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NHS trust declined to refer nurse to regulator over sexual assault and harassment allegations

A senior nurse was struck off over allegations of sexual assault and harassment, after a colleague reported him to a regulator when a hospital refused to refer her case.

The colleague, also an NHS nurse, first raised a complaint against Niyi Okegbola with managers at South London and Maudsley NHS Hospital four years ago, alleging he sexually assaulted her on trust premises.

But after an 18-month investigation, the colleague, Holly*, was told the case against Mr Okegbola “did not meet the threshold”, and he would be returning to work.

She then referred the matter to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which struck off Mr Okegbola after finding 35 different allegations proven against him over actions that were “sexually motivated” toward her and four other staff from 2019 to 2022.

The NMC tribunal found it was more likely than not that he had touched or attempted to touch the breasts of two people working at the trust.

The panel added he had “breached professional boundaries” on numerous occasions and “repeatedly [harassed] more than one colleague over a prolonged period of time”.

Speaking for the first time since Mr Okegbola was struck off, Holly has accused the trust of having a “culture of acceptance” and failing to protect female staff.

Holly, whose name has been changed, told The Independent: “There is a complete lack of awareness about these things happening in the NHS. It’s very much hidden under the carpet, I felt like they [the trust] didn’t know how to handle this."

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Source: The Independent, 5 May 2025

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NHS trust declined care for vulnerable Black patient days before he died in police custody

An NHS trust declined to provide care for a vulnerable Black man days before he died in police custody while having a psychotic episode, The Independent has learnt.

Godrick Osei, 35, died after being restrained by up to seven Devon and Cornwall Police officers in the early hours of 3 July 2022, after fleeing his flat and hiding in the cupboard of a care home in Truro.

His family said he had been expressing “paranoid thoughts” and had called the police himself for help. He was arrested and died within an hour.

Mr Osei had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, had suspected post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and was prescribed various medications to treat these conditions. He also intermittently used illicit drugs and had suffered alleged sexual assault in prison around 2013, according to a medical report from North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT).

In the days before his death, Mr Osei was in the care of NELFT’s community mental health team, whose caseworkers were concerned that he was exhibiting signs of a further severe illness – emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD) – and was a high risk to himself.

However, Mr Osei was based outside the team’s catchment area, and NELFT asked the neighbouring Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CPT) to assess him instead.

CPT refused without explaining why, according to a medical report seen by The Independent.

Following Mr Osei’s death, an investigating officer from NELFT made multiple attempts to contact CPT to explore the possibility of a joint investigation into the matter, but didn’t receive a response.

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Source: The Independent, 16 January 2023

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NHS Trust declares two critical incidents as Covid admissions double

A hospital in Devon has declared a second critical incident following extreme pressures, as Covid-19 admissions in the region double, The Independent has learnt.

North Devon Healthcare Trust declared a critical incident on Monday, after it declared another earlier this month it has confirmed.

The news comes as the number of people with Covid-19 across two hospitals in Devon has doubled in just two weeks.

As of Thursday, there were 292 Covid positive patients in across hospitals in Devon, with a further 37 awaiting test results.

According to a statement from healthcare leaders in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, as of Thursday there were almost 1,200 NHS staff off work due to Covid.

Meanwhile 183 care services, such as care homes and other social care providers, in the area have reported Covid outbreaks, making it harder to discharge patients, the leaders said.

NHS data published on Thursday showed there were 213 patients across three hospitals in Devon, waiting to be discharged.

Covid-19 infections are also continuing to rise across most of the UK, with levels in Scotland hitting another record high, new figures show.

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Source: The Independent, 19 March 2022

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NHS Trust deaths probe could get full legal powers

The government is actively considering whether to give full legal powers to an independent inquiry investigating the deaths of mental health patients.

Roughly 2,000 deaths at the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) are being examined.

The BBC understands Conservative Health Secretary Stephen Barclay is minded to make the inquiry statutory, which would compel witnesses to come forward.

