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Stress from racism may help explain why black women more likely to die in childbirth, study finds

Stress from racism and deprivation could explain why black women are more likely to die during childbirth, a study has found.

Researchers reviewed 44 existing studies that examined three physiological pathways associated with worse pregnancy outcomes: oxidative stress, inflammation, and uteroplacental vascular resistance, and found black women had higher levels of the three metrics.

Such physiological differences are not the result of genetic differences, according to the researchers, but rather suggest that socioenvironmental stressors such as systemic racism and deprivation, which are known to have a measurable biological effect, may influence the body’s ability to function healthily during pregnancy.

Grace Amedor, of the University of Cambridge, the first author of the peer-reviewed study published in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, said: “Pregnancy and childbirth put great stress on a woman’s body. Black women may experience additional strain due to factors including systemic racism, socioeconomic disadvantage and environmental stressors.

“During pregnancy, this strain may affect key biological processes in ways that increase the risk of conditions such as pre-eclampsia. I was surprised that although this disparity had been known for a long time, there was little research into the potential underlying physiological reasons.

“It’s important that we don’t stop trying to tackle the root causes that lead to worse pregnancy outcomes in black women, which are the socioeconomic disparities and the systemic racism they can experience throughout their lives.”

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Source: The Guardian, 29 April 2026

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Thousands of UK stroke patients ‘left facing a life of disability’ after being denied crucial treatment

Thousands of stroke victims are being denied access to a crucial, life-altering treatment, a charity has warned.

The Stroke Association has highlighted "stark inequalities" in whether patients receive a thrombectomy – a procedure that removes a blood clot from a blocked blood vessel in the brain.

Getting this treatment in the hours after stroke symptoms start can save a person’s life or reduce the risk of life-long disability, as it reduces brain damage caused by a clot.

Analysis by the Stroke Association reveals that 1,222 patients missed out on a thrombectomy between October and December last year, despite the procedure needing to be carried out within the first 24 hours.

The charity attributes these disparities to the fact that some parts of the country lack access to round-the-clock thrombectomy services.

NHS plans, introduced in 2019, had set ambitious targets to expand thrombectomy provision from just 1% to 10% of stroke patients, predicting this would enable 1,600 more individuals to live independently each year.

But the Stroke Association said that this critical target remains unmet

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Source: The Independent, 29 April 2026

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Early care scheme could prevent thousands of miscarriages a year

After going through two devastating miscarriages, Lisa Varey could not believe what she was thinking.

She knew she would have to miscarry again before she could get the help she needed. Only when you have had three miscarriages do you normally qualify for specialist NHS help in England. One in five pregnancies end in miscarriage, most before 14 weeks.

After her second miscarriage, Lisa was invited on to a pilot project at Birmingham Women and Children's Hospital, which experts believe will prevent thousands of miscarriages every year by offering earlier checks and advice.

As part of the project, women who had suffered one miscarriage were given a one-to-one consultation with a specialist nurse to discuss lifestyle changes - including reducing alcohol consumption and giving up smoking - and using the hormone progesterone, which can help prevent miscarriage.

After a second miscarriage, women were tested for anaemia and abnormal thyroid function, which can affect pregnancy outcomes. They were also offered early scans to reassure them the pregnancy was advancing normally.

Following a third miscarriage, the pathway joins up with what the NHS currently offers - including a referral to a recurrent miscarriage clinic, further blood tests and a pelvic ultrasound.

Tests showed Lisa would benefit from taking the hormone progesterone to help maintain her pregnancy and a regular aspirin tablet to increase the chances of a healthy birth.

Lisa is now pregnant and in the last weeks of her second trimester. She breaks down in tears as she speaks about how much difference the project's help has made.

"There's so much support for pregnant women, but it didn't always feel like there was any support for women who were no longer pregnant. We're having to go through that journey of just feeling very sad."

Professor Arri Coomarasamy, head of miscarriage research at Tommy's, says the three miscarriage wait is an unacceptable anomaly.

"We don't do that with any other medical condition. If somebody has a heart attack, we don't say have your third heart attack and then we will see if there is anything we can do," he says.

He says the findings of the study, if rolled out across the NHS, could also save the NHS money. The pilot suggests the extra costs of staff and training are outweighed by the money saved having fewer women miscarry.

