General practice leaders in Wales have voted unanimously to reject the Welsh government’s GP contract offer for 2024-25.The BMA’s ​General Practitioners Committee Wales said the government’s general medical services contract offer for the current financial year “fails to provide a credible and sustainable future” for general practice.GPs in Wales will now vote on whether to accept or reject the contract in a referendum that will open later this month.Gareth Oelmann, chair of the committee, said, “The decision to disregard the serious concerns and valuable contribution of general practice in Wales is beyond insulting, it is dangerous, leaving more surgeries and their patients in peril. We are concerned that this offer will leave more practices with no option but to close. GPs are being denied the resources they need to deliver vital services to the population.”The BMA said it was not yet able to disclose any details on the offer, and...

An employment judge has cleared the way for Farah Jameel, a former chair of the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee for England (GPCE), to go ahead with claims of discrimination and unfair dismissal against the association over her removal from the post during maternity leave.Jameel, who was elected the first female chair in November 2021, was put on temporary suspension in 2022 after complaints by BMA staff. The BMA told her in August 2023 that her contract was being terminated.The contract described her as a contractor providing consultancy services rather than an employee. But in a preliminary ruling the employment judge Natasha Joffe has held that Jameel was in reality an office holder and an employee, opening the way for her claims to proceed to a full hearing by an employment tribunal.The GPCE passed a vote of no confidence in Jameel in July 2023, as a means of electing a new...

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended that all women with suspected endometriosis be offered an early transvaginal ultrasound scan, even if the pelvic or abdominal examination is normal.In its updated guideline1 on the diagnosis and management of endometriosis, NICE recommends specialist ultrasound as an alternative to magnetic resonance imaging for investigating suspected cases of the condition in secondary care.The updated guideline follows recent reports from both the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death2 and Endometriosis UK which highlighted problems with delayed diagnoses, partly owing to a lack of awareness among healthcare professionals of the condition and how it presents. Such delays can result in prolonged suffering, ill health, and risks to fertility, the reports warned.Other new and updated recommendations include asking women with suspected endometriosis if any first degree relatives have a history of the condition, and considering neurodiversity when taking into account...

I’m often asked if I miss working in the House of Commons. Of course I do; it’s one of the most amazing places in the world and remains the cockpit of our nation.There are obviously days I miss it more than others, usually around the big national moments. Whatever your view of Kim Leadbeater’s private member’s bill—the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill—its second reading this month will be one of those big moments.Kim is a friend of mine, and we spoke before she decided to put her bill forward after it topped the private members’ ballot at the start of the new parliament. My advice was to proceed with great care, to remember that this will take over your career in many ways, and to read the report produced earlier this year by the Health and Social Care Committee, which I chaired, on the subject of assisted dying/assisted...

Concerns are mounting over whether the NHS can meet key performance targets this winter, NHS Providers has said, after a survey of trust leaders highlighted pressure on hospitals, ambulance services, and community and mental health teams.1Over nine in 10 of the leaders who responded (96%) said that they were extremely or moderately concerned about the effect of winter pressures on their trust and local area. The most common reasons for concerns related to financial constraints and staffing provision. The top three greatest risks to the provision of high quality patient care over winter were identified as delayed discharge (57%), social care capacity (49%), and acute care bed capacity (43%).NHS Providers surveyed 171 trust leaders from 118 trusts in September and October, accounting for 56% of the provider sector.Most trust leaders (79%) were worried or very worried about whether their trusts had capacity to meet demand for services over the next...

At a recent clinical meeting, I heard that GPs local to me are about to lose the ability to request magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans for patients presenting with musculoskeletal symptoms. We’re instead advised to refer our patients to a musculoskeletal clinical assessment and triage service (CATS)—staffed largely by musculoskeletal advanced practitioners, who will assess our patients and determine whether imaging is warranted.The hope is that fewer patients will have unnecessary imaging and that this will reduce the potential harms of overdiagnosis. Radiologists rarely report musculoskeletal MRI scans as entirely normal, and it can be hard to know what to do with abnormal findings on an MRI. More often than not, patients with abnormal scans are referred to orthopaedic teams, even though there may not necessarily be a surgical target.At a population level, this is problematic on two fronts. Firstly, MRI scans are expensive and need to be used judiciously....

HPE’s cooling expert, Jason Zeiler, explains why liquid cooling is ideally suited to cool next-generation accelerators for greater efficiency, sustainability, and density in future AI data centers In this article […]

The post Liquid Cooling: A Cool Approach for AI appeared first on HPCwire.

About 2.25 million U.S. middle- and high-school students this year say they use tobacco products, which is 500,000 fewer than a year ago, the Centers for Disease Control said Thursday.

Consumers thinking of dining out for their next meal may want to consider one instruction for the server -- hold the salt.

A low-carbohydrate diet may help adults with type 2 diabetes gain better blood sugar control and make it possible to decrease diabetes medication, a new study suggests.

Four agricultural workers in Washington state have tested positive for bird flu, the first human cases of H5N1 virus to be reported in the state. Washington is the sixth state to report a human infection of avian flu.

While no candy is truly healthy, some options are better for your gut than others. And there are ways you can help wake your gut from its sugar "spell" after holiday indulgence.

Nutritional supplements that contain curcumin -- a natural anti-inflammatory compound -- may protect the eyes from the development and progression of age-related macular degeneration, a new study suggests.

Discrimination -- prejudiced actions toward people based on their identity -- may cause stress that impairs gut health and lead to the growth of unhealthy bacteria that promote inflammation, a new study has found.

New blood tests screen for colorectal cancer in a much less invasive way than colonoscopy, but deaths will increase if many people choose this alternative, a new study indicates.

Being a "weekend warrior" -- engaging in exercise once or twice per week -- may be as beneficial as regular sessions in decreasing the risk of cognitive decline that often leads to dementia, a new study concludes.

Weight-loss surgery in adolescents with severe obesity can lead to long-term health benefits, such as more frequent remission of type 2 diabetes than in adults who undergo the same treatment, a large, NIH-funded study.

Slivered onions served on McDonald's Quarter Pounders and other menu items caused a recent E. coli outbreak, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday.

Health officials in Britain have detected the country's first confirmed human case of a new strain of mpox that has been spreading throughout Africa.

The nation's depleted supply of IV solutions is recovering after a North Carolina facility recently resumed production after Hurricane Helene temporarily put it out of business.

Virtual yoga can be a successful and accessible way to manage chronic low back pain -- a common ailment with major consequences, a new study suggests.

The third and final phase of polio vaccinations is underway in the northern Gaza strip after being postponed due to a lack of access and safety concerns, UNICEF announced on Friday.

A new study indicates what researchers describe as an ongoing "stubborn mistrust" in science among the American public as it relates to COVID-19 vaccines.

Two additional cases of a new strain of mpox have been detected in Britain, national health officials said Monday, less than a week after the first case was announced to the public.

Experiencing excessive daytime sleepiness as an older adult can spell dire consequences that ultimately may lead to full-blown dementia, according to a new study funded by the National Institute on Aging.

An additional case of a new strain of mpox has been detected in Britain, bringing the total number of infections in the country to four.