Only 11 current and former trust staff have agreed to give live evidence.

Melanie Leahy, whose son Matthew died aged 20 while an inpatient at the Linden Centre in Chelmsford, said families were "definitely" a step closer to what they had campaigned for.

"We just need it converted [to a statutory inquiry] - it's just delay after delay after delay and we need those powers," she told BBC Essex.

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Source: BBC News, 3 April 2023

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NHS Trust death: Inquest into St Albans woman’s empty oxygen cylinder

An inquest into the death of a woman under the care of West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust began on Monday 20 January.

Cecilia Harper (71) died in Watford General Hospital on 9 February 2022, while being transported from her ward to the radiology department. She had been admitted to the hospital five days earlier.

The mother-of-two had reported breathlessness while in hospital, after initially being provided with oxygen via nasal cannula, her oxygen dependency increased and Cecilia was provided with an non-rebreather oxygen mask for the journey and was accompanied by a porter and student nurse. She was conscious when she left the ward, yet by the time she arrived in the ultrasound room she had lost consciousness. A number of medical staff undertook CPR but Cecilia had sadly died.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that Cecilia’s oxygen cylinder was empty, it was not clear when this occurred. During the first day of the inquest, it was heard that research carried out by a doctor at the Trust indicated that 10% of patients transferred to the A&E CT department have insufficient oxygen for a return journey, while 9% of patients made the journey with oxygen cylinders switched off.  

However, a post-mortem report, which identified metastatic breast carcinoma as the cause of death, made no mention of the impact of the empty oxygen cylinder or oxygen dependency.

An inquest took place at the Coroner’s Office for the Area of Hertfordshire to determine the cause of Cecilia’s death. There have been two previous inquest review hearings to ensure all appropriate evidence has been sought, which has delayed proceedings.

The inquest, which was expected to take place over three days, concluded on Tuesday (21 January). The inquest sought to confirm the exact circumstances surrounding Cecilia’s death.

The coroner determined that Mrs Harper died from natural causes, but it is unclear whether there was any problem with oxygen supply, and it is unclear if there was a problem with oxygen supply, if it contributed to her death. 

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Source: Tees, 21 January 2025

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NHS trust criticised over deaths of new mothers from herpes

A coroner has criticised an NHS trust over the deaths of two new mothers with herpes.

Kimberley Sampson, 29, and Samantha Mulcahy, 32, died in 2018 after having caesarean sections six weeks apart by the same surgeon at hospitals in Kent.

Their families have been waiting five years for answers on how they came to be infected with the virus, which can cause sores around the mouth or genitals.

Catherine Wood, Mid Kent and Medway coroner, said Sampson could have been given an anti-viral treatment sooner.

Wood added that in Mulcahy’s case “suspicion should have been raised” given the knowledge among staff from Sampson’s earlier death.

The coroner ruled out human culpability of any of the medical staff involved in the case and said it was “unlikely” for the surgeon to be the cause of the herpes infection found in both women.

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Source: The Guardian, 14 July 2023

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NHS trust contacts hundreds of families in effort at honesty over Covid hospital infections

An NHS trust has become the first in the country to individually contact every family of patients who caught coronavirus while they were in hospital in a large-scale bid to be transparent over the scale of infections.

Bosses at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Trust have set up a team to work through hundreds of cases where patients caught coronavirus in hospital.

At least 99 patients are known to have died after becoming infected with more cases still to review.

In a unique approach to transparency the trust is sending a letter by recorded delivery to every affected patient or family where it is thought the patient picked up the virus within the hospital.

The letter offers an apology for what happened and is followed by a phone call with a nurse and a meeting with officials if families have more concerns. Some families have asked to meet the nurses who cared for their loved ones.