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Source: BBC News, 29 April 2026

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Precautionary recall of antidepressant medication due to manufacturing error

The Medicines and Health products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has advised healthcare professionals to stop supplying the affected batch of Sertraline 100mg and return all remaining stock to their suppliers.

Amarox Limited is recalling one batch of Sertraline 100mg film-coated tablets as a precautionary measure due to a manufacturing error that led to two antidepressant medicines being packaged incorrectly.  

The recall follows a patient complaint which helped identify that a pack of Sertraline 100mg film-coated tablets contained one blister strip of Citalopram 40mg film-coated tablets inside the sealed carton.   

Sertraline and citalopram are both selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, and related mental health conditions by boosting brain serotonin.  

Both SSRI medications are produced by the same manufacturer, at the same site, and the error appears to have occurred during secondary packaging of the blister strips into the cartons.   

Patients who believe they have already taken any Citalopram 40mg tablets by mistake or are experiencing side effects, are advised to seek medical advice immediately. 

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Source: MHRA, 28 April 2026

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NHSE home birth proposals spark major safety fears

NHS England is considering allowing midwives to “withdraw” services from women deemed to be giving birth at home against professional advice, HSJ has learned.

The Royal College of Midwives has warned that if this advice is introduced, it risks “push[ing] women towards giving birth entirely alone, [presenting] far greater risk to mother and baby”.

The disagreement comes as NHS services urgently seek clarity from system leaders on how they should best support home births and some high-risk pregnancies.

However, the advice would also cover how services should respond to other care and treatment requests that are considered “highly unsafe or unreasonable”.

NHS England’s discussions about the potential new advice were revealed in a letter responding to a coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths report.

The letter is dated 24 December, but it was only published last month, and HSJ understands a definitive decision about the advice has not yet been made.

The letter said: “We will build on work already started, looking to clarify whether NHS health professionals providing maternity services may withdraw midwifery services from women birthing at home against professional advice and/or from women making requests with regards to care/treatment that are considered highly unsafe or unreasonable.”

It added: “In developing [better home birth resources], NHSE and its partners will consider the ethical responsibility and proportionality of offering women an NHS home birth, while taking into account that women have a legal right to choose what healthcare they receive.

“In addition, some women who cannot be supported to birth at home due to the level of risk may choose to give birth unassisted, which carries a higher risk.”

The report prompted chief midwifery officer Kate Brintworth to order all trusts to “urgently” review the safety of home birth services in November.

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Source: HSJ, 28 April 2026

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Care home manager struck off over 'horrific' restraining of disabled person

A care home manager in Ayrshire has been struck off after inappropriately and unnecessarily restraining a disabled person for a vaccine injection.

A tribunal hearing heard that Janette Donnelly's use of force was "horrific" and resulted in scenes of chaos at Millport Care Centre on 19 February 2021.

The jab ended up being administered through the resident's clothes, following which Donnelly told a colleague that she would not report that it had been injected that way.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council ruled her actions were a significant departure from the standards expected of nurses and she had repeatedly given a "dishonest and self serving" account of the day to justify her actions.

A registered NHS nurse had visited the care home on the day to administer the Covid-19 vaccine to people staying there.

The resident, described in the hearing as Service User A, had a learning disability and at times restraints were used to allow her to be fed, but these were only meant to be for brief periods of time.

She was due to receive her second vaccination but two attempts to do so in the building's dining room earlier that day had not gone ahead.

Instead, the vaccine was given in the resident's bedroom while she was being held on the floor Donnelly and two other staff members. Evidence to the panel said the woman was shouting, screaming and struggling.

One witness stated that she would never forget the sight she was confronted with, that it was a "horrific" scene, and that Donnelly had restrained the person's head with her hands.

Donnelly told the NHS nurse to carry out the injection through the resident's clothing.

After this happened the colleague said to Donnelly, "please don't tell anyone I've administered the vaccine in this way", to which Donnelly said "of course I won't".

Donnelly claimed she was unaware the vaccine had been given through the clothing, which the panel did not agree with. It ruled her actions in not reporting this were dishonest.

The panel also ruled that the vaccine did not have to be given on that day, and the nurse could have visited at another time.

