Relatives of dementia sufferers who die in care homes having to wait months to bury loved ones thanks to new Government rules

Relatives of dementia sufferers who die in care homes having to wait months to bury loved ones thanks to new Government rules Relatives of dementia sufferers who pass away in care homes are being forced to wait months to bury loved ones because of new rules. The Independent

Midwife at Northampton General Hospital suspended after risking baby’s life with feeding tube

Midwife at Northampton General Hospital suspended after risking baby’s life with feeding tube A midwife who worked at Northampton General Hospital has been suspended over fitting a feeding tube to a premature baby on Christmas Day in such a way he was in danger of death. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Northampton General Hospital to go £21 million into the red to fund improvements

Northampton General Hospital to go £21 million into the red to fund improvements Northampton General Hospital says it will go £21m into the red this year to meet its quality and efficiency aims. Northants Herald and Post

Go gentle into that good night: the past, present, and future of end-of-life care

Go gentle into that good night: the past, present, and future of end-of-life care End-of-life care has received increasing attention in recent years as the baby boomers age and health care costs continue to rise. This attention has brought with it remarkable growth in the field and improvement in care, but there remains work to be done in order to more consistently deliver high quality, compassionate, and patient- and family-centred end-of-life care. This dissertation examines the past, present, and future of end-of-life care in order to shed light on the most effective ways to organise and deliver it. Rand Corporation

Modified herpes virus 'could combat skin cancer'

Modified herpes virus 'could combat skin cancer' "Patients with aggressive skin cancer have been treated successfully using a drug based on the herpes virus," The Guardian reports. A new study suggests a novel form of immunotherapy could be effective for treating some cases of advanced skin cancer.

This was a large trial examining the use of a new immune treatment called talimgogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) for advanced melanoma (the most serious type of skin cancer) that could not be removed surgically.

T-VEC is a modified derivative of the herpes virus that causes cold sores. It is injected directly into the tumour and causes the production of a chemical called granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), which stimulates an immune response to fight the cancer.

T-VEC injections were compared with injections of GM-CSF only, which is sometimes used to treat people who have poor immunity caused by cancer treatment.

The trial found, overall, significantly more people responded to treatment for more than six months with T-VEC (16.3%) than with GM-CSF injections (2.1%).

Combined contraceptive pills 'increase risk of blood clots'

Combined contraceptive pills 'increase risk of blood clots' "Women who take the latest generations of contraceptive pills are at a greater risk of potentially lethal blood clots," The Times reports. While the increase in risk is statistically significant, it is very small in terms of individual risk

The combined oral contraceptive pill, commonly referred to as "the pill", is already well known to be linked to increased risk of blood clots in the veins, such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), as wediscussed back in 2014.

A new study, using two large GP databases, set out to refine the assessment of the risk. It identified women who had had a venous blood clot, matched them by age to unaffected women, and examined use of the pill in the previous year.

Overall it found that use of any contraceptive pill almost tripled risk of blood clot; though the baseline risk is small. And risk was generally higher with the newer third generation pills, compared with older pills. Encouragingly, risk was lowest for pills containing levonorgestrel, which is by far the most common prescribed. This pill carried risk of around six extra cases of blood clot for every 10,000 women prescribed.

GPs set for government showdown as Queen's speech confirms seven-day access plans

GPs set for government showdown as Queen's speech confirms seven-day access plans The government has confirmed it will introduce measures to increase GP access in the next year setting it on a collision course with the profession. GP Online

What do hospital bosses and football managers have in common?

What do hospital bosses and football managers have in common? From finance to managing staff, football clubs and hospitals have more similarities than you might think Continue reading... The Guardian

UK's cancer death rates blamed on delays in sending patients for tests

UK's cancer death rates blamed on delays in sending patients for tests Researchers say GPs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland less likely than other countries to refer possible cancer patients immediately

Delays in testing for cancer at GPs’ surgeries may be the reason why patients in the UK are more likely to die of the disease than those in comparable countries, according to authoritative new research.

