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I'm on six different NHS waiting lists - it's taking over my life

Amy-Jane Davies is on six NHS waiting lists and says constantly chasing for updates is taking over her life.

She's waited 21 months for gynaecological surgery, which she said will likely result in her being referred for a more specialist operation - meaning another waiting list.

Amy-Jane, who has endometriosis, is one of 43,120 on a gynaecology waiting list in Wales and one of 687,958 waiting for any type of treatment. She said her condition had affected her life in ways she "didn't imagine", from reducing her hours at work to deciding not to become a mother.

With the Senedd election in Wales on 7 May, NHS waiting times are one of the challenges facing the next Welsh government.

Amy-Jane, 30, from south Wales, was first diagnosed with endometriosis in 2018, a condition where cells similar to those in the lining of the womb grow in other parts of the body.

Her symptoms range from abdominal cramping and severe bloating to migraines, fatigue, as well as bladder and bowel problems.

"During Covid, the gynaecology waiting lists grew to eight to 10 years and at that point I knew there was just no way I could wait that long to get something done," she said.

In 2021, Amy-Jane paid £4,000 for private surgery with help from her mum and nan.

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'Toxic culture' at NHS trust left staff suicidal

"It was toxic from start to finish – you tried to avoid certain people but because you work with them you couldn't, they were always there," says former NHS worker Harvey Cooper.

He is one of several former Portsmouth Hospitals University Trust (PHU) staff members who have spoken to the BBC as part of an investigation into an alleged culture of workplace bullying and harassment.

The allegations span the past decade and include a "flawed and unfair" internal investigation that contributed to A&E manager Sam Carter taking her own life in 2022.

Harvey says he resigned last May due to physical and mental distress he suffered at work.

He joined the trust in May 2022 as an Emergency Medical Assistant (EMA) at the Queen Alexandra Hospital (QA) in Cosham, a role which required moving patients around A&E.

He says he faced constant bullying from other EMAs - he claims he was called a homophobic slur, chanted at in corridors, prevented from taking patients to where they needed to go and was injured after a bed was shoved into him.

Emails seen by the BBC showed Harvey raised two grievances against some of the EMAs and managers were aware of alleged inappropriate behaviours and attitudes.

In November 2023, a year after his first grievance was submitted, he received a letter from the trust apologising for the way his complaints had been handled and the "unacceptable" length of time it had taken.

But by then Harvey says he was receiving counselling after feeling suicidal.

"It ended up ruining my health, my mental health, I had two heart attacks and diagnosed with PTSD and still to this day nothing ever got done," he told the BBC.

In response, the trust said it remained "committed to learning, improving, and fostering an inclusive and supportive environment".

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Source: BBC News, 23 April 2026

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HRT maker censured by UK regulator for ‘systemic failures’ that put patients at risk

One of the biggest producers of hormone replacement therapy has been censured by regulators for “systemic failures” that jeopardised patient safety.

Theramex, the UK producer of HRT drugs Evorel and Intrarosa, was found to have breached fundamental compliance standards including not updating crucial prescribing information – in some cases for several years – and not making it clear that a drug must not be used during pregnancy.

The Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA), the UK drug industry’s self-regulatory body, issued the public reprimand against Theramex after its own staff blew the whistle over “alarming” compliance issues and incomplete prescribing information for Evorel and Intrarosa that “jeopardise patient safety”.

Evorel patches – which contain estradiol – are among the most prescribed form of transdermal HRT, with more than 250,000 items issued in the last financial year, according to NHS Business Services Authority figures.

Overall, nearly 10m items of estradiol, including gels, were prescribed in the 2024/25 financial year.

The employees’ concerns included failing to provide comprehensive side-effect information in Evorel’s prescribing information, and not updating Intrarosa’s product information since 2019.

The PMCPA also reprimanded the company for failures to specify in its advertising at a reproduction and advertising conference that Yselty (linzagolix), used to treat uterine fibroids, should not be taken during pregnancy.

In all, PMCPA found that Theramex breached the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI)’s code of practice 21 times.

The panel said these breaches not only jeopardised patient safety, but that Theramex has “brought discredit upon, and reduced confidence in, the pharmaceutical industry”.

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Source: The Guardian, 22 April 2026

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Patients stuck in unsafe hospital for two more months

NHS England has accepted it will take until the end of June to move “priority” patients out of a hospital where there are “serious safety concerns”.

