RECENT NEWS

Tracking sugar in the blood is crucial for both healthy individuals and diabetic patients. Current methods to measure glucose requires needles and repeated fingerpicks over the day. Fingerpicks can often be painful, deterring patient compliance.

Eastwood Park’s new training calendar for April 2020-March 2021 has been published. New this year is a ‘Safe management of healthcare waste’ course, which focuses on the HTM 07-01 guideline, as well as the cost savings that can be achieved.

Proposals to protect and strengthen research have been made by the Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS), in a report produced with input from NHS leaders, clinicians and patient representatives.

New research by data security provider, Clearswift, has revealed that 67% of healthcare organisations have experienced a cyber security incident in the past year, highlighting the serious threat that data breaches and malicious attacks pose to the UK’s health-related data.

The General Medical Council (GMC) has published the initial results of its first ever survey of specialty and associate specialist (SAS) and locally employed (LE) doctors, which found that 30% of SAS doctors and 23% of their LE counterparts had been bullied, undermined or harassed at work in the last year.

The NICE Shared Learning Awards are returning in 2020 to celebrate the work of organisations and individuals who put NICE guidance and quality standards into practice to improve services.

A survey by the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) has revealed that nearly eight in ten surgeons have been unable to operate due to a lack of beds.

International researchers from Imperial College London, the University of California and University of Florida, have highlighted the potential to dramatically cut the rate of Dengue transmission.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has announced a £58.7 million research investment to protect the public from health threats such as antimicrobial resistance, air pollution and infectious diseases.

A new study, the most comprehensive to date, on the incidence of sepsis and sepsis deaths, was published recently in The Lancet. It confirms that the actual rates are double those previously estimated, and that 20% of global deaths are due to this under-reported but deadly condition.

Robocath, a company that designs cardiovascular robotic systems for the treatment of vascular diseases, has announced it has successfully completed its first robotic coronary angioplasties.

A new study by Public Health England (PHE) shows that infant vaccination against group B meningococcal disease (MenB) has resulted in a significant decline in cases of the disease in young children since the programme was introduced. The research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Complex Innovative Design (CID) trials could be transformed for the better, following the publication of recommendations, published in the British Journal of Cancer. The authors believe, if implemented, the ten recommendations they’ve developed for CID trials could ultimately reduce the time it takes to get innovative treatments to patients with cancer.

Hospital theatres in the Hull area are tackling the risk of surgical site infection with the use of specialist air sampling technology from Cherwell Laboratories.

A dad left permanently disabled after a hospital wrongly flushed food into his lung has called for lessons to be learned from his case. Michael Moy had liquid administered into his right lung instead of his stomach on at least two occasions after staff did not check the position of his feeding tube before commencing his feed.

Hundreds of lives could be saved each year in England, following the introduction of a more sensitive cervical screening test.

Kate Woodhead RGN DMS has warned that insufficient attention is paid to the consequences of dietary intake, for patients undergoing surgery. In the January edition of The Clinical Services Journal, she highlights the need to assess and manage patients' nutrition to improve surgical outcomes.

As Britain leaves the European Union on 31 January, building links with global markets, the Middle East in particular, will be a key focus for UK healthcare companies.

An NIHR-supported study has found that an existing diabetes drug can be used to optimise the lining of the womb and reduce the risk of miscarriage in women who have already experienced pregnancy loss.

All too often, retained swabs are leaving women at risk of infection after childbirth and more action is required to tackle the occurrence of this 'never event'. The safety risk has been highlighted by a new report by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB).