Category Archives: Medical News

MPs condemn poor value from hi-tech equipment

The report says the NHS in England has hi-tech scanners and radiotherapy equipment worth £1bn. This includes Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography scanners, which are mainly used for diagnosis, and Linear Accelerator machines for cancer treatment. The report warns that a lot of this equipment will need to be replaced and currently purchasing […]

‘Alarming’ basic care provided to the elderly in hospital

Common areas of concern included a lack of support for those who needed help eating, poor hygiene and curtains not being closed properly. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said he would encourage whistle-blowers to highlight any concerns they had about the standard of hospital care for the elderly. He said: “We expect that staff across the […]

GPs will face English language test

Mr Lansley told the Conservative Party conference that GPs would be vetted to ensure they had adequate language skills and could communicate properly, a move to evidence “absolute commitment” to guarantee patient safety. Further pledges include a reduction in bureaucracy and spending on management consultants. The pledge on language skills, which applies to the NHS […]

TB: Plan to tackle rise in drug-resistant cases

The WHO estimates there are 81,000 cases of drug-resistant TB a year in Europe, although many countries are failing to diagnose it. The plan aims to increase diagnosis and access to treatment. Experts believe it has the potential to save several billion pounds and 120,000 lives by 2015. Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan are among the […]

NHS staff dispute Cameron claim of support for reforms

During Prime Minister’s questions, Mr Milliband stated that in newspaper articles published this week, the British Medical Association, Royal College of GPs and Midwives had still “all rejected your bill”. Nevertheless, Mr Cameron insisted that “now you’ve got the Royal College of GPs, the physicians, the nurses, people working in the health service supporting the […]

Treatment for remote stroke patients facilitated by HD video conferencing

The telemedicine project will allow doctors to assess stroke victims in hospitals remotely, to decide if they need a treatment known as thrombolysis. The project will include the delivery of an IP VPN. It will connect doctors with core infrastructure supporting high definition (HD) video and audio. The VPN will include a hosted VC gatekeeper, […]

Lansley facing vote of no confidence over radial NHS Reforms

Mr Lansley was also recently accused of having ‘no guts’ after his office declined an invitation to address a conference hosted by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Liverpool. Rather than attend the conference he will instead hold a question and answer session with 60 nurses as part of the Governments listening exercise. Last […]

Diane Jarvis resigns from Healthcare Locums (HCL)

Last month Mrs Bleasdale resigned from the board of Healthcare Locums (HCL), the business she founded in 2003, a month after the company’s shares were suspended amid ‘serious accounting irregularities’. In last month’s statement HCL said that “Kathleen Veronica Bleasdale has resigned from the board of directors of the company with immediate effect. This does […]