The Government is to work towards the reduction of health inequalities and disparities through the opening of a new Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID). The new body will be beginning its work from the 1st October, and is to be co-led by newly appointed Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO), Dr Jeanelle de Gruchy. The OHID is to tackle disparities across the UK and will be part of the Department for Health and Social Care, attempting to minimise health disparities which have been ...

BIVDA has released a statement on the recent Blood Collection Tube shortages being faced by the medical sector and NHS. Please find the downloadable file below.

Life Science Group receives ISO 13485 accreditation. Life Science Group (LSG), one of the UK's leading suppliers of life science manufacturing and research solutions, has achieved ISO 13485 accreditation for its manufacture of medical devices from the British Standards Institution (BSI). Jenny Murray, Managing Director, Life Science Group Ltd, said: "We are delighted to be awarded the ISO 13485 accreditation to further enhance the quality of our robust systems, processes and p...

The NHS has been warned of shortages in blood collection tubes, due to strain placed on manufacturers from soaring demand. ‘UK border challenges’ have been cited as causing pressure on supply chains of the medical equipment. BD Life Sciences is a key supplier of the tubes, and has apologised to NHS trusts for supply disruptions. The tubes contain chemicals to prevent samples from clotting before getting to the lab. They have been used during the pandemic to test for clotting in covid...

The Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has called for a ‘rescue plan’ to alleviate pressures on GPs and the services they provide to the public. Martin Marshall has described the GP sector in the UK as ‘crisis-torn’, in need of an emergency-style rescue plan. RCGP has written to Health Secretary Sajid Javid and new NHS England Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard for them to implement a five-point action plan to tackle these challenges. Mental health s...

Amanda Pritchard has been selected as the new Chief Executive of NHS England (NHSE). Ms Pritchard is to take over from the previous NHSE CEO Lord Simon Stevens, who steps down from his role after seven years in the position. Lord Stevens is to officially leave his role at the end of this week, making way for the first female Chief Executive of the NHS since its creation in 1948. Ms Pritchard has worked as the organisation’s Chief Operating Officer for the last two years, and is the former ...

A new £53 million fund has been announced by the Government for UK manufacturing to boost their competitiveness by using digital technology. Projects to improve supply chains and new research centres are among the recipients of the investment and support. Investment Minister Lord Grimstone announced the new drive, which is to be awarded through the Made Smarter programme. Made Smarter is a collaboration between the Government and industry to “support the development and increase use ...

Workers in critical sectors are to be offered daily contact testing services, in order to lessen the potential impact of disruption to employee work. Police officers, emergency services staff and transport workers are among those who will be able to undergo testing. This means they will be able to continue to deploy essential services to the UK without the need to enter into a period of self-isolation. Clinical trial results have prompted the move to expand the contact testing service to these g...

Please see the below quote from BIVDA regarding exemptions for key workers regarding COVID-19 app alerts:  "BIVDA welcomes flexibility for essential workers in exceptional circumstances and is looking forward to receiving further guidance from the Government on the process involved. Fast, decisive action is key in circumstances such as this and we support the action taken to prevent further issues. We know this may not have gone as far as many of our member companies would wi...

BIVDA Comments on new Innovation Strategy BIVDA Chief Executive Doris-Ann Williams has commented on the Government’s new Innovation Strategy, which aims to put Britain at the front of the global race to attract world-leading science expertise, highly skilled jobs and new products.According to the Government, the UK is committed to increasing annual public investment on R&D to £22 billion. The private sector also plays a key role in boosting spending on R&D, which is an e...