Family left 'confused and angry' after inquest finds no staff were around when Northampton great-grandmother suffered fall

Family left 'confused and angry' after inquest finds no staff were around when Northampton great-grandmother suffered fall There were no staff to help when a 79-year-old great-grandmother fell from her chair in a Northampton care home and suffered catastrophic injuries, an inquest has heard.

Valerie Mary Hawksworth - who was paralysed on one side from a stroke and battling dementia - was found facedown on the floor in a communal living room at Argyle House care home after she fell out of her reclining chair, broke both wrists and suffered a bleed on the brain.

She died 10 days later at Northampton General Hospital surrounded by her family on May 29, 2018. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Staffing shortfall of almost 250,000 by 2030 is major risk to NHS long-term plan, experts warn

Staffing shortfall of almost 250,000 by 2030 is major risk to NHS long-term plan, experts warn Critical and lasting shortages in the healthcare workforce mean that the forthcoming NHS long-term plan risks becoming an unachievable ‘wish list’ of initiatives to improve the health service. If unaddressed, these shortages could lead to growing waiting lists, deteriorating care quality and the risk that some of the money for frontline services pledged at the Budget will go unspent, according to a new briefing published today by The King’s Fund, the Health Foundation and the Nuffield Trust.

See also:

• The health care workforce in England: make or break? The King’s Fund, the Health Foundation and the Nuffield Trust
• NHS staff shortages could triple in a decade, think tanks warn The Daily Telegraph
• NHS ‘could be short of 350,000 staff by 2030’ The Guardian

Pancreatic Cancer Across Europe - Taking a united stand

Pancreatic Cancer Across Europe - Taking a united stand Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all cancers in Europe.

Responsible for over 95,000 EU deaths every year, life expectancy at the time of diagnosis is just 4.6 months. Improvements in patient outcomes have largely stood still for the past four decades, which is of stark contrast to the progression in survival rates that has been witnessed with many other cancers.

The report provides a concise overview on the state of pancreatic cancer across the continent. UEG and its partners are also calling on six initiatives to transform pancreatic cancer outcomes by 2035, which include an increase in research funding and the delivery of a pan-European standard of care. United European Gastroenterology

See also:

• Damning report reveals pancreatic cancer death rates have soared by 5% across Europe The Daily Mail

Thousands caught up in cervical screening blunder

Thousands caught up in cervical screening blunder More than 40,000 women in England have not received information regarding cervical cancer screening after a failure to send out letters by the NHS.

The errors were made between January and June.

Around 4,000 of them were results of tests, the remainder were letters inviting them for screening or reminding them they were due.

Between 150 and 200 of the test results that were not sent out were abnormal results.

But it is thought their intended recipients should have received at least one notification from their GP or screening clinic - as women with abnormal results should be sent letters from two or three sources. BBC News

See also:

• Capita statement on cervical screening correspondence delay Capita
• Nearly 50,000 women are 'at risk of cervical cancer' because of an NHS system error The Daily Mail
• Cervical cancer screening letter blunder saw nearly 50,000 women miss results and screening reminders The Daily Telegraph
• Capita’s cancer screening blunder hits 50,000 NHS patients The Guardian
• Cervical cancer screening: 48,000 women not sent information about test after error by private firm Capita, BMA says The Independent

Pfizer's failed pregabalin patent appeal means NHS could reclaim £502m

Pfizer's failed pregabalin patent appeal means NHS could reclaim £502m The NHS could claim back over half a billion pounds from Pfizer - following a long-running controversy that saw GPs having to switch patients between generic and branded pregabalin - after the Supreme Court ruled that the drug company’s patent for Lyrica (pregabalin) is invalid.

The judgement, handed down this morning, dismissed Pfizer’s final attempt to uphold its patent, and accused the company of trying to hold a ‘monopoly’ with ‘insufficient’ evidence. Pulse

Google takeover of NHS-linked health app is 'totally unacceptable'

Google takeover of NHS-linked health app is 'totally unacceptable' Privacy campaigners have raised fears for patient data following Google’s takeover of a health app used in NHS hospitals.

London-based AI firm DeepMind said its Streams app will be subsumed by the technology giant in a move that one expert described as “totally unacceptable” and a betrayal to patient’s privacy.

DeepMind, which is owned by Google but has operated the app independently until now, justified the decision in a blog post explaining how Google would allow the app to scale in a way that would not be possible by itself. The Independent

See also:

• Google 'betrays patient trust' with DeepMind Health move The Guardian

Diesel pollution stunts children’s lung growth, London study shows

Diesel pollution stunts children’s lung growth, London study shows Major research also shows charging polluting trucks had no effect on health

Pollution from diesel vehicles is stunting the growth of children’s lungs, leaving them damaged for life, a major study has found.

The research, conducted with more than 2,000 school children in London, is the first such study in a city where diesel pollution is a significant factor, and has implications for cities around the world. It also showed that charges to deter polluting trucks from entering the city did reduce air pollution a little but did not reduce the harm to children’s lungs.

This study reveals the terrible legacy of successive governments’ failure to act over illegal levels of air pollution The Guardian

See also:

• Impact of London's low emission zone on air quality and children's respiratory health: a sequential annual cross-sectional study (open access) The Lancet Public Health
• Air pollution: Low emission zones not preventing stunted lung growth in London children The Independent

One in 10 countries have inadequate protection against a 'catastrophic' biological event

One in 10 countries have inadequate protection against a 'catastrophic' biological event Fewer than one-in-10 countries have met global standards for securing killer germs, increasing risks of an accidental disease outbreak or bioterrorism, a campaign group has warned.

Just 19 countries completing a United Nations safety check have built or shown strong biosecurity safeguards. No countries meet the highest standard for biosecurity.

The lack of robust controls increases the chances of a “catastrophic” biological event, according to NTI, a campaign group tracking nuclear, biological and chemical threats. The Daily Telegraph

The 'wiggle-ometer': the latest weapon in the fight against superbugs

The 'wiggle-ometer': the latest weapon in the fight against superbugs The “wiggle-ometer” might not sound like the most hi-tech piece of kit but it could be the saviour of modern medicine.

Developed by academics from the University of Bristol, led by Dr Massimo Antognozzi, the imaging machine detects minute movements in bacteria, determining whether they’ve been affected by particular antibiotics.

The wiggle-ometer is one of more than 70 projects from around the world in the running for the £8 million Longitude Prize, launched by the government in 2014, in a bid to combat the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The Daily Telegraph