RECENT NEWS

A new tool from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), that enables ward staff to quickly assess a patient’s eyesight in order to help prevent them falling or tripping while in hospital, is being made available to Trusts and local health boards in England and Wales.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has issued a statement to say that it strongly believes that the four-hour standard is a vital measure of performance and safety.

The majority of NHS staff feel that their workplaces are improving, according to the results of a survey.

Decisions on any future hospital bed closures will only be supported if certain patient test criteria are met.

Women are up to three times more likely to experience discomfort after surgery, according to research released by the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA).

A team from Cardiff University’s School of Engineering is hoping to create a smart patch to detect the early onset of osteoarthritis (OA) in the knees. It is currently exploring the use of damage sensors from aircraft wings to catch subsonic cracking sounds in joints before the disease fully develops.

NHS England data show that the number of cancelled planned operations has further increased. Figures show that 21,249 planned operations were cancelled for non-clinical reasons from October to December 2016.

Toshiba Medical has announced a significant managed equipment services (MES) agreement with Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust.

The Care Quality Commission's (CQC) chief inspector of hospitals has warned that the NHS is now on ‘a burning platform’ and that patient safety is at risk due to ‘unprecedented’ demand.

A new report published by the European Heart Network (EHN) shows that death rates for coronary heart disease have declined by 46% in the UK since 2003.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has published a list of drug-resistant bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health.

The Health Foundation recently selected twenty-two new projects to be part of the fifth round of its £1.5 million innovation programme, Innovating for Improvement. The programme aims to improve healthcare delivery and/or the way people manage their own healthcare by testing and developing innovative ideas and approaches, and putting them into practice.

NICE has published final guidance recommending dapagliflozin for treating type 2 diabetes in ‘triple therapy’. Dapagliflozin can be added as a third drug where two drugs for type 2 diabetes are not controlling a person’s blood sugar.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine recently launched a quality improvement guide which provides practical advice for emergency physicians at any stage of training.

The Infection Prevention Society annual awards programme offers the opportunity to recognise and celebrate excellence in infection prevention and control. The categories include:

A patient safety alert has been issued to warn NHS providers of the risk of severe harm and death if an insulin needle and syringe is used to administer insulin withdrawn directly from a pen device or replacement cartridge.

n a study published in the journal Circulation researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Lund University examined how sex-discordant blood transfusions (i.e. blood from a woman to a man or vice versa) affected survival following cardiac surgery.

UK researchers creating new vaccines for epidemic diseases such as Zika and Ebola are among the winners of £22 million of funding, announced by the Department of Health.

BSI, the business standards company, has published PAS 1616, Healthcare – Provision of clinical services – Specification, in association with the Clinical Services Accreditation Alliance (CSAA) to help clinical services providers deliver efficient services which are good value for money.

Tracking the locations of their McKinley T34 syringe drivers with Harland Simon’s RFID Discovery has enabled NHS Forth Valley to improve utilisation of these specialist pumps and avoid a capital cost of £50,000 to purchase additional devices.