SERVICE COSTS
CANCER
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A Department of Health scheme to help patients stick to their drug regimens has been so successful that it could save NHS England £517.6 million in the long term, a team of health economists has found. Researchers say the New Medicine Service (NMS), a free scheme launched in 2011 in which community pharmacists give advice and help patients who are taking new medicines, improved medicines adherence by 10% in a sample of 503 patients. Even in the short term, the scheme, in which pharmacists are paid £24.60 each time they look after a patient as part of NMS, has saved the NHS £75.4 million. Lead researcher Rachel Elliott said: ‘On the basis of our evidence,
CHILDHOOD
Mother’s upbringing linked to child’s emotional health
Mothers who had a traumatic upbringing are more likely to have children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, according to a new study. Researchers worked with the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children to collect data from more than 9,000 mothers and their children on each mother’s history of cruel or violent treatment in childhood
nursingstandard.com
Targeted radiotherapy for breast cancer reduces side effects
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Pharmacist-led scheme could save NHS half a billion pounds
we strongly recommend that NMS should continue to be commissioned in the future. ‘This is a simple intervention, which has been popular with pharmacists and patients.’ ++Elliott R et al (2017) Cost Effectiveness of support for people starting a new medication for a long-term condition through community pharmacies: an economic evaluation of the New Medicine Service compared with normal practice. PharmacoEconomics. doi: 10.1007/s40273-017-0554-9
and their child’s emotional and behavioural difficulties in childhood and adolescence. The study found a significant link between the two, with almost half (49%) of children whose mothers had been mistreated as children developing emotional and behavioural difficulties such as excessive worrying or anger at ten, 11 and 13 years of age. Mothers with troubled childhoods were also significantly more likely to have a lower level of education, a psychiatric history, to drink alcohol and smoke more in pregnancy and to have less social support. ++Plant D et al (2017) Association between maternal childhood trauma and offspring childhood psychopathology: mediation analysis from the ALSPAC cohort. The British Journal of Psychiatry. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.117.198721
Targeted radiotherapy on the site where tumours first develop can dramatically reduce side effects for breast cancer patients, a new trial has shown. Researchers at 30 centres across the UK studied 2,000 women aged 50 or over who had early stage breast cancer identified as at a low risk of returning. Some were treated with whole breast radiotherapy, which is the clinical standard, while others received partial radiotherapy specifically at the site of the tumour. Patients in both groups received 15 sessions of treatment over a three-week period. Follow-up assessments were carried out after five years, with 99% of the patients reporting they were disease free.
1 in 8
women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime; one in 870 men will receive the same diagnosis Source: Cancer Research UK Those who received the targeted approach reported fewer long-term changes to the appearance and feel of their breast five years after the treatment than those who had radiotherapy on the whole breast. Reader in breast radiation oncology at Cambridge University, chief investigator for the trial and first author of the study Charlotte Coles said: ‘Now we have evidence to support the use of less, but equally effective, radiotherapy for selected patients.’ ++Coles C et al (2017) Partial-breast radiotherapy after breast conservation surgery for patients with early breast cancer (UK IMPORT LOW trial): 5-year results from a multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 3, non-inferiority trial. The Lancet. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31145-5
volume 32 number 1 / 30 August 2017 / 17
CANCER
iStock
A Department of Health scheme to help patients stick to their drug regimens has been so successful that it could save NHS England £517.6 million in the long term, a team of health economists has found. Researchers say the New Medicine Service (NMS), a free scheme launched in 2011 in which community pharmacists give advice and help patients who are taking new medicines, improved medicines adherence by 10% in a sample of 503 patients. Even in the short term, the scheme, in which pharmacists are paid £24.60 each time they look after a patient as part of NMS, has saved the NHS £75.4 million. Lead researcher Rachel Elliott said: ‘On the basis of our evidence,
CHILDHOOD
Mother’s upbringing linked to child’s emotional health
Mothers who had a traumatic upbringing are more likely to have children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, according to a new study. Researchers worked with the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children to collect data from more than 9,000 mothers and their children on each mother’s history of cruel or violent treatment in childhood
nursingstandard.com
Targeted radiotherapy for breast cancer reduces side effects
iStock
Pharmacist-led scheme could save NHS half a billion pounds
we strongly recommend that NMS should continue to be commissioned in the future. ‘This is a simple intervention, which has been popular with pharmacists and patients.’ ++Elliott R et al (2017) Cost Effectiveness of support for people starting a new medication for a long-term condition through community pharmacies: an economic evaluation of the New Medicine Service compared with normal practice. PharmacoEconomics. doi: 10.1007/s40273-017-0554-9
and their child’s emotional and behavioural difficulties in childhood and adolescence. The study found a significant link between the two, with almost half (49%) of children whose mothers had been mistreated as children developing emotional and behavioural difficulties such as excessive worrying or anger at ten, 11 and 13 years of age. Mothers with troubled childhoods were also significantly more likely to have a lower level of education, a psychiatric history, to drink alcohol and smoke more in pregnancy and to have less social support. ++Plant D et al (2017) Association between maternal childhood trauma and offspring childhood psychopathology: mediation analysis from the ALSPAC cohort. The British Journal of Psychiatry. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.117.198721
Targeted radiotherapy on the site where tumours first develop can dramatically reduce side effects for breast cancer patients, a new trial has shown. Researchers at 30 centres across the UK studied 2,000 women aged 50 or over who had early stage breast cancer identified as at a low risk of returning. Some were treated with whole breast radiotherapy, which is the clinical standard, while others received partial radiotherapy specifically at the site of the tumour. Patients in both groups received 15 sessions of treatment over a three-week period. Follow-up assessments were carried out after five years, with 99% of the patients reporting they were disease free.
1 in 8
women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime; one in 870 men will receive the same diagnosis Source: Cancer Research UK Those who received the targeted approach reported fewer long-term changes to the appearance and feel of their breast five years after the treatment than those who had radiotherapy on the whole breast. Reader in breast radiation oncology at Cambridge University, chief investigator for the trial and first author of the study Charlotte Coles said: ‘Now we have evidence to support the use of less, but equally effective, radiotherapy for selected patients.’ ++Coles C et al (2017) Partial-breast radiotherapy after breast conservation surgery for patients with early breast cancer (UK IMPORT LOW trial): 5-year results from a multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 3, non-inferiority trial. The Lancet. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31145-5
volume 32 number 1 / 30 August 2017 / 17
