RECENT NEWS

Pulse has unveiled its new website for connecting clients with a skilled base of healthcare and social care professionals. Already attracting more than 60,000 visits a month to its UK site, Pulse consistently comes top of the league for healthcare and social care staff searching for jobs.

LGC has launched a new website to provide public access to the outputs of the UK National Measurement System (NMS) Chemical and Biological Metrology programme. The website also contains the outputs from the previous Valid Analytical Measurement (VAM) and Measurements for Biotechnology (MfB) programmes. The NMS Chemical and Biological Metrology programme aims to develop new approaches to measurement which will lead to standardisation and thus improved comparability of measurement results.

As part of its ongoing commitment to social responsibility, and following its Support of Oxfam at Christmas, Kirkham Young has announced its sponsorship of two local organisations. Making a donation to the Sussex-based charity Demelza James and sponsoring a local rugby club's junior match kit offered the healthcare and scientific sales recruitment company a chance to make a real difference to the local community.

A CARV II confocal imager from Image Solutions (UK) is helping scientists at Royal Holloway, University of London to understand how memory functions at the molecular level.

Eppendorf UK's service partners now include Lab3, alongside PEAK-Service and specialists in pipette calibration, European Instruments. All three partner companies are ISO 9001:2000-registered, with engineers trained by Eppendorf AG service in Hamburg and supported by Eppendorf's technical team and electronic service databank.

Beckman Coulter UK has announced that Tameside Hospital has installed the UK's first UniCel DxC 880i Synchron Access clinical system – its integrated work cell that consolidates chemistry and immunoassay testing in high-volume laboratories.

Researchers from the UK and USA are working together to investigate the genetic underpinnings of cancer in the human genome. The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and Applied Biosystems are sequencing a cancer genome and normal DNA from the same individual to detect and characterise the genetic changes that occur during the development of the disease.

Oxoid has announced the winners of the 2007/2008 Oxoid Infection Control Team of the Year Awards as Worcester Acute NHS Trust, UK (First Prize), East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust, UK (Second Prize), and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, UK (Third Prize).

The National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Rome, the main beneficiary of a European Commission project entitled European Training in Infectious Disease Emergencies (ETIDE), has invited interest in its training courses from specialists in the field.

In March, NHS Connecting for Health appointed Dr Gifford Batstone as national clinical lead (NCL) for pathology. Dr Batstone studied medicine at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, before training in pathology in Bristol and Southampton. He has been involved in the implementation of Department of Health initiatives in clinical audit, medical education and information technology.

The National Health Service Retirement Fellowship has nearly 200 branches throughout the UK to help and encourage members in the pursuit of an exciting range of interests and activities, while at the same time providing many social events at which existing friendships are maintained and new ones formed.

The BUPA Foundation awards include one that recognises outstanding contributions to patient safety from individuals or teams.

The Committee on Publication Ethics has now been entered in the Central Register of Charities (registered No 1123023) and hence has achieved charity status.

A total of €12 million (nearly £9.5 million) has been invested by the European Commission in a new pan-European partnership that will design an advanced diagnostic tool for the detection and control of coeliac disease.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has published a consultation document on ways to improve the environment and health of children and young people in the UK.

Doris-Ann Williams, director-general of the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA), commented recently on the government’s proposals for so-called health MoTs.

Two University of Ulster academics have won prestigious awards in recognition of their cutting-edge research into diabetes.

In response to enquiries from its members, the Association of Anatomical Pathology Technology (AAPT) has drawn up guidelines covering the involvement of anatomical pathology technologists (APTs) in post-mortem examinations on friends or relatives.

The Wellcome Trust has announced a £30 million partnership between the private, public and charitable sectors to offer much-needed training to science teachers.

The Health Professions Council (HPC) has launched a three-month consultation to invite stakeholders for their views on its proposed fees increase for 2009.