In a letter to integrated care board, NHS England said they should ensure the “majority” of patients in specified “priority cohorts” are moved out of St Andrew’s hospital in Northampton by the end of June.

This comes six weeks after NHSE first wrote to commissioners to order residents in the hospital be moved.

Nick Broughton, who recently took over as NHSE’s national director for mental health, learning disability and neurodevelopmental conditions, said: “The decision to move patients has been clinically led and based upon serious safety concerns.”

St Andrew’s, the flagship hospital of one of the NHS’s biggest independent providers, was prevented from accepting new patients last summer after revelations of poor care, and an “inadequate” Care Quality Commission rating. It is subject to three ongoing police investigations, with 15 staff members arrested following abuse and neglect allegations.

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Source: HSJ, 22 April 2026

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NHSE rows back on controversial target

NHS England has rowed back on what was widely understood to be a new target for the proportion of patients it wanted “diverted” away from waiting lists, after accusations it was rationing care.

The controversy surrounds how NHS England plans to ramp up the “advice and guidance” (A&G) model, which allows GPs to seek pre-referral advice from specialist clinicians, and is designed in part to reduce referrals.

NHSE guidance published just last month said it would roll out a new model involving a “single point of access” (SPoA), that would “contribute to a diversion rate of at least 25% by March 2027 for at least 10 high volume specialties” in each area.

Diverted patients are those who, after the A&G process, are managed in primary or community care instead of being put on the waiting list for secondary care.

The guidance was widely interpreted as a 25% diversion rate target for these cohorts of patients. This sparked concern and vocal opposition among GP leaders and patient groups, and accusations of care rationing.

However, in a letter to primary care issued late on Wednesday, NHSE said: “There is no national target for specialists, trusts or general practice to divert a fixed proportion of referrals away from hospital care.”

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Source: HSJ, 22 April 2026

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NHS England whistleblowing takeover ‘will have chilling effect’

NHS England’s plan to take over a key whistleblowing initiative will have a “chilling effect” on staff wishing to speak up, experts have warned.

NHSE and individual trusts will take on the oversight of Freedom to Speak Up arrangements from the summer, following Penny Dash’s recommendation last year to disband the National Guardian’s Office as part of her government-commissioned patient safety review.

New guidance says that, from July, NHS England will support existing guardian networks and individual guardians. This includes NHSE staff designated as “experts” providing confidential one-to-one support.

Read full article (paywalled).

Source: Health Service Journal, 21 April 2026.

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‘Postcode lottery’ in robotic surgery access for patients, data shows

NHS patients in England are facing a “postcode lottery” in access to robotic-assisted surgery, according to an analysis by the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

The data, published on 20 April, shows that despite national guidance from NHS England there remain major differences in how the technology is funded, distributed and used across NHS trusts in England.

Freedom of Information data from NHS trusts reveal that there is no consistent funding model for robotic surgery with some trusts, such as Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, relying on charitable funding.

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Source: Digital Health, 21 April 2026

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Ambulance should have been called 90 minutes before baby delivered in ‘high-risk’ home birth, inquest hears

A midwife who broke down in tears at the inquest of a baby who was delivered “blue and floppy” said an ambulance should have been called almost an hour-and-a-half before the birth.

Poppy Hope Lomas was seven days old when she died on 26 October 2022 following complications during a “high-risk” home birth that her mother said she was encouraged to have.

Barnet Coroner’s Court had previously heard Poppy’s mother Gemma Lomas, from Enfield, north London, was not made aware of the risks involved with delivering naturally in her home, having already delivered her first daughter, Willow, by caesarean in 2018.

Midwife Sasha Field, who was present at Poppy’s birth, said in her written statement, which was read out to the inquest by senior coroner Andrew Walker, that an ambulance should have been called around 90 minutes before Poppy was born when she heard the baby’s heart rate slow down after a contraction, as a report by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch had found.

In fact, midwives told Jason Lomas, Poppy’s father, to call an ambulance at around 10.37pm, two minutes after she was born, by which time it was clear she was showing no signs of life, Ms Field said in her statement.

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Source: The Independent (21 April 2026)

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UK must act on allergies after 'decades of neglect', charities and doctors say

The government must improve allergy prevention, diagnosis, and management, according to a group of charities, doctors, and patients, who say the UK has some of the highest allergy rates in the world.

