Wes Streeting: Labour’s reforms will save the struggling NHS from its current crisis
- The Shadow Health Secretary has pledged to Labour will double medical school places, paid for by abolishing non-doms
- He also wants to cut unnecessary appointments through better access to specialist clinics, akin to sexual health clinics, to free up GP appointments
NHS COVID-19 app saved estimated 10,000 lives in its first year, research finds
- A team of experts at the Pandemic Sciences Institute at the University of Oxford and Department of Statistics at the University of Warwick estimate the NHS COVID-19 app prevented around 1 million cases, 44,000 hospitalisations and 9,600 deaths during its first year
- They found that the app played an important role in reducing transmission of COVID-19 in England and Wales
- The app experienced high user engagement, identified infectious contacts well, and helped to prevent significant numbers of cases, hospitalisations and deaths
Using AI to predict the onset of ALS disease
- Firstly, the researchers recorded and deciphered the genotype profiles of 3,000 patients with ALS disease
- Through the use of AI, they could then predict the onset of the disease with a remarkable 87% accuracy
- Only 5-10% of cases are genetic, with 25-40% of all cases are caused by defects in the C9ORF72 gene
The rise of home HIV testing and its future market role
- The HIV self-test market itself is predicted to reach nearly $500m by 2027
- The popularity of using self-testing kits to monitor personal health has extended to other viruses, including HIV
- Regular monitoring to become a trend rather than testing when fearful of having been exposed to viruses
- A disease-detecting toilet capable of multiple monitoring and surveillance activities could soon be a reality
- The ‘smart toilet’ is beind developed at Stanford University in California
- This is described by researchers as ‘passive monitoring’, to extract vital health information from one’s lower body excretions
This device can easily, cheaply detect cancer cells in a blood sample
- Researchers at the University of Technology (UTS) in Sydney, Australia have developed the the Static Droplet Microfluidic (SDM) device which can quickly detect circulating tumor cells (CTC) that have split from the cancer source to enter the bloodstream
- The device can identify tumor cells through a unique metabolic signature involving waste product lactate
- Further genetic and molecular analysis to understand the source and inform treatment can be conducted following a warning from the device
Tesco to stock at-home self-diagnosis health tests nationwide
- Tesco will make the kits available at more than 500 locations and hopes to capitalise on demand due to the backlog and high NHS demands
- Demonstrates an appetite for the ‘normalisation’ of self-testing for a wide range of illnesses, not just COVID-19
- This is the first time self-diagnostic test kits for health conditions will be available with a major UK retailer
Diagnostic waiting times and activity for November 2022
- Diagnostic waiting times and activity for 15 key diagnostic tests and procedures. The data is available through a monthly collection.
