logo
Burnham-on-Sea minor injuries unit to move on trial basis

Burnham-on-Sea minor injuries unit to move on trial basis

BBC News03-03-2025
A minor injuries unit is being relocated to a medical centre on a trial basis in an effort to improve its resilience and reduce unplanned closures. As first reported by Burnham-on-Sea.com, the town's community hospital will be moved to nearby Burnham Medical Centre over the coming weeks. The unit in Love Lane has "experienced a number of short-term, short notice closures" recently due to staff shortages, health bosses have said.Andy Heron, chief operating officer at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, said maintaining the minor injury unit is "vital".
He said the unit helps give patients the right support, frees up emergency departments and allows staff to prioritise people with the most serious health conditions."We're very committed to the teams and services that run the minor injuries unit in Burnham-on-Sea and we know how important these are for local communities," Mr Heron said. "We are working with our primary and secondary care teams to consider different ways to deliver a more integrated and resilient same-day urgent care service for local people."The service will be open seven days a week from 10:00 to 18:00 GMT for residents.Mr Heron added: "Over the coming weeks, our teams will continue to work through the detail of this proposal, and we will update our teams, local people and partners".
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

AstraZeneca seeks US drug price cuts amid expansion plans, strong demand
AstraZeneca seeks US drug price cuts amid expansion plans, strong demand

Reuters

time4 days ago

  • Reuters

AstraZeneca seeks US drug price cuts amid expansion plans, strong demand

July 29 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca (AZN.L), opens new tab has proposed price cuts to its drugs in the United States, its CEO said on Tuesday, days after unveiling a $50 billion investment to expand there, as President Donald Trump pressures pharmaceuticals companies to lower costs. Speaking to journalists after second-quarter revenue and profit beat expectations, CEO Pascal Soriot said Trump's administration was reviewing the company's proposals. He did not specify which drugs were included. Trump has repeatedly threatened tariffs as he also pushes drugmakers to reduce prices to what other countries pay. However, he signalled earlier this month that companies would be given a year to 18 months to "get their act together" before any sector-specific levies take effect. "We definitely support the idea of rebalancing with some reduction of pricing levels in the U.S., and some increase, we're not talking about massive increases, in Europe," AstraZeneca's Soriot said. He added he expects all medicines for U.S. patients to be produced locally within a few months, and is also considering selling some medicines to customers directly. AstraZeneca shares rose as much as 3% after its results, but pared some gains to trade up 1.6% by 1214 GMT. "The big uncertainty, unsurprisingly, remains U.S. tariffs and Most Favoured Nation pricing in the pharmaceutical sector. AstraZeneca has looked to get ahead of this uncertainty," said Sheena Berry, a healthcare analyst at Quilter Cheviot. The U.S. accounted for more than 40% of AstraZeneca's revenue in 2024. The UK's largest-listed company by market value had prioritised the U.S. market - the world's largest, worth $635 billion - even before Trump's return to office. AstraZeneca's efforts are paying off as strong U.S. demand, and robust sales of newer cancer, heart and kidney disease medicines drove total revenue for the second quarter 11% higher to $14.46 billion, on a constant currency basis. It logged double-digit growth in the U.S. despite headwinds from changes in U.S. Medicare price negotiations, while sales of cancer drugs including Tagrisso, Lynparza, Calquence, Truqap and Imfinzi beat expectations. Core earnings stood at $2.17 per share. Analysts were expecting $2.16, from $14.15 billion in sales, according to a company-provided consensus. AstraZeneca is betting on a wave of expected launches of 20 new medicines and its U.S. expansion to reach $80 billion in annual revenue by 2030 and offset generic competition. On Tuesday, it maintained its 2025 outlook and increased its interim dividend by 3%. The drugmaker in April forecast only a limited impact from potential U.S. tariffs, adding it would be able to meet its annual outlook if the levies on European imports were similar to those in other industries. A European Union-U.S. trade deal over the weekend will result in a 15% tariff on most goods, including pharmaceuticals, from the region.

