RECENT NEWS

A nationwide network of surgical clinical trial centres are being set up with the aim of improving the delivery of surgical care for patients.

NHS Staff Survey results for 2012 showed a significant rise in reported bullying of staff. The report found that 29% of all staff report having been harassed, bullied or abused by patients in the previous 12 months, with over 23% reporting harassment, bullying, or abuse from NHS managers, team leaders or other colleagues.

Hospitals in England reported 11,740 inpatient admissions with a primary diagnosis of obesity in 2011/12, according to analysis from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).

Intensive care patients at The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust have been provided with adapted iPads to allow them to keep in touch with their families. Trollies have been fitted with iPads on levers which tilt over patients, allowing them to make ‘Facetime’ video calls from their beds.

England’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, has called for global action to tackle the catastrophic threat of antimicrobial resistance, which in 20 years could see people dying following minor surgery.

Dementia, stroke, cancer, and end-of-life care are among 32 new indicators that have been put forward for inclusion in the new Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set (CCG OIS, formerly known as the Commissioning Outcomes Framework).

A new contract for hospital consultants was introduced in October 2003 in exchange for a significant increase in consultants’ pay. However, according to the National Audit Office (NAO), there is still room for improvement in how Trusts manage their consultants.

More than 80% of patients suspected of having cancer are being referred by their GP to a specialist within their first two consultations, with more than half being sent to see a specialist at the first appointment, according to new research published in the British Journal of Cancer.

HORIBA’s medical division in the UK is now able to share and draw on expertise and information from other industry areas such as scientific, environmental and automotive following the announcement that the UK’s HORIBA Group companies have been brought together into one company to establish HORIBA UK Ltd.

The Healthcare Infection Society (HIS) and Infection Prevention Society (IPS) Spring Meeting will take place on 24 April at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham.

BMA council chair, Mark Porter, has called for national oversight of workforce planning to prevent the over-supply or under-supply of doctors.

The UK will face a shortfall of 61,200 nurses by 2050 due to skills shortages, an ageing workforce and restrictive migration policy, according to Randstad Care, a specialist recruiter.

Genetic errors driving the majority of breast cancers could be caused by a hyperactive enzyme called APOBEC3B, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota.

The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has stated that that 1.5 million lives, which would be lost to cancer, could be saved every year if decisive measures were taken to achieve the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ‘25 by 25’ target; to reduce premature deaths due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by 25% by 2025.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is in the process of developing a clinical guideline on the acute management of myocardial infarction (heart attack) with ST-segment-elevation (STEMI) and has recently issued a draft version of the guideline for public consultation.

New figures suggest that English A&E departments see the most attendances on a Monday morning, when they deal with double the hourly average.

A King’s Fund report, Spending on health and social care over the next 50 years, states that health and social care could account for half of all Government spending within 50 years.

Five NHS Trusts in England have been categorised as having a ‘higher than expected’ mortality ratio over two years, new analysis shows. During the same period – between July 2010 to June 2012 – 11 Trusts were categorised as having a ‘lower than expected’ ratio, based on Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI) data.

A Europe-wide initiative to explain blood tests to children has been sponsored by BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company). With medical education publisher, Medikidz, BD has developed a cartoon-style booklet and poster with the aim of helping children to understand what blood tests are for and how they help doctors make them better.

NHS Blood and Transplant has appointed three new clinical leads who will work towards developing and improving organ transplantation standards across the UK.