http://www.hospitaldr.co.uk/blogs Hospital Dr - For a second opinion Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:39:35 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The NHS competition watchdog has recommended England’s biggest hospital merger should be allowed to go ahead. Safeguards have been agreed to protect the quality of service for patients following the proposed merger of Barts and The London NHS Trust, Newham University Hospital NHS Trust and Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS ... http://www.hospitaldr.co.uk/blogs/our-news/competition-watchdog-recommends-biggest-hospital-merger The government has lost a House of Lords vote on its controversial plans to overhaul the NHS in England. Peers backed an amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill - demanding mental health is made a higher priority - by a margin of four votes. The legislation is opposed by Labour ... http://www.hospitaldr.co.uk/blogs/web-news/government-defeat-in-lords-over-health-bill Older people are being let down by fragmented care services, says an influential group of MPs. Joined up services are key to securing better outcomes for older people and other vulnerable groups - and to delivering the required efficiency savings for the NHS - the cross party committee says. The report calls ... http://www.hospitaldr.co.uk/blogs/our-news/joined-up-services-needed-to-improve-outcomes-for-older-people David Cameron has rebuffed calls from Labour to axe controversial plans to overhaul the NHS in England. Labour leader Ed Miliband told him he had broken promises and "every day he fights for this bill, every day trust in him on the NHS ebbs away". But the PM said Labour's opposition was ... http://www.hospitaldr.co.uk/blogs/web-news/prime-minister-rebuffs-labour-calls-to-drop-nhs-bill The BMA has launched a petition demanding meaningful talks after a meeting between the union and health secretary Andrew Lansley last week failed to break the deadlock on pension reforms. The petition, which should go live later this week, calls on the government to re-open meaningful talks with health unions. BMA chairman, ... http://www.hospitaldr.co.uk/blogs/web-news/bma-demands-pension-talks-after-lansley-meeting Following a systematic review and meta-analysis, enoxaparin seems to be superior to unfractionated heparin in reducing mortality and bleeding outcomes during percutaneous coronary intervention and particularly in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST elevation myocardial infarction. Twenty three trials representing 30,966 patients were identified. Read more in the BMJ. http://www.hospitaldr.co.uk/blogs/clinical/cardiology-efficacy-of-enoxaparin-versus-unfractionated-heparin-during-angioplasty Psychiatric drugs are as effective as drugs used to treat many physical health problems, according to a major review. Researchers from the Technische Universität Munich in Germany looked at 33 meta-analyses of 16 different drugs to treat psychiatric disorders (including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, Alzheimer’s disorder ... http://www.hospitaldr.co.uk/blogs/clinical/psychiatry-psychiatric-drugs-as-effective-as-other-drugs-research-reveals Planned caesarean section is associated with a reduced risk of severe post partum haemorrhage (PPH), a major cause of maternal morbidity, finds a new Danish study. The study looked at 382,266 Danish women giving birth between 2001 and 2008. It compared the use of red blood cell transfusion within seven days ... http://www.hospitaldr.co.uk/blogs/clinical/og-severe-post-partum-haemorrhage-less-likely-with-planned-caesar Surgery is missing out on some of the brightest and the best doctors because of its continuing male dominance, a study finds. While women who apply for surgical training are proportionately more likely to be appointed than men, surgery remains a predominately male profession. The paper, Surgical training: still highly competitive but ... http://www.hospitaldr.co.uk/blogs/our-news/more-female-applicants-needed-to-strengthen-uk-surgery There is more to being a doctor than medicine. The really big things that affect patient care are often political. Issues like the Health and Social Care Bill and the quest to find £20 billion in efficiency savings will have a huge impact on the service patients will receive in ... http://www.hospitaldr.co.uk/blogs/bma/stop-feeling-powerless-become-a-representative