News about the NHS

Gordon Brown · Nov 22, 2024

Spending time with people in their final days showed me that we need not assisted dying, but better end-of-life care | Gordon Brown With investment in palliative care, we can improve on our current end-of-life options – ‘Switzerland, suicide or suffering’ Gordon Brown is the UN’s special envoy for global education and was UK prime minister from 2007 to 2010 Report: Gordon Brown: improve end-of-life care rather than allow assisted dying Jennifer, the baby daughter my wife Sarah brought into the world a few days after Christmas 2001, died after only 11 days. By day four, when the extent of her brain haemorrhage had been diagnosed, we were fully aware that all hope was gone and that she had no chance of survival. We could only sit...

Anna Bawden and agency · Nov 21, 2024

Delaying routine care was least bad of ‘awful options’, Matt Hancock tells Covid inquiry Inquiry chair challenges ex-health secretary over his assertion NHS was available to all during crisis Cancelling non-urgent treatment of patients during the Covid crisis was the “least bad” of a series of “awful options”, Matt Hancock has said. In his third and at times combative appearance at the Covid-19 inquiry, in which he repeatedly interrupted the inquiry counsel, Jacqueline Carey KC, the former health secretary defended his decision to allow the NHS to postpone routine treatment and care from April 2020. Continue reading... By Anna Bawden and agency Delaying routine care was least bad of ‘awful options’, Matt Hancock tells Covid...

Editorial · Nov 21, 2024

The Guardian view on physician associates: the NHS must level with the public | Editorial Wes Streeting’s review must lead to greater clarity if confidence is to be rebuilt The plan for the NHS workforce in England created under the Conservatives is already under review. Given Labour’s pledge to rewire the system – emphasising prevention and care delivered in the community rather than in hospitals – the overall staffing mix is bound to be reconfigured when the 10-year plan is launched next year. But amid these wider changes, and ongoing difficulties around workforce shortages, a simmering row about the role of physician associates (PAs) has become too hot to ignore. Wes Streeting’s announcement this week of a review, to be led by...

Guardian Staff · Nov 21, 2024

Bus fare rise is just the ticket for public | Brief letters Fare play | Priced out | Laughter as medicine | Tourist labels | Health check As a non-driver and bus user all my life, I can understand why the government has raised the bus fare cap to £3. Anyone who has used buses for a long time knows that this is still cheaper than it’s been for years in most areas. I suspect most people asked about the rise (Editorial, 20 November) were not bus users or had bus passes. Trevor Hopper Lewes, East Sussex • Anyone who thinks raising the bus fare cap to £3 is OK either never travels by bus or holds in contempt the demographic that needs to use them. Lois Ozlojo Southend-on-Sea Continue reading... By Guardian Staff Bus fare rise is...

PA Media · Nov 21, 2024

Matt Hancock says he ‘reluctantly’ stopped non-urgent treatment during pandemic Former health secretary also pressed at Covid inquiry on the ‘slowness’ of the resumption of elective care The former health secretary Matt Hancock has said he “reluctantly” approved of the decision to pause non-urgent planned care during the pandemic. Ministers prioritised hospital capacity for Covid and emergency patients, and so paused elective (non-urgent) treatment from April 2020. Continue reading... By PA Media Matt Hancock says he ‘reluctantly’ stopped non-urgent treatment during pandemic to Continue reading... NHS Forums - For NHS Staff | Patient Forums

Andrew Sparrow (now); Caroline Davies and Helen · Nov 21, 2024

NHS was ‘within hours’ of running out of gowns during pandemic, Hancock tells Covid inquiry – UK politics live Former health secretary is facing questions at the UK Covid-19 inquiry British prime minister Keir Starmer says he is “deeply saddened” to hear that Prescott has died, and called him a “true giant of Labour”. In a statement on X, he said, “I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of John Prescott. John was a true giant of the Labour movement. On behalf of the Labour Party, I send my condolences to Pauline and his family, to the city of Hull, and to all those who knew and loved him. May he rest in peace.” He possessed an inherent ability to connect with people about the issues that mattered to them – a talent that others...

