RECENT NEWS

People living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are known to be at high risk of blood clots when admitted to hospital during a flare-up of their disease but now new research by scientists at The University of Nottingham has shown that those who are not admitted to hospital during flare-ups are also at risk.

New guidance, produced by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) and frontline services across England and Wales, has been published aimed at ensuring clinicians store vaccines at the recommended manufacturer temperature range.

The number of cases of weight-loss stomach surgery performed on obese people by the NHS more than doubled between 2006/7 and 2008/09, a report from The NHS Information Centre shows. The NHS performed 4,220 bariatric procedures (which include stomach stapling, gastric bypasses and sleeve gastrectomy) on obese people in 2008/09 compared to 1,950 in 2006/07.

Over 3,000 doctors will test out a new system of strengthened appraisal that will improve the quality and safety of patient care, Health Secretary Andy Burnham has announced. The doctors will take part in ten revalidation pilot studies across England and will be the first to try out a process, which will provide assurance on whether they are up to date with medical advances and fit to practice.

Significant health inequalities have been highlighted by a major UCL-led review – Fair Society, Healthy Lives. Moreover, the report has pointed out that premature illness and death affects everyone below the wealthiest tier of English society – not just the poor.

The British Medical Association’s Junior Doctor Committee has called on the Department of Health to halt its review of training funding, as it threatens to cut millions of pounds from junior doctor training.

The British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) has called for further investment in the Bowel Cancer Screening programme to ensure more bowel cancers are detected early and treated.

A gene that regulates the rhythm of the heart has been revealed in new research published in Nature Genetics.

Patient Safety First – a voluntary campaign aimed at changing practice and culture – has created a “How to” guide for reducing harm from falls.

A wireless digital “plaster”’ that can monitor vital signs continuously and remotely is being tested with patients and healthy volunteers at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, in a new clinical trial run by Imperial College London researchers.

Research by investigators at the North East England Stem Cell Institute (NESCI), has reported the first successful treatment of eight patients with “Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency” (LSCD) using the patients’ own stem cells without the need of suppressing their immunity.

Government attempts to widen access to the medical profession are failing, according to a report by the British Medical Association. The BMA claims that “there is no real evidence that attempts by ministers to encourage students from low income families into medicine have had a significant impact”.

Deaths from liver disease are increasing at an alarming rate and, by 2030, will exceed those from cardiac deaths, warned Kevin Moore, professor of hepatology at University College London, and Nick Sheron, consultant hepatologist at Southampton General Hospital.

An increasing number of people are surviving cancer, but many do not receive the services and support they need in the long term, Macmillan Cancer Support has said.

The addition of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to the initial, pre-operative assessment of women with small breast cancers does not reduce the re-operation rate for incompletely excised tumour, suggests research published by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme.

Children are being forced to wait for months for consultations and treatment because of delays caused by the Home Office’s new “Vetting and Barring Scheme” for those working with children, according to the Royal College of Surgeons.

Research funded by the British Heart Foundation confirms that a type of cholesterol called Lipoprotein(a) plays a role in causing heart disease. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the findings could open new avenues of research for treatments.

The All-Party Parliamentary Thrombosis Group (APPTG) has welcomed the Department of Health’s (DH) decision to mandate venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention in the Operating Framework for the NHS in 2010/11.

All critical care units in the UK are being encouraged to review how they look after patients whose abdomens are left open after surgery or injury.

North Middlesex has becomes the first hospital in the UK to roll out a new inventory management system across all wards. Initial data revealed that some wards were overstocked by 40%.