Minister for Health Simon Harris TD launched two new National Clinical Guidelines to help healthcare professionals with the diagnosis, staging and treatment of patients with oesophageal or oesophagogastric junction cancer and the diagnosis and staging of patients with ovarian cancer. The guidelines were developed by multidisciplinary groups supported by the […]

Nicola Wenlock’s days tend to be full of meetings and report writing but she swapped this for a chat over nappies, birth plans and breastfeeding with mums as she went back on to the maternity ward for the day. Nicola began her NHS career in 1989 as a student nurse  […]

A new way of detecting rheumatoid arthritis using infrared light could offer an objective way of diagnosing the disease and monitoring treatment effectiveness, a University of Birmingham study shows.  The rapid, non-invasive technique could help clinicians diagnose the disease earlier, and assess how effectively the selected treatment is controlling the […]

Shobna Gulati has spoken out about her own family’s experience of dementia to encourage more open discussion of the condition in South Asian communities. The actress has shared her story to launch a new campaign from Alzheimer’s Research UK, which aims to help people understand what dementia is and how it affects […]

Immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (also known as Keytruda) used with chemotherapy drugs carboplatin and paclitaxel will now be an option for adults with squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) which has spread to other parts of the body and who haven’t had any previous treatments. Around 7,500 people in England are diagnosed […]

More than six million illegal cigarettes and 350kg of hand rolling tobacco were seized last year by local authority trading standards services across the West Midlands region. Officers point out that the big successes at finding illegal sales of tobacco were achieved despite ingenious efforts to hide them. They point […]

Shobna Gulati has spoken out about her own family’s experience of dementia to encourage more open discussion of the condition in South Asian communities. The actress has shared her story to launch a new campaign from Alzheimer’s Research UK, which aims to help people understand what dementia is and how it affects […]

A group of fundraisers calling themselves Sister Dora’s Explorers have saddled up, teed off and got the party started to raise £6,000 to buy a machine to help patients receiving chemotherapy at Walsall Manor Hospital. The group clocked up 200 miles in just one day cycling from Brighton Pier to […]

A team of midwives will be supporting low risk Walsall women and ensuring they see the same midwives throughout their pregnancy and birth. The Wyndlow team – named in honour of local nursing heroine Sister Dora Wyndlow Pattison – implements “continuity of carer” which was rolled out across the country […]

A very special visitor came to see patient Geoff Turner in the Intensive Care Unit at Walsall Manor Hospital – his beloved pet dog Karli. Geoff, aged 82, has suffered heart failure and is receiving palliative care.  His family mentioned to nursing staff just how much he loved his four […]