Former Health Secretary to help government fix health and care
- Alan Milburn has been appointed lead non-executive member to the board of the Department of Health and Social Care.
- The former Health Secretary has a proven track record of reducing waiting lists and improving satisfaction in the NHS.
NHS to review prostate cancer testing after Chris Hoy call for change
- The NHS will review whether to change its advice on testing for prostate cancer in light of Sir Chris Hoy’s “powerful” call for more younger men to be checked, the health secretary has said.
- Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris, 48, has advanced cancer that has spread to his bones and is terminal.
- PSA tests are not routinely offered to men under 50 without symptoms but who may be at risk. Doctors are instead told to use their judgement.
Study raises hopes of treating aggressive cancers by zapping rogue DNA
- Scientists have raised hopes of treating some of the most aggressive cases of cancer by targeting small fragments of rogue DNA that help tumours thrive and become resistant to chemotherapy.
- The breakthrough emerged from a US-UK study that found many hard-to-treat cancers contained loops of malignant genetic material that were crucial for the tumours to survive and withstand treatment.
- Tests on 39 different tumour types from nearly 15,000 UK patients revealed more than one in six cancers had extrachromosomal DNA, or ecDNA – the loops of genetic code that can make tumours harder to treat.
Independent review maps a route to transform the UK’s health data system
- The review, Uniting the UK’s Health Data: A Huge Opportunity for Society, flags complexities and inefficiencies impeding the use of health data in the UK.
- Professor Cathie Sudlow OBE was commissioned to lead the independent review by the Chief Medical Officer for England, NHS England’s National Director for Transformation, and the UK National Statistician.
- The Sudlow Review is a call to action for policymakers and healthcare leaders, and emphasises that health data should be seen as critical national infrastructure requiring careful leadership and vital investment.
- UK VC returns were above the US and the rest of Europe for older vintages, and are in line with or slightly below for more recent vintages.
- Performance of UK VC funds declined slightly in 2023/24, in line with the US and rest of Europe.
- While fundraising conditions remain challenging, the majority of fund managers are expecting exit opportunities to improve over the next year.
New £15 million funding for UK-Australia clinical trials
- The NIHR has launched a new £15.5 million partnership with the Government of Australia’s medical research funders – the Medical Research Futures Fund (MRFF) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
- The funding will go towards a new joint UK-Australia research call focusing on platform trials to address areas of unmet health and care needs. A platform trial is an innovative clinical trial methodology which enables the evaluation of multiple interventions through a single study. Platform trials were particularly efficient at evaluating treatments for COVID-19 during the pandemic.
- This partnership will harness the UK and Australia’s mutual strengths, ideas, expertise and infrastructure, to improve the lives of people with serious health conditions who currently have limited options for prevention, diagnosis or treatment.
Negotiations on UK-South Korea trade deal resume under new government
- Upgraded, modern agreement expected to boost our trading relationship, worth £17 billion in the year ending June 2024.
- Trade deal is the third to be restarted since the election as UK’s trade agenda steps up a gear.
- Negotiators from both countries meet to recommence discussions for first time under new UK government.
