TOP INDUSTRY NEWS

Deciding its own destiny: an innovative future for the NHS Deciding its own destiny: an innovative future for the NHS
Innovation should be the life blood of the NHS and no-one is better placed to conceive new ways of improving patient care than those who deliver it. However, despite being brilliant at generating ideas, healthcare staff often lack the contacts, know-how or time to take their ideas forward. Lack of a joined-up approach between managers and frontline staff often leads to apathy, with the words innovation and National Health Service often being regarded as an oxymoron.

Other News...

Increasing renal perfusion
A company in Israel has invented a ‘kidney pacemaker’ that can extend the life of a diseased kidney before solutions such as dialysis or a transplant need to be considered.
Recent anniversaries
While last month saw the much-reported 60th anniversary of the introduction of the National Health Service, it was also the month in which Louise Brown celebrated her 30th birthday.
Updated standards of conduct, performance and ethics introduced
The Health Professions Council (HPC) has launched its revised Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics (SCPE) for all registrants and potential registrants. The SCPE are the fundamental standards the HPC considers essential to protect the health and wellbeing of the public.
Sticky end for malaria parasites
Scientists funded by the Wellcome Trust have identified a key mechanism that enables malaria-infected red blood cells to stick to the walls of blood vessels and avoid being destroyed by the body’s immune system. The research, published recently in the journal Cell, highlights an important potential new target for antimalarial drugs.
Four HPC Council members appointed
Following recent elections, the Health Professions Council (HPC) has announced two new members to its Council and two re-elected members. Among the four people appointed is Jeff Seneviratne, who is the new registrant member for clinical scientists.
Seeking new technologies
Laboratory equipment businesses which have products or technologies that could help prevent the spread of methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or similar infections are being asked to come forward to take part in a new NHS programme.

COVER STORY

High-quality service delivery: making it happen High-quality service delivery: making it happen
In order to deal with increasing demands on pathology services, many laboratories are turning to new approaches in instrumentation and automation to ensure high-quality service delivery into the future.

PRODUCT NEWS

High-resolution microarray scanner
Agilent Technologies has introduced the latest version of its Agilent DNA microarray scanner. It employs SureScan high-resolution technology to deliver rapid scan times for current and nextgeneration microarrays.
Ready-to-use miRNA assays
Two ready-to-use microRNA (miRNA) assay technologies have been introduced by Qiagen. The two new products, miScript miRNA Mimics and miScript miRNA Inhibitors, are ready-totransfect items for use in gene regulation and cellular pathway analysis.
New prominence for liquid chromatography
Shimadzu has introduced the Prominence nano, a high-performance liquid chromatograph (LC) that supports high-precision gradient analysis. Prominence nano delivers exact flow rates via two LC-20AD nano pumps that are controlled independently by feedback from integrated high-precision nano flow sensors.
Drug residue ELISA testing
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits from Randox offer drug residue screening on a fast and simple basis, and provide reliable results.
Stackable modular spectroscopy
Ocean Optics has developed a family of modular optical sensing instruments easily adaptable for the field, laboratory or process environments.
Customised reaction plates for TaqMan applications
Applied Biosystems has announced the worldwide availability of new gene expression analysis tools that claim added flexibility and greater efficiency in performing experiments that identify and quantify key genes in biological samples. The TaqMan Express plates are 96-well reaction plates containing dried-down versions of more than 50,000 Applied Biosystems’ TaqMan gene expression assays, in customised sets.
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FEATURE ARTICLE

High-quality service delivery: making it happen
New approaches to instrumentation and automation are helping to ensure high-quality service delivery in pathology. However, the implementation stage that follows delivery is critical in bringing the solution to life. Here, Carla Deakin takes a closer look at factors that are central to a successful implementation.

PRODUCT ARTICLE

Accurate determination of MIC values
Oxoid has launched improved M.I.C.Evaluator (M.I.C.E.) strips, which provide accurate determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values. The new distinctive gradient format provides excellent contrast against the agar background and the increased font size permits easier reading.