RECENT NEWS

A round-up of NHS quality and financial performance between October and December 2010, published by the Department of Health, shows that the NHS is continuing to provide improvements in the quality of patient care and robust financial management while preparing to transition to a health service more focused on improving patient outcomes.

As endoscopes become more sophisticated, and changes in technology occur, now more than ever it is important to ensure endoscopy unit staff are fully trained on the importance of the basic knowledge of the reprocessing system, and the significant role they play within this process.

Although a parliamentary report states that death rates from cancer have fallen and survival rates have improved since the publication of the NHS Cancer Plan in 2000, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is still calling for more to be done to tackle the gap between the survival rates in England and those seen in the best-performing countries in Europe.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has chosen Skills for Health’s rostering system to manage its junior doctors’ rotas and help deliver its QIPP objectives.

Skills for Health in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support have published new resources to promote greater consistency in the quality of cancer care nursing.

The NHS should not be run in the same way as privatised industries such as water, gas, and telecommunications, the BMA has said. The warning came as MPs prepared to debate the sections of the Health and Social Care Bill relating to new powers to enforce competition in the NHS in England.

An online survey undertaken on behalf of BMA suggests that the majority of doctors are not convinced that potential benefits of the Government’s plans for the NHS in England outweigh the risks.

As high rates of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) continue to challenge hospitals and pose risks to patient safety, new approaches are needed to get HCAIs under control.

Nearly 6,000 cases of invasive cancer detected by the NHS Breast Screening Programme in 2010 were those that would be too small to find by hand, according to figures from The NHS Information Centre.

The Alzheimer’s Society has released new dementia figures that indicated that, in 2021, over half a million people will be living with undiagnosed dementia. The study, Mapping the Dementia Gap, reveals the number of people with dementia in each part of the UK and the percentage who receive a diagnosis.

The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has published the latest set of Organisation Patient Safety Incident data that shows that the number of patient safety incidents in England, occurring between 1 April – 30 September 2010 and reported to the NPSA by 30 November 2010 was 547,879 – an increase of 4% compared to the previous reporting period.

Forensic pathologists and radiologists at the University of Leicester, in collaboration with the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, have pioneered a new new non-surgical postmortem technique.

The overall number of maternal deaths in the UK has fallen despite a rise in the number of women dying from infection, concludes the Eighth Report of the Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths. Saving Mother’s Lives has been published in An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

The number of people being screened for their risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) on admission to hospital has increased following recommendations made by NICE.

Under new legislation outlined in Scotland’s Patients Rights Bill, Health Boards will be required to ensure that patients are treated within 12 weeks of agreeing to a treatment.

Under new legislation outlined in Scotland’s Patients Rights Bill, Health Boards will be required to ensure that patients are treated within 12 weeks of agreeing to a treatment.

Designers have been given the challenge of rethinking the design of hospital Accident and Emergency departments in a bid to find innovative new ways to reduce violence and aggression towards NHS staff, which is currently estimated to cost over £69 million a year in staff absence, loss of productivity and additional security.

Northgate Managed Services has been appointed as the preferred bidder to deliver, implement and manage a clinical portal service for an NHS consortium covering NHS Lothian, NHS Fife, NHS Borders and NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

Following the adoption of the new EU Directive on the prevention of sharps injuries, medical technology company, BD, has published a set of management guides to help healthcare organisations better understand this legislation and plan a compliance strategy.

Ophthalmology and refractive provider, SD Healthcare has signed an agreement to sell and promote the Brumaba range of operating tables in the UK. The range consists of models that would suit most operating procedures.