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Occasional significant medical items which we have a main article about
An Avian flu outbreak in China starts to have increased publicity as its features are characterised.
1 April 2013 was the date on which many changes were made to health care in England. These include the abolition of Primary Care Trusts, as mandated in the Health and social care act 2012, and the creation of Clinical Commissioning Groups and the NHS commissioning board. This change was already in March creating problems. For example the Clinical Commissioning Groups discovered it was legally impossible to delegate certain decision making powers to more practically constituted consortium arrangements that pre-existing Primary Care Trusts had done for efficiency reasons. More humorously newly constituted sections of the NHS commissioning board used email distribution lists containing Scottish NHS email addresses to distribute key documents documenting new NHS arrangements for parts of England.
Of particular interest to those working in public health and health protection, many public health practitioners (doctors and others, including the Directors of Public Health) previously working in PCTs were moved into local government authorities (such as district, county, and borough councils); and CsCDC and others working for the Health Protection Agency were, along with others in other sender organisations (including public health observatories, cancer registries, drug and alcohol services...) were moved into a new body, Public Health England.
A natural experiment with measles and MMR immunisation runs in Swansea with at least one death of a young adult with measles.
The 290 recommendations of the Francis report resulting from the Stafford enquiry are to be selectively implemented in the Government response.
A new non-medically staffed out of hours phone-answering service using the number 111 is rolled out area by area by the government. It works extremely badly. Interposed between patient and existing urgent care services it results in prolonged delays before calls are returned by a worker with a script, and diversion of some ambulant patients with questions for a GP into Emergency Departments via 999 ambulances. There is little surprise in the medical profession at this.
February 2013
The Stafford enquiry reports that the Trust was effectively managed toward the bad results it obtained. It may be that some of the ways the NHS are managed should change.
First randomised controlled trial of stool transfer in Clostridium difficile infection published - it works well[1]
September 2012
A new coronavirus may have jumped the species barrier with at least 1 death, just shortly before travellers start arriving in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj.
The end of the Northern Hemisphere holiday season brought news to 230,000 holiday makers who had visited Yosemite National Park of a hantavirus outbreak that killed at least 3 of their co-visitors.
The Rt Hon Andrew Lansley MP is judged and replaced by the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP as UK Secretary of State for Health.
An antenatal pertussis immunisation campaign, to start on 1 October 2012, is announced three days in advance (on 28 September).
Medicare continues to be controversial in USA presidential campaign.
Unusually, the current UK Secretary of State for Health, The Rt Hon Andrew Lansley MP, finds himself facing industrial action by doctors, following a BMA ballot of the profession. He doesn't regard this as anything to do with him or his policies, on Radio 4. He may not be able to demonstrate that to the judgement of history.
Novartis challenges the commissioning of bevacizumab out of license as an alternative option to ranibizumab in wet age related macular degeneration. Case law in the UK relating to NICE technical appraisals and unlicensed drug use will be tested for the first time. Both drugs were originally developed by Genentech (now a subsidiary of Roche) but at the time Novartis obtained the marketing agreement for ranibizumab ouside the USA. Bevacizumab from Roche is considerably cheaper if the preparation marketed for cancer treatment is subdivided aseptically for intra-ocular injection. The resulting political and economic controversy is world wide but this is believed to be the first time an aspect is being legally tested in a jurisdiction.
The Health and social care bill 2011 passes (becoming the Health and social care act 2012) despite widespread opposition.
Clive Peedell and David Wilson run 6 marathons in 6 days in "Bevan's Run", to protest the Health and social care bill 2011.
The British Medical Association surveys its members over whether they would be prepared to take industrial action. But, sadly, over their pensions, rather than the Health and social care bill 2011.
The Association of Medical Royal Colleges pulls back from the brink of demonstrating that they have integrity and a backbone by not coming out in opposition to the Health and social care bill 2011.
As of Christmas 2009 it appeared that a more equitable system with mechanisms for cost containment would appear in the USA early in 2010.
more ... 2009, 2010
The Year
2012, Last year, 2010, 2009, 2008
References
- ↑ van Nood E, Vrieze A, Nieuwdorp M, Fuentes S, Zoetendal EG, de Vos WM, Visser CE, Kuijper EJ, Bartelsman JF, Tijssen JG, Speelman P, Dijkgraaf MG, Keller JJ. Duodenal Infusion of Donor Feces for Recurrent Clostridium difficile. The New England journal of medicine. 2013 Jan 16.(Epub ahead of print) (Link to article – subscription may be required.)
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