APPLICATIONS close next week for Royal College of Surgeons members who wish to serve on the college's Speciality Advisory Boards (SAB) in plastic surgery and ophthalmology. Set up to advise the college council on education, external affairs and exami
nations, each SAB is open to college members who are expected to serve for three years. Applications close on 30 April and more information is available at www.rcsed.ac.uk
BOWEL cancer screening kits will be sent to Lothian residents aged between 50 and 74 to aid early diagnosis of the disease. Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in Scotland claiming 1,600 lives each year. The Lothian programme is part of a national scheme being introduced across Scotland following successful pilots in Tayside and Grampian. In Ayrshire, information stands will be set up in Crosshouse and Ayr hospitals and a series of radio adverts will run raising awareness of the disease.
A NEW product invented by a Scottish-based doctor to staunch nosebleeds was launched in Ayrshire yesterday. The RhinoPinch nose clip (pictured), was invented by Dr Akuafo Agbenyega during his time at Crosshouse Hospital and applies cushioned pressure across the bridge of the nose to stop bleeding. The 79p device has been licensed commercially and the NHS will receive a share of the sales royalties if the product is successful.
THE British Medical Association has launched a new online video service on YouTube. BMAtv aims to keep members, and the general public up to date with news from the organisation and was launched with an interview with BMA chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum. He discussed his first year in office and the challenges facing the BMA in the next 12 months including the SAS doctors' contract and the junior doctor recruitment process. BMAtv is available at uk.youtube.com/user/BMAtv
AN A&E doctor raised over £9,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust by working as a hospital porter for a day. Dr Peter Freeland, a consultant at St John's Hospital, spent a ten-hour shift transporting patients, distributing meals and delivering supplies around the hospital.
MUMS-to-be in Perthshire can now get information about giving birth via a website launched by NHS Tayside. Birthinperth.scot.nhs.uk provides advice about childbirth as well as details of the facilities available at the Perth Midwife Unit. Written by midwives, it also offers links to other useful sites for pregnant women.
EVENTSNOBEL Prize-winner Harold Varmus will give the 24th Peter Garland Lecture at Dundee University today. A former director of the US National Institutes of Health, Varmus will deliver a speech entitled "The New Era in Cancer Research". He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1989, and is the current president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
THE annual conference of Scottish Local Medical Committees (SLMCs) will be held in Clydebank on Thursday. The one-day event will be held in the Beardmore Conference hotel and will allow GPs from across Scotland to debate issues such as extended opening hours and community health partnerships.
A ONE-day conference at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) will examine the role that the UK has to play in global health. The event, to be held on 29 April will discuss Lord Crisp and Sir Liam Donaldson's world health reviews and the impact of government health initiatives. A full programme is available on the RCP website: www.rcplondon.ac.uk
The full article contains 579 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
