Medical: On The Rounds

PEOPLE
KAREN Stephen, a nurse at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, has been named the Scottish Dermatology Nurse of the Year.

NEWS

A CONSULTATION of UK nurses has shown that they overwhelmingly support the UK Government's latest pay deal. Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) were consulted via the RCN's local network and website over the three-year 7.99 per cent deal, with 93 per cent saying they were in favour.

• WORK began on the £45 million school of medicine and sciences at St Andrews University last week. Funded with the help of an £8m donation from the Sekhar Foundation, the school will be named after celebrated Malaysian scientist Dr BC Sekhar, and will be one of the first in the UK to integrate its facilities with other areas of the university such as physics and chemistry.

• THE new orthodontic and paediatric dentistry clinic at the Glasgow Dental Hospital was officially opened by Health Minister Shona Robison MSP on 3 June. The largest of its kind in Scotland, the clinic cost £1m and will treat more than 20,000 patients each year.

• NHS Lothian has signed the 30,000th patient to the Lothian Diabetes Register. Set up in 2002, it enables clinical information about patients to be shared across NHS Lothian by medical professionals involved in a patient's treatment.

• RESEARCHERS at Aberdeen University are part of a team that has begun a £1.1m study into the causes of clinical depression. Working with scientists from Liverpool University, the Institute of Psychiatry and King's College London, the team will investigate the genetic causes of the disease, which affects up to 25 per cent of the population.

• GLASGOW University's medical school is recruiting volunteers to pose as patients and help the education of medical students. People are needed to engage in diagnosis role play by pretending to have a variety of ailments. To volunteer, contact Alna Robb on 0141-330 8046 or e-mail [e-mail]

• A RESEARCH centre that investigates the diseases of the past to help healthcare in the future has received £375,000 from the Wellcome Trust. The Glasgow Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare – a partnership between Strathclyde and Glasgow Caledonian Universities – will use the money to research areas such as occupational health and drug control.

AWARDS

DR JOHN Colvin, a consultant from NHS Tayside has been honoured by the Royal College of Anaesthetists for outstanding service to anaesthesia, critical care or pain management. He was presented with the Humphry Davy Award at the college's recent annual diplomats' ceremony.

• PHYSIOTHERAPISTS in Lothian have won a national award for pain management. The Lothian physiotherapy pain network received a £2,000 grant after being awarded third place in the NAPP Pharmaceuticals Achievement in Pain Practice Award.

• THE Borders rheumatology unit has been presented with a Healthcare Champions Award by the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society. Members of the rheumatology team were presented with the award by Theresa May MP, NRAS Patron and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons at an awards ceremony hosted at the Houses of Parliament.



EVENTS

A PHOTOGRAPHIC exhibition created by members of Alzheimer's Scotland's early-stage dementia group will be showcased at Dundee Contemporary Arts today. Created as part of an arts programme for victims of stroke, brain injuries and dementia, the exhibition is on display until 12 June.

• CRIEFF Hospital celebrated its tenth anniversary on 7 June with a fundraising garden party in the grounds of the building. Staff are raising money to replace the existing garden with a larger space for staff and patients to enjoy.