RECENT NEWS

The Government has announced that it is increasing the NHS budget by 4% per year, taking total NHS funding from £35 billion in 1997-98 to £110 billion in 2010-11.

The Government has outlined a package of measures to help reduce healthcare associated infections (HAIs) in hospitals including new responsibilities for matrons, new guidance on clothing and the isolation of patients who are infected. The package follows the announcement in July of an extra £50 million to tackle healthcare associated infections.

The Healthcare Commission has published a damning report on infection control at the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, which is believed to have led to an estimated 90 deaths due to C. difficile. The chief executive of the Trust, Rose Gibb, has stepped down and Health Secretary Alan Johnson has intervened to ensure her severance payment worth £250,000 is frozen. The police and the Health and Safety Executive are reported to be investigating further to see if criminal charges are appropriate against the Trust.

The Government has announced that it is increasing the NHS budget by 4% per year, taking total NHS funding from £35 billion in 1997-98 to £110 billion in 2010-11. This extra investment is intended to fund measures set out in Lord Darzi's Our NHS, Our Future interim report.

The new Agfa HealthCare building was officially opened by Professor W R Lees, Professor of Medical Imaging at University College London.

A new screening service is now being provided at Broomfield hospital. Male cardiac patients are regarded as being at high risk of developing aortic aneurysms, so when they come into hospital to receive an angiogram, they now also receive an ultra sound scan that can detect an aneurysm.

Cardiologists and cardiac surgeons at King’s College Hospital in London have started a new programme to treat patients with aortic valve stenosis (narrowings of the aortic valve).

Nephrologists at the Manchester Children's Hospital in Manchester, have been able to speed up diagnosis of a diverse range of kidney and bladder problems, using a hand-held ultrasound system from SonoSite.

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

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.

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 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.

A new screening service is now being provided at Broomfield hospital. Male cardiac patients are regarded as being at high risk of developing aortic aneurysms, so when they come into hospital to receive an angiogram, they now also receive an ultra sound scan that can detect an aneurysm.

The NHS chief executive, David Nicholson, has announced that Professor Sir Bruce Keogh has been appointed as the new NHS medical director.

Dr Maria Barrell, of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), has expressed her dismay at Health Secretary Alan Johnson’s decision to endorse the closure of four maternity units in Greater Manchester. Commenting, Dr Barrell said: “I am very concerned that the reduced capacity of Greater Manchester’s maternity units will not be able to cope with the demand of an increasing birth rate.”

The charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), in a joint initiative with Philips, recently launched its ‘Save Our Athletes Research Project’. This fiveyear athlete cardiac research study involves data from the USA and Germany. By concentrating on all elite athletes, CRY will be able to gain a broader understanding of the effects of heavy and light exercise on the heart.

The Medical Defence Union, which assists hundreds of doctors each year with GMC fitness to practice investigations, says the GMC’s proposed guidance on the use of the civil standard of proof would turn part of the decisionmaking process on its head.

All members of AfPP currently working in perioperative care at any level are being encouraged to apply for a place on an exclusive personal development programme sponsored by 3M Health Care and the Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP).

An article in the magazine Pulse has come under fire by the Royal College of Nursing for its criticism of the increases in nurse prescribing. Jo Haynes, editor of Pulse, said “It seems incredible that it has been left to individual nurses to assess and police their own competence.”

Welch Allyn is partnering with Vantage Diagnostics, a new telehealth company, to run a pilot scheme across several primary care practices.