The group, which has found that allergies affect 39% of children and 30% of adults in the UK, has developed a National Allergy Strategy, which was presented to Westminster this week.

The strategy, which is the first UK-wide framework for improving allergy care, aims to tackle "decades of policy neglect", according to the National Allergy Strategy Group (NASG).

It aims to improve awareness and governance of allergies, such as asthma, hay fever, food and drug allergies, and calls for all four UK governments and the NHS to recognise allergic disease as a major long-term condition.

“For too long, despite the scale of the problem, too little has been done to develop solutions,” said NASG chair Professor Adam Fox.

“This strategy focuses on system-level change, embedding allergy into national policy, strengthening safety in everyday environments and improving accountability across health, education, food and workplace settings”.

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Source: ITV, 20 April 2026

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NHS whistleblower claims patients were 'spectacularly abandoned' with surgery scandal as senior figures 'protected reputations at all costs'

An NHS whistleblower has raised serious concerns about a spinal surgery scandal, warning that patients may have been “spectacularly abandoned” while senior figures “protected reputations at all costs”.

Retired consultant anaesthetist Dr Glyn Smurthwaite said he and colleagues spent years attempting to raise concerns about the practice of former spinal surgeon John Bradley Williamson, but felt these were not adequately acted upon at the time.

The surgeon worked at Salford Royal Hospital between 1991 and January 2015, when he was dismissed for misconduct unrelated to clinical care.

“We had one opportunity to make an intransigent trust do the right thing,” he said.“We have spectacularly abandoned patients.”

His warning comes as an NHS England-commissioned “review of the reviews” into the case is expected to report this month.

However, the Sunday Express has learnt it is unlikely to recommend a full recall of all former patients treated by the surgeon.

Instead, patients may be advised to come forward themselves if they wish to have their care reviewed.

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Source: GB News, 19 April 2026

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Precautionary recall of blood pressure medication after manufacturing error

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has advised pharmacy and healthcare professionals to stop supplying the impacted batch and return all remaining stock to their suppliers.

Crescent Pharma Limited is recalling one batch of Ramipril 10mg capsules as a precautionary measure due to a potential manufacturing error which may mean some cartons contain blister strips of a lower dose, specifically Ramipril 5mg. 

This follows a complaint from a patient where it was identified that, inside a sealed carton of Ramipril 10mg capsules, one blister pack of Ramipril 5mg capsules was found. Both product batches were manufactured at the same manufacturing site, and the error appears to have occurred during secondary packaging of the cartons.    

The risk to patients of taking the lower dose of this medicine for a limited time is very low.

Dr Alison Cave, MHRA Chief Safety Officer, said: 

“If you take Ramipril 10mg, check the packaging for batch number GR174091. The batch number and expiry date information can be found on the outer carton. If you have received this batch, check that the medication name on the carton matches the blister strips inside.

“If the 10 mg carton of Ramipril contains blister strips that are labelled as Ramipril 5mg capsules, contact your dispensing pharmacy. If the carton contains blister strips that are correctly labelled as Ramipril 10mg capsules, you do not need to take further action.” 

If you have an impacted pack or previously received this batch and you believe you have taken any Ramipril 5mg capsules that were included in error and are currently experiencing any adverse effects, please seek medical advice. Please take the leaflet that came with your medicine and any remaining tablets with you to your pharmacy or GP practice.  Any suspected adverse reactions should also be reported via the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. 

If you’ve already taken Ramipril 5mg, please be reassured that there is a very low risk to your health. Both strengths of the medication are used to treat high blood pressure, heart failure, and kidney disease. Any possible impact of a lower dose of Ramipril is expected to be gradual rather than immediate or life threatening. 

The MHRA has advised pharmacy and healthcare professionals to stop supplying the impacted batch and return all remaining stock to their suppliers. 

Press release

Source: MHRA, 20 April 2026

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Surgeon's mesh surgery cost £20m in compensation

A disgraced surgeon whose artificial bowel mesh procedures injured more than 450 patients has cost the NHS more £20m in compensation payments, the BBC has been told.

Bristol surgeon Tony Dixon was removed from the medical register last year for serious misconduct, including performing unnecessary surgeries, using surgical mesh to treat bowl complaints without patient's informed consent, and fabricating patient records.