It concluded that Donnelly's actions "placed Service User A at a risk of physical harm, and both Service User A and your colleagues at a risk of emotional harm".

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Source: BBC News, 27 April 2026

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Spiralling cost of mental health patients stuck in acute hospitals revealed

Hospital trusts are spending millions of pounds a year on expensive temporary staff to look after mental health patients stranded in emergency departments and acute wards, HSJ has learnt.

Figures released to HSJ by 70 acute trusts showed several trusts in cities spent more than £1m each during 2025 on additional agency staffing to care for patients waiting for mental health treatment, and with no physical care need.

Across 70 trusts that provided data, the cost was £19m last year, equating to about 16,000 additional staff. Many are hiring specialist mental health nurses, who come at an even greater agency cost premium than general nurses.

It is the latest sign of the rise in serious mental illness and strained capacity in mental health services – and the knock-on costs elsewhere.

Several trusts have said it is contributing to their financial problems. 

A University Hospital Southampton Foundation Trust board report last month said: “The number of mental health patients attending… creates a significant additional cost, including utilising specialist agency to ensure we have sufficiently skilled staff capacity to care for these patients safely often including additional security costs.”

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Source: HSJ, 27 April 2026

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Trusts name first joint CEO

A chief executive has been appointed to lead ambulance services for a population of about nine million, in a new group of two trusts.

Simon Ashton is currently the hospital chief executive of Newham University Hospital, which is part of Barts Health Trust.

He will become the first joint CEO of South East Coast and South Central ambulance service foundation trusts.

They have begun forming a group and together will be bigger than all other English ambulance trusts except London.

The trusts recruited together, and the appointment had to be confirmed by both their councils of governors. They have said they do not plan to merge, but are working together on areas including workforce planning, digital, clinical collaboration, service resilience, and staff wellbeing.

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Source: HSJ, 24 April 2026

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Motivation gap grows between bank and substantive staff

NHS bank staff motivation and engagement have increased in a new national survey, in contrast to falling scores among other colleagues.

The results also revealed a widening gap between the proportion who look forward to work and are enthusiastic about their job, compared to their peers.

The 2025 staff survey for bank workers showed motivation rose slightly to just under 7.5 out of 10. This fell to below 6.9 – the worst score in recent years – for substantive staff in results released last month.

The overall engagement score – which also covers involvement and advocacy – had a small rise to 6.93 for bank staff last year, compared to a historic low of 6.75 reported by substantive staff. 

The results showed bank staff were more likely to look forward to going to work at 67% of respondents compared to 52% of substantive staff, with the gap in scores over 3 percentage points wider than in 2023.

However, nearly one in four bank-only workers said they had experienced physical violence within the past 12 months, which has declined slightly from 25% the year before.

This is still significantly higher than the 15% reported by their substantive colleagues and varied by ethnic background.

The report said: “For female white bank workers, the proportion experiencing violence at work from patients or the public has decreased compared to last year and, at 22%, is at a three-year low.

“The proportion of male white workers experiencing at least one incident of physical violence from patients or the public has also decreased, whereas male workers from all other ethnic groups have seen an increase in experiences of violence this year, with more than three in ten … experiencing such behaviour in 2025.”

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Source: HSJ, 27 April 2026

 

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Home blood pressure checks could reduce risks after hypertensive pregnancy

New mothers who had hypertension in pregnancy could reduce their risk of heart attack, stroke and potentially early death through daily blood pressure checks at home, research suggests.

Women who regularly monitored their blood pressure in the weeks after giving birth, and had doctors tailor their medication if needed, had better functioning arteries nine months later than those who received routine care, scientists found.

When the medication was adjusted to account for blood pressure changes, the women ended up with less stiff arteries, an effect that researchers at the University of Oxford estimate could reduce the future risk of heart attack or stroke by 10%.

Paul Leeson, a professor of cardiovascular medicine who led the study, said the findings suggested that the weeks after birth provided a “powerful and often overlooked opportunity” to protect women’s future health.

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Source: The Guardian, 27 April 2026

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UK healthy life expectancy falls by two years in past decade

The number of years people in the UK spend in good health is falling, according to a new report.

