RECENT NEWS

More people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could soon access rehabilitation programmes after draft guidance from NICE conditionally recommended two technologies to provide digital services to NHS patients.

More than six million tests, scans and health checks have taken place at community diagnostic centres (CDCs) across the country, helping speed up diagnoses and treatments for NHS patients.

Until now, detailed mapping of the heart’s electrical activity was rare – requiring either a catheter to be inserted inside the heart cavity or carried out using single-use devices that were costly and time consuming to set up, and involve radiation. But an electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI) vest, developed by UCL researchers, holds potential to be used in standard care as it is re-usable and time-efficient, with only five minutes needed per patient.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, extensive research has emerged detailing the virus’s ability to attack multiple organ systems, potentially resulting in a set of enduring and often disabling health problems known as long COVID. Now, new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System indicates that people hospitalised with seasonal influenza also can suffer long-term, negative health effects, especially involving their lungs and airways.

UCL researchers have developed a new gene therapy to cure a devastating form of childhood epilepsy, which a new study shows can significantly reduce seizures in mice.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacy Group Joint Standing Committee on Medicines (RCPCH-NPPG) have produced a new clinical practice guideline on medication safety, with recommendations on effective paediatric ward rounds.

More than 1,100 pregnant women in the North West, UK have taken part in a rapid beside test to protect newborns from life-threatening illnesses which can be passed onto babies during birth.

Researchers from the University of Liverpool have outlined a framework for artificial intelligence (AI) to improve antimicrobial use and infection care, helping to address the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The first clinical trial to challenge the routine implantation of a defibrillator in myocardial infarction survivors with heart failure has enrolled its first patient.

The highest stillbirth rates continue to impact black and Asian women and those living in the most deprived communities where social inequalities are entrenched. That’s according to the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) as it responds to the latest MBRRACE-UK State of the Nation (SoN) report on perinatal mortality.

A Lords Committee has warned that a lack of coordination between primary and community services is leading to sub-standard care, missed opportunities for home or community-based treatments, and undue strain on hospitals that are already overstretched.

The Scottish government has announced funding to create extra training places for doctors in 2024. Record levels of investment will see an additional 153 trainee doctor posts created next year in what will be the largest annual expansion on record. This level of expansion represents a 2.3% increase above the current whole time equivalent workforce of 6570 trainees.

The government has made an offer to the British Medical Association (BMA) for specialty and specialist (SAS) doctors in England.

Members of Parliament (MEPs) at 2023’s ending plenary session, 11-14 December, were urged to prioritise health and help defeat the continent’s most pervasive health threat: cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Updated final guidance has introduced a new target for cholesterol levels for people who have had a heart attack or stroke to reduce the risk of them having another.

NHS Providers has announced a podcast and video highlighting an inspirational example of how one ICS is using digital ways of working and data to improve patient flow and alleviate winter pressures.

The latest NHS performance data (published 14 December) shows the number of referrals to treatment (RTT) pathways where a patient was waiting to start planned consultant-led treatment has fallen by just over 41,000 to 7.71 million.

Smoking-related hospital admissions in England increased by nearly 5% in 2022-23, compared to the previous year, but remain lower than before the Covid pandemic.

New measures to help protect the public and support bereaved families will be introduced in a revamp of how deaths are certified.

The National Performance Advisory Group (NPAG) has announced the appointment of Lawrence Barker as the new Facilitator for its Clinical Engineering Best Value Groups.