NHS Resolution confirmed it has paid out £19.12m so far to 245 claimants - and there are hundreds more unsettled claims to be dealt with.

Dixon carried out the treatments, using artificial mesh to treat prolapsed bowels, at Southmead Hospital and Spire Hospital.

The BBC first revealed allegations made against Dixon in 2017, when many women complained of severe pain following their operations.

Kath Sansom, founder of the patient-led campaign group Sling the Mesh, previously said that women had suffered "horrific complications" such as pain, nerve damage, and mesh erosion - where the mesh slices into nearby organs and tissues.

Dixon used a technique known as mesh rectopexy to treat bowel problems and has promoted it through a series of studies.

Some of his studies have been flagged with formal editorial warnings due to the concerns about the validity of the data.

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Source: BBC News, 20 April 2026

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AI chatbots are offering cancer patients alternatives to chemo and sparking concern for health officials

A new study has found that AI chatbots habitually recommend alternative cancer treatments to chemotherapy, potentially putting lives at risk.

A team from the Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center tested a series of widely used bots as part of their research, including xAI’s Grok, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Meta’s AI, and High-Flyer’s DeepSeek.

They found that almost half of the answers received regarding cancer treatments were rated “problematic” by experts who audited the responses, according to the study published in BMJ Open.

Of that total, 30% were “somewhat problematic,” and 19.6% were “highly problematic,” with the former category defined as largely accurate but incomplete and the latter both substantially wrong and leaving room for “considerable subjective interpretation” on the part of the user.

Nicholas Tiller and his team stress-tested the apps through a process known as “straining,” wherein they posed questions to the bots likely to lead them towards subject matter rife with misinformation to see how well they could navigate it.

When the bots were asked to name alternative therapies that performed better than chemotherapy in treating cancer, they typically responded appropriately, advising the prompter that alternatives can be harmful and may not be scientifically backed.

However, they then went on to list them anyway, suggesting acupuncture, herbal medicine, and “cancer-fighting diets” as other means through which sufferers might be able to treat cancer.

Tiller said the bots’ inclination to give a “false balance” or “both-sides approach” to answering such inquiries – weighing scientific and non-scientific results equally and giving peer-reviewed journals the same consideration as wellness blogs, Reddit rants, and tweets – prevented them from providing “a very science-based, black-and-white answer.”

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Source: The Independent, 20 April 2026

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NHSE reveals NHS App self-test specialties

NHS England plans to centralise at-home diagnostics for seven specialties through the NHS App, commercial documents reveal.

Market engagement documents released last week said NHS England wants to replace the fragmented and inconsistent infrastructure with “a single, trusted national home-testing capability”.

The new service plans to fill “a recognised gap” in home-testing infrastructure, of “fragmented commissioning arrangements, inconsistent user journeys, and lack of interoperability between local providers and national digital platforms”.

The HomeTest programme will focus initially on patient self-sampling in seven areas, the market engagement notice said:

  • Sexual health testing for HIV and Hepatitis C.
  • Gastroenterology tests for faecal calprotectin, coeliac, ferritin, and urea and electrolytes.
  • Total prostate specific antigen testing.
  • Several gynaecology tests, including follicle-stimulating hormone and human papillomavirus.
  • MRSA, specifically in relation to orthopaedic services.
  • Several rheumatology tests, including full blood counts and liver function tests.
  • Primary care tests, including cholesterol levels.

The HomeTest service wants to enable people to order, complete and receive results from diagnostic tests from home through the NHS App.

NHSE “has an aspiration” for a basic version of the programme to be available from April 2027, though it added, “this timescale is indicative and is subject to change”.

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Source: HSJ, 21 April 2026

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Unqualified therapist treated patients for 10 months

An individual worked as a cognitive behavioural therapist at a trust for 10 months without having the qualifications to do so, HSJ can reveal.

The “patient safety event” at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust was attributed to a “lack of scrutiny” during the recruitment process.

Patients who had CBT sessions - a type of talking therapy for people with mental health conditions - with this individual were informed earlier this year, according to local media. 

HSJ has now obtained an integrated care board committee document which discussed the incident via a Freedom of Information request.

The document said the trust realised in August 2025 that a substantive member of staff had been “delivering care as a cognitive behavioural therapist to Lancashire and South Cumbria residents”, despite not having the required qualifications or accreditations.