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Source: The Independent, 6 June 2021

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NHS Trust chiefs warn funding needed for post-COVID digital uptake

A major survey of NHS IT chiefs has revealed that despite more positive attitudes and uptake towards technology as a result of COVID-19, the long-term challenges of digital transformation within hospital trusts remain unchanged and only 14% of respondents believe they have sufficient funding to cover business priorities.

The Digital Health Intelligence NHS IT Leadership Survey, carried out annually by Digital Health Intelligence, offers a 'state of the nation' insight into the priorities, concerns and challenges faced by NHS chief clinical information officers (CCIO’s), Chief Information Officer’s (CIOs) and other relevant digital health leaders.

It revealed that despite record levels of positivity for digital transformation - 83% of respondents said the pandemic had resulted in a more positive attitude to digital among board members, up on 63% the previous year - just 24% are expecting a significant rise in funding and 14% think budgets will decrease.

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Source: Digital Health, 15 December 2020

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NHS trust cancels all routine operations for three weeks

Some hospitals in Scotland have been told to postpone surgeries to ‘decongest’ the system as the crisis in the health service deepens.

A group of NHS hospitals has stopped routine surgery for three weeks in an unprecedented step, as pressures mount on the health service. Health bosses at the NHS Ayrshire & Arran trust warned of “extremely high demand” across the system, as they also asked GPs to see only urgent cases.

Rishi Sunak has repeatedly urged trusts to avoid cancelling elective surgery, urging hospitals not to repeat the errors made in the pandemic, which resulted in record backlogs.

Clare Burden, the chief executive of NHS Ayrshire & Arran, said the cancellations were necessary "due to a combination of staff absence across the system, high bed occupancy levels in our acute and community hospitals, high levels of flu and Covid in our community, some delayed transfers of care, and high volumes of frail patients whose recovery includes complex care.”

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Source: The Telegraph, 11 January 2023

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NHS trust calls for police probe into deaths

NHS governors have called for a police investigation into the urology department of a health service trust following accusations that patients died and were harmed after a string of clinical errors and malpractice. 

Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) has now agreed to an external review after dozens of patients, relatives and staff have came forward following the publication of a book by whistleblower surgeon Peter Duffy, which exposed poor care in the unit. 

The call for a police investigation came at a meeting of the council of governors of the trust earlier this month. Governor Dave Welton told the meeting that the council had “very serious concerns about the shocking revelations.”

A former theatre nurse has also come forward claiming to have witnessed countless errors made by surgeons, while another healthcare worker said she was now speaking out to prevent further harm to patients.

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Source: BBC News, 16 September 2019

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NHS trust apology after baby given wrong breast milk

A hospital trust has apologised to the parents of a baby who was given another mother's breast milk after being born prematurely.

Melissa and Callum say they were "let down repeatedly" during their son Milo's treatment at Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) and Leicester General Hospital (LGH).

Milo, who was born at 26 weeks in March, was fed stored breast milk from a woman who was not his mother on three occasions.

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL), which runs the hospitals where Milo was treated, apologised to his parents and said changes had been made to its processes.

Melissa said: "I thought, what if he's got an infection from it? Because there's so many unknowns with other people's bodily fluids." 

The milk was fed to Milo through a syringe, from a bottle which had two labels on it - one for Melissa, and one identifying it as the milk of another mother on the ward. The hospital later found that the milk was not Melissa's.

Melissa said that she faced strange answers to questions she asked during ward rounds about Milo's future treatment.

She said: "I was told by a consultant that we were going to be moved to LGH because 'the junior members of her team were afraid to approach me because I ask too many questions'.

"This wasn't the first time in our weeks there I was called angry, unapproachable and scary."

UHL later told Melissa it was sorry its staff "did not have the skills" to support her fully.

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Source: BBC News, 2 September 2024

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NHS trust apologises to families of patients who died after catching Covid at hospital

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn carried out a transparent review of 389 Covid infections

An NHS trust has apologised to hundreds of families whose relatives caught Covid-19 in hospital and died, after a review found a lack of private rooms contributed to the spread of the virus.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, has carried out a review of all 389 cases of patients who either definitely or probably contracted Covid while in the hospital between March 2020 and February this year. Of those, 151 patients died. 

