Current Awareness

June 2012
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Being born prematurely is linked to an increased risk of a range of mental health problems later in life, according to researchers.

NHS 'too quick to resuscitate'

Frail elderly patients are suffering "undignified and distressing" deaths because hospitals wrongly try to resuscitate them, a watchdog says.

Paralysed rats 'learn to walk'

Paralysed rats have been able to walk again when their spinal cords were bathed in chemicals and zapped with electricity, scientists have shown.

Hospital fined after data stolen

A hospital trust is fined a record £325,000 after computer hard drives containing confidential information on thousands of patients were stolen.

Lower pay for NHS staff suggested

South West NHS staff could face pay cuts and have to reapply for jobs if regional pay is introduced, a leaked document suggests.

NHS Choices – Behind the Headlines

Hospital cardiac arrest care examined

“Patients suffer needless heart attacks in hospital”, Channel 4 News has reported, while the Daily Mail has said, “Do not resuscitate orders 'ignored' as doctors try to revive patients suffering cardiac arrest”. The news is based on the findings of an important independent investigation of patient care. Although Channel 4 and the Daily Mail headlin […]

Paralysed rats taught to walk again

An experimental rehabilitation method has enabled paralysed rats to walk again, scientists have today revealed. The remarkable feat has featured heavily in today’s news, which has emphasised both the leap forward it represents and the fact that it is still far too early to consider it as a treatment for humans. During the study, rats had two partial cuts mad […]

Alcohol limit 'should be cut for public health'

If people drank just half a unit of alcohol a day it could cut deaths from chronic conditions such as cancer, The Guardian has reported today. The claim is based on new research investigating both the harmful and the protective effects of alcohol, and how changing average drinking habits could cut fatal chronic disease. Researchers built a mathematical model […]

Are we 'overdiagnosing' harmless problems?

Many patients are being “overdiagnosed” and given unnecessary medical treatment for problems that will never harm them, says new research. The study has featured prominently in the press, with the Daily Mail reporting “a plague of overdiagnosis”, and The Independent saying that “an over-reliance on healthcare threatens to bankrupt the world”. The article, pu […]

Doctors 'to take industrial action on June 21'

Doctors will take industrial action over changes to their pension scheme, the British Medical Association (BMA) has today confirmed. The first day of industrial action is set for June 21, and will see non-urgent treatment and appointments postponed. The BMA says the action will not affect emergency care, urgent procedures, labour services or surgery and refe […]

Latest News – Department of Health

Government to review the fund for hepatitis C sufferers

The scheme known as the Skipton Fund, which makes payments to those infected with hepatitis C through contaminated NHS supplied blood, blood products and tissues is to be reviewed early, the Government announced today.

£2 million for veterans mental health services

£2 million for veterans' mental health services

Deal reached on surplus pandemic vaccine

The Department of Health and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today announced that they have reached an agreement on the Department's outstanding orders of swine flu vaccine resulting in significant savings for the Government.

Plan of action to help adults with autism

Plan of action to help adults with autism.

£40m boost for end of life care

People nearing the end of their lives will benefit from better quality care, more dignity and more privacy, thanks to a £40 million Department of Health grant. Care Services Minister Phil Hope today announced the 123 hospices that will benefit from the funds.

JAMA

Tipping the Balance of Benefits and Harms to Favor Screening Mammography Starting at Age 40 Years: A Comparative Modeling Study of Risk

Background: Timing of initiation of screening for breast cancer is controversial in the United States. Objective: To determine the threshold relative risk (RR) at which the harm–benefit ratio of screening women aged 40 to 49 years equals that of biennial screening for women aged 50 to 74 years. Design: Comparative modeling study. Data Sources: Surveill […]

Hospital Strategies for Reducing Risk-Standardized Mortality Rates in Acute Myocardial Infarction

Background: Despite recent improvements in survival after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), U.S. hospitals vary 2-fold in their 30-day risk-standardized mortality rates (RSMRs). Nevertheless, information is limited on hospital-level factors that may be associated with RSMRs. Objective: To identify hospital strategies that were associated with lower RSMRs. D […]

Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentration and Risk for Major Clinical Disease Events in a Community-Based Population of Older Adults: A Cohort Study

Update in General Internal Medicine: Evidence Published in 2011

Risk Factors for Breast Cancer for Women Aged 40 to 49 Years: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: Identifying risk factors for breast cancer specific to women in their 40s could inform screening decisions. Purpose: To determine what factors increase risk for breast cancer in women aged 40 to 49 years and the magnitude of risk for each factor. Data Sources: MEDLINE (January 1996 to the second week of November 2011), Cochrane Central Register o […]

The Affordable Care Act Is Constitutional

Lancet

[This Week in Medicine] June 2–June 8, 2012

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report a sharp decline in deaths due to heart disease and stroke in people with diabetes. The study included almost 250 000 adults from 1997 to 2004, and reported a 23% decrease in all causes of death and a drop in deaths related to cardiovascular disease of 40% between the earliest and latest samples.

