This week breast cancer, gene editing and doctors leaving the NHS have dominated the news.
The NHS have approved two new ‘breakthrough’ breast cancer drugs
Palbociclib and robociclib have been approved by NICE to be prescribed to women with previously untreatable breast cancer. The two drugs are seen as ‘breakthrough’, and they have been shown to slow down advanced cancer for 10 months and can delay the need for chemotherapy.
Read more on the Independent.
California doctors have attempted gene-editing on live cells
Brian Madeux from Arizona has been given experimental treatment to correct a defect in his DNA that causes Hunter’s syndrome. The treatment will rewrite his DNA with instructions to make an enzyme that he is missing. The therapy has been uniquely designed so that it only becomes active when its live inside Mr Madeux’s liver cells.
Read more on the BBC.
One in five European doctors working in the NHS have made “solid plans” to leave the UK
New research from the BMA has found that Brexit has caused almost one in five European doctors working in the NHS to make “solid plans” to leave the UK, due to the perception that foreigners are no longer welcome and uncertainty about their professional futures are the main reason for leaving. The BMA polled more than 1,700 of the 12,000 doctors from the European Economic Area (making up 7.7%), which found 45% considering leaving and 18% had concrete plans for leaving.
Read more on the International Business Times.
A&E waits have increased by 557% in seven years
New data from the NHS highlights that the number of people waiting over four hours to be seen in A&E has increased by 557% since 2010. The data shows that “trolley waits” of more than four hours is now greater than 45,000 a month. The data comes on the back of the Chief Executive of the NHS, Simon Stevens calling for the funding that was promised to the NHS in the Brexit campaign.
Read more on The Guardian.
OECD finds the UK is the most obese country in Western Europe
The OECD has found that nearly 27% of adults in the UK are obese, making the UK the most obese country in Western Europe from a comparison of its 35 member countries. There has also been a 92% increase in obesity over the last two decades, compared to 65% in the United States. However, the OECD has acknowledged England’s leading efforts to try and slow the epidemic with traffic light food labelling and information logos.
Read more on Pharmaceutical Journal.
Quote of the week – Ella Clarke-Billings on modern nursing:
“There is so much responsibility in modern nursing. You literally have people’s lives in your hands. It’s a big burden for a 22-year-old. Some older nurses have told me that in the past we would have been slowly fed into the system instead of being thrown in and immediately pushed to the limits. We are constantly working more hours than we ever should because it’s so short-staffed.”
Read more in The Guardian