German hospitals, having ‘critical infrastructure’ components, are granted a two-year transition period to comply with the IT security act (ITSiG) the German Parliament adopted in June. Many hospitals are already bellyaching about the financial burden being too high with transition period too short. According to the recently published Hospital Rating Report 2015, every sixth hospital in the…
A national digital pathology system across Denmark has helped to significantly improve efficiency and raise levels of patient safety. It has used advanced computer software systems and created a countrywide database to optimise the assessment of patients’ specimens. Report: Mark Nicholls
Increasingly resistant bacteria are a global problem and require innovative action from all parties concerned, says Jesús Rodriguez-Baño, President of the Scientific Committee of the annual meeting of the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), which unfolded last May in Seville. EH asked him why the creation of a national plan has become necessary to tackle…
Children with broken bones or joint dislocations in northern Israel emergency departments received equal pain treatment, regardless of their ethnicity or the ethnicity of the nurses who treated them, even during a period of armed conflict between the two ethnic groups.
NHS trusts under the most serious financial pressures are the least likely to be able to terminate expensive private sector deals, warns an expert in The BMJ this week.
Following the BMA’s call for a 20% sugar tax to subsidise the cost of fruit and vegetables, experts in The BMJ this week debate whether a sugar tax could help combat obesity.
Within 15 years effective antibiotics will run out and, far from being an apocalyptic fantasy, a world in which common infections and minor injuries can kill is a very real possibility for the 21st Century. Geoff Sussman, one of the world’s foremost wound experts has warned that antibiotic resistance is posing the biggest single threat to global health. Report: Mark Nicholls
Use of heroin in the United States has surged dramatically in the past decade, a new study finds. The news follows earlier reports that fatal overdoses from heroin have quadrupled since 2002, suggesting that the country is facing a new epidemic of opiate dependence.
According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) in recent decades the development of diabetes mellitus (DM) warrants the conclusion that this is among the most important global epidemics. Report: Walter Depner
The European Coordination Committee of the Radiological, Electromedical and Healthcare IT Industry (COCIR*) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS**) have renewed their cooperation agreement to progress their common goal of improving the use of information and management systems for the betterment of healthcare.
Following up on European Hospital’s page one report (Issue 2: Cut prescriptions… Choose treatments wisely!) EH reports that the United Kingdom has also launched the campaign to help. Report: Mark Nicholls
This year’s German medical diagnostics manufacturers association (Verband der deutschen Diagnostica-Hersteller = VDGH) congress, focused on diabetes. The panel discussion that closed the evening session revealed unanimous support for the adoption of a German national diabetes plan. Report: Bettina Döbereiner
Although Romania joined the EU in 2007, only recently has its macroeconomic increases influenced a rise in a middle class and dented the country’s widespread poverty. However, development is still hampered by corruption and red tape in its commercial world. Report: Daniela Zimmermann/Brenda Marsh
Surveillance, hygiene and infection prevention, antimicrobial stewardship, diagnosis of infectious diseases, use of antimicrobial medicines as well as reporting and information. Report: Michael Krassnitzer
Health always has a political dimension, as seen at two recent international events - the World Health Summit in Geneva in May and the G7 Summit in the Bavarian Alps near Garmisch at the beginning of June. Report: Anja Behringer
New figures for the UK’s key National Health Service (NHS) Trusts have revealed their total deficit of more than €1.1 billion for the year 2014-15. This rise on the previous year’s deficit of €160m comes against a backdrop of health authorities being required to find ‘efficiency savings’ of almost €1.4bn over the last five years. The NHS was also a major issue in the recent UK…
In The BMJ this week, two doctors criticise Australia for passing legislation that may be used to silence doctors working with asylum seekers.
The German care system for patients with acute and unspecific chest pain is unique in Europe. The closely knit and countrywide network of accredited Chest Pain Units (CPUs) ensures fast and targeted diagnosis of acute cardiac events. The German CPUs may soon serve as a blueprint for other European countries. The German Cardiac Society (DGK) has already accredited the first institutions – others…
In the future, TAVIs can only be carried out in German hospitals with cardiac surgery departments and cardiac wards, as decided by the German Government’s Expert Panel on Health (G-BA) last January. An interim arrangement in force until 2016 is anticipated for Heart Centres that currently carry out the TAVI procedure without cardiac surgery departments on site. The Federal Ministry of Health is…
Many NHS hospitals in the United Kingdom have established Rapid Access Chest Pain Clinics (RACPC) to work in tandem with them in offering primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) – the gold standard treatment for heart attacks – 24 hours a day. Report: Mark Nicholls
The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ESCMID) today issued a special excellence award for outstanding achievement to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The award was bestowed in Copenhagen at ESCMID’s annual congress, on behalf of all its members, in light of the charity’s huge contribution to global health over the last 40-years, and in special recognition of…
The USA’s President Barack Obama released a comprehensive plan in March to slow the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria, a multi-year, billion-dollar effort that includes getting doctors to stop over-prescribing antibiotics, developing new medications and rapid diagnostics, and real-time tracking of infection outbreaks. Report: Lisa Chamoff
Prescribing antibiotics for a viral infection with fever, a cold and a cough? There is no point! This is the best-known example of over-use in medicine. There are also numerous examples of diagnostic procedures and therapies that are pointless, yet still being doled out in surgeries and hospitals – sometimes even harming a patient. This is set to change, according to the German Society of…
The genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 play a significant role in hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. Recent media attention has focused on American actress Angelina Jolie's decision to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes surgically removed after genetic testing for such cancers.
Given the increasing focus on telehealth and telecare services aimed at improving long-term patients’ living conditions and save costs, numerous pilots in various countries have been conducted for proof of concept purposes. Among these, the United Kingdom’s ‘Whole System Demonstrator’ (WSD) programme is the largest randomised controlled trial. Set up by the English National Health Service…