Media Monitoring: 11th – 17th February

19 new community diagnostic centres which will perform 1.1 million tests, checks and scans every year set to open later this year
New data shows 92 operational CDCs have already significantly bolstered NHS capacity as part of the most ambitious catch-up plan in NHS history, delivering an additional 3 million checks since the programme started in in July 2021
The CDCs house a range of equipment including MRI, CT, X-ray and ultrasound scanners and offer services including blood tests or heart rhythm and blood pressure monitoring

Women under the age of 65 should be diagnosed with a UTI if they present two or more key urinary symptoms and have no alternative causes or warning signs
Adults with indwelling urinary catheters shouldn’t have dipstick testing to diagnose UTIs
Men and non-pregnant women shouldn’t be prescribed antibiotics as a treatment for asymptomatic bacteriuria
Non-pregnant women with uncomplicated lower UTIs should be prescribed three-day courses of antibiotics, whilst pregnant women and men with uncomplicated lower UTIs should be prescribed antibiotics for seven days
Men with recurrent UTIs, and women with recurrent lower UTIs where the cause hasn’t been identified or who have recurrent upper UTIs should be directed to specialist advice

The Rosalind Franklin Institute, the UK institute for technology in life science, has secured renewed core funding for the next three years from UK Research and Innovation’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and launched a refreshed strategy to continue the development of the Franklin’s unique technologies
The technologies under development at the Franklin will be utilised to address major challenges in health – such as characterising the early signs of degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.
In the future, using real patient tissue samples will enable disease dynamics, drug effects and diagnostics to be carried out with atomic level insight
In the five years since opening, the Franklin has participated in projects leveraging more than £100m in grants for the UK, including a £25m Wellcome grant to revolutionise cryo-electron microscopy

Researchers have identified genes that predict the development and progression of diabetic kidney disease, giving the potential to limit how many people with type 1 experience kidney failure and need invasive treatments such as dialysis
Clinicians currently use blood and urine tests as well as samples of a person’s kidneys to assess for DKD. But these measures are only sensitive enough to detect DKD once there is already quite a lot of damage
Using this pattern shown in the research data, the researchers developed a genetic test that shows who is most likely to develop DKD

Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust said it was working with the “virtual ward” company Doccla to “provide hospital level care in patients’ own homes”
The trust’s medical director Dr Elizabeth Kendrick said the service prevented hospital admissions and enabled earlier discharge
Martin Ratz, the founder of Doccla, said for every £1 spent on the service, the NHS saved £3

A study has discovered that a third of those with a women’s health condition have been made to wait three years or longer for a diagnosis
The research, which polled over a 1,000 women, also found that found around one in ten women who sought medical help for women’s health conditions are still awaiting a diagnosis
The study stated almost three million women in the UK are struggling with symptoms of undiagnosed women’s health conditions – with one in four admitting it is harming their mental health

A study conducted by researchers from the University of Hertfordshire found that while the IT and set-up of infrastructure of remote monitoring was expensive, it is hugely valued by patients
They found it often leads to higher attendance and fewer cancellation rates as well as benefitted those who can not easily access hospitals, such as the elderly or physically impaired
The researchers sought to emphasise that the benefits of delivering services digitally outweighed the enormous costs

The HPV screening test is used in the rest of the UK and has been adopted in the Republic of Ireland
In England, Scotland, and Wales, HPV testing has already replaced cell (cytological) tests, but the switch has yet to occur in Northern Ireland
While Stormont’s Department of Health has committed to moving to this testing method, the lack of executive, and therefore guaranteed funding, means that there is uncertainty over when this will happen