Labour would resolve dangers of ‘outdated’ NHS equipment – Wes Streeting
- Thousands of patients across England have been injured by faulty medical equipment in A&E departments in the past five years, Labour has said.
- They intend the tackle the problem through bulk buying of equipment and cutting unnecessary red tape.
- Labour has estimated that almost 7,000 incidents could have been caused by malfunctioning equipment across all acute trusts in the last five years.
Polio detection times can be halved, new research shows
- A new study shows that a technique called Direct molecular Detection and Nanopore Sequencing (DDNS) can save public health authorities crucial time and money.
- This type of sequencing has already been used to detect Covid-19 and involves samples being tested within the affected country, as opposed to shipping them to specialist laboratories abroad.
- By employing this method, transport time will be halved, thus speeding up the response times of local authorities and minimising spread of polio.
Government launches new monkeypox study in bid to inform future public health responses
- The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is seeking to augment its public health response to monkeypox (mpox) and has therefore launched a new study aimed at increasing understanding of how the disease is transmitted asymptomatically.
- The Government’s call goes out to anyone over the age of 18 who has been in close sexual contact with somebody with mpox – researchers hope to recruit up to 2,000 people.
- As well as completing a short questionnaire, those who take part will be asked do a blood test to assess if they have developed antibodies.
Full details of UK Covid contracts worth £8bn still to be published (paywall)
