RECENT NEWS

Surgeons are calling on the Government to “get on and publish” the highly anticipated NHS workforce plan. The Vice President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Mr Tim Mitchell, has said making a proper dent in waiting lists will remain difficult without the plan.

Among people who have had COVID-19, adults with obstructive sleep apnoea were more likely to experience long-term symptoms suggestive of long COVID than those without the sleep disorder, according to a large study supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in the US.

An algorithm developed using artificial intelligence could soon be used by doctors to diagnose heart attacks with better speed and accuracy than ever before, according to new research from the University of Edinburgh, funded by the British Heart Foundation and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

A new study has bolstered the long-suspected link between gut health and Alzheimer’s disease. The analysis — led by a team of researchers with the Nevada Institute of Personalised Medicine (NIPM) at UNLV and published this spring in the Nature journal Scientific Reports — examined data from dozens of past studies into the gut-brain connection. The researchers found a strong link between certain gut bacteria and Alzheimer’s disease.

Interventions aimed at reducing work-related stress for individual healthcare workers may lead to improvements in how people cope with stress up to a year later.

The Florence Nightingale Foundation and Nuffield Health, the UK’s largest healthcare charity, have announced Rachael Brown, Infection Prevention Nurse at Nuffield Health Warwickshire Hospital, as the first nurse from the new Green Healthcare Leadership Programme to achieve a scholarship with the Florence Nightingale Foundation.

Engineering design and manufacturing company, Illustrious Healthcare Solutions, has partnered with University Hospital Southampton (UHS) to develop an innovative Critical Care Transfer Stack (CCTS) that improves internal transfer of critically ill patients within acute healthcare environments.

At-home high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) sampling kits can help increase cervical cancer screening among under-screened women from low-income backgrounds, according to findings from a clinical trial in the US, published in The Lancet Public Health journal.

The Government has announced plans to enable patients to be able to contact their general practice more easily and quickly, and find out exactly how their request will be handled on the day they call. The announcement is part of a major multi-million pound 'overhaul of primary care'.

For the first time, researchers performed a successful in-utero surgery to repair a potentially deadly developmental condition by treating an aggressive vascular malformation, called vein of Galen malformation, in a fetus’ brain before birth, according to new research published in 'Stroke', the journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.

Data published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows there has been a rise in measles cases. Between 1 January and 20 April this year, there have been 49 cases of measles compared to 54 cases in the whole of 2022. Most of the cases have been in London, although there have been cases picked up across the country and some are linked to travel abroad.

Researchers at the University of South Wales (USW) are working to develop an app that could help streamline the diagnosis of skin cancer.

Hundreds of people with aggressive forms of blood cancer are set to benefit after two personalised immunotherapy (CAR-T) treatments have been recommended by NICE for the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF).

Speaking at the recent Infection Prevention & Control conference, held in Birmingham, at The National Conference Centre, Professor Mark Wilcox warned of the potential risks of contamination from hand dryers.

At the recent Infection Prevention & Control conference, held in Birmingham's National Conference Centre, Primel presented the results of a controlled evaluation held in a care home in Manchester. The purpose was to compare the efficacy of Primel Skin Protection powered by TridAnt against a well-known regularly used hand sanitiser on the hands of 35 healthcare workers over a ten-day period.

The use of VR technology could prove invaluable in empowering healthcare professionals to improve their hand hygiene practice.

Each year, on 5 May, WHO celebrates the World Hand Hygiene Day, in the context of the WHO “SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands” campaign. The aim of this global campaign is to bring people together in support of hand hygiene in health care improvement and thus, impact positively on the quality of care and patient safety across all levels of the health system.

Europe’s Largest Infection Prevention and Control two-Day Conference took place this week in Birmingham, at the National Conference Centre. The conference and exhibition proved to be particularly well attended this year, as infection prevention and control professionals were eager to focus once again on core IP&C issues and gain an insight into the latest research and expert guidance on a wide range of infection challenges.

Written communications about radiology appointments are routinely sent in English only from NHS Trusts, not accounting for the needs of the patient’s first language, warns a new report from the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB).

Members of the RCM in England have voted to accept the latest NHS pay offer, following a consultation. In a turnout of 48% of eligible RCM midwife and maternity support worker (MSW) members working in the NHS in England, 57% voted to accept the deal, with 43% rejecting.