Highlights

Health and Care Secretary Sajid Javid made his keynote speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester on Tuesday. He made points on a range of issues, covering COVID-19, the NHS’s recovery and healthcare reform. Mr Javid stated that healthcare “begins at home”, with people encouraged to rely on their family first, before the state regarding their health upkeep. Mr…

The Director of Procurement Transformation and Commercial Delivery at NHS England & Improvement has published a 'Roadmap for NHS Suppliers to reach net zero by 2045'. This forms part of the NHS sustainability programme and is an important text that sheds light on how NHS suppliers are to meet the environmental and sustainability standards the NHS expects from its supply…

Virtual conference on Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan from EUCOPE/ BPI The conference will feature two panels, that include high-level experts including stakeholders from industry, patients’ associations and clinicians along with key decisionmakers from the EU institutions. The first panel will focus on how the cancer plan will help make advanced diagnostics available to more cancer patients in Europe, while the second…

The United Kingdom has this week begun talks on joining the trans-Pacific free trade bloc Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam are the eleven CPTPP members. The original trade pact was signed in 2018 in Chile.  These talks will be taking place as part of…

NHS England is on the search for its new Chief Operating Officer, who will replace Amanda Pritchard following her promotion to CEO earlier this year. Ms Pritchard’s successor will need to be “an ambitious and inspiring leader”, “strong” and able to “suspend ego”, according to the NHSE advert. The new recruit will be responsible for operational delivery by the NHS…

The NIH-funded Initiative for Feasibility of Novel Diagnostics for TB in Endemic Countries (FEND-TB) led by Rutgers University and FIND are inviting developers of TB diagnostics to submit proposals for evaluation of early-stage TB diagnostics and novel testing strategies. The FEND-TB initiative provides access to adaptable and open trial protocols, with the aim to conduct clinical studies, laboratory evaluations of…

The Government is to launch 40 new Community Diagnostic Centres across England in an effort to bring medical testing closer to patients, reduce pressure on hospital departments and to tackle the large care backlog triggered by the pandemic. Millions of patients are to benefit from the decision to open the sites, says the Government. There will be around 2.8 million…

Please find a statement from BIVDA and ABHI regarding the laboratory validation of COVID antigen and molecular test here.

The 8th Annual Open Meeting of the UK Pharmacogenetics & Stratified Medicine Network will take place on October 20, 2021 at the Royal College of Physicians, London. The meeting will be held as a hybrid event, with speakers and delegates in person at the venue, as well as an additional audience of delegates viewing the talks online. Session One will be…

The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee has released a report from its 'Global Health, Global Britain' inquiry. This is the fifth report from the sessions, the first of which was in October 2020. In the course of this inquiry, the Committee took oral evidence from 12 witnesses across four different continents and published 31 pieces of written evidence. It…