Ranee Thakar · Nov 21, 2024

I've seen how waiting for treatment can ruin women's lives. This is how Labour can keep its promise to help them | Ranee Thakar Gynaecology has one of the longest waiting lists in the UK. Women’s health has been neglected for too long Ranee Thakar is president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists A few weeks ago, a police officer came to my urogynaecology clinic for a follow-up appointment. She told me that, since her surgery, her life had changed completely. When I first met her she had been waiting years for treatment for incontinence, and she was miserable. She’d been taking more and more time off work as her condition deteriorated, and had started to feel that there was no hope. Now, after a relatively...

Rachel Hall · Nov 21, 2024

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...

Jessica Elgot and Peter Walker · Nov 20, 2024

UK’s longest-serving MPs issue joint plea for Commons to reject assisted dying bill Diane Abbott and the Conservative Sir Edward Leigh, mother and father of the House, say law has been rushed Diane Abbott and Edward Leigh: Our politics could not be more different – but we’re united against this bill Assisted dying: what are the ‘slippery slope’ fears in England and Wales? Britain’s longest-serving MPs, Labour’s Diane Abbott and the Conservative Sir Edward Leigh, have issued a joint call urging the Commons to reject the assisted dying bill, arguing it is being rushed through and puts vulnerable people at risk. Writing for the Guardian, Abbott and Leigh – the mother and father of the house – said there had been insufficient...

Harriet Grant · Nov 20, 2024

Tower Hamlets mayor taken to court over removal of low-traffic neighbourhoods Save Our Safer Streets crowdfunds to challenge Lutfur Rahman over scrapping three LTNs in London borough The mayor of Tower Hamlets is facing a judicial review this week over his decision to remove three low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) in the east London area of Bethnal Green. The campaign group Save Our Safer Streets (SOSS) says the LTNs are vital to protect children in deprived areas from pollution and the risks of heavy traffic. Continue reading... By Harriet Grant Tower Hamlets mayor taken to court over removal of low-traffic neighbourhoods to Continue reading... NHS Forums - For NHS Staff | Patient Forums

Denis Campbell Health policy editor · Nov 20, 2024

Wes Streeting orders review of physician associates’ role in NHS About 3,500 PAs work in England but there is growing alarm in medical profession about patient safety Wes Streeting has ordered a review of what physician associates (PAs) do in the NHS, amid growing alarm in the medical profession about patient safety. It will examine the safety of their roles and how patients should be made aware that, despite their titles and ability to diagnose illness, they are not doctors and can only perform certain tasks. Continue reading... By Denis Campbell Health policy editor Wes Streeting orders review of physician associates’ role in NHS to Continue reading... NHS Forums - For NHS Staff | Patient Forums

Guardian Staff · Nov 19, 2024

Midlife MOTs on the NHS? Who knew? | Brief letters Health checks | Bothering the NHS | Cornwall tourists | Christmas markets | Horse racing Dr Jahangir Alom (Letters, 17 November) raises an important issue regarding midlife health checks. He rightly points out that people (especially men) from certain cultural backgrounds not engaging with vital NHS checks is a problem which needs to be solved. I wonder, though, how many other people in their late 60s, living in east London like me, have just found out through the Guardian letters page that these health checks exist. Could it be that many of those who aren’t engaging with the process simply haven’t been told that there is a process with which to engage? Name and address supplied •...

Zoe Williams · Nov 19, 2024

760,000 women in the UK waiting for a gynaecological appointment? That’s just the tip of the iceberg | Zoe Williams A broken NHS makes life worse for everyone. What happened to the dream of promoting ‘good health in all citizens’? The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has landed on an arresting image to illustrate the waiting-list crisis in its field. If all 760,000 women waiting for NHS gynaecological appointments were to stand in a line, the queue would go from London to Exeter. It’s great for visualisation, but it also rams home what a criminal waste of human energy this represents – the awful pressing interminability. I couldn’t face the queue for Kew Gardens now, let alone if I were in constant pain. Given this...

Robert Booth UK technology editor · Nov 19, 2024

Meta bid to use AI in UK public sector takes step forward with NHS scheme Silicon Valley tech companies competing to work with local and national government Meta’s push to deploy its artificial intelligence system inside Britain’s public sector took a step forward on Monday night when the tech giant awarded development funding to technology aimed at speeding up NHS A&E waiting times. Amid rival efforts by Silicon Valley tech companies to work with national and local government, Meta ran its first “hackathon” in Europe asking over 200 programmers to devise ways to use its Llama AI system in UK public services and, one senior Meta executive said, “focused on the priorities of the Labour party”. Continue reading... By Robert Booth...