Obesity drugmaker Novo Nordisk picks Maziar Mike Doustdar as new CEO, shares plunge
Obesity drugmaker Novo Nordisk picks Maziar Mike Doustdar as new CEO, shares plunge

Reuters

time4 days ago

  • Reuters

Obesity drugmaker Novo Nordisk picks Maziar Mike Doustdar as new CEO, shares plunge

COPENHAGEN, July 29 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk named Maziar Mike Doustdar as its new chief executive on Tuesday, relying on an experienced company insider to revive sales and a share price hit by worries the maker of weight-loss drug Wegovy is falling behind in a race it started. The appointment comes after the abrupt removal in May of CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen by Novo ( opens new tab and the Novo Nordisk Foundation - the Danish company's controlling shareholder, and follows a growth warning earlier on Tuesday. Shares in Novo Nordisk were down by around 16% following the profit warning and plummeted further following the CEO announcement. Shares were down by as much as 29.8% by 1149 GMT, wiping over 80 billion euros ($92.26 billion) off its market value, though later recovered some ground to be down 20%. Doustdar, an Iranian-born, Austrian national, who grew up in the United States, joined Novo in 1992 and will take on the new role on August 7. Doustdar currently serves as vice president for international operations, a role he took after leading the company's businesses first in the Middle East and then in Southeast Asia, Novo said. Some analysts and investors had argued that Novo should select an American, or a person with extensive experience working in the United States as its next CEO. Novo has lost its first-mover advantage in the United States this year to U.S. rival Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab. Novo's profit warning came on rising competition and copycat versions of its weight-loss drug that hurt sales this year, but a crackdown on these so-called compounded versions of Wegovy in May could improve the situation. The new chief executive's most urgent challenge, according to investors and analysts, is to revive Novo's performance in the United States, the largest market by far for weight-loss drugs and where they are most profitable. Novo launched its weight-loss drug Wegovy nearly two and a half years before U.S. rival Eli Lilly's Zepbound. But Zepbound prescriptions surpassed those of Wegovy this year by more than 100,000 a week. The appointment comes at a challenging time for the global pharmaceutical industry as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to impose tariffs on imports and calls on drugmakers to lower their U.S. prescription prices. Jorgensen led Novo through a period of meteoric growth as it led the weight-loss drug boom, becoming Europe's most valuable listed company following the launch of Wegovy in 2021. At its peak in June 2024 Novo was worth as much as $615 billion. But Novo shares have plunged since then on investor concerns about the company's experimental drug pipeline and its ability to navigate challenges in the U.S. market, such as the threat to its sales from compounded copies of Wegovy and Lilly's Zepbound. ($1 = 0.8672 euros)

Bridgwater £17.8m diagnostic centre to improve access to 'vital scans'
Bridgwater £17.8m diagnostic centre to improve access to 'vital scans'

BBC News

time6 days ago

  • BBC News

Bridgwater £17.8m diagnostic centre to improve access to 'vital scans'

A hospital trust has moved a step forward in its plans to construct a £17.8m diagnostic centre to improve access to vital NHS Foundation Trust has been given approval by NHS England to construct the facility next to Bridgwater Community Hospital. It said it has now applied for planning permission, which if approved could see the facility open next centre will run a range of services including two CT scanners, two MRI scanners, four outpatient rooms and two echocardiography and ultrasound director David Craig said the centre is "expected to provide almost 25,000 additional scans every year". This will enable the centre to provide the Bridgwater population with routine and specialist cardiac and cancer scanning, alongside clinics. It follows the opening of a community diagnostic centre in Taunton in 2020, as well as the development of a diagnostic centre next to Yeovil Hospital, which is expected to open later this year."This development is fantastic news for people in Bridgwater and will improve access to vital healthcare scans, as well as help us to reduce our waiting times," Mr Craig said."The new centre supports one of the three shifts of the NHS 10 Year Plan, which involves transferring care from hospitals into local communities."Running across seven days a week, it will improve access for people in Bridgwater and the surrounding areas to specialist care, with the centre expected to provide almost 25,000 additional scans every year."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store