RECENT NEWS

The Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) Service at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which specialises in the treatment of young cancer patients, is the first winner of the Kate Granger Award for Compassionate Care.

Nearly 3,500 patients received the organ transplant they needed in 2013 due to an increase in the number of people donating their organs after their death in the UK. Some 1,323 people became organs donors in 2013 compared to 1,164 in 2012 - a 13.7% increase.

Botox has been approved by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for the treatment of ankle disability due to lower limb spasticity associated with stroke in adults.

Quality assurance systems in NHS pathology services need to be updated and less focused on minimal acceptable standards, a review of pathology services has recommended.

The Association of Respiratory Nurse Specialists (ARNS) and Royal College of Nursing (RCN) have provided joint evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Respiratory Health inquiry into respiratory deaths.

The summary of the presentations at the Institute of Decontamination Science Annual conference on protein removal and detection that appeared in the January 2014 edition of The Clinical Services Journal clearly and concisely reported what was presented.

Two million people in England could be eligible for weight loss surgery according to new research published by JRSM Open, the open access companion publication of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

The time taken to diagnose some common cancers, from the point when a patient first reports a possible symptom to their GP, has fallen in adults by an average of five days.

A patient safety alert has been issued by NHS England on the risk of hypothermia for patients on continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT).

The National Audit Office (NAO) has highlighted the increasing challenge to the NHS of sustaining the 18-week waiting time standard for elective care and the importance for Trusts of having reliable performance information and shared good practice.

Researchers are creating a ‘designer’ protein that could be effective at treating prostate cancer when other therapies fail.

The first clinical trial of a gene therapy for an inherited cause of progressive blindness called choroideremia has shown promising initial results which have surpassed expectations of the Oxford University researchers leading the study.

The BMA has published new guidelines for medical professionals to help patients and employers address alcohol and illicit drugs in the workplace. There were 8748 alcohol-related deaths in 2011, as well as 1785 linked to illegal drug use.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published updated 2014 head injury guidance which supersedes the clinical guideline 56 published in 2007.

A new alerting system launched by NHS England will ensure warnings of potential risks to the safety of patients can be developed much more quickly and be rapidly disseminated right across the NHS.

Work has begun on a new £6 million state-ofthe- art hybrid endovascular theatre suite set to transform the treatment of patients undergoing minimally invasive cardiovascular procedures at Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The chance of surviving a heart attack is far lower in the UK than Sweden, according to a new study.

With the right treatment, over 65s can survive for many years after cancer – yet UK survival rates in older people are among the worst in Europe.

The BMA has supported calls for better oversight of the use of compromise agreements and severance payments for NHS doctors. The Commons PAC (public accounts committee) recently released a report criticising the use of these agreements to terminate employment contracts, especially where confidentiality clauses might prevent doctors or other staff raising patient safety concerns.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has launched an open competition for funding for research to inform the work of NHS Blood and Transplant.