RECENT NEWS

A stem cell therapy previously shown to reduce inflammation in the critical time window after traumatic brain injury also promotes lasting cognitive improvement, according to a preclinical study reported in a recent issue of Stem Cells Translational Medicine. Cellular damage in the brain after traumatic injury can cause severe, ongoing neurological impairment and inflammation.

Investing in volunteering in the NHS can yield significant returns, according to a new report by The King’s Fund. Volunteering in acute Trusts in England: Understanding the scale and impact is based on the first national survey of volunteering in hospitals.

The orthopaedics department at UMC Utrecht has developed the world’s first onestep repair operation for damaged knee cartilage.

London Bridge Hospital has introduced a ‘precision prostate diagnostics’ assessment, with the aim of improving the pathway for diagnosing prostate cancer by determining individual risk and specifically identifying who most needs a biopsy or who can be safely reassured.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has questioned the need for a proposed law that could see doctors and nurses imprisoned for ‘willful neglect’.

Two in three healthcare professionals believe that there is still a war against infection in UK hospitals, with catheter-related blood stream infections (CRBSI) considered a major issue by three quarters (74%) of professionals, according to a survey of UK nurses and anaesthetists.

A review by the Whistleblowing Commission has made a series of recommendations, including calls for a fresh code of practice on whistleblowing to be adopted in UK workplaces.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published its fourth annual State of Care report, which considers how care is delivered in hospitals, care homes, dental surgeries and in the community.

A team of researchers from London are looking into new ways of predicting who might be at risk of heart disease or a stroke, which could help save more lives.

Women’s experiences of maternity care have improved over the last three years, but progress is needed in some critical areas, the findings of a survey published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) show.

The CQC has published its fourth annual 'State of Care' report, which considers how care is delivered in hospitals, care homes, dental surgeries and in the community.

The orthopaedics department at UMC Utrecht has developed the world’s first one-step repair operation for damaged knee cartilage. This new procedure involves removing cartilage cells surgically from the damaged knee and mixing them with specially selected donor stem cells.

The Royal College of Physicians(RCP) has launched new guidelines on the diagnosis and management of people with prolonged disorders of consciousness (PDOC). They should help healthcare staff, families, carers, friends and others understand the clinical, ethical and legal issues surrounding the care of these patients.

Treating early stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with advanced radiotherapy appears to be a viable alternative to surgery, according to researchers who carried out a retrospective comparative study sponsored by the London-based South East Cancer Oncology Group.

Policy, medical training and clinical practice have failed to adapt to a significant increase in the number of patients taking multiple prescription drugs, according to a new report on polypharmacy and medicines optimisation, published by The King’s Fund.

NHS England has published the most comprehensive data, so far, on 'never events', which include incidents such as wrong-site surgery, swabs and other medical equipment being left inside patients, and drugs being administered incorrectly.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is to carry out focused inspections of some 150 care homes and acute hospitals to review how people with dementia are cared for in England.

HIV causes structural heart disease, according to research presented at EuroEcho-Imaging 2013 by Dr Nieves Montoro from Madrid, Spain. The findings support the introduction of cardiovascular screening in all HIV patients, particularly those with a positive blood viral load.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is calling on doctors and nurses across England and Wales to become better educated in how to safely care for patients who are given fluids through a drip (intravenous fluid therapy). Although thousands of people are likely to need a drip in hospital, NICE says there is a lack of formal training, which is putting patients' lives at risk.

At the annual conference of the Institute of Decontamination Sciences in Blackpool, MMM UK introduced its new state of the art training facility together with a suite of AVM training courses.