RECENT NEWS

Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust has been issued with an improvement notice by the Healthcare Commission. The Trust runs three hospitals in south London – the Princess Royal University Hospital, Orpington Hospital and Beckenham Hospital. Following unannounced visits to Princess Royal University Hospital, the Commission found breaches of duty relating to cleanliness and the decontamination of equipment.

A screening test for early detection of breast cancer is under development which checks changes in proteins found in saliva. Scientists from the University of Texas Dental Branch say the test can distinguish healthy women from those with benign breast tumours, and those with malignant breast tumours.

A report published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine has provoked controversy by claiming that female consultants working in the NHS are responsible for fewer patient episodes each year than their male counterparts. Researchers from the Universities of York and Birmingham claim that male consultants conduct 20% more episodes.

TÜV Product Service has announced that it will be providing practical training on ISO 13485: 2003 and the Medical Devices Directive specifically for sterile services departments.

Foundation Trusts seeking to take advantage of a potential loophole that could allow them to increase the amount of income they generate from private patient care are walking a legal tightrope according to health law experts at Browne Jacobson. Unison is seeking a judicial review unless Monitor, the Foundation Trust regulator, steps in to stop the growing numbers of Foundation Trusts setting up joint ventures, special purpose vehicles and charities to get around a legislative cap.

The programme of training courses run by Lancer Academy for decontamination of endoscopes and surgical instruments is expanding, with endoscope reprocessing proving particularly popular.

Council trading standards chiefs are launching a nationwide project to identify inaccurate hospital weighing scales that could be putting patients' lives at risk. The new scheme follows a series of pilot studies by trading standards officers which found hospital staff using inaccurate and unsuitable scales to calculate dosages of medication for patients, including small children.

The second phase of a national healthcare initiative that has improved the quality of patient care and helped to control costs across a wide range of core NHS services, has been launched by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement (NHS Institute).

A screening test for early detection of breast cancer is under development which checks changes in proteins found in saliva. Scientists from the University of Texas Dental Branch say the test can distinguish healthy women from those with benign breast tumours, and those with malignant breast tumours.

Lord Darzi, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and practising surgeon, has described single-sex wards in the NHS as "an aspiration that cannot be met."

Nine out of ten doctors have no confidence in the government’s ability to safeguard patient data online, according to a poll conducted by the British Medical Association (BMA).

A trial of the wipe clean duvets and pillows at Worthing and Southlands Hospital NHS Trust has shown that the products can reduce laundry bills and linen replacement costs, while reducing nurses bed making time. Following the trial, the Trust purchased 560 duvets and 1120 pillows from the Sylvan range manufactured by the Talley Group.

A vaccine to combat C.Diff has shown promising results in initial trials and researchers hope to test the product in NHS hospitals later this year.

The elimination of pathology and laboratory medicine from the curriculum in many medical schools and consequent lack of knowledge of basic science among junior doctors is jeopardising patient safety, according to a report in the Annals of Clinical Biochemistry. There have been instances where patients discharged into the community return to hospital having suffered a major myocardial infarction because of a poorly-performed troponin test, for example.

A new working party report from the Royal Colleges of Physicians, Radiologists, and Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, including specialists in cancer and fertility, recommends that the NHS should fully fund fertility services for patients with cancer.

Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust has been issued with an improvement notice by the Healthcare Commission. The Tust runs three hospitals in south London, the Princess Royal University Hospital, Orpington Hospital and Beckenham Hospital. Following unannounced visits to Princess Royal University Hospital, the Commission found breaches of duty relating to cleanliness and the decontamination of equipment.

New research commissioned by the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme, a programme of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), is investigating whether the use of pulse oximetry as a screening test for congenital heart disease, could help save the lives of more newborn babies.

Charing Cross Hospital in West London, part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, has placed the first NHS order of the Magnetom Verio 3T MRI scanner. The new technology from Siemens Healthcare is the first of its kind for the NHS and also the first MRI to be purchased via the new NHS Supply Chain framework.

The Medical Defence Union (MDU) has announced new dates for its ethics and law workshops which are designed to help doctors deal with difficult ethical dilemmas and earn continuing professional development (CPD) points in the process.

The successful candidates for the Dräger Medical Neonatal Nurse/Midwife Education Scholarship received their awards at the recent Neonatal Nurses Association Annual Conference in Derby.