Over the past decade healthy life expectancy (HLE) has dropped by around two years to just under 61 for both men and women.

The UK is one of only five of the richest 21 countries to see HLE decline and its fall was the second steepest.

The Health Foundation, which produced the analysis, said there was a significant economic cost to this trend and the findings should act as a watershed moment.

It said poverty, poor housing and lifestyle factors such as obesity were to blame along with the impact of the Covid pandemic.

The analysis, based on data from the Office for National Statistics between 2022-24 and 2012-2014, found those in the wealthiest 10% of areas could expect to have around 20 more years of good health than those in the poorest.

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Source: BBC News, 27 April 2026

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Four-fifths of UK mental health nurses say their workload is unmanageable

Mental health patients in the UK are routinely coming to harm because of high caseloads, understaffing and overwhelming administrative work, according to a poll that found only a fifth of specialist nurses felt their workload was manageable.

Prof Nicola Ranger, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said mental health nurses were caught in a “perfect storm” and unable to keep up with rising demand, with patients paying the price by missing out on crucial care.

Half of the specialist nurses who responded to the RCN union’s UK-wide survey said mental health patients “frequently come to harm” because caseloads are too high, with a quarter feeling that time pressures lead to daily issues with patient deterioration, relapse or self-harm.

Nearly two-thirds said their caseloads had risen “a lot” in the past three years, while excessive admin and a “tick box” culture were blamed for taking away valuable time for patient care. The poll also suggests that demand for services has grown more than twice as fast as the number of nurses in the field.

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Source: The Guardian, 27 April 2026

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Hospital launches review of stillbirths

A trust whose maternity care is under scrutiny is launching a review of all stillbirths last year, it has confirmed to HSJ.

Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust (SWBT) confirmed it was due to begin a review of all 2025 cases.

This will include a “comprehensive” review of care provided to identify “themes and learning”.

It will also examine the reviews that staff carried out at the time of the stillbirths – a process which uses the national perinatal mortality review tool (PMRT). There have been concerns about whether those reviews were carried out properly at SWBT.

The new review will be led and hosted by SWBT, but with experts from NHS England, and clinicians from other trusts in the local maternity and neonatal system (LMNS), taking part.

It is the latest in a string of reviews to examine maternity care at SWBT, including the ongoing national investigation by Baroness Amos. The trust’s perinatal mortality has been flagged multiple times as an outlier, but it improved in the most recent data.

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Source: HSJ, 24 April 2026

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Trusts could face ‘AI readiness’ test

Trusts passing an “AI readiness” test before being allowed to use the technology is one of the ideas being considered by an influential government commission.

The National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare, this week, published meeting minutes that gave clues about what new rules it might propose.

The minutes said discussion papers “outlined proposals to accredit healthcare providers who can demonstrate high levels of ‘AI readiness’ so they can provide earlier access to AI systems and a pathway for deploying earlier-stage AI systems, which maintains healthcare professionals’ confidence.”

It said “AI readiness” would mean healthcare providers being able to show they have “the systems, digital infrastructure, governance and risk frameworks and capabilities in place to deploy AI systems safely”. Digital maturity varies widely across NHS organisations.

The national commission was set up in September to help clarify the confused regulation of approval, deployment and liability in relation to the tools. AI use cases in healthcare range from automating administrative work and ambient voice technology to interpreting test results.

The national commission is chaired by Professor Alastair Denniston. Minutes said he “emphasised throughout the discussion that the proposals were intended to stimulate forward-looking discussions around the possible future regulatory frameworks but were not under active development”.

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Source: 24 April 2026

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Former trust leader arrested for perverting the course of justice

A former senior leader of the Countess of Chester Hospital Foundation Trust has been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

Cheshire Constabulary has said it will not give details, including the age or gender, of the individual.

However, they are understood to be one of three former members of the senior leadership team at CoCH FT between 2015 and 2016 who were arrested last June on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. They were later bailed pending further enquiries. 

The force said the latest arrest had taken place as part of an ongoing investigation into potential corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter at the hospital where convicted murderer Lucy Letby used to work.

A statement from Cheshire Constabulary said officers executed a search warrant at a property on Wednesday.

