Andy Smith, Linda Eden-Ellis and Amrita Jetwani have joined Star to lead its clinical research business unit.

Andy worked operationally in the CRO industry for 5 years before moving to recruitment in 2003. Since then he’s worked with the best clinical research talent in the UK and across Europe.

Linda set-up and coordinated clinical device and drug trials from Phase I to IV while employed in a series of clinical trial coordination roles with a European CRO. From there she moved to study feasibility and clinical team outsourcing, before concentrating on contract resourcing; she worked with major blue chip pharma companies to find staff for core clinical drug development roles.

Amrita brings scientific research and manufacturing experience to Star.

Star also welcomes Jodie Cattermole and Gemma Sawyer back to the business as Project Managers within its contract business unit.

Jodie spent six years with Star as an Account Manager. More recently she managed projects and developed digital strategies to improve efficiency across all aspects of the pharmaceutical industry with O2 Health.

Gemma was a Vendor Manager with Star’s Master Vendor business unit before moving to a global organisation as a District Sales Manager. Back at Star Gemma manages the national outsourced sales team for Nestlé Healthcare Nutrition.

Ben Hawkes has become Team Leader of Star’s new healthcare communications team. He’s managed the healthcare resourcing team since joining the company but before this he worked with web design and digital agencies before moving to recruitment in 2004. He’s used his diverse experience to lead this new initiative.

A new chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) toolkit for commissioners has been published by the Department of Health.

A series of best practice guidelines are included in the document in an attempt to make healthcare professionals make informed decisions on COPD cases.

Professor Sue Hill and Dr Robert Winter “urged” NHS colleagues to use the guidelines “to make a real difference to the lives of people with COPD”.

The toolkit has been developed to make it easier to commission improved services for people with COPD and to bring together “the clinical, financial and commercial aspects” of commissioning.

It supports the delivery of the Outcomes Strategy for COPD and Asthma and includes advice on spirometry and assessment, pulmonary rehabilitation, managing exacerbations and details on the case for home oxygen assessment and review.

COPD causes around 23,000 deaths in England each year and costs the NHS more than £800m annually.

Monitor has been forced to intervene and take control of the running of the Royal Bolton Hospital in an attempt to stabilise its finances.

The regulator has appointed an interim chairman and told hospital directors to appoint a turnaround director and external advisors to tackle its debts.

The hospital began the financial year with a £1.9m deficit leading Monitor to call for “immediate action”.

The hospital had its finances placed under “red risk” by Monitor in a second report which recently criticised its leadership.

Bosses at the failing hospital “acknowledged and accepted” there had been failings but said they would “stabilise” finances without jeopardising patient care.

Monitor’s intervention is the first time this financial year it has invoked formal powers to take over struggling trusts. It said the decision was based on a “worsening financial position” leading to a failure to “exercise its functions effectively, efficiently and economically”.

David Wakefield, the chairman of Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, has been appointed interim chair.

The DH and the ABPI aim to achieve a new pricing system for branded medicines that reduces bureaucracy whilst being affordable, sustaining and responsive to the future needs of the NHS.

A joint statement from the two said that negotiations to replace the existing Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) will begin next month and will include value-based pricing (VBP).

The two insist they are “committed” to reaching a new agreement that gives “patients better access to the most effective medicines”.

The new pricing scheme will cover the majority of branded drugs which will enter the market before 2014. It will operate under a similar but “evolved framework” to the existing PPRS.

However, the Government and the ABPI believe it is “important” for the new arrangement to provide “stability and predictability in the new framework” to ensure the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry manage financial and investment plans.

The statement said it is “vitally important” to continue the supply of innovative treatments to NHS patients and the ABPI “welcomes” value-based pricing alongside a renewed PPRS to “support this goal”.

Therefore, the statement said, VBP will be introduced in a “planned and progressive way” to focus on new medicines entering the market from 1 January 2014.

The Government aims to ensure the assessment of new medication is conducted as fully and early as possible for pharmaceutical companies to “predict well in advance” how products will “fare”.

The updated PPRS will also include a “statutory scheme” for companies that choose not to participate in the voluntary agreement.