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by GOV.UK
Elite hospitals handed contracts to transform ‘special measures’ hospitals
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has set out the Government’s plans to help prevent future failures of care and safety at NHS hospitals.
In the wake of the scandal over standards at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and subsequent Keogh Review which looked at 14 NHS Trusts with high mortality rates, 11 of those Trusts have already been placed in ‘special measures’.
Read more: Hunt sets out tough new approach to turn around NHS hospitals
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by BBC
The UK has become the drug and alcohol "addictions capital of Europe", a think tank has warned.
The Centre for Social Justice - set up by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith - said drink and drug abuse cost the UK £36bn a year.
Its report warned that the UK has become a hub for websites peddling potentially dangerous "legal highs". The CSJ also criticised the government for failing to tackle heroin addiction and cheaply available alcohol. The report, No Quick Fix, found that last year 52 people in England and Wales died after taking legal highs, up from 28 the previous year.
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by NHS Choices
Stem cells were implanted in mice to grow tooth-like structures "Scientists have grown rudimentary teeth out of the most unlikely of sources, human urine," BBC News reveals.
The story is based on a laboratory study that used pluripotent stem cells generated from human urine cells to grow teeth-like structures in a group of mice. Pluripotent stem cells have the potential to develop into any type of body cell. These stem cells were then combined with early dental tissue obtained from mouse embryos and then transplanted into the bodies of mice. The main advantage of using urine as a source is that it provides a much easier way to obtain stem cells compared to existing techniques (such as obtaining a sample of bone marrow).
Read more: Stem cells extracted from urine used to 'grow teeth'
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Measures to improve the training, values and education of all NHS staff.
Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter has announced a wide ranging series of measures to improve the training, values and education of all NHS staff over the next two years and beyond.
The measures have been published in the government’s mandate to Health Education England, a new arms-length body set up to give NHS training and education unprecedented focus and importance. It will be backed by £5 billion and will be accountable to ministers for delivering the goals set out in today’s document.
