A London university has launched new courses in a bid to boost the knowledge and skills of healthcare support workers.

The move from Middlesex University comes in the wake of a Government call for an increase in the number of NHS support staff taking qualifications, something which is likely to affect the working life of those in nursing jobs.

The university has launched two courses aimed at boosting ethical and legal knowledge among healthcare support workers and assistant practitioners as well boosting their range of skills.

The new part-time courses have been developed with assistance from London NHS trusts in a bid to see more staff achieve higher qualifications.

Students will have the option of studying for one or two years, with those staying on for a second having the opportunity to upgrade their certificate in higher education to a diploma in higher education.

Middlesex Nursing lecturers Kate Brown and Carol Lincoln said: "Many healthcare workers want to progress their careers and have aspirations to become assistant practitioners and nurses, and this will help them on their way."

Copyright © Press Association 2011

The Government will support the country`s medical research sector with an investment of £800 million over the next five years, ministers have confirmed.

With those in health jobs in the UK currently feeling the economic squeeze, it is hoped that the money will support the development of numerous new treatments.

The cash will be provided by a £4 billion medical research fund, which the coalition originally announced in its Comprehensive Spending Review.

Cancer, heart disease and diabetes are among the conditions which the funding will address, with the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of these set to be focused on.

Commenting on the funding pledge, Prime Minister David Cameron, said: "This unprecedented investment into the development of innovative medicines and treatments will have a huge impact on the care and services patients receive and help develop the modern, world-class health service patients` deserve."

Copyright © Press Association 2011

Patients have been urged by a team of researchers to report directly back to the Government agency responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptably safe.

A study by Nottingham University Medical School found that patients gave much more detailed accounts when outlining the side effects of medicines, compared with the descriptions provided by people with NHS jobs.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) currently runs a Yellow Card Scheme, which monitors the safety of the medicines and vaccines on the market.

The researchers think that patient contributions to the scheme will help the MHRA build a more accurate picture of what drugs and treatments work most effectively and which ones are problematic.

Study leader Tony Avery said: "Patients filling in their own reports explain the side-effects in their own words and often provide more detail than healthcare professionals. Suggesting that patients consider filling in a yellow card may help to indicate that their symptoms are being taken seriously. Also, patients may be motivated by the idea of providing information that will help improve understanding of side-effects."

Copyright ⌐ Press Association 2011

A hit-and-run victim who was paralysed from the waist down has managed to stand up on his own and take a few faltering steps on a treadmill following pioneering treatment.

American Rob Summers, 25, is the first patient to respond to groundbreaking therapy, which involves long hours of training combined with electrical stimulus.

He said: "This procedure has completely changed my life."

It has taken three decades to develop the treatment, which bypasses the brain to "teach" the spinal cord how to control limbs and body functions independently.

Following the course of treatment Mr Summers, who is normally confined to a wheelchair, has been able to push himself up and stand on his own for several minutes.

He has managed to make repeated stepping motions on a treadmill and been able to voluntarily move his hips, knees, ankles and toes. Mr Summers has also regained some bladder and sexual function since having the treatment.

Researchers are excited by the breakthrough, but they warned in The Lancet medical journal that there is a lot more work still to be done on the treatment.

Professor Reggie Edgerton, from the University of California at Los Angeles, a leading member of the 11-person team of researchers, said: "The spinal cord is smart. The neural networks in the lumbosacral spinal cord are capable of initiating full weight bearing and relatively co-ordinated stepping without any input from the brain. This is possible, in part, due to information that is sent back from the legs directly to the spinal cord.

"This sensory feedback from the feet and legs to the spinal cord facilitates the individual`s potential to balance and step over a range of speeds, directions and level of weight bearing.

"The spinal cord can independently interpret these data and send movement instructions back to the legs - all without cortical (brain) involvement."

Copyright ⌐ Press Association 2011