Media Monitoring – 23rd July – 30th July

MP report concludes that the NHS is facing its worst ever staffing crisis

An MP report has claimed a shortfall in NHS staffing poses an immense threat to patient safety
It discovered England is now short of 12,000 hospital doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives – labelling it the worst workforce crisis the NHS has seen
The government defended itself, claiming that the workforce is growing and plans were being established to continue to recruit staff in line with demand

Study reveals that novel blood test spots cancer earlier than X-rays

The test could be the answer to the UK’s chronic problem of late breast cancer diagnosis
Only 5ml of blood is drawn for processing to examine whether circulating tumour cells (CTCs) can be detected
Even in small amounts, the presence of CTCs in the blood is an sure sign of a cancerous tumour which is in its early stages. The test can detect 92 per cent of breast cancers – five percentage points more than via mammograms
It is hoped the test will increase early detection of breast cancer, particularly among younger women – women in the UK are not invited for their first mammogram until the age of 50

NHS funding shortfall could lead to diagnostic cuts in future

The NHS is facing a real-terms cut in funding of between £4 billion and £9.4 billion this year, new NHS Confederation analysis has found
NHS leaders face impossible choices over whether to cut patient care or reduce investment in much needed diagnostic capacity and new technology after a series of unexpected cost pressures, including a new pay award for staff, left the NHS facing its first real terms cut in funding

Community testing and treatment key to global hep c elimination efforts

Testing and treating patients for hepatitis c when they receive methadone treatment could be the key to meeting the global target of eliminating the disease by 2030, University of Dundee research has shown
A study, led by Dr Christopher Byrne and Professor John Dillon at the University’s School of Medicine, found that nurse-delivered hepatitis c testing at community pharmacies made treatment more accessible and cure more likely, relative to conventional care, for people who use drugs
With highly accurate diagnostic tests and efficient treatment more than 95% of cases are now cured, and the World Health Organisation has set a target to eliminate hepatitis c as a public health threat by 2030

NHS could face 1 in 4 GP and nursing positions being unfilled in the next 10 years

Health Foundation’s REAL Centre’s analysis warns that without urgent and decisive policy action, the NHS faces a staffing crisis among GPs and practice nurses in a decade’s time
There is currently a shortage of around 4,200 full-time equivalent (FTE) GPs – projected to rise to around 8,900 FTE GPs in 2030/31
Researchers warn this poses a significant threat to patient health, after all, GPs are the front door of the NHS – issuing over 1 billion prescriptions a year in England

Graphene-based diagnostic test could provide patient diagnosis in just a few minutes in AMR breakthrough

A massive breakthrough in AMR as the world’s first graphene-based diagnostic test could now identify patients who require antibiotics in minutes, rather than hours
Researchers from Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), Newcastle upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and the universities of Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle pioneered the test
In the two-year programme, researchers will develop a proof-of-concept test, containing a combination of procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP), which can crucially detect whether an infection is bacterial or viral

How to leverage digital for IVD

The global in vitro diagnostics market is slated to grow some 50% over the next several years. Here’s how IVD companies can leverage digital capabilities to improve workflows, accelerate innovation and increase revenues

North East Innovation Lab secures a share of £218,000 Cancer Research UK funding to develop new diagnostic for early detection of cancer

The team of North East Innovation Lab scientists have secured a share of £218k funding for a consortium project to develop a new diagnostic for the early detection of pancreatic cancer
The award is jointly supported by from Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for a project is in collaboration with University College London, University of Bristol, University of Surrey and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust to develop an assay to detect pancreatic cancer in its early stages
The project is developing methods to amplify the signal from the biomarkers to make them more detectable