The trust is the only NHS trust to have carried out a full and transparent review of hospital acquired infections of Covid-19 with staff speaking with each family to understand their concerns and views.

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Source: Independent

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NHS trust apologises over death of woman, 27, after cancer misdiagnosis

An NHS trust has apologised over the death of a 27-year-old events manager after a locum gynaecologist mistook aggressive cervical cancer for a hormonal or bowel problem.

The family of Porsche McGregor-Sims, who died a day after being admitted to Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth, told her inquest that she had felt she was not listened to and that the misdiagnosis had robbed them of a chance to say goodbye.

The area coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp said the case was one of the most “shocking and traumatic” she had dealt with and she would write to Portsmouth hospitals university NHS trust expressing her concern.

In December 2019, McGregor-Sims’ GP referred her to a consultant after she complained of abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding.

She saw Dr Peter Schlesinger, an agency locum at the Queen Alexandra hospital, at the end of January 2020. He did not physically examine her and believed her symptoms were linked to changing hormones or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

After the UK went into lockdown two months later, McGregor-Sims continued to report symptoms but was prescribed antibiotics over the phone and was seen in person only after a GP thought she might have Covid because she had shortness of breath.

McGregor-Sims was finally diagnosed with an aggressive form of cervical cancer and on 13 April was taken to hospital, where she died a day later.

During the inquest, her family accused Schlesinger of having denied them their chance to say goodbye. Her mother, Fiona Hawke, told him: “You robbed us of the opportunity to prepare for her death and say goodbye to her.”

Schlesinger insisted McGregor-Sims’ symptoms – including bleeding after sex – did not lead him to think she had a serious illness.

Dr Claire Burton, a consultant gynaecologist, said Schlesinger should have physically examined McGregor-Sims, and apologised for the care she received at the trust.

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Source: The Guardian, 24 March 2022

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NHS trust apologises as man’s tumour death investigated for manslaughter

A troubled NHS trust has apologised to the family of a man who died after a series of potentially fatal delays to treat a tumour, in a case that is being investigated by police as possible corporate manslaughter.

Richard Harris, 71, died last July after a series of errors in the neurosurgery department at the Royal Sussex County hospital in Brighton, which is part of University Hospitals Sussex NHS foundation trust (UHSussex).

The trust admitted that Harris was “lost to follow-up” when the hospital repeatedly failed to monitor a tumour in his nervous system, or operate on it, as doctors recommended.

An internal review of Harris’s care found that doctors failed to arrange a routine MRI scan for him when he was first urgently referred to neurosurgery in 2017. Harris, who was fit and a regular swimmer, only received a scan when he contacted the department again in 2019.

The scan picked up a benign schwannoma tumour, which a multidisciplinary team concluded would require regular monitoring, every six months. They also said “surgical intervention should be advised”, the review found.

But no surgery was arranged. And the required follow-up scans were postponed and cancelled at a time when internal whistleblowers expressed alarm about high cancellation rates, and repeated and allegedly dangerous failures to follow up patients under the trust’s care.

Eventually Harris was referred to neurosurgery early last year suffering with acute pain. He had to wait weeks to be seen, despite repeatedly pleading with his consultant in emails complaining of “red-hot poker pain” that was “scaring me to death”. There were yet further delays in arranging MRI scans, the review found.

Months later, the tumour was assessed to be cancerous and inoperable. Harris was discharged to hospice care and died a few weeks later.

Sussex police have confirmed to Harris’s family that his death is being investigated as possible corporate manslaughter, as part of its expanding Operation Bramber investigation.

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Source: The Guardian, 1 April 2025

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NHS trust apologises after staff accused of restraining elderly man 19 times

An NHS trust has offered an unreserved apology to an elderly patient and his family after they accused hospital staff of restraining him 19 times in order to forcibly administer treatment.