[Editorial] What can be learned from China's health system?

The Lancet today publishes a themed issue devoted to China to coincide with the third anniversary of the country's 2009 health reform plan, and a conference—Preventing Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in China: national agenda and local commitments—organised by the Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine. Two previous Lancet theme issues, which […]

[Editorial] The Royal College of Physicians of London roars

89% of Fellows who attended an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the Royal College of Physicians of London this week voted yes to the motion that the UK Government's Health and Social Care Bill would damage the health of the public in England. 79% called on the College to demand complete withdrawal of the Bill.

[Editorial] Drug control in marginalised communities

The history of drug control achieved a milestone last week with the launch of the International Narcotics Control Board's annual report, 100 years after the International Opium Convention of The Hague in 1912. The signing of the 1912 Convention signalled that international cooperation and shared responsibility were essential to drug control. A century o […]

[Editorial] Shaping cities for health: a UCL/Lancet Commission

Cities are bustling, vibrant, built-up places where millions of people reside, often in close proximity to each other. Most, whether in high-income or low-income countries, exist with vast, and very visible, social and health inequalities between inhabitants. But the provision of health services cannot reduce these inequalities alone; the physical fabric and […]

[Editorial] Pain control—a basic kindness

When pain is reduced, so too is at least some of the distress associated with serious illness. The correct amount of analgesia given at the right time has a considerable positive effect on the quality of life of a patient in palliative care. Thus the introduction of independent prescribing of opioid analgesia by appropriately qualified nurses and pharmacists […]

News from INTUTE – Medicine

RCGP position statement on climate change and health

This position statement on climate change and health was published by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in June 2010. The RCGP state that “the unsustainable use of resources poses a significant challenge to public health in the 21st Century and that human-induced climate change in particular threatens the long term health and well-being […]

Equity and excellence : liberating the NHS

Published in July 2010 this NHS White Paper, Equity and excellence: liberating the NHS sets out the Government's long-term vision for the future of the NHS. Topics covered include the Government's vision for the NHS, putting patients and the public first, improving healthcare outcomes, autonomy, accountability and democratic legitimacy, and cutti […]

Management of patients with stroke : identification and management of dysphagia

Management of patients with stroke: identification and management of dysphagia is the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN's) 119th national clinical guideline, published in June 2010. This guideline provides recommendations based on current evidence for best practice in the identification and management of dysphagia after stroke. The ful […]

Management of patients with stroke : rehabilitation, prevention and management of complications, and discharge planning

Management of patients with stroke: rehabilitation, prevention and management of complications, and discharge planning is the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN's) 118th national clinical guideline, published in June 2010. This guideline makes recommendations on best practice to assist individual clinicians, primary care teams and hospi […]

Pregnancy book, The

The Pregnancy Book 2009 is a key Department of Health (DH) publication covering all aspects of maternity. This publication is provided free to expectant mothers and parents in England. The online version has 17 chapters which can be viewed or downloaded individually, or alternatively the complete document can be viewed or downloaded (196 pages). Crown copy […]

News from INTUTE – Nursing and Allied Health

National Mental Health Development Unit

The National Mental Health Development Unit (NMHDU) was launched in April 2009 and it took over some of the national activities previously carried out by the National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE). Funded by the Department of Health and the NHS, NMHDU provides national support for implementing mental health policy by advising on national and […]

All publications on musculoskeletal

Provided by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, this site provides access to factsheets, reports, literature reviews, e-facts, and magazines on work-related musculoskeletal disorders. All publications are available to download in PDF format.

Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked after children - revised statutory guidance

This site gives access to the statutory guidance on promoting the health and wellbeing of looked after children, published in November 2009 by the Department of Health and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. It replaces the guidance published by the Department of Health in 2002. The document concerns the delivery of services from health agenci […]

Essence of care 2010

This document supersedes the original 'Essence of Care', published in 2001, which explored the benefits of benchmarking to help improve the quality of the fundamental and essential aspects of care, to deliver the aims of The NHS Plan, and to improve the patient experience. Following a consultation exercise in 2009, the updated document includes 12 […]

KidsHealth : teens site

This is the homepage of the section for teenagers on the KidsHealth website, created by The Nemours Center for Children's Health Media. Nemours is one of the largest US non-profit organisations devoted to children's health. Written in accessible language, this site provides paediatrician and medically-reviewed information for teenagers including: y […]