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Source: HSJ, 23 April 2026

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GP upgrades ‘stuck in layers of approval’

A string of bureaucratic barriers are still holding up development of buildings for primary and community care, multiple NHS and industry organisations have warned.

Concerns were raised in written evidence to the health and social care committee’s ongoing inquiry into what is needed from the NHS estate to deliver the government’s vision of a neighbourhood health service.

Primary Health Properties PLC, the UK’s largest primary care property investor, said it has 19 planned developments of new health centres and around 20 upgrades to existing buildings serving more than 500,000 patients that are “currently stuck due to challenges with local NHS decision-making and agreeing a viable rent”.

Rugby Primary Care Network also said the “health on the high street” concept had “completely stalled” in Rugby and was “costing thousands due to acquisition from private landlords”.

Warwickshire District Council, meanwhile, said local community estate, including GP surgeries, was “antiquated and out of date”, adding: “What you have got for the most part isn’t good enough to do the job.”

NHS organisations and industry sources have raised concerns in recent years over barriers to upgrading primary care premises. HSJ  reported  how debate over rent prices was contributing to an “untenable stalemate” back in 2024.  

The government is now seeking to develop and expand hundreds of primary and community facilities to create “neighbourhood health centres”, with some funded publicly and some by a new private finance programme. It issued guidance last week that asked ICBs to set out their planned schemes.

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Source: HSJ, 23 April 2026

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Baby died after NHS trust failed to warn mother of ‘unsafe’ home birth, coroner finds

A mother who lost her baby a week after an “unsafe” home birth that went against medical advice was failed by the NHS, an inquest has found.

Poppy Hope Lomas was seven days old when she died at University College hospital in London on 26 October 2022 after complications during a home birth that, according to her mother, was encouraged by midwives at Barnet hospital.

An inquest into Poppy’s death at Barnet coroner’s court concluded that she probably died from a lack of oxygen reaching her brain in the 30 minutes before she was born.

The senior coroner Andrew Walker said the Royal Free London NHS foundation trust had agreed to support Poppy’s mother, Gemma Lomas, with an “unsafe home delivery that was against medical advice” and had failed to address “an accumulation of risk factors”.

After the inquest concluded on Thursday, Lomas said outside the court: “Nothing will ever bring her back, but hearing the truth today acknowledged means everything to us.

“We trusted the professionals who were guiding us,” she said, adding that she hoped lessons would be learned.

She previously told the inquest that midwives had actively encouraged her to have a vaginal birth at home, despite the risks because she had given birth to her first daughter, Willow, by caesarean section in 2018.

Guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says vaginal births after caesarean (VBACs) should take place in a “suitably staffed and equipped delivery suite” and “with resources available for immediate caesarean delivery”.

“I was encouraged to do what we did,” Lomas said. “I would have never made decisions to harm myself or my baby in any capacity.”

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Source: The Guardian, 23 April 2026

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Emergency departments 'having to choose between very sick patients'

Doctors are having to choose which "very sick people" they prioritise because of the pressures on Northern Ireland's emergency departments (ED), the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has said.

Department of Health (DoH) statistics for the first three months of this year show that no ED achieved targets for seeing patients within the four-hour and 12-hour benchmarks.

RCEM Northern Ireland said, so far, the figures for 2026 are "the worst they have ever been" and described the state of emergency departments in Northern Ireland as "utterly horrifying".

The association's vice president, Dr Michael Perry, said the environment staff are working in was making their jobs very difficult.

"We're basically pleading with our policy makers and our elected representatives in our government to allow us to do our jobs," he said.

"Don't put us in this position where we have to choose out of two very sick people who we prioritise," Dr Perry told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster.

Nursing staff turnover in Northern Ireland's emergency departments is "vast and it is largely to do with the environment that they work in", he continued.

"I've had staff very distressed where something's happened, they have tried their best to deliver the best care that they can, but because of the environment they're being forced to work in something adverse has happened."

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Source: BBC News, 24 April 2026

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One in 10 operations in England cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice

About one in 10 operations in England are cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice or postponed, according to research.

A study of elective surgery at 91 English NHS trusts found that 10% of operations were cancelled the day before the planned surgery date; while 9% were postponed when patients had their pre-op appointment.

