Sudiksha Thirumalesh, 19, and her family had opposed her being moved to palliative care
A 19-year-old woman who died after a legal battle with an NHS trust over her treatment for a rare mitochondrial disorder can be named, a judge has ruled.
Sudiksha Thirumalesh, an A-level student, and her family were embroiled in a dispute with an unnamed trust over whether she should be moved on to palliative care.
Continue reading...BMA also offers to take non-pay investments into account to reach agreement – but No 10 insists pay talks will not be reopened
Hospital consultants in England have offered to call off their strikes if they receive a pay rise of about 12% this year – double the increase that ministers insist is their final offer.
Their proposal, and the disclosure of recent “constructive” conversations with the government, appear to be a conciliatory move by the British Medical Association (BMA) to end their pay dispute.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak’s government seen as less competent that Boris Johnson’s administration
The UK economy is set to witness the highest inflation rate of the world’s G7 advanced economies this year, according to new forecasts, PA Media reports. PA says:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also increased its predicted average UK inflation rate for 2023 compared with its previous estimate.
Economists at the globally recognised organisation also reduced their UK growth forecast slightly for next year amid pressure from higher interest rates.
Continue reading...Consultants and junior doctors will take joint action this week for the first time in escalating pay dispute
NHS officials have warned that doctors’ strikes this week are likely to cause disruption to patient care “unlike anything before”, as Wednesday will see consultants and junior doctors taking joint strike action for the first time in the escalating dispute over pay.
Junior doctors, who have already staged five days of industrial action this year, will now strike again from 20 to 22 September – the first day of which coincides with action by consultants.
Continue reading...First and only Nice-recommended medicine could ‘alleviate misery’ of condition in England and Wales
NHS health advisers have approved the first treatment for acute migraine in a decision that promises to bring relief to about 13,000 people.
The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has recommended a drug called rimegepant, also known as Vydura, which is made by Pfizer.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Delay to work on five buildings in 2020 led to warnings of ‘catastrophic’ safety risk
Rishi Sunak blocked plans to rebuild five hospitals riddled with crumbling concrete three years ago, prompting warnings of a “catastrophic” risk to patient safety, the Guardian has learned.
Just two of the seven hospital rebuilding projects requested by the Department for Health were signed off by the Treasury at the 2020 spending review when Sunak was chancellor and Steve Barclay, now the health secretary, was his chief secretary.
Continue reading...New CQC report also finds growing number of patients think there are too few nurses to care for them
Two in five people admitted to hospital for planned care in England last year had their health worsen while they were on the NHS waiting list, a major survey reveals.
The finding emerged in a new report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) that also found that growing numbers of patients think there are too few nurses on duty to care for them.
39% of patients would like to have been admitted sooner.
Almost one in five (18%) felt they waited “far too long” to get a bed once they had been admitted – a big rise on the 8% who said that in 2020.
Only 52% thought there were always enough nurses on duty.
Discharge was often unsatisfactory for patients, with only 48% given enough notice about when they would leave and only 45% told how their post-hospital care would happen.
Hospital care was less good than before Covid struck in 2020, patients said.
Continue reading...Figures from NHS England reveal people seeking heat-related health advice as temperatures surpass 32C
Hot weather has led to a 552% increase in people seeking heat exhaustion advice from the NHS website this week, figures show.
There were 32,130 visits to the health advice page on heat exhaustion and heatstroke from Sunday to Thursday this week, according to figures released by NHS England, which runs the NHS website.
Consume plenty of cold drinks, especially when exercising.
Take cool baths or showers.
Wear light-coloured, loose clothing.
Sprinkle water over skin or clothes.
Avoid the sun between 11am and 3pm.
Avoid excess alcohol.
Avoid extreme exercise.
Continue reading...Pirola variant has prompted concern among scientists because of high number of mutations it carries
Care home residents and people who are housebound will be offered Covid vaccines from Monday, with over-65s and other vulnerable groups to be called for their jabs from the week after.
The NHS will kick off its autumn programme of Covid vaccines from next week, having moved the date forward by a month in response to the spread of a new variant nicknamed Pirola.
Continue reading...Mother of girl who died after hospital failed to admit her to intensive care says policy would make it easier for patients and families to seek advice from senior doctor
Ministers are considering introducing Martha’s rule in England to make it easier for patients and their families who believe their concerns are not being taken seriously by medical staff to get a second medical opinion.
