ventures Fund, which is managed by the YFM Group, and the £5 million GEIF Ventures coinvestment fund, managed by NW Brown.

Health sector employers can benefit from employing older workers and should do more to tackle age discrimination, according to research published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently.

The Healthcare Commission recently launched an investigation into Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust following concerns about the rates of the C. difficile infection since 2004, and the outbreaks of the infection in the winter of 2005- 2006 and subsequently.