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$1.25 Million Awarded To Prostate Cancer Research
New treatments to ease or even cure the most common cancer affecting Australian men are a step closer to reality with a $1.25 million grant awarded to QUT prostate cancer researcher Professor Colleen Nelson today.
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Viral RNA And Human Immune Response Linked
In its fight against an intruding virus, an enzyme in our immune system may sense certain types of viral RNA pairs, according to scientists.
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Link Between Vitamin D Insufficiency And Bacterial Vaginosis In Pregnant Women
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal infection in US women of childbearing age, and is common in pregnant women. BV occurs when the normal balance of bacteria in the vagina is disrupted and replaced by an overgrowth of certain bacteria. Because having BV puts a woman at increased risk for a variety of complications, such as preterm delivery, there is great interest in understanding how it can be prevented. Vitamin D may play a role in BV because it exerts influence over a number of aspects of the immune system. This hypothesis is circumstantially supported by the fact that BV is far more common in black than white women, and vitamin D status is substantially lower in black than white women. This relation, however, has not been rigorously studied. To assess whether poor vitamin D status may play a role in predisposing a woman to BV, Bodnar and coworkers at the University of Pittsburgh and the Magee-Womens Research Institute studied 469 pregnant women. The results of their investigation are published in the June 2009 issue of the Journal of Nutrition.
Diagnostics

Health Secretary Announces New Measures To Tackle Serious Failures In NHS Foundation Trusts

Learning from the failings identified at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, Health Secretary Andy Burnham announced a package of measures to tackle exceptional failures in Foundation Trusts. As part of that package, the Health Secretary has set up a further, independent, inquiry chaired by Robert Francis QC to hear evidence from patients and families - building on the reports to date and the Independent Clinical Reviews underway - and identify lessons for the future. Relevant staff at the Trust, including former managers, will be asked to give evidence to the inquiry and we expect both current and former NHS staff to co-operate. If the Chair considers that it is necessary to have the power to require witnesses to attend, the Secretary of State has the power to convert this into an inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005. The other measures in the package include: - Working closely with Monitor to appoint a new Chair, Sir Stephen Moss and new Chief Executive Antony Sumara who have the skills and experience to transform services at Stafford Hospital as a matter of urgency; - Asking Dr David Colin-Thome to support and advise the Primary Care Trust to ensure they are implementing all the recommendations from his report and working with the local community to shape the future of the Trust; and - Consulting on changes that will enable Monitor, the foundation trust regulator, to "de-authorise" a foundation trust where the trust is failing to meet the high standards rightly expected of an organisation afforded FT status. These measures help to address concerns arising from the Care Quality Commission"s three-month stock take report on Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust, also published today. Visiting the hospital today along with health minister Mike O"Brien, Andy Burnham said: "Our overriding priority is to ensure that patients and the public have access to high quality healthcare at Stafford Hospital. The new leadership team are key to building on the progress made and driving forward further, faster improvements. "The hospital and Primary Care Trust must listen to patients and local people and involve them in shaping the future of the hospital. This new independent inquiry will give patients and their families the opportunity to present their evidence and ensure that any other lessons are learned without unduly distracting the new management and staff at the hospital from improving services for patients today. "Together these measures will help the hospital improve more quickly and ensure that patients and people in Stafford can have confidence in their local hospital." In a proposed change to the law, which will be consulted on over the summer, the Secretary of State will be able to ask Monitor to remove foundation trust status from a hospital where it has failed and where this is in the best interests of patients and the public. In these circumstances, if Monitor disagrees with the approach suggested by Ministers, Monitor will be obliged to justify this position publicly. Andy Burnham added: "The overwhelming majority of foundation trust hospitals are high performing, providing patients with the highest quality of care. But their status must always be seen as a privilege and not a one-way ticket. Foundation trusts should not retain their freedoms where they are clearly failing their patients and where a loss of public confidence has occurred. "In the rare circumstances where this is not the case, I want to ensure we have the powers necessary to take robust action to protect patients and the public. The failings at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust exposed a need for changes to the current regulations and the powers I am proposing will ensure that we can intervene in such cases. "These changes strike the right balance between ensuring fundamental failure is addressed, maintaining the highest standards and protecting the significant benefits of Foundation Trusts." A consultation on the proposed amendments to foundation trust legislation will be published in the next few days. Department of Health, UK


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