NEWS
NHS Improvement letter to NHS trusts: the IBMS President’s statement
Institute President Ian Sturdgess highlighted the impact that NHS Improvement (NHSI) plans to eradicate the financial deficit within the NHS will have on pathology services. Referring to the three areas identified by NHSI for further action (ie back office and pathology consolidation, the elimination of pay cost growth, and unsustainable service consolidation), Ian expressed disappointment that NHSI had deemed pathology to be a ‘back office service’, a view that is outdated and does not reflect the key role that pathology has in modern diagnostics and chronic disease management. In addition, highlighting the essential role of pathology as “a clinically integrated
Primary screening begun for human papillomavirus
The introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) primary screening in England was announced recently. DNA-based HPV testing has been at the heart of research over the past 10 years, through the landmark ATHENA study, which has demonstrated the long-term safety of using HPV DNA as a predictor of cervical cancer risk. The prominence given to primary
screening alongside existing testing represents a landmark for patients, and work will soon be underway with the NHS
specialist analytical and diagnostic service where the tests carried out by biomedical scientists contribute to 70% of clinical diagnoses within acute care and the community,” he also warned NHSI against taking a “view that pathology services can be easily rationalised, centralised or down-sized, with little negative impact on patient care, a worryingly naïve basis from which to drive a transformation process". The IBMS President’s statement
emphasised the savings already made by “networked services and consolidations", and that “to abandon existing service plans in order to consolidate pathology services, irrespective of local arrangements or patient needs, is unlikely to save money and
potentially could cost more in the long term”. The Institute will be writing formally to
NHSI to advise it of its concerns and ask it to reconsider the approach. The Institute will offer to work with NHSI to develop and support the implementation of alternative solutions. Dr Suzy Lishman, President of The Royal
College of Pathologists, issued a statement urging NHS Improvement to reconsider its plans. The IBMS President similarly expressed his wish to work towards developing alternative solutions and to formally ask Jim Mackey and Ed Smith, the CEO and Chairman of NHS Improvement, respectively, to re-evaluate their approach.
Malaria update
screening programme to help identify those women most at risk of developing cervical cancer, and with laboratories across the country to support the implementation of this new test.
www.hpv16and18.com
Researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, have found that Anopheles arabiensis, one of the predominant species transmitting malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, avoids chickens when looking for hosts on which to feed. This indicates that, unlike humans, cattle, goats and sheep, chickens are a non-host species for A. arabiensis, and that the mosquitoes have developed ways of distinguishing them from host species. The study was published recently in the Malaria Journal (Jaleta KT, Hill SR, Birgersson G, Tekie H, Ignell R. Chicken volatiles repel host-seeking malaria mosquitoes. Malaria J 2016 doi: 10.1186/s12936-016-1386-3).
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is not eradicated with low- concentration hydrogen peroxide airborne treatment, according to the latest research published recently. A comparative study conducted by an independent laboratory, published in Letters in Applied Microbiology (Murdoch LE, Bailey L, Banham E, Watson F, Adams NM, Chewins J. Evaluating different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide in an automated room disinfection system. Lett Appl Microbiol 2016 Jun 21. doi: 10.1111/lam.12607 [Epub ahead of print]), tested the efficacy of 5%, 10% and 35% weight by weight (w/w) hydrogen peroxide solutions when used with an automated room disinfection system.
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Less-concentrated hydrogen peroxide fails to kill MRSA The results showed that both the 5% and
10% solutions failed to kill MRSA and reached a 6-log kill of Geobacillus stearothermophilus after 70 minutes (5% solution) and 40 minutes (10% solution). The 35% hydrogen peroxide solution achieved a 6-log kill of MRSA after 30 minutes and 20 minutes for G. stearothermophilus. The test involved distributing hydrogen
peroxide at different concentrations (5%, 10% and 35%) in an 80 m3
sealed and
environmentally controlled room. The MRSA and G. stearothermophilus 6-log biological indicators were placed in the enclosure to measure bioburden reduction. The three cycles ran identically. The
hydrogen peroxide was vaporised within the
room for 40 minutes and left to dwell for an additional 200 minutes. During the first 120 minutes of the process, biological indicators were collected every 10 minutes in order to control log reduction.
AUGUST 2016 THE BIOMEDICAL SCIENTIST
Ed Uthman
www.commons.wikimedia.org CC BY-SA 2.0
CDC/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
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