Steve Barclay, the health secretary, said a similar measure enforced in Australia had been shown to have saved lives. He said officials had been tasked with looking into such initiatives could “improve patient safety here in the UK”.
Continue reading...Figures obtained by Labour show an estimated 120,695 people died in England while awaiting treatment
More than 120,000 people in England died last year while on the NHS waiting list for hospital treatment, figures obtained by Labour appear to show.
That would be a record high number of such deaths, and is double the 60,000 patients who died in 2017/18.
Continue reading...Move in England comes after detection of highly-mutated coronavirus variant that is spreading around the world
Health officials have brought forward plans for autumn flu and Covid vaccinations after detecting a highly-mutated Covid variant that is spreading around the world.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said vaccinations would be available from 11 September in England as a precautionary measure intended to protect the most vulnerable as the winter months approach. The vaccination programme had not been scheduled to launch until early October.
Continue reading...Tests part of NHS drive to cut heart attacks as study finds risk for men twice as high as for women
Men are to be offered blood pressure checks in barbershops as part of an NHS drive to prevent heart attacks, as research reveals they face double the risk of women.
Having high blood pressure raises the risk of a heart attack, but many men and women remain unaware they may be affected because typically there are no symptoms.
Continue reading...Analysis also reveals patients in more deprived areas are more likely to have their cancer diagnosed late
A postcode lottery in cancer care means more than one-fifth of patients with cancerous tumours wait longer than two months to have them removed in some parts of England, Labour has claimed.
Analysis of NHS data exposes regional inequalities in cancer treatments, with one in five patients receiving care following a cancer diagnosis in the West Midlands waiting longer than two months to have their tumours removed.
Continue reading...Hopes guidance could help diagnose colorectal cancer faster and cut NHS waiting times for colonoscopies
At-home faeces tests could spare tens of thousands of people in England and Wales from having to undergo invasive procedures to rule out bowel cancer.
It is hoped the move could help diagnose colorectal cancer faster and cut NHS waiting times by reducing the need to refer people for a colonoscopy.
Continue reading...Ministers had planned to issue visa waivers to cover staff absences on barge housing asylum seekers
The Home Office considered drafting in workers from overseas using a visa waiver scheme in the event of an outbreak of an infectious disease on the controversial Bibby Stockholm barge to accommodate asylum seekers, according to documents seen by the Guardian.
The barge is moored in Portland, Dorset. It was opened to asylum seekers on 7 August as a key part of the government’s “small boats week” to signal that it was implementing its undertakings to move asylum seekers out of hotels. However, in a blow to this policy the barge was evacuated just four days later after legionella bacteria was found in the barge’s water pipes.
Continue reading...Profession faces long task to reassure families and patients that crimes and apparent failings will not be repeated
At hospitals around the UK nurses continue to pull on fresh scrubs and prepare for another day caring for patients. But many have been “rocked to the core” by the Lucy Letby case and some fear the foundation of public trust has been shaken.
That was the message from senior nurses on Tuesday as the horror of the child killer’s sentencing sank in and the profession braced for a long task to reassure families and patients that Letby’s crimes, and the institutional failings that appeared to have allowed them to continue, were truly an anomaly.
Continue reading...Updated guidance covers verbal and written comments, displaying or sharing images and physical contact
Doctors will be expected to demonstrate “zero tolerance” of sexual harassment, the General Medical Council has announced.
For the first time, new professional standards, published on Tuesday, introduce explicit rules on sexual harassment towards colleagues.
Continue reading...Former nurse will never be released from prison as judge describes ‘deep malevolence bordering on sadism’
The serial killer nurse Lucy Letby will never be released from prison after a judge sentenced her to a rare whole-life term for the “sadistic” murder of seven babies.
Letby, 33, is one of only three women alive to have been given such a jail term in the UK. She was sentenced at Manchester crown court on Monday.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Officers investigating ‘suspicious’ incidents at Countess of Chester and Liverpool women’s hospitals
Police believe Lucy Letby, the nurse convicted of murdering seven babies, may have harmed dozens more infants at two hospitals in the north-west of England, the Guardian has been told.
A source with knowledge of the police investigation said detectives had identified about 30 babies who suffered “suspicious” incidents at the Countess of Chester hospital where she worked.
Continue reading...