Category Archives: NHS

First group of children from Gaza arrive in UK for life-saving NHS treatment

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Care and support package, including housing, will help 30-50 young Palestinians for an initial two years

The first group of children from Gaza have arrived in the UK for specialist life-saving treatment on the NHS, the Guardian understands.

Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, informed the parliamentary Labour party on Monday evening about the development. On arrival in the UK, the patients and their families have been granted access to NHS treatment, appropriate housing and comprehensive support services for an initial two-year period.

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Doctor who left patient during operation to have sex with nurse allowed to practise

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Medical tribunal rules ‘very low risk’ of Suhail Anjum, who had been dismissed by hospital in Greater Manchester, repeating behaviour

A doctor who left a patient midway through an operation to have sex with a nurse is at “very low risk” of repeating his serious misconduct, a medical tribunal has ruled.

Dr Suhail Anjum, 44, and the unnamed nurse were caught in a “compromising position” by a colleague who walked in on the pair at Tameside hospital. The consultant anaesthetist had asked another nursing colleague to monitor the male patient, who was under general anaesthetic, so he could go to the bathroom.

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Hospices ‘on the brink’ financially if assisted dying is legalised

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As House of Lords prepares to debate bill, Hospice UK says sector needs adequate funding for end-of-life care

Hospices are “on the brink” and two in five are making cuts this year despite the importance of end-of-life care if assisted dying becomes legal, the sector has warned before the first House of Lords debate on the legislation.

Hospice UK, which represents the sector, said many were financially struggling and still “in the dark” about how funding for end-of-life care will be improved when assisted dying legislation is passed.

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Blackpool hospital neglect contributed to suicide of man who waited 22 hours for help, coroner rules

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Jamie Pearson killed himself in toilet at Blackpool Victoria hospital after being admitted over painkiller overdose

The death of a 27-year-old man who killed himself in a hospital toilet after waiting 22 hours to be seen by the mental health team was “contributed to by neglect”, a coroner has ruled.

Jamie Pearson was admitted to Blackpool Victoria hospital’s A&E department after taking an overdose of high-strength painkillers on 17 August 2024.

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More than half of UK births now involve medical intervention, audit finds

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Caesareans drive rise in assisted deliveries as experts warn of complex pregnancies linked to age, obesity and other conditions

More than half of women having a baby in Britain now do so with the help of medical intervention, an audit of NHS maternity care has revealed.

Of the 592,594 births that took place in 2023, 50.6% involved either a caesarean section or the use of instruments such as forceps or a ventouse suction cup.

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Doctors trial £100 blood test that could transform how NHS detects Alzheimer’s

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More than 1,000 patients to take part in trial to see if the approach leads to faster and more reliable diagnoses

Doctors have launched a clinical trial of a £100 blood test for Alzheimer’s disease in the hope of transforming diagnosis of the devastating condition in the NHS.

More than 1,000 patients with suspected dementia are being recruited from memory clinics across the UK to see whether the test leads to faster and more reliable diagnoses and better care for those found to have the disease.

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Can the old-but-new NHS league tables revive the health service?

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The new system resembles Tony Blair’s star-rating regime, which was eventually scrapped. Whether naming and shaming leads to improvements remains to be seen

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) was glowing in its description of the league tables by which all of England’s 205 NHS trusts are now being judged: a “landmark” moment, a “pioneering new system” and “a new era of transparency”.

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, said that “sunlight is the best disinfectant” in his zeal to expose, and drive out, poor care.

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‘Paying twice’: workers face NHS bills of thousands in immigration crackdown

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Campaigners fear plans to make people wait longer for leave to remain could cost tax-paying skilled workers dearly

Every two-and-a-half years, Uche and her husband pay more than a combined £5,000 for NHS care, on top of the tax and national insurance deducted from their salaries as a care worker and an IT worker.

Now, thousands more skilled workers face having to “pay twice” for services for 10 years or more, campaigners fear, as the government considers extending the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) – and eventually citizenship – in an immigration crackdown.

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Private menopause tests risk undermining NHS care, doctors say

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Expert says self-testing kits are clinically useless and can be a distraction from evidence-based treatment

Expensive, over-the-counter hormone tests for menopause are clinically useless and risk undermining women’s healthcare, senior doctors have warned.

The testing kits, offered by private clinics and available to buy for self-testing, claim to offer tailored insights through measuring hormone levels. But they have been described by experts as misleading and medically unnecessary.

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Thousands in England unable to access weight loss jabs via GP, figures reveal

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Doctors say NHS rollout not fit for purpose with fewer than half of commissioning bodies prescribing Mounjaro

Thousands of patients in England are unable to access weight loss jabs via their GP, figures reveal, as doctors warn that the NHS rollout is “not fit for purpose”.

