UK — A plea to hire more 'ward clerks' to free hospital nurses from excessive bureaucracy has been made by the Royal College of Nursing to the government and change NHS targets so as to place more emphasis on patient satisfaction and hygiene standards.
Following a 6-month inquiry in 2007 on how to improve the National Health Service (NHS) (and patients' organisations urging action over an apparent decline in nursing care since the domination of the hospital matron was curtailed) one of the proposals put in a Downing Street Cabinet meeting was that doctors and nurses should smile more.
"Surgical care and its safe delivery affect the lives of millions of people. About 234 million major operations are performed worldwide every year", according to the World Health Organization (WHO). To avoid - possibly fatal - complications the WHO introduced a checklist on safe surgery.
With its request to all EU states concerning better colorectal cancer care, europacolon was prelude to the 10th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer (WCGC) in Barcelona. Europacolon is the first European organisation dedicated to colorectal cancer. Their current report about the disease is meant to be a call to action.
When it comes to children's cancer care, the National Health Service counts on the concern of others, critics say. In their opinion the Britisch NHS tries to compense financial deficits by falling back on charity support. This could lead to large inequalities between different disease treatments and to over-reliances on local donations and social work.
New analyses from Frost & Sullivan, Central and Eastern European Surgical Disposables Markets, finds that the market generated revenues of $35.1 million in 2007 and estimates this to nearly triple by 2014 to reach $101.5 million.
In the EU blood clots are responsible for killing 544.000 people each year. Rivaroxaban, a new oral given anticoagulant drug from Bayer Healthcare, is significantly more effective than the current standard of care, according to three recent studies. The number of blood cluts in Europe is about 1.5 million per year, more than thirty percent of the patients affected die.
The German chapter of anti-corruption organisation Transparency International had another close look at the German healthcare system. And it didn't like what it found: In an updated policy paper, member of the board of directors Anke Martiny, deplores that "huge amounts of money belonging to the insured are lost" due to lack of transparency, to corruption and fraud.
Pulsion Medical Systems and Philips Healthcare are two strong brands. Pulsion, one of the leading specialists for intelligent medical diagnosis and therapy management systems, now announced the extension of the alliance with Philips. Among other things the agreement will contain the integration of further Pulsion-technologies into the Philips patient monitoring systems.
A new study from the Saint Louis University found that implantable cardiac devices are not beneficial in patients with advanced heart failure because they are too ill. "Implantable cardiac devices were not intended for, or studied as 'rescue therapy' for very ill hospitalized patients with heart failure," said Paul Hauptman, M.D., professor of internal medicine at Saint Louis University…
The 125th Congress of the German Society of Surgery and the annual Congress of the German Society of Visceral Surgery (DVGC) in late April, examined the facts behind evidence-based medicine (EbM) under the banner Surgical Medicine - from Empiricism to Evidence, and also evaluated current opportunities in hospitals, science and research.
The Torrevieja Salud Hospital, in southern Valencia, serves a population of 200,000 - but this swells to 600,000 in holiday periods.
USA - A new tuberculosis vaccine successfully tested at the University of North Carolina (UNC) is easier to administer and store and just as effective as one commonly used worldwide, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The first FDA-approved prescription medication that reduces blood phenylalanine (Phe) levels in patients with Phenylketonuria (PKU) — a genetic disorder that prevents the normal use of protein foods and can lead to impaired brain development if untreated — could result in more regular screening of blood phenylalanine (Phe) levels in PKU patients.
Gastric polyps (GP) are typically found incidentally, when upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy is performed for an unrelated indication. Gastric polyps are uncommon and have an incidence of less than one percent. Only rarely do they cause symptoms or other clinical signs.
Following 12 years of development, German surgeons and technicians have successfully implanted the world's first vision prosthesis in six blind patients.
A new trauma surgery training programme has been launched by the German Society of Trauma Surgery (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Unfallchirurgie - DGU).
By Professor Gennady Souchkevich, Deputy Director of the Moscow Research and Clinical Institute of Emergency Children's Surgery and Trauma.
Rotational artherectomy - Around 33,000 patients are hospitalised annually due to myocardial infarction, but only five percent actually die, thanks to the various state-of-the-art treatments mastered by Czech physicians.
The French Health Authorities announced in February that the smoking ban — which began in February 2007 for communal buildings and work places, and was implemented in January 2008 with effect on bars, restaurants and hotels — has produced striking results.
Arrythmogenic remodelling of the left atrium is a common complication of atrial fibrillation, leading to severe haemodynamic disturbances.
Cardiovascular diseases kill more than 12 million people worldwide every year and are the cause of death for more than 50% of all Europeans over the age of 65.
A five-year study of 516 participants with coronary artery disease showed that patients who reduced their anxiety levels or kept them steady were 60% less likely to have a heart attack or die compared with those who had increased anxiety levels.
Ian Mason reports from Chicago
Along with paediatric radiology, interventional radiology will have a high profile at the 89th German Radiology Congress and 5th Joint Congress with the Austrian Radiology Society. During a discussion with Meike Lerner of European Hospital congress president Professor Dierk Vorwerk outlined what's on the agenda for the expected 6,900 visitors.
