RECENT NEWS

Amyloid beta pathology - protein deposits in the brain - might have been transmitted by contaminated neurosurgical instruments, according to a new University College London (UCL)-led study.

A rehabilitation service which provides vital support for children with brain tumours has been given another major boost. The Brainbow service at Cambridge University Hospitals has just welcomed Joshua Tarrant Trust as its fourth official fundraising charity partner.

Medway NHS Foundation Trust is prioritising urgent care for its local community as the adverse weather causes pressure on roads and transport links in the area.

Point-of-care (POC) ultrasound is helping to improve the quality of life for metastatic breast cancer patients in the West Midlands thanks to the fundraising efforts of Breast Friends Solihull and the University Hospitals Birmingham Charity.

Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) is looking for volunteers to take on an important role in helping shape its future.

Cambridge University Hospitals, which runs Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie, is urging the public to stay away due to increased cases of norovirus and flu in the hospital.

NHS Improvement has reported that NHS Trusts have 100,000 vacancies and are more than £1.2 billion in debt.

World Encephalitis Day is taking place this year on 22 February 2018. Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain that affects up to 6000 people in the UK every year, with the most severe of these often arising as a result of clinical negligence in the diagnosis and treatment of the condition.

Ulster Hospital has installed the world’s first CT scanner for heart disease. The scanner will replace invasive testing and it can instantly identify patients with serious cardiac problems.

One of the longest standing chief executives, Sir Andrew Cash has announced he will retire in July 2018 after 16 years leading one of the biggest NHS Foundation Trusts in the country.

The Government has announced that an expert group will be formed to work on introducing a new cap on the amount of costs that lawyers can recover in clinical negligence cases. The proposed cap will be applied to all cases up to £25,000 and is designed to help save the NHS up to £45 million a year.

NICE, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, has published draft guidance recommending thyroid cancer treatments cabozantinib (Cometriq, Ipsen), and sorafenib (Nexavar, Bayer) to come off the Cancer Drugs Fund and into routine NHS use. NICE has also recommended that lenvatinib (Lenvima, Eisai), should be routinely available.

Medtech Accelerator, a joint venture with NHS innovation hub Health Enterprise East (HEE), has confirmed the outcome of its second round of funding. Figures reveal that a total of £670,000 has now been awarded by Medtech Accelerator to support innovation projects derived from within the NHS since its launch in 2016.

An application that provides parents of sick and premature babies with video updates has received central governance approval. The seal of approval from NHS Digital means that the web-based application, vCreate, is now recognised by the NHS and will enable hospitals to roll out the service more quickly and easily across their Trust.

Patients in Swindon with the most serious and rare forms of illness could soon benefit from a pioneering research project that aims to find cures for notoriously hard-to-treat conditions.

Researchers claim to have found a drug that relieves some of the worst symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, without any side effects.

Hospitals in Scunthorpe and Grimsby continue to operate under extreme pressure and the local community is being asked to help by choosing the most appropriate NHS service, which is not always A&E, and refraining from visiting hospital if they are suffering with diarrhoea and/or vomiting, until they have been without symptoms for at least 48 hours.

A specialist renal unit has opened at Frimley Park, making state-of-the-art inpatient kidney care available locally for the first time. The eight-bed unit enables hospital patients to receive dialysis treatment on site rather than face a transfer to another centre.

A piece of clinical training equipment which provides realistic simulations of childbirth is being trialled at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals.

An initiative run to ease the pressure on local hospitals during the busy winter period has been hailed as a success.