If the study’s findings were replicated nationally, that would equate to approximately 300,000 cancellations or postponements. Yet nearly 40% of cancellations could be avoided, the authors concluded.

Researchers for the National Institute for Health and Care Research Central London patient safety research collaboration, NHS England, University College London and the Royal College of Anaesthetists examined planned surgery data over seven days in November 2024. They found that the most common causes of cancellations were for medical reasons, patients not attending, operating lists overrunning and emergency admissions. But in 37.3% of cases, had these issues been identified as little as three to five days earlier, the operation could either have gone ahead, or another patient could have been offered the surgery slot, the study calculated.

The study, published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, also found that nearly two-thirds of operations postponed at the pre-op appointment were because patients needed further tests or specialist clinical review.

The authors concluded that clinical pathways need overhauling, with more early screening, nimbler surgery scheduling and better communication.

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Source: The Guardian, 24 April 2026

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NHS to overhaul maternal care in England to tackle pregnancy deaths

The NHS has announced every maternity service in England will have to upend clinical standards to reduce the number of women who die during or after pregnancy.

Increasing numbers of women have been reported to be dying during pregnancy or in the weeks after giving birth.

According to the latest official data, there were 252 maternal deaths from 2022 to 2024 – 20% higher than the rates from 2009 to 2011. This is the equivalent of 12.8 deaths for every 100,000 women giving birth.

NHS England's chief midwife Kate Brintworth (CMO) told Sky News that, while improvements were being made, "none of us think care is in the right place".

"We don't think that things are good enough," she said.

"It's a terrible anguish to lose a child," she added. "I think it's one of the worst things that can happen to a human, and our responsibility as leaders in maternity is to make sure those families don't experience that anguish."

Ms Brintworth hopes today's announcements will ensure avoidable deaths are "significantly" reduced.

The Maternity Safety Alliance, a campaign group, said it was "alarmed" that Ms Brintworth's response to the data suggested "a lack of urgency, accountability and meaningful action" to the "long known and completely avoidable harm and death that is happening everyday in our maternity services".

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Source: Sky News, 23 April 2026

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UK Biobank health data listed for sale in China, government confirms

Medical information of 500,000 participants of one of the UK's landmark scientific programmes, UK Biobank, were offered for sale online in China, the government has confirmed.

Technology minister Ian Murray said information of all members of the database was found listed for sale on the website Alibaba.

Murray told MPs the charity which runs UK Biobank had told the government about the breach on Monday. He said the information did not include names, addresses, contact details or telephone numbers.

However he said it could include gender, age, month and year of birth, socioeconomic status, lifestyle habits, and measures from biological samples.

The Biobank is a collection of health data offered by volunteers which has been used to help improvements in detection and treatment of dementia, some cancers and Parkinson's.

It has collected intimate details - including whole body scans, DNA sequences and their medical records - from hundreds of thousands of volunteers for over two decades. The project has led to more than 18,000 scientific publications.

Participants were aged from 40 to 69 when they were recruited between 2006 and 2010.

"We understand that the existence of these listings, even temporarily, will be concerning to you," Chief Executive Professor Sir Rory Collins said in a message to participants, external.

"We want to reassure you that all the data are de-identified; they do not contain any personally identifying information (such as names, addresses, dates of birth, and NHS numbers)."

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Source: BBC News, 23 April 2026

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Families want top medic removed from key taskforce

Bereaved families impacted by the Nottingham maternity scandal have called on Wes Streeting to remove a senior medic from a national taskforce whose appointment they said was “deeply distressing”.

They have alleged Dr Stephen Wardle has a “clear and unavoidable conflict of interest” and his appointment to the national maternity taskforce was a “significant failure of judgment” by ministers.

Dr Wardle is providing his expertise to the taskforce, established as part of Baroness Valerie Amos’ national review, in his capacity as president of the British Association of Perinatal Medicine.

However, he has also been a consultant neonatologist at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust since 2001, the provider where senior midwife Donna Ockenden is investigating more than 2,500 cases of harm since April 2012.

Now, in a letter to the Department of Health and Social Care, shared with HSJ, the Nottingham Affected Families group is calling for his removal because of his longstanding senior position at NUH. They have also flagged their concerns with BAPM.

