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The youngest patient in the UK to be treated using pioneering proton beam therapy has helped mark the three years since the treatment was made available on the NHS in England. Teddy Slade, who recently celebrated his fourth birthday, was just 18 months old when he underwent proton beam therapy for a rare brain tumour, making him the youngest patient in the country to be treated at the UK’s first NHS high energy centre at the Christie Cancer Centre. After surgery to remove the tumour, Teddy was given proton beam therapy at the newly opened centre at The Christie in Manchester for six and half weeks. Now Teddy, who lives in Stockport with mum and dad, Amy and Dan, only requires regular check-ups to monitor his progress and is enjoying pre-school – and living a full and normal life.
Proton beam therapy is a specialist form of radiotherapy that targets cancers very precisely, increasing success rates and reducing side effects, which makes it an ideal treatment for certain cancers in children who are at risk of lasting damage to organs that are still growing. The therapy uses a beam of protons to irradiate diseased tissue, most often in the treatment of cancer. The chief advantage of proton therapy over other types of external beam radiotherapy is that, as a charged particle, the dose is deposited over a narrow range of depth, and there is minimal entry, exit, or scattered radiation dose.
Read more: Youngest proton beam patient marks three year NHS milestone
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When three apprentices started on a pioneering programme within the Medical Engineering Services department (MES) at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) little did they know within a few months they would have a key role to play as the pandemic struck.
Rhys Arnold, Carnell McKenzie and Kurran Singh Rai are the first apprentices in MES for over 25 years. They are part of a 33-strong team which manages a mammoth 34,000 medical devices of which over 20,000 are owned by SaTH.
Nigel Watkinson, Medical Engineering Services manager at SaTH, said: “To put this into context the apprentices had a few months to settle and then COVID hit. It has been a good grounding and we couldn’t have predicted that – they have had to hit the ground running at a time of a pandemic the likes of which the NHS has not seen before.”
He said that they looked at an apprenticeship scheme within MES as nearly half of the department’s staff were at or about to reach retirement age and there was also recognition within the mechanical engineering industry that there was a shortage of technicians.
Read more: Medical Engineering Apprentices play key role at Trust
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The UK is sending vital humanitarian assistance and redeploying a Royal Navy ship to support Tonga respond to the catastrophic tsunami that hit the islands.
Water, tents and protective equipment to be sent to tsunami-hit Tonga. Vital UK support will be sent on Australia’s HMAS Adelaide, while HMS Spey is also being redeployed to the Pacific Island to support the international response. The support for Tonga comes as the Foreign and Defence Secretaries conclude talks with their Australian counterparts in Sydney today, furthering UK cooperation to the Indo-Pacific region.
The UK will redeploy a Royal Navy ship and work with Australia and New Zealand to deliver vital aid to Tonga, after a once in a thousand year volcanic eruption caused a catastrophic tsunami to hit the islands. UK-funded supplies will be onboard the Royal Australian Navy’s HMAS Adelaide, which is due to set sail for Nuku’alofa this morning (Friday 21 January), while Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has authorised Royal Navy ship HMS Spey to sail to Tonga to support the humanitarian and disaster relief effort. In total 17 pallets of supplies are being sent on HMAS Adelaide today, all items provided were at the request of the Tongan government, including 90 family tents, 8 community tents and 6 wheel barrows.
Read more: Royal Navy to support Tonga tsunami response, including supply of medical equipment
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A trial has begun of a new needle-free Covid-19 vaccine to protect against future variants of the virus. The jab uses a jet of air that pushes the vaccine into the skin, which could prove an alternative to those who have a fear of needles and used as a COVID-19 booster shot.
The University of Southampton said in a statement “If successful it could be scaled up and manufactured as a powder to boost global vaccination efforts, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.”
The NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility (CRF) is delivering the first trial of the vaccine candidate, DIOS-CoVax. The trial team are calling for healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 50 in the Southampton area. Participants must have had both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine but not their third dose booster. The first participant was given the vaccine in the CRF facility at University Hospital Southampton on Tuesday 14 December.
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Half of NHS Type 1 diabetes patients in England are now benefiting from the use of “life-changing” flash monitors that allow them to check their glucose levels more easily and regularly, paving the way for more people to benefit. Health service chief executive Amanda Pritchard, patient groups and senior clinicians have welcomed the milestone, showing that the NHS is ahead of target to roll-out the monitors, as the independent health advisory NICE, confirmed it was beginning to consult on expanding access to the convenient and effective kit.
The most recent figures show that around 125,000, or half, of patients living with Type 1 diabetes are now using these monitors to help control their condition. The insight from the successful roll-out by NHS England has helped to inform the case for potential wider use of these technologies to benefit patients living with Type 1 diabetes, and potentially those living with Type 2 diabetes, as the health service continues to improve care for people with both forms of the condition.
The NHS Long Term Plan included a target to ensure 20% of people with Type 1 diabetes were benefiting from flash monitors by March 2021. Data for March shows the NHS significantly exceeded that goal, with the actual percentage of those benefiting hitting more than 45% – double the target, with uptake by July hitting half of eligible people. Eligible patients are currently able to access the monitors on prescription from their local GP or diabetes team, helping them to better manage their blood sugar levels. The wearable gadgets have a sensor that easily attaches to the back of the arm, allowing patients to check their glucose quickly and easily with a simple one-second scan. The monitors link to an easy-to-use app on your phone, where patients can access the data gathered by the device.
Read more: More people with diabetes set to benefit from rollout of blood sugar monitors