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust admitted that care for the man, who has dementia, “fell far short” of what patients should expect.

The 77-year-old had been admitted to the William Harvey Hospital last November for urinary retention problems, according to a recent BBC investigation.

In February, The Independent revealed that a police investigation had been launched into an alleged assault against an elderly man at the hospital after nurses and carers were filmed by hospital security staff holding the man’s arms, legs and face down while they inserted a catheter.

A whistleblower told The Independent that the incident was being covered up by the trust and staff were told: “Don’t discuss it, don’t refer to it at all.”

On Wednesday, the trust said its investigation had found a failure to alert senior medics to the difficulties being experienced in caring for the patient.

Changes to dementia care including ward reorganisation, training and recruitment are underway, said a spokesperson, who added: “We apologise unreservedly to the patient and his family for the failings in his care, this fell far short of what patients should expect.”

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Source: The Independent, 14 October 2020

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NHS trust and ward manager appear in court charged with manslaughter of mental health patient

An NHS trust and ward manager have appeared in court charged with the manslaughter of a 22-year-old mental health patient who died in hospital in July 2015.

Alice Figueiredo was found dead at Goodmayes Hospital in east London, and an investigation into her death was opened in April 2016. 

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) authorised the Met Police to charge North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) with corporate manslaughter last month following a five-year investigation.

It is just the second NHS Trust to face manslaughter charges. The Trust is additionally charged with an offence under section three of the Health and Safety at Work Act in connection with mental health patient Ms Figueiredo's death.

Ward manager Benjamin Aninakwa also faces a charge of gross negligence manslaughter and an offence under section seven of the Health and Safety at Work act.

NELFT is just the second ever NHS Trust believed to have been charged with corporate manslaughter, after Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust was charged over the death of a woman who underwent an emergency Caesarean in 2015.

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Source: Mail Online, 6 October 2023

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NHS trust admits contaminated feed caused baby’s death after decade of denial

An NHS trust has admitted that a highly vulnerable baby died because of contaminated feed that it gave her, after denying that for more than a decade.

At an inquest on Tuesday, Guy’s and St Thomas’ trust said it had given Aviva Otte a nutritional product containing deadly bacteria in January 2014. It had previously insisted to her mother, a coroner and the Guardian on multiple occasions that she had died of natural causes.

The change in GSTT’s explanation of Aviva’s death came during the second day of an inquest into her death and the deaths of two other babies in a separate outbreak of Bacillus cereus five months later.

Giving evidence at Southwark coroner’s court in London, Dr Grenville Fox – a senior consultant neonatologist who worked in the neonatal unit where Aviva was treated – said that it was now his opinion that the parenteral nutrition she received was the main cause of her death.

His statement represents a significant U-turn by GSTT. It also raises questions about its conduct and honesty over the first outbreak of Bacillus cereus in late 2013 and early 2014, in which four babies including Aviva were infected, which the Guardian first revealed in June 2022.

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Source: The Guardian, 10 September 2024

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NHS trust accused of cover-up is refusing to release report into deaths

An ambulance trust accused of hiding information from a coroner about patients that died is keeping a damning internal report about the deaths secret, the Guardian can reveal. A consultant paramedic implicated in the alleged cover-ups continues to be involved in decisions to keep the report from the public.

Earlier this month, North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) apologised to relatives after a review into claims it covered up errors by paramedics and withheld evidence from the local coroner about the deceased patients. But a bereaved family left in the dark about mistakes made before their daughter’s death have rejected the apology.

Now, it has emerged that a 2020 internal interim report on the alleged cover-up continues to be kept secret by the trust. The damning report by consultants AuditOne has been leaked to the Guardian after first being exposed by the Sunday Times. 