Cancer patients in the UK have a lower chance of survival than in Australia, Canada, Norway and Sweden – four of the five countries that have been compared with the UK in a series of investigations over the past six years. Only in Denmark, the fifth country, are the survival rates as low as in the UK. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Explaining variation in cancer survival between 11 jurisdictions in the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership: a primary care vignette survey BMJ Open
• Doctors may be 'too slow' on cancer BBC News
• Deadly delays in cancer testing in Britain The Daily Mail
• Ten-minute consultations not long enough to spot cancer, GPC warns GP Online

Cholesterol U-turn as research shows fatty foods might not be bad for us after all

Cholesterol U-turn as research shows fatty foods might not be bad for us after all The US government has dropped fatty foods containing cholesterol - long thought to cause heart disease and strokes - from its list of 'nutrients of concern', following the publication of a new report. The Independent

See also:

• Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (US Government)

Bird flu could be as deadly as 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, leading academic warns

Bird flu could be as deadly as 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, leading academic warns Bird flu could prove as deadly as the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic which killed 50 million people, a leading academic has warned, as he called for research to continue into ways to stop the virus. The Independent

Hospital £21m improvement shortfall

Hospital £21m improvement shortfall Northampton General Hospital, a trust judged in need of improvement will go more than £21m in the red this year to meet its quality and efficiency aims. BBC Northampton

Education, sharing best practice and support: five ideas for building capability in the NHS

Education, sharing best practice and support: five ideas for building capability in the NHS Andrew Constable, a leadership consultant, gives his ideas for building capability in systems, processes and methodologies in the NHS. The Health Foundation

Latest NHS staff sickness absence figures published

Latest NHS staff sickness absence figures published The sickness absence statistics for the NHS up to January 2015 have been published. Read a summary here. NHS Employers

Health, wellbeing and productivity in the workplace: a Britain's healthiest company summary report

Health, wellbeing and productivity in the workplace: a Britain's healthiest company summary report This report aims to draw upon data collected during the 2014 Britain's Healthiest Company (BHC) competition in order to understand what drives productivity at work in the participating organisations and, in particular, to examine the relation between the health and wellbeing of staff and their resultant productivity. To understand this relationship, the report look at the links between lost productivity in terms of presenteeism (being in suboptimal health at work) and absenteeism in association with a range of factors. Rand Corporation 

Obesity in teen boys may increase bowel cancer risk in later life

Obesity in teen boys may increase bowel cancer risk in later life "Teenage boys who become very obese may double their risk of getting bowel cancer by the time they are in their 50s," The Guardian reports. A Swedish study found a strong association between teenage obesity and bowel cancer risk in later adulthood.

The study involved over 230,000 Swedish males, who were conscripted into the military aged 16 to 20 years old. Those who were in the upper ranges of overweight and those who were obese at that time were about twice as likely to develop bowel cancer over the next 35 years as those who were a normal weight.

This study has a number of strengths, including its size, the fact that body mass index (BMI) was objectively measured by a nurse and that the national cancer registry in Sweden captures virtually all cancer diagnoses. However, it was not able to take into account the boys' diets or smoking habits – both of which affect bowel cancer risk.

VIDEO: Can this app help teach surgeons?

VIDEO: Can this app help teach surgeons? The app which allows trainee surgeons to practice medical techniques. BBC News

NMC to consult on introducing language controls for EU trained nurses and midwives.

NMC to consult on introducing language controls for EU trained nurses and midwives. In June the NMC will be consulting on new English language checks on nurses and midwives who trained in Europe. Nursing and Midwifery Council

Integration vanguards consider pooled budgets

Integration vanguards consider pooled budgets Integrated care vanguards are considering developing pooled funding arrangements, NHS England documents have revealed. GP Online

General practice teaching for medical students 'in decline'

General practice teaching for medical students 'in decline' RCGP slams findings as 'outrageous' given the expectations placed on general practice. OnMedica

See also:

• Provision of medical student teaching in UK general practices: a cross-sectional questionnaire study British Journal of General Practice
• RCGP response to BJGP paper on general practice teaching in medical schools Royal College of General Practitioners