RECENT NEWS

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued new guidance recommending that a potentially sight-saving drug should be made available on the NHS to people with diabetic macular oedema (DMO). The draft guidance recommends Lucentis (Ranibizumab), Novartis, is used as a treatment for the eye condition and, if the final guidance goes ahead, the treatment will become available on the NHS.

A pilot scheme is being trialled at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital (RBH) by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), in partnership with three hospitals in the country.

Concerns about the inconsistent availability of certain medicines has resulted in a review of the decision-making process at NHS Scotland’s drugs approval body.

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO), professor Dame Sally Davies has warned of the threat of antibiotic resistance and highlighted the need to use antibiotics responsibly.

NICE has issued new final draft guidance recommending two new treatments for advanced malignant melanoma.

A drug commonly prescribed to help patients sleep in hospitals has been associated with an increased risk of falls, according to a study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.

Researchers in Denmark identified 470 victims of sudden cardiac death and followed their relatives for up to 11 years.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has called for practical guidance to help doctors with new regulations on preventing sharps injuries in the NHS.

A new research centre at Imperial College London aims to help doctors diagnose illness more efficiently and choose the best treatments based on a patient’s individual metabolic and physiological characteristics

Doctors’ leaders have called for any proposed roll out of personal health budgets (PHBs) to be delayed until there is a clear understanding of the benefits, following BMA evidence which points to a lack of knowledge among doctors about the proposals.

A new free training programme, funded by the Department of Health, aims to support NHS staff to ethically procure goods and services.

The Patients Association has published its fourth annual Patient Stories report – a series of case studies highlighting experiences of poor care within the NHS.

A report from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has found that half of people who inject drugs are infected with hepatitis C, one in 100 have HIV and a third have a bacterial infection as a result of their injecting.

Medications used to treat hypertension, diabetes and skin conditions could double as treatments for Alzheimer’s within 10 years according to a new study funded by Alzheimer’s Society and led by King’s College London.

A recent study by Oxford University researchers has revealed that the heath and economic cost of bowel cancer in the UK is more than prostate cancer and breast cancer.

A new vaccination programme has been announced by the Department of Health which will see children under four months vaccinated against rotavirus, which currently causes around 140,000 diarrhoea cases a year in under fives and can lead to hospital stays for nearly one-in-ten of those affected in the UK.

The Royal College of Nursing has issued a warning that it believes the NHS in England is ‘sleepwalking into a crisis’ and has called on the Government to take immediate action to stop Trusts cutting vital posts and services.

The first annual report from the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, highlights the need for comprehensive action to stop the rising tide of liver disease.

The rates of women dying from ovarian cancer in England have fallen from 11.2 women in every 100,000 in 2001 to 8.8 per 100,000 in 2010 – a drop of around 20%, according to a new report by the National Cancer Intelligence Network.

The number of hospital procedures paid for by the NHS, but carried out by the private sector has increased by nearly 11% in one year, according to figures in the Hospital Episodes Statistics Admitted Patient Care, England 2011/12.