The woman known as the First Lady of Football, Karen Brady, is to address the NHS Employers’ Conference which is to be held in Liverpool next months.

A report has been published today which says that people who suffer from incontinence are faced with a “life sentence” of suffering. The Royal College of Physicians makes the claim in its National Audit of Continence Care, saying that the the blame lies with  poorly organised NHS services and disjointed care for patients and carers.

Following the announcement that Carole Taylor-Brown will be stepping down as chief executive of NHS Suffolk due to ill health at the end of the month, an interim replacement has been announced. Dr Paul Watson, who is currently chief executive at NHS North East Essex, will join on secondment on the 1st of October.

The Department of Health has taken measures to slash £700m from the National Programme for IT and England. The announcement comes in addition to moves by the previous government to cut £600m from the budget, meaning it has now been reduced from £12.7bn to £11.4bn.

A new acute mental health hospital was officially opened in Gloucestershire in early July and is already being hailed as being one of the best in the world.

The unit, named Greyfriars, is located on the Wotton Lawn Hospital site in Gloucester. Costing £3m, the state of art Psychiatric Intensive Care Inpatient Unit (PICU) is the result of five years planning and building work. So what makes it so groundbreaking?

A think tank has criticised NHS hospitals that provide pornographic materials as part of their fertility services. Of the 92 trusts that responded to 2020health.org’s enquiries for its report ‘Who said pornography was acceptable in the workplace?’, which was released today, 33 said that explicit materials were used in their clinics.

The University College Hospital, London has taken measures to increase hygiene levels following the news that four babies born prematurely were found to be infected with a superbug which is resistant to common antibiotics. Of the four babies that contracted the ‘gram-negative’ bug at the hospital, one died as a result, two died of other causes and one survived. A further 11 babies at the unit were found to be carrying various types of bacteria over a six-week period.

Anthony Sumara, the chief executive of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, has warned that the impending inquiry into failings at Stafford Hospital could cost £1m.

A public inquiry is due to begin next month following claims that between 2005 and 2008  there were over 400 more deaths at the hospital than would have been anticipated.

Mid Essex Hospital Services National Health Trust has been hit with a £2.3m lawsuit by Compass. The contract catering giant issued the writ, saying the Trust had "grossly exaggerated" penalties that it imposed for a series of infringements which occurred at Broomfield Hospital in Broomfield and St John's Hosptial in Chelmsford.

Compass Group UK & Ireland has announced that it has acquired the UK-based Vision Security Group (VSG). With 6,000 employees working across 1,200 client sites, mainly national blue-chip organisations, VSG is the largest independent security provider in the UK.

It has been revealed that written complaints about NHS services in Greater Manchester have reached their highest level since records began in 1997. Almost 6,000 were recorded for the period 2008/09 to 2009/10, an increase of nearly 15%.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has launched a new three-digit number - 111 – which is aimed at patients who require non-emergency NHS healthcare. The new service was launched in part of the North East of England yesterday, and the move marks the first step towards a national roll out.

Secretary of state for health Andrew Lansley announced today that there will be a UK-wide review into bonus payments given to NHS consultants. The Clinical Excellence and Distinction Awards were introduced in 1948 to recognise and reward the contribution of NHS consultants over and above that normally expected and have remained largely unchanged ever since.

This review aims to bring the awards up to date and in line with other public sector pay schemes. Commissioned by the four UK Health Departments, it will be led by the independent Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB).

A new study has been released today claiming that the number of smokers aged 16 and 17 has dropped since it became illegal to sell cigarettes to under-18s. The research, which was conducted by University College London (UCL), interviewed more than 1,100 16- and 17-year-olds before and after the age rise was introduced in October 2007.

NHS North East has announced plans to make over 500 managers and administrators redundant in an attempt to save some £27m per annum. If adopted, the redundancies will begin to be made from April next year.