Family doctors got the green light to prescribe the drugs for the first time in June. About 220,000 people with “greatest need” were set to receive Mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide and made by Eli Lilly, on the NHS over the next three years.

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NHS corridor care now year-round crisis in England, experts say

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About 74,150 patients waited at least 12 hours on trolleys in June and July, a situation almost nonexistent 10 years ago

Corridor care in the NHS is now a year-round crisis, experts have warned, as analysis showed nearly 3 million patients attended A&E over the first two months of the summer.

The latest NHS figures in England, analysed by the Liberal Democrats, show that since 2015 the number of people going to A&E in June and July has increased 15% to 2.9 million – the highest level recorded over the past decade.

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Cancer charities call for earlier diagnosis as cases projected to surge in England by 2040

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NHS may struggle to cope with more than 6 million predicted new cases over next 15 years, study shows

Cancer cases are projected to surge in England by 2040, with a person diagnosed every two minutes, up from one every four minutes in the 1970s.

More than 6 million new cases of the disease are predicted to be diagnosed over the next 15 years, with the NHS at risk of being unable to cope unless action is taken to prevent more cases and diagnose the disease earlier, when it is more treatable.

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Treatment that can double bladder cancer survival rates available to 1,000 patients in England

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People with disease that has spread have been found to live twice as long when given treatment hailed as ‘hopeful’

More than 1,000 patients living with bladder cancer in England will be eligible for a treatment which can double survival rates from the disease.

In England, 18,000 people are diagnosed with bladder cancer each year, and only about 10% of people with stage 4 bladder cancer will survive five years or more after they are diagnosed.

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AI tool that speeds up patient discharges trialled by NHS

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Pilot at London trust aims to reduce paperwork and free up doctors, as UK brings AI to public services

An artificial intelligence tool designed to speed up the discharge of patients is being trialled at a hospital trust in London.

The platform completes documents needed to send fit patients home, potentially saving hours of delays and freeing up beds.

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‘None of us feel safe’: attacks on A&E nurses double in six years as waits rise

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NHS figures show rise in violence against nurses to 4,054 incidents last year, with long waits for care often a factor

Attacks on A&E nurses have almost doubled over the last six years, with incidents often involving patients frustrated at waiting so long for care.

Nurses have been punched, spat at, pinned up against a wall, had a gun pointed at them and been threatened with having acid thrown at them, according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

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Bidding battle for NHS landlord Assura intensifies as watchdog steps up investigation

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US suitor KKR lobbies board to accept offer to take Assura private as CMA looks into £1.79bn offer by rival UK investor

The bidding battle for the NHS landlord Assura has heated up after its US suitor KKR lobbied the board to accept its offer, while the competition watchdog stepped up its investigation of Assura’s £1.7bn takeover by a rival UK healthcare investor.

Primary Health Properties (PHP), which invests in buildings housing GP practices, has been blocked from fully integrating Assura by the Competition and Markets Authority while it looks into the takeover.

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Emergency care at Lucy Letby hospital falls short of legal standards, CQC finds

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Countess of Chester receives urgent warning notice over ‘visibly dirty equipment’ and routine corridor care

Emergency care at the hospital where Lucy Letby worked is falling far short of legal standards, the healthcare watchdog has found, with routine corridor care and “critical gaps” in sepsis treatment.

The Countess of Chester hospital, in north-west England, was issued with an urgent warning notice after inspectors found “repeated breaches” of regulations in its emergency care unit.

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100 Gaza children hope to be evacuated to UK for urgent medical care

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Charities urge government to move quickly after it announced scheme to help critically ill and injured children

More than 100 critically ill and injured children in Gaza hope to come to the UK as soon as possible after the government announced a scheme to provide those in severe need with NHS care.

The government announced on Sunday that it would evacuate children from Gaza to the UK for treatment under a scheme to be announced within weeks.

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Three million on NHS England waiting lists have had no care since GP referral

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Exclusive: Data reveals ‘invisible crisis’ with millions yet to have first specialist appointment or diagnostic test

Almost half of the 6 million people needing treatment from the NHS in England have had no further care at all since joining a hospital waiting list, new data reveals.

Previously unseen NHS England figures show that 2.99 million of the 6.23 million patients (48%) awaiting care have not had either their first appointment with a specialist or a diagnostic test since being referred by a GP.

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Nine out of 10 nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland reject pay award

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Royal College of Nursing urges ministers to improve 3.6% offer to avoid industrial action ballot later this year

Nine out of 10 nurses have rejected a 3.6% pay award for this year and warned they could strike later this year unless their salaries are improved.

In an indicative vote among members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 91% said the 3.6% rise was not enough.

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