The private sector will play an increasing role in providing community nursing by 2016, according to a report.

A "significant" element of the NHS`s community nursing provision could be delivered by domiciliary care companies within five years, the Laing & Buisson report predicted.

The company, which offers analysis for private health firms and investors, said that in the last two decades many social care jobs have "effectively been privatised", and it expects community nursing to follow a similar path.

The annual budget for NHS community services stands at £8.5 billion, and Laing & Buisson expects -£2 billion of this could be controlled by the private sector in five years` time.

It said the potential crossover of home-based social care and community nursing is one of the reasons domiciliary care firms are "well placed to establish a significant presence" in the community sector.

In its report, Laing & Buisson said: "There is a clear parallel between where community health services stand today and where social care services stood 20 years ago. In the two decades since, domiciliary social care services have effectively been privatised."

Copyright © Press Association 2011

Earlier treatment could have been offered to half of HIV patients, new research suggests, as many people are diagnosed late.

Those in GP jobs should offer HIV tests to any new patients who sign up with them, according to the Health Protection Agency (HPA), if they operate in an area with high rates of the disease.

People should also be given the chance to be tested if they are admitted to hospital, the organisation added.

New figures from the body show that last year 91,500 people in Britain had the disease, although around a quarter of these did not know about their condition.

Dr Valerie Delpech, consultant epidemiologist and head of HIV surveillance at the HPA, said: "We want to see increased access to HIV testing routinely offered in clinical settings such as new registrants at GPs and hospital general admissions, in areas of the country where rates of HIV infection are high."

Copyright © Press Association 2011

Those considering a search for midwife jobs should take heed of some new research showing the potential danger of having a home birth in the absence of a medical professional.

Babies born at their mother`s home rather than with a midwife in a hospital are about three times as likely to die or suffer serious health difficulties, according to an academic study.

After labour begins, home-birth babies are said to be more liable to be still-born. Researchers also said home births are more likely to see the baby dying within the first week of being born.

According to the Birthplace in England study, conducted at Oxford University, home-birth babies are 2.8 times more at risk.

Other more likely complications are brain injury, upper arm or shoulder fractures and faeces in the lung.

Any health threat is said to vary in severity and length of time but all are influenced by the level of trauma endured, whether the baby becomes distressed or whether the baby is starved of oxygen during birth.

The researchers said babies born in the presence of a midwife, either at a standalone community maternity unit or at a hospital, are not at any increased risk.

No increased risk was measured with women having a subsequent home birth. The danger seems to only be present in first-time mothers.

Serious problems occur on average, with 3.5 midwife-led births in every 1,000. In home births, this risk rate increases to 9.5 per 1,000.

The findings of the research appear in the British Medical Journal.

Copyright © Press Association 2011

People working in nursing jobs who regularly assist in heart surgery operations might want to recommend a booklet offering advice on the Fontan procedure to patients and their families.

The literature, launched at this week`s British Cardiovascular Conference, was published by children`s charity Little Hearts Matter after it experienced an overwhelming demand for information from families of children requiring heart surgery.

It tells the story of eight-year-old Charlie Turner who had corrective surgery on his heart, which could only work at half capacity. The booklet details his experiences and offers information, tips and guidance on how to deal with preparation for the surgery and the procedure itself.

The Fontan process helps children with heart defects to have more energy than they normally would have and subsequently improve their quality of life.

Suzie Hutchinson, Little Hearts Matter chief executive, said: "Families of children facing heart surgery have told us that a booklet clearly outlining the Fontan process would offer vital support and information at a time when they face the stress of open-heart surgery."

She went on to thank Charlie Turner and his family for allowing their story to be told.

Copyright © Press Association 2011