NES LAUNCHES NEW INFECTION CONTROL PATHWAY


Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport Shona Robison recently joined NHS Education for Scotland (NES) Chief Executive Caroline Lamb at the NHSScotland Event in Glasgow for the launch of the Scottish Infection Prevention and Control Education Pathway (SIPCEP), a new training resource to help health and care staff combat infection.


Developed by the Healthcare Associated Infections team at NES, the pathway is designed to enable staff and students working in health and social care to continuously improve their knowledge and skills around infection prevention and control as part of their role.


‘NHS Education for Scotland is leading the way in demonstrating a national approach to infection prevention and control,’ Ms Lamb said. ‘The pathway will enable all staff to contribute to a healthcare culture in which patient safety related to infection prevention and control is of the highest importance.’


The pathway offers learners the flexibility to create their own development journey suited to their specific needs and role, and adopts a modular structure with short learning bites and a range of standalone resources that can be used in local training.


The pathway comprises three layers – foundation, intermediate and improvement. The foundation layer of the pathway covers all ten Standard infection Control Precautions and other introductory infection prevention and control topics, and is currently available on learnPro NHS and community portals. The intermediate and improvement layers will be available from summer 2018.


Helpful tools and resources including extensive FAQs page, videos and information about each pathway layer can be found on the NES website at www.nes-hai.info.


ACUPUNCTURE CAN RELIEVE PAIN IN A & E


The world’s largest randomised controlled trial of the use of acupuncture in emergency departments has found that the treatment is a safe and effective alternative to pain-relieving drugs for some patients.


Led by RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, the study found that acupuncture was as effective as pain medicine in providing long-term relief for patients who came to emergency in considerable pain.


But the trial, conducted in the emergency departments of four Melbourne hospitals, showed pain management remains a critical issue, with neither treatment providing adequate immediate relief.


Lead investigator, Professor Marc Cohen, from RMIT’s School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, said that pain was the most common reason people came to emergency, but was often inadequately managed.


‘While acupuncture is widely used by practitioners in community settings for treating pain, it is rarely used in hospital emergency departments,’ he said. ‘Emergency nurses and doctors need a variety of pain-relieving options when treating patients, given the concerns around opioids such as morphine, which carry the risk of addiction when used long term.


‘Our study has shown acupuncture is a viable alternative, and would be especially beneficial for patients who are unable to take standard pain-relieving drugs because of other medical conditions.


‘But it’s clear we need more research overall to develop better medical approaches to pain management, as the study also showed patients initially remained in some pain, no matter what treatment they received.’


The study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, and funded by a


SCOTTISH HOSPITAL NEWS NEW LINK BETWEEN OMEGA-FATTY


ACIDS AND BOWEL CANCER: STUDY A study by the University of Aberdeen has found that a higher concentration of the molecules that breakdown omega-3 fatty acids is associated with a higher chance of survival from bowel cancer.


This is the first time that molecules associated with the breakdown of omega–3 and omega-6 have been associated with survival in bowel cancer.


The study, which was published in the British Journal of Cancer, measured the proportion of the enzymes responsible for the metabolism of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in tumours found in bowel cancer patients, and compared it to the patient’s survival.


Results showed that a higher proportion of omega-3 metabolising enzyme to omega-6 metabolising enzyme is associated with less spread of the tumour and a greater chance of survival for an individual patient.


Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats that are thought to have opposing effects on


grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council, involved 528 patients with acute low back pain, migraine, or ankle sprains who presented at the emergency departments of the Alfred Hospital, Cabrini Malvern, Epworth Hospital and Northern Hospital between January 2010 and December 2011.


Patients who identified their level of pain as at least four on a ten-point scale randomly received one of three types of treatment: acupuncture alone, acupuncture plus pharmacotherapy or pharmacotherapy alone.


health. This study looked specifically at the enzymes responsible for breaking down omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and their relationship with survival in bowel cancer.


‘Our findings are important because it highlights a new pathway for understanding survival from bowel cancer,’ said lead researcher, Professor Graeme Murray. ‘The molecules or ‘metabolites’ that arise from the breakdown of omega-3 prevent tumour spread and we assume that with more of the enzyme that breaks down omega-3 there will be increased metabolites of omega-3, and this will limit tumour spread. The less a tumour has spread, the better the outcome. The converse is true for omega-6 metabolising enzyme – such that a higher proportion of omega-6 metabolising enzyme compared to omega-3 could lead to a worse outcome for the patient. Prior to this study we did not know that such a relationship existed between these enzymes and survival in bowel cancer.’


One hour after treatment, less than 40 per cent of patients across all three groups felt any significant pain reduction (two or more pain points), while more than 80 per cent continued to have a pain rating of at least four.


But 48 hours later, the vast majority found their treatment acceptable, with 82.8 per cent of acupuncture-only patients saying they would probably or definitely repeat their treatment, compared with 80.8 per cent in the combined group, and 78.2 per cent in the pharmacotherapy-only group.


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