The individual had been working in this role since November 2024, according to the quality and outcomes committee risk and escalation report.

It said: “A lack of scrutiny of this individual’s qualifications/accreditation during the recruitment process has been attributed to this patient safety event.”

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Source: HSJ, 20 April 2026

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Steroids and the ‘silent’ cancer plaguing the manosphere

The patient, to look at him, was in the prime of his life: in his late thirties, fit and toned from hours spent in the gym. 

But the scans told a different story. Growing on his liver was a malignant tumour the size of a bowling ball. The obsession that had given him his chiselled physique had handed him a death sentence. The patient — like thousands of other gymgoers in the UK — had been taking anabolic steroids. 

The cancer was inoperable. There was nothing his doctors could do for him.

“His life expectancy is probably about six or seven months,” said Stephen Wigmore, regius professor of clinical surgery at the University of Edinburgh. This was not the first young man whom Wigmore, who is also the head of surgery at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, had treated for liver cancer after heavy steroid use.

He said the illegal trade in steroids in gyms, taken by predominantly young men pursuing the ideal of a masculine body, had created a “silent killer”. And he said this was encouraged by social media and the “manosphere” — a loose collection of online influencers and chat forums pushing misogynistic views and a new idea of masculinity.

It is hard to tell the scale of the threat. “We are not talking about an epidemic,” Wigmore said. “This is very rare, but I’ve seen two cases in the last six months. And across the country each liver unit is seeing small numbers of young men in similar situations.

“The irony of taking drugs to make oneself more beautiful but ultimately shortening one’s life is inescapable,” he said, comparing the phenomenon to the obsession of some young women with risky cosmetic surgery such as Brazilian butt lifts.

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Source: The Times, 18 April 2026

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Health visitors call for limits on 'impossible' 1,000-family caseloads

Limits should be introduced on the "unmanageable" caseloads of health visitors in England, with some now responsible for more than 1,000 families each, the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) has said.

The number of health visitors - qualified nurses or midwives who support families with very young children - has almost halved in the last decade.

In January, the Health and Social Care Committee said the government would fail in its ambition to give every child the best start in life, unless it took urgent action to rebuild the workforce.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) says the government is "committed to strengthening health visiting services".

Emma Dolan, a health visitor with Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust in Hull, says her "top priorities" are to spot potential issues early, and offer advice to parents on things like their baby's wellbeing and sleep to prevent problems arising later.

"We want our babies to live long and happy lives [by] giving that support nice and early and making sure that families know what services are out there."

However, BBC analysis has shown the number of health visitors in England has fallen from 10,200 a decade ago, to 5,575 in January - a drop of 45%.

iHV chief Alison Morton says families are paying the price for the decline in the workforce.

"We need to set a benchmark, otherwise we're just going to continue to see this decline with hugely unmanageable, unsafe caseloads which are impossible for health visitors to work within," she says.

"Health visitors are having to prioritise, and actually prioritisation has a human cost.

"They're having to tell families: 'I'm sorry, I can't do that extra follow-up visit', when you know it would have made a massive difference to that family."

Even if England did bring in safe staffing limits, according to Morton, there aren't enough health visitors currently employed to provide that level of coverage.

"We need more health visitors so that we can have manageable caseloads," she says.

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Source: BBC News, 20 April 2026

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Pregnancy vaccine reduces baby hospital admissions for RSV by 80%

A vaccine during pregnancy which protects newborns against nasty chest infections is cutting hospital admissions of babies by more than 80%, UK health officials say.

A virus, called RSV, affects many babies in the first few months of life and can leave them gasping for breath and struggling to feed, with more than 20,000 babies ending up seriously ill in hospital in the UK every year.

Since 2024, women have been offered a vaccine from 28 weeks of pregnancy to protect their newborns.

A new study analysing the impact of the vaccine shows it gives "excellent protection" to babies when they are most vulnerable to RSV, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says.

RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) is one of the main reasons young babies are admitted to hospital before the age of one.

Half of newborns catch the virus, which can cause anything from a mild cold to a life-threatening chest infection because of inflammation in the lungs. Small numbers die from it every year.

The new vaccine was introduced in the UK in 2024 after clinical trials showed it could boost a pregnant woman's immune system enough to pass on protection to the baby through the placenta.

This means babies born to vaccinated pregnant women are protected from the day they are born.