Paul Aitken-Fell, a consultant paramedic blamed in the report for amending information sent to the coroner and removing crucial passages about mistakes by the trust’s paramedics, remains in post. He also holds the gatekeeper role of FoI review officer, and as such has endorsed decisions to refuse to release the report to members of the public who ask for it.

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Source: The Guardian, 24 July 2023

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NHS trust ‘abandoned’ budding paramedic who took her own life

Rebecca McLellan, a trainee paramedic, pursuing the job she had dreamed of as a child, took her own life at the age of 24.

Amid the devastation felt by her loved ones, serious questions have now emerged about the standard of care she received at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT).

In notes recorded before her death last November, McLellan said that Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) had “abandoned” her in a time of need. An internal investigation has now been launched by the mental health trust, which has been dogged by safety concerns for more than a decade.

Relatives of McLellan, who lived in Ipswich, Suffolk, and was being treated for bipolar disorder, are among hundreds of bereaved families who believe their loved ones were failed under the care of the trust. Her mother, Natalie McLellan, 48, said it was clear that some of her daughter’s feelings of helplessness in her final months were “shaped by their inadequacy”.

“She was somebody that had it all,” said Natalie. “She had a supportive family, she had a nice flat, she had a nice car, she was doing exactly what she wanted to do in life. She had a voice, she was able to speak and advocate for herself as a medical professional. If she can’t get help, what the hell hope is there for anybody else?

Recent months have seen calls for a public inquiry and criminal investigation into NSFT after bosses last year admitted to losing count of the number of patients that had died on its books. Campaigners describe the mismanagement of mortality figures as “the biggest deaths crisis in the history of the NHS”.

The Times has spoken to trust staff, bereaved relatives and MPs who say that despite repeated promises of improved care the trust’s overstretched services remain unsafe and require urgent reform.

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Source: The Times, 26 January 2024

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NHS trials AI prostate cancer tool that could ‘massively improve’ treatment

A new study is set to investigate how AI could significantly improve doctors’ decisions regarding prostate cancer treatment.

While diagnostic methods for the disease have become safer and more precise, medical professionals still face considerable challenges in accurately assessing its aggressiveness in individual patients.

This difficulty can lead to some men undergoing invasive procedures such as surgery or radiotherapy, when a less aggressive monitoring approach might have been more appropriate.

The crucial Vanguard Path study, spearheaded by researchers at the University of Oxford, is being funded with a £1.9m grant from the charity Prostate Cancer UK to address this vital issue.

Experts will first test the technology – called ArteraAI Prostate Biopsy Assay – on prostate biopsy samples from men who have already been diagnosed and treated for the disease and have at least five years of follow-up data.

The study will compare how well the predictions made by the AI tool match what happened to patients in the real world.

It will then be tested in real clinics on biopsies from men as they are diagnosed, with a focus on cases in which doctors find it hard to decide the best course of treatment.

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Source: The Independent, 3 November 2025

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NHS trialling rapid blood test to help diagnose sepsis and meningitis in children

The NHS is trialling a rapid blood test to help diagnose life-threatening conditions in children.

The 15-minute blood test can speed up the diagnosis of illnesses such as sepsis or meningitis by telling medical practitioners whether a patient is suffering from a bacterial or viral infection.

Instead of relying on regular blood test results, which can take several hours and require lab analysis, the test can rapidly indicate whether a patient has a bacterial infection that could benefit from immediate antibiotics.

Doctors who participated in the trial say they have witnessed the benefits. In one case, a child with meningococcal meningitis received treatment much more quickly, and another with sepsis started antibiotics straight away.

NHS England has funded a trial of the technology in three emergency departments: at Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool, St Mary’s hospital in London and Great North children’s hospital in Newcastle.

Dr Ron Daniels, founder and chief medical officer of the UK Sepsis Trust, told the PA news agency the test could save lives.

He said: “A recent national publication suggested that, among the deaths of approximately 500 children each year where infection was present, care was suboptimal in 40% of cases.

