Boost your Wellbeing by Being Nice

Being nice to our fellow human beings doesn’t only benefit the recipient; it can also boost our immune system, reduce stress and increase well-being hormones.

World Kindness Day, 13^th November is now also Close the GAP day (Give Appreciate Participate) and was set up by Dr Barbara Mariposa who came up with the concept after suffering depression.  There are simple ways to practice being nice to people suggests a flier about the day; “pay someone a compliment”, “smile at someone on public transport”, or “buy someone lunch”.

Dr Mariposa comments: “Close the GAP day is about our ability to determine our own health through our actions.  Just like when you go running, endorphins like serotonin are released when you are generous and kind and put your attention on the needs of the other person.  It’s like jogging for the soul really”.  A senior researcher at the Mental Health Foundation further comments: “Being nice to people opens up more positive interactions for the individual.  It helps us to become more integrated socially with other and helps adjust to our environment and become more of an active participant in it”.

The government is working to improve the UK’s mental health as it is the highest cause of disability and the treatment of depression alone costs in the region of £22bn a year.

Male Infertility Hope

A new test has been developed to assist couples who have ‘unexplained infertility’ problems.

Annually around 50,000 couples are told they will need fertility treatment to conceive and a third is told that no problems have been detected.  A recent study has found that 80 per cent of these couples cannot conceive due to poor quality sperm.

Sperm is examined for shape, speed and concentration under the microscope and the new test looks for tiny breaks or tears in the sperm’s DNA.  If sperm is classified as ‘high sperm DNA damage’ a women is less likely to become pregnant and there is a higher chance she will miscarry.

Professor Sheena Lewis, of Queens University Belfast, said:  “For almost one third of couples, until now, there has been no obvious cause for infertility and these couples were given the diagnosis of ‘unexplained infertility’.  These couples often invest a lot of time and money in fertility treatments, like intrauterine insemination, which are unlikely to be successful.  Now that we have found the cause of infertility for these couples suitable treatments can be tailored which will direct them straight to the best treatment”.

Medical Professional Personnel Limited Acquires Parkhill Executive

For immediate release

Medical Professional Personnel Limited Acquires Parkhill Executive Resourcing

Medical Professional Personnel (MPP) today announced that it has acquired the business of Parkhill Executive Resourcing, which specialises in NHS finance recruitment.

Parkhill’s managing consultant, Alan Waterman, has been appointed as Medical Professional Personnel’s new NHS Finance Manager.

Brendan Hannigan, CEO of Medical Professional Personnel, said: “We are extremely excited to take the strategic step of diversifying into the NHS finance recruitment market. We believe this is a growth market which fits ideally with our existing successful healthcare recruitment services within nursing, medical locums and homecare.

“MPP is delighted to welcome Alan to our team. Alan has an impressive track record in growing the finance recruitment business during his eight years with Parkhill and securing his expertise was an invaluable part of this agreement. “

From 19 November 2012, all existing healthcare finance recruitment contracts will migrate across from Parkhill to Medical Professional Personnel.

The agreement has been reached following amicable discussions between Medical Professional Personnel, Parkhill and its host Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

The transfer of business represents a positive move for both organisations. As a specialist healthcare recruitment company, Medical Professional Personnel is in an ideal position to successfully run the healthcare finance recruitment division.

With this new acquisition, Medical Professional Personnel intends to invest in, strengthen and expand significantly within the healthcare finance market.

ENDS

For further information, please contact Brendan Hannigan on 0845 122 0414

Notes to editors:

Medical Professional Personnel Ltd is a privately owned business with more than 12 years’ experience operating under NHS framework agreements with the Head Office based in Brentford, West London.

Midwife Shortage

2012 isn’t simply the year of the Olympics however, but moreover the highest baby boom during the last forty years.

It is estimated that around 700,000 babies will be given birth to this year, which is more than in any year since 1971.  The one problem being that the NHS has a big midwife shortage of around 5000 midwives. A quarter of midwifery departments said their budgets have been cut in the last twelve months.

Cathy Warwick, the chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives said: “The baby boom is restarting with renewed vigour.  We are already at birth numbers that haven’t been seen for a couple of generations.  The demand this is placing on the NHS is enormous … We need all the midwives we can get.  We’re training midwives, but we’re not recruiting them”.

A third of newly qualified midwives have said they are having trouble finding work.

Nursing News – 12th November 2012

The importance of physical activity for pre-schoolers

A study carried out by a former primary headmaster and the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Chester has found 30 per cent of participants showed signs of physical immaturity and another 42 per cent showed signs of some delays in development.

Reception classes in the West Midlands took part in the research in which 60 children were given 14 short tests.  Some of the tests were as simple as asking the child to stand on one leg for three seconds or asking them to crawl a short distance.  The results found a link between those who struggle to complete basic physical exercises and those who are significantly more likely to fall behind, 77 per cent of pupils in the bottom half of the group for physical ability were also in the lowest group academically.

Health assistants

The Willis Commission on Nursing Education have compiled a report which suggests healthcare assistants should be independently regulated “in the interests of patient safety and care quality”.  It also said that workers who assist doctors and nurses in the NHS should be properly supervised with more clearly defined roles.

Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes sufferers could soon be spraying insulin up their nose rather than injecting daily after a successful trial on rats of a new product.  The spray delivers insulin into the bloodstream via the nose and can reduce blood sugar levels for around 24 hours in rats.

Type 1 diabetes affects around 300,000 people in the UK – It destroys insulin producing cells in the pancreas.  Insulin is the hormone which regulates the levels of glucose in the blood, without it the levels can rise to dangerously high levels.

The new spray will be turn into a sticky gel when it warms up to body temperature in the nose and this helps it to remain effective.  Study leader Dr Hamde Nazar, from the University of Sunderland, said: “Our data highlights the potential of the formulation as a once-a-day dosage form for the delivery of insulin through the nasal route.  However, its relative merit for the treatment of human diabetes condition can only be assessed in the clinic”.