This new study shows the protection is nearly 85% when given at least four weeks before baby is born. Some protection is still possible if the jab is given later than this.

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Source: BBC News, 18 April 2026

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NHSE sets requirements for neighbourhood health centres

A building can be designated a “neighbourhood health centre” (NHC) without offering mental health services, urgent or minor-injuries care, diagnostics or an on-site pharmacy, as determined by NHS England criteria published this week.

Guidance issued by NHSE set the minimum threshold for a building to qualify as an NHC at two functions: an on-site general practice and a community health or integrated neighbourhood team presence. Centres must be open at least 12 hours a day, six days a week.

All other services commonly associated with a “one-stop shop” health centre appear only in the larger tiers of the accompanying design specification, or are not required at any tier.

The specification sets out three tiers of NHCs. It notes, however, that: “The precise mix of complementary services, including diagnostics and other hospital-to-community functions, will vary by place according to local need and the wider service model.”

In relation to NHC’s mental health services, the guidance says it “focuses on primary care‑led and early intervention support, closely integrated with GP services”, meaning “community-based mental health centres complement, rather than replace, NHCs”.

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Source: HSJ, 15 April 2026

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FDA asks drugmaker Eli Lilly for more safety information on its new GLP-1 weight loss pill

A GLP-1 weight loss pill, already on sale in the United States, has hit a regulatory snag.

The Food and Drug Administration has asked U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly to collect more long-term safety data on its once-daily tablet Foundayo, according to an 1 April letter published by the FDA Tuesday.

The FDA approved the pill under its programme to fast-track drugs using 72-week, Phase 3 trial data but still needs to look at years-long data to understand all of the potential risks.

At the heart of the request is whether taking Foundayo - made using a new active ingredient called orforglipron - could be linked to liver, heart and gastrointestinal problems.

“We have determined that only a clinical trial (rather than a nonclinical or observational study) will be sufficient to assess a signal of a serious risk of retained gastric contents and to identify an unexpected serious risk for major adverse cardiovascular events, drug-induced liver injury and exposure to [Foundayo] during lactation,” the FDA wrote.

Eli Lilly has until the end of April to complete that clinical trial and until July to submit a final report.

An Eli Lilly spokesperson told The Independent that “patient safety is Lilly’s top priority” and that the company actively monitors, evaluates and reports safety information for all its medicines.

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Source: The Independent, 16 April 2026

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Fourteen trusts rated red for ‘capability’

NHS England has rated 14 trusts “red” for “capability” – meaning their management has been unable to “grip” long-running problems.

This week, NHS England published the first “provider capability” ratings, part of its overhauled oversight framework.

According to the framework, a “red” rating means there are “material or long-running concerns” that management “has been unable to grip”.

The 14 providers with this rating are all acute trusts, and include three large hospital groups: Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust and University Hospitals Sussex Foundation Trust – both of which have seen  serious concerns raised about maternity failings – and Mid and South Essex FT.

The majority (nine) of the “red” trusts are in the north of England, while there are two each from the South East and East of England, and one in the South West. Nine of them serve coastal areas.

The ratings are based on self-assessments, which were then subject to review by NHSE regional teams. The process was carried out from August to December last year. There have already been a number of leadership changes at “red”– rated trusts since the exercise began.

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Source: HSJ, 17 April 2026

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USA: Florida surgeon indicted after removing liver instead of spleen

A surgeon in Florida has been indicted for manslaughter after he wrongly removed a patient’s liver instead of his spleen during an August 2024 procedure.

Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, was indicted by a grand jury in Tallahassee on Monday after prosecutors said he botched the surgery of 70-year-old William Bryan, of Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

The jury of the first judicial circuit heard that Shaknovsky, of DeFuniak Springs, 120 miles (193km) west of Tallahassee, had been scheduled to perform an operation called a laparoscopic splenectomy on the patient, but instead cut out the man’s liver.

The consequence was “catastrophic blood loss and the patient’s death on the operating table”, according to a press release from Michael Adkinson, the Walton county sheriff.

Thomas Shaknovsky was indicted on Monday in Tallahassee after prosecutors said he botched the surgery of 70-year-old William Bryan. Photograph: Walton county sheriff’s office

Shaknovsky was taken into custody in Miramar Beach, Florida, on Monday morning and taken to the Walton county jail ahead of a scheduled first court appearance on Tuesday, the sheriff said.

