RECENT NEWS

Doctors are vulnerable to aggressive, demanding, abusive or even violent patients and feel ill-equipped to manage such consultations, according to an MDU survey. Of 172 GPs and hospital doctors who responded to the survey, over half (99) said they had been physically or verbally assaulted in the last five years.

Action Against Medical Accidents (a charity dedicated to patient safety) has published a damning report highlighting failures to implement patient safety recommendations issued by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA).

Organised by 3M, the 9th European Infection Prevention Expert Conference, is taking place in Neuss, Germany, on the 21-22d April 2010.

This conference is taking place on Wednesday 19 May 2010 at the Manchester Conference Centre, Manchester and will provide a practical guide to eliminating central line and ventilator associated infection.

The development of the Joint Advisory Group (JAG) from advisor to assessor has placed a strong emphasis on the improvement and standardisation of NHS endoscopy facilities in recent months.

If GPs and hospital doctors directed some elderly patients to a care support service that allowed them to continue living in their own homes, “lost years” in old age could be avoided, according to Fiona Lowry, chief executive of The Good Care Group.

NICE is updating its clinical guideline on the management of chronic heart failure in adults and has published its draft recommendations for public consultation.

The BMA has warned that plans to allow patients to pay directly for services could “undermine equality in the NHS in England, create a new layer of bureaucracy, divert funding to unproven treatments, and result in some patients not getting the care they need”.

The NHS could save £1.2 billion through the free provision of home-based hospital care, according to the report Hospital care at home.

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.

A report by the BMA claims that hospital services in London could close or be down-graded as healthcare in the capital heads towards “a major financial and organisational crisis”, with the imposition of real term cuts of £5 billion by 2017.

Gillian Merron, public health minister, has asked NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) to lead a team of experts in creating a new 10-year strategy for the provision of blood stem cells, including those from cord blood to fight leukaemias and other blood disorders.

An analysis of bariatric surgery claims, published by the Medical Defence Union (MDU), reveals that there has been a dramatic rise in the number of cases notified in the past two years.

Many healthcare professionals are failing to advise people with medical conditions that could affect their ability to drive whether they should get behind the wheel, according to research from the University of Warwick.

Developed by the British Association of Urological Nurses (BAUN), a free study day is taking place in Wales – aimed at urology and oncology nurses working in both the community and the acute sector, as well as nursing professionals with an interest in the management and treatment of prostate cancers.

Managing the treatment of continence patients will become easier and more efficient as NHS Supply Chain enhances its home delivery service (HDS).

A key protein that causes the blood to clot is produced by blood vessels in the lungs and not just the liver, according to new research published in the journal PLoS One, led by scientists at Imperial College London.

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 Royal College of Nursing has welcomed news that applications to study nursing at degree level have risen by over 70%.

Services have steadily improved overall but rising demand and pressure on finances make reform essential, the Care Quality Commission has warned.