Peter Gardner

BM Catalysts, the renowned manufacturer of aftermarket hot-end emissions products, continues to strengthen its support for the automotive industry with the release of 45 new part numbers.

The Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) is calling for an increase in the MOT test fee as part of a wider campaign to support modernising the MOT, raising industry standards and right to repair. In short, IAAF is arguing that the MOT system “must also evolve to reflect the complexity of modern vehicles and ensure they remain reliable and roadworthy throughout their lifespan.”

After a long-standing campaign by industry groups, HELLA has unveiled its new rear-facing red flashing lamp, specifically engineered for roadside rescue, recovery, and removal vehicles. The launch follows the introduction of UK legislation permitting operators to fit rear-facing red flashing lamps under a Vehicle Special Order (VSO), marking a significant safety milestone for the industry. Previously, red flashing lamps were reserved exclusively for emergency services.

Schaeffler sponsored the winning player trophy plus a hole at the annual Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) golf day, as well as entering a team for the event. Schaeffler was proud to sponsor a hole plus the individual winner’s trophy at the IAAF Golf Day 2025, which took place on the PGA National course at the Belfry Hotel and Spa on 28 August.

With winter and darker nights just around the corner, QUIXX is urging drivers to look at their headlights to see if they’re producing optimum light output. This is also the ideal time for factors, retailers and workshops to stock up and look at the fantastic upselling opportunity headlight restoration kits create.

Seven out of 10 car dealers (70 per cent) say the September registration plate change is less important to the motor industry than it used to be. September’s Startline Used Car Tracker also shows 53 per cent think motorists now care less about driving on the latest plate, and 31 per cent that most don’t even know the newest plate number.

Cord, the British e-mobility brand making EV charging positively easy, has launched EVIRA — a professional-grade portable EV charger purpose-built for automotive workshops, Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) sites and car dealerships.

Westpac is the best of the bunch, while the disappointment has been a surprise to many.

Objective To explore why there is variation in implementation of multifactorial falls prevention practices that are recommended to reduce falls risks for older patients in hospital.Design Mixed method, realist evaluation.Setting Three older persons and three orthopaedic wards in acute hospitals in England.Participants Healthcare professionals, including nurses, therapists and doctors (n=40), and patients aged 65 and over, and carers (n=31).Intervention We examined mechanisms hypothesised to underpin the implementation of multifactorial falls risk assessment and multidomain, personalised prevention plans.Primary and secondary outcome measures We developed an explanation detailing that how contextual factors supported or constrained implementation of recommended falls prevention practices.Results Nurses led delivery of falls risk assessment and prevention planning using their organisation’s electronic health records (EHR) to guide and document these practices. Implementation of recommended practices was influenced by (1) organisational EHR systems that differed in falls risk assessment items they included, (2) competing priorities on nurse time that could reduce falls risk assessment to a tick box exercise, encourage ‘blanket’ rather than tailored interventions and that constrained nurse time with patients to personalise prevention plans and (3) established but not recommended falls prevention practices, such as risk screening, that focused multidisciplinary communication on patients screened as at high risk of falls and that emphasised nursing, rather than Multidisciplinary Team (MDT), responsibility for preventing falls through constant patient supervision.Conclusions To promote consistent delivery of multifactorial falls prevention practices, and to help ease the nursing burden, organisations should consider how electronic systems and established ward-based practices can be reconfigured to support greater multidisciplinary staff and patient and carer involvement in modification of individual falls risks.Data are available on reasonable request. The datasets generated during the current study are not publicly available because ethical approval for the study does not allow sharing of data outside the study team. The datasets analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request and subject to necessary ethical approval.

Tobias Müller Peter Gardner First published: 24 June 2026 ABSTRACT