RECENT NEWS

Two independent reports show death rates following a joint replacement or hip fracture have fallen over the last ten years.

Each year, around 62,000 people in England have a serious allergic reaction to a drug which puts them in hospital. A recent analysis from the National Reporting and Learning System revealed that in many of the instances where people suffered harm, they had been given a drug to which they were already known to be allergic.

A stroke therapy using stem cells extracted from patients’ bone marrow has shown promising results in the first trial of its kind in humans.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has announced that independent hospitals will begin to be inspected under its new inspection approach. The chief inspector of hospitals, Sir Mike Richards has identified eight independent hospitals to be inspected. These vary in size and in the number and type of services they provide, including both NHS-funded care and solely private care.

The Department of Health has announced plans to recruit more physician’s assistants (PAs) to provide increased support in the diagnosis and management of patients in hospitals. There are already over 200 PAs working in the UK in a range of healthcare settings.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has launched an online learning module for healthcare professionals on reducing the side effects of oral anticoagulants. Anticoagulants are vital medicines for treating and preventing blood clots. However, if the patient is not managed correctly their side effects can lead to a small number of people needing hospital treatment. With the right precautions, many of these side effects can be prevented.

The Chief Medical Officer's report has highlighted concerns about the 70 million working days lost to mental illness last year at a cost of up to £100 billion to the economy.

The Royal College of Surgeons of England launched Good Surgical Practice outlining clear standards expected of all surgeons. The guide outlines the skills, values and attitudes that underpin the profession and has been developed with surgeons and patient groups.

A transplant team at a Birmingham hospital has achieved a world first after resuscitating a liver that would have previously been considered unviable. Surgeons at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham successfully revived the organ for transplantation by pumping oxygenated blood through it after a journey of more than 200 miles inside an ice box.

Subtle genetic changes can be detected in the vapour given off by cells engineered to mimic the early stages of lung cancer, according to research published in the British Journal of Cancer.

A new study has revealed that one-in-six patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of being discharged.

A recently study published has identified a genetic mutation in the calmodulin protein as being a possible cause of sudden cardiac death. A healthy and steady heartbeat is maintained by the controlled release of calcium into heart muscle by two key proteins: calmodulin and ryanodine receptor.

Provisional figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) show that 344,000 patients had a recorded diagnosis of dementia in 2013-14, a rise from 319,000 in 2012-13 and from 213,000 in 2006-07, when the data was first collected.

A series of annual checks to monitor and improve the health of people with diabetes are among measures proposed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for its latest Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicator menu.

An additional £5 million is being provided to help health boards in Scotland improve the flow of patients through the health and social care services.

The Chief Inspector of Hospitals has said that he has seen significant patient improvements in ten out of the 11 Trusts since they were placed into special measures.

The relationship between saturated fat and type 2 diabetes may be more complex than previously thought, according to the results of a large international study. It found that saturated fatty acids can be associated with both an increased and decreased risk of developing the disease, depending on the type of fatty acids in the blood.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine found a genetically-engineered protein – APT102 – was more effective than clopidogrel at preventing blood clots from reforming in dogs after a heart attack and reduced the risk of bleeding.

A new study from Public Health England (PHE) published in the British Medical Journal found that Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine may protect against M. tuberculosis (TB) infection, in addition to decreasing progression of TB from infection to disease.

Experts say that women should be offered screening tests to pick up serious genetic problems earlier in pregnancy.