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Employing displaced Syrian healthcare workers is a 'win-win' for both host communities and refugees as it would strengthen national health services and allow highly-skilled medics to “get on with their lives, rather than just get by”, according to a network of UK academics.

Researchers say faster tests helped expedite access to life-saving treatments such as organ transplants – and might make all the difference later this year.

A systematic review of studies focused on stroke survivors’ and carers’ experiences of primary care and community healthcare services has found that they feel abandoned because they have become marginalised by services and do not have the knowledge or skills to re-engage.

As new estimates of death toll for health workers are published, experts say the deliberate and systematic attacks on the healthcare infrastructure in Syria – primarily by government forces – expose shortcomings in international responses to health needs in conflict.   

Research shows budget reduction targets and public sector caps, insisted on by the IMF as loan conditions, result in reduced health spending and medical ‘brain drain’ in developing West African nations.

Healthcare is a complex beast and too often problems arise that can put patients’ health – and in some cases, lives – at risk. A collaboration between the Cambridge Centre for Health Services Research and the Department of Engineering hopes to get to the bottom of what’s going wrong – and to offer new ways of solving the problems.

He trained as a medical doctor in Syria and did a PhD at Cambridge in order to set up a cancer research unit in Aleppo. In 2012, Dr Talal Al-Mayhani found himself in an impossible situation and decided to settle in the UK. He has worked hard for peace in Syria ever since – and is convinced that it will come. When it does, he will return to Aleppo. 

Integration of healthcare (free at point of delivery from the NHS) and social care (means-tested and provided by local authorities) is under increasing scrutiny as the 2014 Care Act comes into effect.  Research by Dr Brian Sloan, a legal scholar currently based at CRASSH, addresses some big questions about the legal framework and the ways in which the elderly and vulnerable are supported.

Carers’ week (10-16 June) will focus on the 6.5 million people who are carers. Many are providing palliative care for a relative or friend at home. A new tool has been developed to identify carers’ needs during end-of-life care at home and enable them to work more smoothly with healthcare professionals. 

New medical devices take a long time to reach the market – and many never make it. Jon Johnson, a researcher at Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing, is looking at ways of making the process of commercialisation more efficient.