Tom Ambrose and agency · Nov 18, 2024

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. Continue reading... By Tom Ambrose and agency Unlicensed medicines may lead to more baby deaths in England, coroner warns to Continue reading... NHS Forums - For NHS Staff | Patient Forums

Guardian Staff · Nov 18, 2024

A price worth paying for a dignified death | Letters Anne Heaton, Elsbeth Christie and Emma Tait react to the health secretary’s warning that legalising assisted dying would divert funds from the NHS I thought the vote on assisted dying was to be according to MPs’ consciences and that the government wasn’t taking a side. How is it, then, that Wes Streeting is making his views prominent and using his position as health secretary to suggest the NHS will be adversely affected by a vote in favour (Legalisation of assisted dying may force NHS cuts, Wes Streeting warns, 13 November)? I don’t believe that is true, and in any case it is irrelevant. People should have a choice at the end of their lives, even if there is a cost to the NHS. To...

Guardian Staff · Nov 18, 2024

As a doctor, I’m trained to preserve life, not end it | Letters Chula Goonasekera highlights several critical issues that need to be taken into account with assisted dying legislation. Plus letters from Jonathan Haydn-Williams and Eric Foxley As a doctor, I find it challenging to reconcile the idea of authorising or consenting to life-ending medication even when legally justified (Cabinet minister Liz Kendall says she will vote for assisted dying, 14 November). My entire training has been centred on preserving life. During the ongoing deliberations, decision-makers must consider several critical points carefully. First, advancements in medicine have enabled patients with severe illnesses to live longer, often through supportive and...

Rachel Hall · Nov 18, 2024

Declining standards of care for stroke patients must be reversed, says charity Figures from audit of England, Wales and Northern Ireland show some basic care now worse than decade ago Ministers are being urged to improve declining care for stroke patients to lower the risk of death and disability as new figures show rising cases, especially among people in their 50s. Thousands of stroke patients are missing out on appropriate treatment and rehabilitation, the standards of which have worsened over the past decade, the Stroke Association has said as it publishes the latest figures from the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP), the nation’s biggest stroke data audit covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Continue...

Ian Sample Science editor · Nov 18, 2024

Study to look at why some people with aggressive cancer are ‘super-survivors’ NHS centres join search for patients who have lived much longer than expected, in hope of developing new therapies Doctors have launched a major study to understand why a small percentage of cancer patients beat the odds and survive long after being diagnosed with some of the most aggressive forms of the disease. Eight NHS cancer centres are joining dozens of hospitals around the world to find patients who had extraordinary responses to cancer treatment and lived much longer than expected. Continue reading... By Ian Sample Science editor Study to look at why some people with aggressive cancer are ‘super-survivors’ to Continue reading... NHS Forums -...

Rachel Hall · Nov 18, 2024

Doctors warn of ‘massive’ winter crisis in UK’s overstretched A&E departments Royal College of Emergency Medicine warns of ‘unacceptable risk’ posed by lack of funding to NHS Emergency doctors have sounded the alarm over an approaching winter crisis that they say is already putting patients in overstretched A&E departments at risk. Nearly all medics (94%) fear patients are coming to harm because of the conditions in A&E departments around the UK, according to a snapshot survey of 83 medics from emergency departments from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM). Most (87%) are not confident their departments will cope well over the winter months, while 41% feel less prepared for this winter compared with last year. More than...

Guardian Staff · Nov 17, 2024

A vital health check is bypassing the people most in need | Letter Take the ‘midlife MOT’ to the people, especially those in deprived and ethnic-minority communities, who are more likely to develop heart disease, writes Dr Jahangir Alom The lack of engagement with the NHS health check should be deeply concerning for the secretary of state, as it is with me, an emergency medicine doctor who treats the consequences of undiagnosed heart disease (Less than half of eligible people received NHS ‘midlife MOT’ since 2019, says watchdog, 13 November). When you look into it further, the inequalities are alarming. If you come from a deprived part of England, such as east London, where I work, then you are four times more likely to die from a...

