RECENT NEWS

Health Minister, Mike O’Brien, has announced that GPs providing out of hours care in England will be subject to tighter controls and more robust skills and knowledge testing.

Migraine sufferers are twice as likely to have heart attacks as people without migraine, according to a new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

Alliance Medical has announced the refurbishment and upgrading of the cross-sectional imaging unit at Ramsay Healthcare’s Yorkshire Clinic in Bingley, West Yorkshire.

Giving people living in nursing facilities vitamin D can reduce the rate of falls, according to a new Cochrane review.

Welch Allyn has donated stethoscopes, diagnostic sets and blood pressure gauges/cuffs to help the relief effort in Haiti, through the international aid charity “Heart to Heart”.

A service launched last year for doctors and dentists who are suffering from health problems has been successful in treating clinicians. New findings reveal that 77% of practitioners who were assessed and treated by the NHS Practitioner Health Programme (PHP) for health problems were able to stay in or return to work.

Thousands of lives could be saved with the help of a new guideline on preventing blood clots in hospital patients, published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

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.

A new report, Dementia 2010, from the University of Oxford, has revealed that the impact of dementia on the UK’s society and economy is higher than ever.

Combining drugs and radiotherapy improves the survival chances of women receiving treatment for cervical cancer, according to Cochrane researchers who recently performed a comprehensive study. Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide.

The Department of Health has developed an ambitious and comprehensive strategy for dementia. However, there has not yet been a robust approach to implementation, according to a recent National Audit Office (NAO) report.

The Prime Minister has pledged to introduce one-to-one support at home for all cancer patients if the Government stays in power after the forthcoming general election. Gordon Brown made the pledge during a speech at the health think-tank the King’s Fund, during which he set out plans to provide more choice, control and personalisation in health and social care.

The Department of Health has developed an ambitious and comprehensive strategy for dementia. However, there has not yet been a robust approach to implementation, according to a recent National Audit Office (NAO) report.

Brenmoor, a leading manufacturer of patient identification products, is aiming to promote debate and awareness around all issues of patient identification with the launch of a new website.

MedilinkUK has redesigned its website, positioning it as the industry platform for UK life sciences (www.medilinkuk.com). The website is intended to bring together views and fresh thinking from business, the public sector, entrepreneurs, academics, trade associations and scientists. The outcome of these exchanges will help shape the life sciences market and influence Government policy affecting the industry.

The NHS could save £1.2bn through the free provision of home-based hospital care, according to the report Hospital care at home. Home-based hospital care is increasingly regarded as a key solution to the NHS's capacity problem, with Prime Minister Gordon Brown committing to provide free one-to-one care for all cancer patients and elderly people as a central plank of the Labour party’s election manifesto.

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.