Health innovation centre looks to future of NHS while celebrating its past

First building to open at Huddersfield’s National Health Innovation Centre is named after NHS’s first black matron

In a full-scale model of a house, a £50,000 mannequin that can breathe, blink and cough waits for the replica of an ambulance.

Eerily lifelike technology, some created by model makers who have made “bodies” for the BBC’s Silent Witness, is being used to tackle the scarcity of placement hours for healthcare students by combining real-world training with simulated settings, including virtual reality.

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Hospital admissions for lack of vitamins soaring in England, NHS figures show

Admissions for vitamin or iron deficiencies up by more than 10% year on year and as much as tenfold on 1998-99

The number of people admitted to hospital in England because of a lack of vitamins or minerals is soaring, according to analysis of NHS figures.

In 2023-24 there were 191,927 admissions where the main reason was a lack of iron, up 11% on 2022-23. The figure is almost 10 times the 20,396 hospital admissions for lack of iron in 1998-99.

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How soaring fees for private care are deepening England’s dentistry crisis

Ever growing numbers of people find themselves unable to get NHS treatment or pay for the alternative

Exclusive: patients unable to get dental care after ‘eye-watering’ rise in private fees

The inability of millions of patients to access an NHS dentist is one of the longest-running injustices in the history of the health service. The misery and the harm it causes is profound and well documented. The scandal is not new.

Going private is often the only alternative. If it means getting a checkup, a scale and polish, a filling, an extraction or if necessary a root canal, many will pay. Anything to keep your teeth in good nick.

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UK patients unable to get dental care after ‘eye-watering’ rise in private fees

Exclusive: warning that lack of NHS dentists and soaring cost of private work puts essential care out of reach for many

How soaring fees for private care are deepening England’s dentistry crisis

Private dentists are cashing in on the scarcity of NHS treatment by hiking their charges for fillings, checkups and extractions to “eye-watering” levels, research has found.

Patients are paying as much as £775 for root canal work, £435 to have a tooth out and £325 for a white filling due to fees for common dental procedures soaring since 2022.

A white filling has gone from £105 to £129 – up 23%.

An extraction has risen from £105 to £139 – 32% more.

A half-hour scale and polish is now £75, up from £65 – a 15% jump.

An initial consultation for a new patient is up 23% from £65 to £80.

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Big rise in people going to A&E in England for minor ailments, data shows

Stretched primary services causing increase in emergency visits for issues from coughs to hiccups, health leaders say

The number of people turning to A&E departments in England for minor ailments including hiccups, sore throats and coughs is soaring, as senior health leaders warn that NHS primary and community services are “massively overstretched”.

NHS data shows a large increase in people arriving at emergency departments for non-emergency ailments including backache, insomnia and earache.

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UK ministers warned housing crisis puts plans for NHS and economy at risk

Damning report reveals millions in England are living in poor-quality housing that threatens their health

Ministers have been warned that efforts to save the NHS and grow the economy will fail unless they tackle the housing crisis, as a damning report reveals millions of people are living in substandard homes that risk worsening their health.

In total, 4.5 million people aged 50 or above with an existing health condition in England are living in poor-quality housing with one or more problems such as rising damp, rot or decay that may be making them even sicker, the Centre for Ageing Better analysis found. Of those, 1.7 million are aged 70 or over.

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NHS delays may drive patients to buy unsafe weight-loss drugs, says top GP

People warned against buying illegal weight-loss medicines through beauty salons or fake pharmacy websites

Long waits for NHS services could lead people to take matters into their own hands by buying potentially unsafe weight-loss jabs online, Britain’s top GP has said.

Prof Kamila Hawthorne, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, warned that buying drugs online from unregulated retailers could put people at risk and they may also miss out on wraparound support offered alongside the medication.

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Starmer seeks to relaunch premiership with new promise to crack down on crime

After a rocky start, PM sets out ‘next phase’ covering economic growth, NHS backlogs, energy, and a ‘bobby on every beat’

Keir Starmer will attempt to reset his premiership with a series of pledges to show he is “delivering change”, including 13,000 extra neighbourhood police and a named “bobby on every beat”.

In a speech Labour hopes will set out the “next phase” of government, the prime minister will detail half a dozen “milestone” targets covering living standards, NHS backlogs, secure energy, housebuilding and children’s readiness for school.

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UK politics live: Labour under pressure over housing and waiting list targets

Health bosses reportedly concerned about government’s focus while council leaders are said to believe building targets are unrealistic

Keir Starmer’s “plan for change” being unveiled later this week (see 9.26am) will involve sidelining the mission pledge to deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7, Ben Riley-Smith from the Telegraph reports.

New targets on living standards will be unveiled by Keir Starmer on Thursday

Is being seen as a sidelining of his big economic pledge - getting the highest growth in the G7

The problem with the ‘highest sustained growth in G7’ target is Starmer of course doesn’t control the economies of US, Aus, Canada, Germany, France, Japan

US growing way faster now: 2.8% estimate for 2024 vs 1.1% for UK

For the new living standards target real household disposable income and GDP per capita have been considered.

The new promise will likely have the benefit of not being a pledge to beat other countries.

Note the nuance. The G7 target remains. It will likely be mentioned in the ‘Plan For Change’ document unveiled on Thurs and Starmer’s speech

But a new major economic pledge will now be unveiled which in the coming years is likely to be talked about much more than the G7 ambition

Councils are committed to keeping tenants and residents safe, and are keen to work with government to drive the pace of remediation.

