RECENT NEWS

Andrew Davies, Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery, officially opened Swansea University’s Institute of Life Science (ILS).

The Oxford Neurodevelopmental Magnetoencephalography (MEG) Centre, featuring advanced new Elekta Neuromag technology for the investigation of autism, has been officially opened at the University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, in Oxford, by HRH Princess Anne, The Princess Royal.

B Braun Avitum, part of the B Braun group in the UK, has launched a major expansion programme in the field of kidney dialysis.

The provisions contained in the new Mental Health Act giving clinicians the power to recall patients being cared for in the community to bring them back into hospital for treatment could overstretch limited resources, according to health experts at Eversheds LLP.Anew “power of recall” may cause concern amongst front line health practitioners and managers on a number of levels.

Previous research showing the impact dementia will have on care costs in England have been dramatically underestimated, according to new figures published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

The Healthcare Commission warned that hospitals may face surprise spot checks by inspectors where there are suspicions they are failing to provide adequate care for elderly patients. The Commission visited 23 National Health Service hospitals and found only five that met all its dignity in care standards.

Anew £2 m investment fund is being launched to speed the best British medical inventions and ideas to a worldwide market. Designed to help surgeons and other medical practitioners develop their concepts into commercial reality, the fund is managed by surgical implants and medical devices manufacturer, Leeds-based Xiros.

The vascular department at Birmingham’s Heart of England NHS Trust, led by Professor Andrew Bradbury, is using two SonoSite MicroMaxx hand-carried ultrasound systems to cut waiting times for outpatient diagnosis and the treatment of varicose veins with endovenous chemical ablation, as well as general vascular surgery.

A “National Technology Adoption Hub” for healthcare has been unveiled in Manchester. The hub is aimed at helping the NHS better implement new cost-effective, life-saving technologies.

NICE have today announced that they will reconsider the guidance on the use of the lung cancer drug Tarceva (Erlotinib) in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. This upheld a joint appeal by Cancerbackup and the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation against their original decision in June not to approve the drug.

The Healthcare Commission published its recommendations following an incident at the Newham University Hospital NHS Trust, East London, where nearly 800 mothers-to-be referred for antenatal care were not booked for appointments and did not receive antenatal care.

The NHS needs to do more to act on and learn from complaints by patients, the Healthcare Commission has warned. Publishing the first audit of how well the NHS handles complaints, the watchdog says it has found considerable variations in performance. The report said that Trusts should do more to make it easier for people to raise a complaint; they should ensure that the care of those raising complaints is not adversely affected as a result; and they should strengthen procedures for investigating problems and improving services in the light of the lessons learned.

Independent hospitals should publish clinical performance indicators, including success rates, and collect the same activity and performance data as NHS hospitals to help enable real choice for patients and commissioners, BUPA’s group medical director Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen commented at the recent Independent Healthcare Convention.

The number of people suffering with allergic reactions has trebled in the last 20 years, affecting a third of the population at some time in their lives. Each year over 6,000 people are admitted to hospital, with a quarter of these suffering from a severe anaphylaxis response.

The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust has purchased the C-cam (Cardiac Gamma Camera) for its eight different sites across north London and Hertfordshire to help reduce waiting lists by doubling the number of patients studied in a single day.

New research shows that a Caesarean section increases the risk by fifty fold that a woman’s uterus will rupture during subsequent vaginal delivery. The findings are based on a study of more than 300,000 Swedish women by Emory University, Atlanta, and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

Aurine test for prostate cancer has been launched in the UK that could reduce the need for biopsies in some men.

The British Society of Endovascular Therapy (BSET) has announced the society’s first Endovascular fellowships for vascular surgeons and radiologists.

According to researchers in Scotland, more than six thousand people in the UK could have been prevented from having heart attacks three years ago. A study from the Greater Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre at Glasgow University, published in the British Medical Journal, claims not enough is being done to screen family members of heart attack victims – or those who live with them – despite the fact that relatives and partners of people with heart disease are known to have a significantly higher risk for heart attack.

Although there is a case for changing how some NHS services are provided in London, Government proposals do not build on the best aspects of the NHS, could result in damaging fragmentation and may not produce the predicted cost savings, or improvements in patient care, that the Government envisages, the BMA has warned in its response to Lord Ara Darzi’s review of healthcare in London.