General News

CQC: The Care Quality Commission is to carry out an urgent inspection into breast cancer screening, pathology & clinical governance at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.  The announcement comes as the trust announces that it is to recall 79 women with regard to test results relating to breast tissue biopsies.
 
Monitor has also announced that it is taking regulatory action to ensure that the Trust has strong leadership, is delivering high quality services for local patients and is financially viable.  The Trust was found in significant breach of its terms of authorisation on 21 September 2012.
Press release & links ~ Monitor’s PR
 
HPA: The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is aware of a laboratory confirmed case of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) in a UK traveller who has recently returned from Afghanistan.  The patient has been transferred from Glasgow, Scotland to the high security infectious diseases unit at the Royal Free hospital in London using specialist air transport.
 
CCHF is a serious viral disease which infects a range of domestic & wild animals.  Humans are usually infected directly from the blood or body fluids of infected animals or via tick bites. The disease is endemic in many countries in Africa, parts of Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Press release & links
 
HA: The Highways Agency is to deliver 57 vital road improvements to ‘boost the economy, reduce congestion & improve safety’. The £170m investment is part of a £217m programme to remove bottlenecks and keep traffic moving on England’s motorways & major A roads.  The economic benefit is estimated at around £3bn.
Press release & links ~ CBI: Gear change can accelerate the UK towards a 21st century road network
 
LRLand Registry will reduce fees for all their commercial services that supply a title register or a title plan from 22 October 2012..
Press release & links
 
HPA: The Health Protection Agency is aware the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued a drug alert to healthcare professionals advising them that the manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur MSD has recalled 16 batches of their typhoid vaccine, Typhim Vi.
Press release & links
 
FSA: The Food Standards Agency is advising people that eating lead-shot game on a frequent basis can expose them to potentially harmful levels of lead.  The FSA’s advice is that frequent consumers of lead-shot game should eat less of this type of meat.
Press release & links
 
PCS: Low-paid staff who work for Capita at the Criminal Records Bureau in Liverpool have voted 9 to 1 to strike over pay. In a ballot, 91% voted for a strike & other forms of industrial action on an 82% turnout. As well as now considering strike action, other industrial action could include a refusal to do overtime or any work outside the strict terms of contracts, and a general withdrawal of goodwill and co-operation.
 
The Home Office recently announced that Capita had lost the CRB contract to Tata Consultancy Services and work is expected to transfer to the new contractor in mid-2013. The union will be seeking an assurance from Tata that jobs will remain in Liverpool, and will be ensuring that all agreed terms & conditions for staff are transferred across.
Press release & links
 
EH: Using the latest 3D laser scanning technology, an English Heritage analysis of Stonehenge has found new evidence of the importance of the 2 solstices to its creators, including that of the midwinter sunset.
Press release & links
 
TfL: A short film showcasing how disadvantaged young Londoners have turned their lives around through cycling is now available to watch online.   The Barclays-backed Cycle into Work programme offers to send young people on courses to build & maintain bicycles, helping them learn key skills and boost their chances of finding employment.
Press release & links
 
TfLCommuters could be in with a chance of winning a range of top prizes if they can find the 75 Underground stations hidden in visual clues in a poster. The 'Look for Longer' competition, devised by the outdoor media owner CBS Outdoor, encourages lateral thinking and tests passengers' knowledge of the Capital as they travel around the Tube network.
Press release & links
 
FSABig Bamboo Jamaican Irish Moss Vanilla Flavoured Drink with a 'best before' end date of February 2014, has been withdrawn by Wanis, because it contains milk that is not mentioned on the label. Anyone with an allergy to or an intolerance of milk should not consume the drink.  The Food Standards Agency has issued an Allergy Alert.
Press release & links
 
FSAMyprotein has recalled its own-brand Free Range Liquid Egg Whites with a 'best before' date of 8 February 2013, because salmonella has been detected in a batch of the product. The Food Standards Agency has issued a product recall information notice. .
Press release & links
 
STFC: A new high-tech instrument with 24 robotic arms has crossed the Atlantic from Edinburgh to a mountain top in Chile to address in more detail than ever before, some of the key questions surrounding the beginnings of the Universe, stars and galaxies.  
Press release & links
 
DCMSFunding agreed for Bomber Command Memorial dedication ceremony;  Culture Secretary Maria Miller has announced a £600,000 package to close remaining funding gap.  Philanthropist John Caudwell has pledged £200,000, while DCMS is to contribute a further £400,000 to the cost of the Green Park memorial’s dedication ceremony, which took place in June this year.
Press release & links
 
TNA: You can now find out more about what life was like in 1930s Britain by exploring a new resource on The National Archives Education website.  Thirties Britain: The depressed decade? is a collection of 45 pivotal documents relating to the decade, with an introduction by historian, broadcaster & author, Juliet Gardiner.
Press release & links
Free, Secure, Compliant UK Public Sector IT Recycling Service