RECENT NEWS

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is to feature in an episode of BBC Panorama highlighting examples of innovation which improve patient experience and care while also alleviating pressures in the NHS.

New research to be presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025, Malaga, Spain, 11-14 May) shows that people with obesity at similar BMIs display significant differences in body composition in different body compartments according to their age group, such as higher body fat especially in central regions and lower muscle mass in arms and legs.

A t-shirt that monitors a patient’s vitals after urological surgery for cancer could help people return from hospital sooner to recover at home. The device, worn for around two weeks under clothes for three-hour windows each day, enabled patients to feel safer and more reassured than a control group in a pilot study of 70 individuals.

The NHS in England is increasingly relying on workers from countries with significant healthcare staffing shortages since EU recruitment became more difficult post-Brexit, instead of training and retaining enough domestic staff. Medicines companies are also warning of drug shortages more often.

A phase I clinical trial for a ground-breaking therapeutic innovation against respiratory infections has begun at the Clinical Investigation Centre of the Academic Hospital of Tours, France. The drug ‘FLAMOD’ is a treatment which aims to stimulate the body’s own defences rather than directly target the bacteria.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has announced the acquisition of Health Call Solutions. Health Call, which provides the patient engagement platform (PEP) for five North-East acute Trusts, will become the first PEP supplier to be majority-owned by a single NHS provider.

Johnson & Johnson MedTech, a global leader in cardiovascular, orthopaedic, surgery and vision solutions, has unveiled its latest sustainability offer – a programme that allows the recycling of its entire MedTech single-use product portfolio across the UK.

NICE has recommended the first long-term daily pill to treat endometriosis that could transform how this painful condition is managed. Around 1,000 women per year with endometriosis could benefit from the new treatment, which starts working more quickly than injectable alternatives and can be taken at home rather than at clinics.

Responding to a Holyrood motion from Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Neil Gray, on 'The Adoption of Innovation in Health and Social Care’, InnoScot Health has championed the role of NHS Scotland staff in making a valued contribution to such transformative ambitions.

The new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Healthcare Workers held its inaugural meeting yesterday in Parliament. The group, organised by the Medical Defence Union (MDU), has been established to highlight key areas of concern for healthcare professionals and discuss potential solutions.

In a significant step forward, a whole blood test for mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) – commonly referred to as concussions – is now available in the UK. The test enables healthcare providers to assess patients with suspected concussion at the patient's bedside and obtain lab-quality results in 15 minutes.

Thousands of NHS patients in England with multiple sclerosis (MS) are set to benefit from a life-changing ‘take at home’ tablet, as the NHS becomes the first healthcare system in Europe to roll it out widely to patients with active disease.

A new artificial intelligence (AI) tool is being rolled out across the NHS that can predict a patient’s risk of falling with 97% accuracy, preventing as many as 2,000 falls and hospital admissions each day.

The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) and the Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT) have issued a stark warning to the government and NHS England’s top medics that access to operating theatres for surgical training has not recovered since the COVID-19 pandemic and planned government reforms, if not carefully implemented, risk creating further barriers.

A delegation of five leading UK HealthTech innovator companies has just returned from Minnesota, US, as part of a highly successful US Market Access Programme between Medilink, the leading life sciences organisation in the UK and the world-famous Medical Alley in Minnesota.

A new type of antibody which stimulates the immune system to target cancer cells slows tumour growth, according to new research.

A team at NeuroRestore, led by Grégoire Courtine and Jocelyne Bloch, has developed a system that integrates an implanted spinal cord neuroprosthesis with rehabilitation robotics.

Measles vaccination coverage remains suboptimal in many EU/EEA countries. Sustained improvements are required in the coverage of routine childhood immunisation programmes, as well as closing immunity gaps in adolescents and adults who have missed vaccination opportunities in the past.

1 in 7 NHS staff (14.38%) experienced physical violence from patients, their relatives or other members of the public in 2024, according to the latest annual NHS staff survey.

The government has announced that NHS England will be brought back into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) "to put an end to the duplication resulting from two organisations doing the same job".