The family letter states: “This appointment feels profoundly inappropriate and deeply distressing to the families who have suffered harm, loss, and trauma as part of what has been widely described as the largest maternity scandal in NHS history.

“It is our belief that this demonstrates a significant failure of judgment, sensitivity, and respect for those most affected.

“Dr Wardle held and still holds a senior leadership position within neonatal services at NUH during the period in which serious and systemic failings in maternity and neonatal care were occurring.

It adds: “As such, we believe this represents a clear and unavoidable conflict of interest. We believe Dr Wardle cannot be relied upon to identify harm, toxic culture, deception, and unsafe care within his own organisation, [therefore] it is difficult to understand how he can be entrusted with identifying and addressing these same issues at a national level.”

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Source: HSJ, 24 April 2026

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NHSE accused of ‘admitting defeat’ on children’s waits

NHS England guidance suggesting adult services are the priority for bringing down long waits risks “failing” children, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has said.

A senior paediatrician criticised advice issued by the health service on how to approach 18-week community targets introduced this month.

Ronny Cheung, officer for health services at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, told HSJ that proposing to “just focus on this group [adult musculoskeletal services] and ignore children – for all of the burden [that is on them] – is a bit of an admission of defeat and failing these children”.

The NHS England guidance, which was published late last month, said: “Early progress in reducing 18-week waits is likely to be achieved through a focus on adult service lines, particularly the high-volume community musculoskeletal service line”.

Meanwhile, it said the longest waits were “largely concentrated” in children and young people’s services, and “addressing these will require sustained, long-term effort”.

But Dr Cheung said NHSE’s suggested approach rested on two misperceptions. “There’s a perception that children’s community waits are relatively speaking still quite small in comparison to the adult ones, and that’s not true,” he told HSJ. “The second slight misperception is that it is such an intractable problem that actually there’s no point in [services] focusing on that.”

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Source: HSJ, 23 April 2026

 

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One person diagnosed with cancer every 80 seconds in UK, report reveals

The number of people in the UK being diagnosed with cancer has reached a record high, with one person diagnosed every 80 seconds, a report reveals.

Cancer Research UK found that more than 403,000 people were being diagnosed with the disease each year. The rise is largely due to a growing and ageing population, as people are more likely to develop cancer as they get older.

The NHS is struggling to cope with rising demand for care. Cancer waiting times across the UK are among the worst on record, according to the report.

Incidences have risen to 620 per 100,000 people, from 610 a decade ago, partly driven by rising obesity levels. The proportion of cases diagnosed early has barely changed, inching up from 54% to 55%.

There have been some major successes. Death rates have fallen, and the proportion of people surviving for a decade or more has risen. But Cancer Research UK said this progress was now at risk of stalling, in part due to pressure on cancer services.

It said the government’s recent national cancer plan for England was a crucial step towards improving care but there needed to be “funding and resources to translate ambition into impact”.

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Source: The Guardian, 23 April 2026

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RFK Jr faces intense questions in US Senate on measles and flu deaths

The health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, faced intense questioning from several US senators on Wednesday during a hearing largely focused on how the administration has responded to the measles outbreak and the spread of vaccine misinformation.

In his opening remarks to the Senate finance committee, the senator Ron Wyden criticizsed Kennedy’s messaging on vaccines, saying: “When it comes to vaccines, Robert Kennedy has used this once-in-a-lifetime platform to make parents doubt themselves and doubt their doctors,” before adding: “The secretary has ducked, bobbed and weaved without taking the responsibility of saying what needs to be said: vaccines save lives in America.”

Tensions rose when the discussion turned to the measles outbreak, with Wyden challenging Kennedy directly over his long-held views on vaccines. Kennedy has consistently sought to separate himself from responsibility for the outbreak during recent Capitol Hill appearances.

Public health specialists have argued that Kennedy failed to strongly promote vaccination and instead highlighted unproven treatments such as steroids while the virus spread across state lines.

Kennedy, however, maintained that the US managed the outbreak more effectively than any other nation, noting that Mexico and Canada reported higher numbers of cases.

“I had nothing to do with the measles outbreak here,” he reiterated. “We have limited our outbreak better than any country in the world.”

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Source: The Guardian, 22 April 2026

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