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Health care
Squeezing Medical Pay & Conditions
From the Guardian: Moves to force hospitals to provide routine surgery and scans over weekends are expected to accelerate this week when NHS medical chiefs outline policies to ensure more seven-day cover. GPs will also be expected to open surgeries for appointments rather than leaving patients to wait or use out-of-hours services. Moves towards 24/7 … Continue reading
Changing a (Healthcare) Culture
From the BBC: … when trying to deliver the right kind of care, the health service often addresses regulation, standard setting, inspection and monitoring. This approach aims to improve scrutiny and accountability, which most people would agree is a “good thing”. But there is a risk that a constant focus on targets, procedures and performance … Continue reading
Full Hospitals
From the BBC: Hospitals should run at about 85% capacity to give them room to cope with surges in demand, and figures show the NHS average hovering around that mark. According to the analysis, if only midweek figures are taken into account, the average capacity figure for 2011-12 was 88%. It rose to 90% if … Continue reading
Attacked by patients
From The Telegraph: Overall assaults on NHS staff in England reached almost 60,000 last year, an increase of more than three per cent on the previous year. The steepest rise was seen in assaults by patients who were undergoing treatment and whose condition contributed to the attack. This means that a criminal conviction is unlikely, … Continue reading
“The Drink”
From The Daily Mail: There’s a new drink that could not only help you lose weight, but could also treat epilepsy, diabetes and possibly even Alzheimer’s… the ketone drink was the result of a commission from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is set up to research imaginative high-risk projects. ‘Back in … Continue reading
A “key player” in Alzheimer’s Disease
From the BBC: Drugs used to calm inflammation in psoriasis may also help to combat the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, a study on mice suggests. Tests showed the short-term memory of the animals improved when given similar drugs, according to a study published in the journal Nature Medicine. The build-up of proteins thought to destroy … Continue reading
BMAT Results Day 2012
21st November 2012 is the nerve-wracking day when students receive their BMAT results. Good luck to all applicants, and our especial good wishes to those that attended one of the GeMS BMAT preparation courses. To those that did well, hearty congratulations! If you were unlucky and didn’t do as well as you hoped, try to … Continue reading
Walking again
From the BBC: Scientists have reversed paralysis in dogs after injecting them with cells grown from the lining of their nose. The pets had all suffered spinal injuries which prevented them from using their back legs. The Cambridge University team is cautiously optimistic the technique could eventually have a role in the treatment of human … Continue reading
Calm down, calm down
From the BBC: Adding “calm down” genes to hyperactive brain cells has completely cured rats of epilepsy for the first time, say UK researchers… The study, published in the journal Science Translation Medicine, used a virus to insert the new genes into a small number of neurons… One of the researchers, Dr Robert Wyke, told … Continue reading
Pay for Performance
From The Telegraph: The £4.8 million pay-for-performance scheme in north west England led to 890 lives being saved across 24 hospitals providing emergency care, over an 18-month period. University researchers found a “significant” fall in mortality rates for pneumonia, heart failure and heart attacks… In the ‘Advancing Quality’ scheme in north west England, it was … Continue reading