However, for local government to carry out enforcement and addressing cladding issues as effectively and quickly as possible, multi-year funding arrangements are needed.

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NHS bosses reportedly worried about Starmer’s pledge to cut waiting lists

PM expected to set target to carry out 92% of routine operations and appointments within 18 weeks

NHS bosses are said to be privately concerned about Keir Starmer’s ambitious targets to cut waiting lists for routine operations, set to be announced later this week, which will also include specific targets on living standards and housebuilding.

The prime minister is expected on Thursday to set a target for 92% of routine operations and appointments to be carried out within 18 weeks, one that has not been achieved in almost a decade, the Times has reported.

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New plan would ‘transform’ end of life care for 100,000 in England and Wales

Palliative care commission set up to provide high-quality, holistic support following assisted dying vote

MPs, doctors and charities have drawn up a blueprint to deliver an “unprecedented transformation” of care for 100,000 people a year in the final stages of their lives.

After parliament’s historic vote last week to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales, a commission on palliative care has been set up to help improve end-of-life care.

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Lucy Letby inquiry: hospital boss ‘sincerely regrets’ not calling police sooner

Former medical director of Countess of Chester hospital says he is ‘truly sorry’ if he failed bereaved families

A boss at the hospital where Lucy Letby murdered babies has said he “sincerely regrets” not calling police sooner and is “truly sorry” if he failed the bereaved families.

Ian Harvey, a former medical director at the Countess of Chester hospital, told the Thirlwall inquiry he wished he had contacted the police nearly a year before they were informed.

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Prisoners denied dignity while receiving NHS care, watchdog finds

Health Services Safety Investigation Body reveals difficulties inmates have when they leave jail for treatment

A female inmate remained handcuffed to a male prison officer while she had a mammogram, in an example of prisoners being denied their dignity while receiving NHS care, a watchdog has revealed.

The incident is highlighted in a report by the Health Services Safety Investigation Body (HSSIB) into the difficulties prisoners can face when they leave jail to see a GP or visit a hospital.

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Plans to end NHS dental care crisis not working, warns spending watchdog

National Audit Office finds ‘significant uncertainty’ as to whether pledge for extra 1.5m treatments will be fulfilled

Plans to end the deepening crisis in access to NHS dental care are failing, leaving patients unable to get treatment, according to a warning from the government’s spending watchdog.

The National Audit Office’s (NAO) damning verdict on the “dental recovery plan” prompted patient groups to voice alarm that people’s struggles with decayed teeth represents “a serious public health concern”.

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Government confirms online slots cap and betting levy to fund NHS services

Gambling minister says measures will be ‘instrumental’ in helping those most at risk of addiction

Bookmakers and casinos will be forced to fund NHS services that tackle problem gambling, after Labour rubber-stamped the previous government’s plans, which also include a cap of as little as £2 on the sums that can be staked on online slot machines.

The Guardian revealed on Monday that the government was poised to approve the new “statutory levy”, using proceeds of around £100m a year to fund research, prevention and treatment of gambling harms.

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Number of single UK women having fertility treatment trebles, report says

Study also finds that number of female couples receiving IVF or DI treatment doubled between 2012 and 2022

The number of single women in the UK undergoing fertility treatment to start a family has more than trebled in a decade, a report has revealed.

In total, 4,800 women without a partner had in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or donor insemination (DI) treatment in 2022. This represents a 243% increase from the 1,400 single women who had fertility treatment in 2012, according to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).

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NHS bosses who silence whistleblowers face sack under government plans

Ministers to launch public consultation on regulating managers in effort to end ‘culture of cover-up’ in NHS

NHS managers who silence whistleblowers or endanger patients through misconduct face being sacked and barred from working in the health service for life under radical government plans to regulate thousands of bosses for the first time.

Ministers will begin a public consultation on Tuesday seeking views on the proposals, which they say are designed to eradicate a “culture of cover-up” in the NHS. It follows a series of scandals over the last decade at trusts including Morecambe Bay, East Kent and Shrewsbury and Telford.

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‘One conversation really changed my mind’: the personal stories driving MPs’ decisions on assisted dying

Traditional allies such as Diane Abbott and John McDonnell are split over Friday’s vote as politicians grapple with the issue

During a Labour away day ahead of the last election, the party’s candidates were put through their paces as parliamentary debaters. The topic chosen, assisted dying, was a deliberately intractable issue designed to test their analytical skills. Yet just months later, scores of new MPs find themselves having to make a very real decision over changing the law.

“I’m genuinely the most back and forth on this that I’ve been on anything,” said one new MP who has found themselves on either side of the debate over recent months. Like so many, with the issues so finely balanced in their mind, a single conversation can sway their thinking.

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Mental health patients harmed by being sent to units far from home, report finds

Distant placements found to have led to anxiety, PTSD and suicide in some cases, as use of them increases in England

Mental health patients in England are being harmed by the increase in placements in psychiatric units far from their homes and families, a new report indicates.

Patients have had anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), while some have died by suicide as a result of their distant placements, according to a Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) report, which drew on interviews with patients and their loved ones. The participants spoke of how their experiences had resulted in feelings of anger, frustration and a loss of trust in the mental health system.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Unlicensed medicines may lead to more baby deaths in England, coroner warns

Contaminated feed inquest conclusions highlight concerns over lack of requirement for providers to report problems

More babies in England could die from issues caused by unlicensed medicines if providers are not required to report problems, a coroner has warned.

The conclusions were reached at the end of an inquest held after three infants died due to receiving contaminated feed.

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