RECENT NEWS

New analysis of mortality data exploring reasons behind stalling life expectancy improvements in the UK, has uncovered worrying trends affecting some of the population, including a rising number of avoidable deaths among the under 50s.

A survey conducted on behalf of the Health Foundation indicates that there is increasing public support for paying more tax to maintain and improve health and social care.

The Association of Anaesthetists has announced that new guidelines have been published which will help anaesthetists perform safer airway management for patients undergoing general anaesthesia.

Medical experts should undergo appropriate medico-legal training before they appear as an expert witness, the Royal College of Surgeons of England has advised in new guidance published.

Progress in improving cancer survival is at risk of being limited by staff shortages, an inquiry into the future of cancer care in Scotland has concluded.

One in four cancer patients experienced a delay to their diagnosis that could have been avoided, according to a new study by Cancer Research UK.

A blood test can help identify rare mutations in advanced breast cancer, which may enable patients to access effective treatments more quickly in the future, Cancer Research UK scientists have found.

Responding to the General Election result, Dame Donna Kinnair Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing said: “The Prime Minister must remember that the Government’s new mandate was secured on the back of health and care pledges over which we will hold them to account.

Specialists at NHS Golden Jubilee have carried out more than 150 robotic lung surgery operations, helping patients get home quicker.

A National Patient Safety Alert has been issued around the risk of harm to babies and children from coin/button batteries in hearing aids and other hearing devices.

Responding to analysis from the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which shows GP numbers have fallen by almost 1,000 in the last four years, Dr Richard Vautrey, BMA GP committee chair, said: “As we’ve said time and time again, there are simply not enough GPs to meet demand and guarantee safe, quality care to patients. And as doctors stretch themselves more thinly, they risk their own health and wellbeing.

A report published on 28 November 2019 by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, shows that women accounted for one-third of the new 141,000 HIV diagnoses in Europe in 2018.

Digital GP services “are not a substitute” for face-to-face appointments but will help improve patient access in a primary care setting, a King’s Fund analyst has said. Access to GPs is becoming increasingly strained partly due to staffing concerns and partly down to rising numbers of patients. The most recent NHS Digital figures show practices are delivering the highest number of appointments ever recorded in a single month – an estimated 30.8m.

The latest figures for the Health Survey for England have been released by NHS Digital, monitoring trends in the nation’s health and featuring new data on gambling, asthma and longstanding conditions.

A National Patient Safety Alert has been issued around the risk of ingesting superabsorbent polymer gel granules. National Patient Safety Alerts are shared rapidly with healthcare providers via the Central Alerting Systemopens in a new window (CAS).

NHS England and Health Education England have today launched ActNow, an e-learning tool developed for health service and care staff to help them reduce hospital delays for patients. Nearly 350,000 patients currently spend over three weeks in acute hospitals each year.

England’s most senior nurse has called on the NHS’ million-plus frontline workers to protect themselves and their patients this year by taking up their free flu jab. Ruth May, the Chief Nursing Officer for England, is spearheading this year’s drive to ensure that as many NHS staff as possible get vaccinated against seasonal flu – meaning they are both less likely to need time off over the busy winter period, and less likely to pass on the virus to vulnerable patients.

BAM Construction has been appointed by hub west Scotland to build Scotland’s biggest health centre to date in Parkhead, Glasgow.

Vanguard Healthcare Solutions says that over the course of the two-day show, over 350 visitors looked around its new mobile Central Sterile Services Department (CSSD) unit at October’s Healthcare Estates 2019 event in Manchester.

A new £15 million health centre which has seen a GP and primary health care services successfully accommodated in both a refurbished former school and a modern addition opened in Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria on 11 November.