“Making the right decision around early antimicrobial prescribing in children who need antibiotics the most has potential to save dozens of young lives every year.”

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Source: The Guardian, 27 October 2025

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NHS trialling 'smart goggles' so nurses can see more patients

NHS nurses will wear “smart goggles" as part of efforts to see more patients under a £400,000 pilot scheme.

Health chiefs said the virtual reality headsets would mean details of a consultation could be directly transcribed, reducing the amount of time spent filling in patients’ notes.

The technology will also allow live footage to be streamed to hospital specialists for second opinions, so patients do not have to have extra appointments in hospitals.

The intention is to give nurses more time for clinical duties such as checking blood pressure, dressing wounds and assessing a patient’s health needs.

Dr Tim Ferris, NHS director for transformation, said: “These new smart glasses are the latest pioneering tech and really show us what the future of the NHS could look like.

“They are a win-win for staff and patients alike, freeing up time-consuming admin for nurses, meaning more time for patient care.”

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Source: The Telegraph, 20 August 2022

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NHS treatment delays linked to more child deaths than coronavirus

More children died after failing to get timely medical treatment during lockdown than lost their lives because of coronavirus, new research by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) suggests.

Six children under the age of 16 have died from COVID-19 in Britain since the pandemic began, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). 

However, seeking medical help too late was a contributory factor in the deaths of nine children in paediatric care new analysis has found, with the figure likely to be higher.

A survey of 2,433 paediatricians, carried out by the RCPCH, found that one in three handling emergency admissions had dealt with children who turned up later than usual for diagnosis or treatment.

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Source: The Telegraph, 25 June 2020

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NHS treatment algorithms ‘not taking transgender patients into account’

A host of algorithms used by medics to assess disease risk and help make decisions on treatment are failing to take transgender patients into account, doctors have said.

Many metrics and thresholds in medicine, including ideal body weight, alcohol clearance rates, kidney function and risk of cardiovascular disease vary by gender.

A team of UK doctors and medical students have issued a warning over a lack of evidence as to whether trans patients should be considered for these gender-based scores according to their gender assigned at birth or the gender they have transitioned to – or whether alternative scores are required.

In an effort to tackle the issue, the team have launched a research initiative called Trans Gap Project.

Dr Michael Niman, a junior NHS doctor and chair of the project, said: “Currently, daily medical decisions involving gender-based scores have limited to no research for the trans community. This means that trans patients are often forgotten about or not considered in the medical world, leading to a significant gap in their access to appropriate medical care.”

“When scores that haven’t considered trans people are used, patient autonomy is impaired for trans and gender-diverse patients, as they can’t make true informed decisions on their care – which is one of the bioethic pillars,” Niman said.

In some cases, there could be safety concerns. “Clinicians are currently faced with uncertainty regarding the best clinical practice to address these scenarios, owing to a lack of evidence-based guidance,” Niman said. “It is vital clinicians take a vested interest in the research of gender-based scores for the trans community due to the importance of safe practice considerations within the NHS.”

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Source: The Guardian, 5 May 2023

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NHS too reliant on overseas recruits, says union

The NHS in England is increasingly reliant on doctors and nurses recruited from outside the UK and EU, analysis has found.

Some 34% of doctors joining the health service last year came from overseas, a rise from 18% in 2014.

The government said overseas recruitment had always been part of its strategy, but unions have warned it is an unsustainable way of recruiting in the long-term.

Patricia Marquis, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) director for England, said ministers must do more to reduce the "disproportionate reliance" on international recruits.

The government is funding an additional 1,500 undergraduate medical school places each year for domestic students in England - a 25% increase over three years.

However, last week a report by MPs concluded the large number of unfilled NHS job vacancies, about 110,000 in total, was posing a serious risk to patient safety.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said it was "high time for the government to commit to a fully-funded, long-term workforce plan for the NHS" to tackle "chronic workforce shortages".

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Source: BBC News, 5 August 2022

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