Guardian Staff · Nov 17, 2024

Hospital league tables risk sapping NHS morale | Letters Pury Sharifi says tick boxes cannot measure continuity and compassion, while Alison Vaspe says naming and shaming is not the answer. Plus a letter from Sue Stephenson Re Rachel Clarke’s article on Labour’s plans to introduce hospital league tables (Wes Streeting, you must have a better plan for ailing hospitals than public humiliation, 13 November), I left the NHS during Labour’s introduction of the “value for money” policy in the health service pushed forward by Tony Blair. I worked in a very deprived area in London as a psychotherapist when Labour became besotted with performance targets. The test of how successful we were “to get people back to work”, which was given...

Phillip Inman · Nov 16, 2024

Streeting’s reforms could save the NHS from the private sector. He must not fail Fears over the health secretary’s plan are understandable. But patients and doctors alike are now fleeing the service for other providers There is going to be lots of angst in Labour ranks about the government’s proposed health reforms. At first glance they appear to be a reheated collection of Blairite targets and financial strictures that smack of privatisation by the back door. When the former health secretary and arch-Blairite Alan Milburn was installed by his successor Wes Streeting to oversee the shake-up, it was easy to see how fears of a rightward shift might be being confirmed. Continue reading... By Phillip Inman Streeting’s reforms could...

Denis Campbell Health policy editor · Nov 15, 2024

Streeting warns Britons against having cheap cosmetic surgery abroad Wes Streeting speaks out after deaths in Turkey among women travelling for procedures such as butt lifts Britons should resist the temptation to have cosmetic surgery abroad at “rock-bottom” prices in case they are harmed by substandard care, the health secretary has said. Wes Streeting spoke out after a spate of deaths among women who had travelled to Turkey for aesthetic treatment such as a Brazilian butt lift (BBL). Continue reading... By Denis Campbell Health policy editor Streeting warns Britons against having cheap cosmetic surgery abroad to Continue reading... NHS Forums - For NHS Staff | Patient Forums

Denis Campbell Health policy editor · Nov 15, 2024

UK’s unhealthy food habits cost £268bn a year, report finds Exclusive: Food, Farming and Countryside Commission added up cost to NHS and economy of diet-linked disease The UK’s growing addiction to unhealthy food costs £268bn a year, far outstripping the budget for the whole NHS, the first research into the subject has found. The increased consumption of foods high in fat, salt and sugar or which have been highly processed is having a “devastating” impact on human health and Britain’s finances. Continue reading... By Denis Campbell Health policy editor UK’s unhealthy food habits cost £268bn a year, report finds to Continue reading... NHS Forums - For NHS Staff | Patient Forums

News about the NHS

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Spending time with people in their final days showed me that we need not assisted dying, but better end-of-life care | Gordon Brown

Delaying routine care was least bad of ‘awful options’, Matt Hancock tells Covid inquiry

The Guardian view on physician associates: the NHS must level with the public | Editorial

Bus fare rise is just the ticket for public | Brief letters

Matt Hancock says he ‘reluctantly’ stopped non-urgent treatment during pandemic

NHS was ‘within hours’ of running out of gowns during pandemic, Hancock tells Covid inquiry – UK politics live

I've seen how waiting for treatment can ruin women's lives. This is how Labour can keep its promise to help them | Ranee Thakar

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

UK’s longest-serving MPs issue joint plea for Commons to reject assisted dying bill

Tower Hamlets mayor taken to court over removal of low-traffic neighbourhoods

Wes Streeting orders review of physician associates’ role in NHS

Midlife MOTs on the NHS? Who knew? | Brief letters

760,000 women in the UK waiting for a gynaecological appointment? That’s just the tip of the iceberg | Zoe Williams

Meta bid to use AI in UK public sector takes step forward with NHS scheme

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

A price worth paying for a dignified death | Letters

As a doctor, I’m trained to preserve life, not end it | Letters

Declining standards of care for stroke patients must be reversed, says charity

Study to look at why some people with aggressive cancer are ‘super-survivors’

Doctors warn of ‘massive’ winter crisis in UK’s overstretched A&E departments

A vital health check is bypassing the people most in need | Letter

Hospital league tables risk sapping NHS morale | Letters

Streeting’s reforms could save the NHS from the private sector. He must not fail

Streeting warns Britons against having cheap cosmetic surgery abroad

UK’s unhealthy food habits cost £268bn a year, report finds

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