Central Health News

Hundreds of people showed their support for Stafford Hospital last night, at an event organised to raise awareness of its significance to the area.

Lanterns were released and entertainment was organised by the Support for Stafford Hospital Group.

Cheryl Porter, spokesperson for the group, says the local area relies on the hospital.

• Health
• Stafford Hospital
• Mid Staffs

Fertility specialists in Nottingham have developed a new technique which could increase the number of IVF couples having a healthy baby, by more than 50%.

Embryos that are created in the lab are closely monitored using digital photography.

Technicians can then see which ones have developed well, and are more likely to result in a healthy baby.

They say it is the biggest scientific advance in IVF technology since the first test tube baby was born in 1978.

• Health
• Nottingham
• IVF

Fertility experts at the Care Fertility Clinic in Nottingham have developed a new technique that could boost the chances of IVF couples having a healthy baby.

Doctors say the procedure, which involves digital imaging of embryos, could raise live birthrates at their clinic to 78% - three times higher than the average.

• UK
• IVF
• Nottingham

A student nurse has told ITV News Central that she decided to train in the profession after having both her breasts removed at the age of 30, like Angelina Jolie.

Rebecca Isaac is training with Nottingham University at their brand new facility at the Royal Hospital in Derby.

• UK
• Angelina Jolie
• Royal Derby Hospital

The Chief Nursing Officer for England, Jane Cummings, will be officially opening the new £4.5million training facility for nurses at the Royal Derby Hospital.

The University of Nottingham provide tuition at the Royal Derby Hospital to train nurses to degree level.

• UK
• Royal Derby Hospital
• Derby

An extension on the intensive care unit at Birmingham Children's Hospital officially opens today after a £3.6million development.

The new intensive care unit is now the biggest in the UK.

With an extra 11 beds, the hospital says it will be able to treat more babies than ever before. Currently, with 20 beds, more than 1,000 critically ill babies are seen every year, providing over 190,000 hours of care.

• Health
• Birmingham Children's Hospital
• Birmingham

A pensioner who claims it felt like nursing staff were waiting for him to die, has welcomed a campaign to try to improve health services in Lincolnshire.

'Cure The NHS Lincolnshire' wants to hear from patients, ahead of a top-level review into high death rates at three of the County's hospitals. Kate Hemingway reports.

• UK

The campaign group Cure the NHS Lincolnshire is asking people who believe they've been treated poorly by the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust to come forward.

A review of higher than normal death rates is taking place next month and campaigners are gathering evidence to give to reviewers.

The trust says it welcomes the investigation.

• Health
• Lincolnshire
• United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust

GP surgeries across Staffordshire will write to parents of teenagers over the next few weeks, offering the MMR vaccination as part of a national catch-up programme.

The Department of Health aims to prevent a measles outbreak in the county by vaccinating as many 10-16 year olds as possible who have not had all of the MMR jabs.

At present there are no outbreaks in Staffordshire.

Dr Alison Teale from Staffordshire County Council’s Public Health team, said: “Many older children who missed out on the jabs remain unprotected. The majority of these children are now in secondary school where the ability for the infection to spread rapidly is high."

• Health
• Measles