Court filings, and an emergency order of license suspension by the Florida department of health less than a month after Bryan’s death, detailed how Shaknovsky allegedly insisted that he press on with the operation at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach even after it was obvious he had made a mistake.

“Dr Shaknovsky removed an organ he believed to be the spleen, but due to his shock and the chaos, he was unable to properly identify the organ,” prosecutors said.

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Source: The Guardian, 14 April 2026

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Coroner calls for changes to how asthma attacks are assessed after ‘skin tone’ confusion in death of 22-year-old

A coroner has called for urgent improvements to how asthma attacks are assessed by emergency services after a mixed-race 22-year-old died due to a misinterpretation of him being described as a 'deathly colour'.

Roman Barr was assessed as not being an urgent case when his parents called for an ambulance, and was told he would have to wait several hours for one to arrive.

Mr Barr was of mixed race and had a 'darker skin tone', so the description of being a 'deathly colour' was misinterpreted, even though he had 'bluish lips' and was critically ill.

A lack of ambulance availability meant that he died on the way to the hospital when his parents decided to drive him themselves after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Now a coroner has said that early intervention from emergency services could have prevented Mr Barr's death.

On December 14 2023, Mr Barr was at work when he had an asthma attack, and his dad took him home, where he tried to use his inhaler but had no improvement.

His dad called for an ambulance, but he was not assessed as a 'critical' case, and his family was told it would take several hours for an ambulance to be available.

His family called 999 three times, but when his dad assessed his symptoms to the call handler, he misunderstood what they meant by a 'deathly colour'.

He told the call handler that his son was of mixed race and had a 'darker skin tone', so he was seen as not being in a critical condition.

Mr Barr had 'bluish lips' at the time and was 'critically unwell'.

At Mr Barr's inquest, it was found that he died from asthma and a narrative conclusion was given.

This conclusion said: "The deceased died as a result of an asthma attack.

"Information indicating the need for an urgent ambulance response was not obtained, and because no ambulance was available for several hours, he was taken to hospital by his family.

"On the balance of probabilities, earlier intervention by an emergency ambulance would have prevented his death.”

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Source: The Independent, 16 April 2026

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NHS could face drug shortages within weeks, medicine manufacturers warn

The NHS faces drug shortages within weeks if the US and Iran do not strike a deal to end the conflict in the Middle East, drug makers have warned.

Paracetamol, antibiotics, stroke prevention medicines and even some cancer drugs, which represent 85% of all NHS prescriptions, may be in short supply as early as June, according to Medicines UK.

The company told The Telegraph it was “increasingly concerned that some chemicals and solvents used to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients are now in very short supply”.

Medicines that contain paracetamol and aspirin are thought to be the most at risk because they are manufactured using by-products from the petrochemical industry, which has been affected by Tehran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

The shortages may make it harder to fulfil patients’ prescriptions or make it more expensive for health services to source the medicines, the regulator warned.

Richard Sullivan, professor of cancer and global health at King’s College London, warned there was a shortage of cancer drugs. He told The British Medical Journal that “disruption in supply chains for cancer drugs and consumables for robotic surgery, which uses up an awful lot of equipment every time you operate on somebody”.

Dr Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of the Independent Pharmacies Association, explained that a significant proportion of pharmaceuticals rely on petroleum-derived inputs, which are used in many common medicines, from antibiotics to pain relief and chronic disease treatments.

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Source: The Independent, 16 April 2026

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NHS ‘a cat’s whisker’ from hitting headline targets

The NHS was within touching distance of its headline urgent and emergency care targets in March – falling just short of the key asks in A&E and ambulance wait times.

Four-hour accident and emergency response times hit 77.1% in March, against a national recovery target of 78% for the end of the financial year.

Meanwhile, the category two ambulance response time target of 30 minutes across 2025-26 was missed by just four seconds after a couple of months of sustained improvement.

NHS England said A&Es faced a record 2.43 million attendances in March, pointing to last month’s meningitis outbreak. Meanwhile, the category two ambulance response time of 26:18 in March alone was the best performance since May 2021.

HSJ analysis reveals around 34 acute trusts deteriorated against the four-hour A&E target in 2025-26 compared to the previous year; however, the vast majority improved.

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Source: HSJ, 16 April 2026

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