RCN Women's Health Conference
The Royal College of Nurses is set to host the Women's Health Conference on 6 December in London. This year's theme is Inequalities in Women's Health - seizing the cusp of change and aims to examine the nurse's role in challenging health inequalities. The conference keynote is from the RCN President, Sheilabye Sobrany. Anyone who works in women's nursing, whether that be practice nurses, midwives or gynaecology and specialist nurses, is welcome to attend. By the end of the conference, attendees should gain skills in:
- Identifying and supporting vulnerable women
- Applying the latest clinical knowledge in common women's health issues
- Managing sensitive conversations in pregnancy loss
- Building expertise in encouraging and supporting learners.
https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/events/uk-womens-health-conference-061223
NICE Guidance: Faster Diagnosis Framework for cancer
The NHS Cancer Programme has developed a Faster Diagnosis Framework, which sets out a strategic approach to speed up cancer diagnosis and improve patient experience. The framework aims to bring together key requirements for cancer diagnosis under a single programme, regardless of cancer type. It is set to ensure patients are diagnosed within 28 days of being referred urgently by their GP for suspected cancer. The aim of this new framework includes an earlier and faster diagnosis for patients, reduced anxiety for patients and streamlined support across community, primary and secondary care.
NICE Guidance has been changed on multiple types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. The guidance says that patients should be referred through suspected cancer pathway referral. Tests are also supposed to be carried out in primary care if a woman (especially if 50 or over) reports having any of the following symptoms:
- persistent abdominal distension (women often refer to this as ‘bloating’)
- feeling full (early satiety) and/or loss of appetite
- pelvic or abdominal pain
- increased urinary urgency and/or frequency.
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng12
New autism support service launched
Support is available for families and carers of autistic children and adults thanks to a new, free education programme being launched across England.
Autism Central aims to build knowledge and understanding of autism and empower families and carers to advocate for autistic people they support to get the right understanding and adjustments in place across the services they use.
Commissioned by NHS England and informed by or co-produced with autistic people, parents and carers, the programme offers one-to-one and group sessions complemented by high-quality online learning and information.
Families and carers can also talk to people with similar experiences by joining workshops, drop-in sessions, coffee mornings or virtual meetups.
Each session is delivered by parents and carers of autistic people who have been trained to share their knowledge and experience with others, as peer educators. https://www.hee.nhs.uk/news-blogs-events/news/new-autism-support-launched-families-carers-across-england
CPDMA Healthcare, the publisher of Practice Nursing, offers a revalidation resource for both nurses and midwives. CPD Launchpad offers a free e-portfolio to help you record your CPD and practice hours, as well as a wide range of content to promote reflection. You can register and use CPD Launchpad straight away, and if you're a subscriber to Practice Nursing, you can access extra content to help build up your personal CPD hours. Register at CPD-Launchpad.co.uk