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NHS to offer 150,000 people with type 1 diabetes an artificial pancreas

More than 150,000 adults and children with type 1 diabetes in England and Wales are to be offered an artificial pancreas on the NHS, which experts are hailing as a “gamechanger” that will “save lives and heartbreak”.

The groundbreaking device, also called a hybrid closed-loop system, uses a hi-tech algorithm to determine the amount of insulin that should be administered and reads blood sugar levels to keep them steady. A world-first trial on the NHS showed it was more effective at managing diabetes than current devices and required far less input from patients.

Final draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that people in England and Wales should benefit from the wearable device if their diabetes is not adequately controlled by their current pump or glucose monitor. The decision to give the go-ahead for widespread use of the artificial pancreas was announced on Tuesday at NICE’s annual conference in Manchester by Dr Sam Roberts, its chief executive.

The artificial pancreas has been found to be better at keeping blood sugar levels within a healthy range, cutting the risk of people suffering complications from diabetes. It works via a continuous glucose monitor sensor attached to the body which transmits data to a body-worn insulin pump.

This pump then calculates how much insulin is needed and delivers the precise amount to the body. Hybrid closed-loop systems mean people do not need to rely on finger-prick blood tests or injecting insulin to control their blood sugar levels.

Yasmin Hopkins, who took part in trials of the artificial pancreas, said: “From day one it was amazing. Before the closed-loop system, I would experience a lot of highs, which I’d then overcorrect, go low and eat a lot of sugar. All of that has been eradicated.

“This technology gives me the freedom to get on with my life and live without fear of what might happen in a few hours, days or years.”

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Source: The Guardian, 7 November 2023

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NHS to offer ‘Long Covid’ sufferers help at specialist centres

People suffering 'Long Covid’ symptoms will be offered specialist help at clinics across England, the head of the NHS announced today.

Respiratory consultants, physiotherapists, other specialists and GPs will all help assess, diagnose and treat thousands of sufferers who have reported symptoms ranging from breathlessness, chronic fatigue, 'brain fog', anxiety and stress.

Speaking at the NHS Providers conference today (Wednesday), NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens will announce that £10 million is be invested this year in additional local funding to help kick start and designate Long Covid clinics in every area across England, to complement existing primary, community and rehabilitation care.

Sir Simon said new network will be a core element of a five-part package of measures to boost NHS support for Long Covid patients:

  1. New guidance commissioned by NHS England from NICE by the end of October on the medical ‘case definition’ of Long Covid. This will include patients who have had covid who may not have had a hospital admission or a previous positive test. It will be followed by evidence-based NICE clinical guidelines in November on the support that Long Covid patients should receive, enabling NHS doctors, therapists and staff to provide a clear and personalised treatment plan. This will include education materials for GPs and other health professionals to help them refer and signpost patients to the right support.
  2. The ‘Your Covid Recovery’ – an online rehab service to provide personalised support to patients. Over 100,000 people have used the online hub since it launched in July, which gives people general information and advice on living with Long Covid. Phase 2 of the digital platform will see people able to access a tailored rehabilitation plan. This service will be available to anyone suffering symptoms that are likely due to COVID-19, regardless of location or whether they have spent time in hospital. 
  3. Designated Long Covid clinics, as announced today. This will involve each part of the country designating expert one-stop services in line with an agreed national specification. Post-covid services will provide joined up care for physical and mental health, with patients having access to a physical assessment, a cognitive assessment and a psychological assessment. Patients could also then be referred from designated clinics into specialist lung disease services, sleep clinics, cardiac services, rehabilitation services, or signposted into IAPT and other mental health services.
  4. NIHR- funded research on Long Covid which is working with 10,000 patients to better understand the condition and refine appropriate treatment.
  5. The NHS’s support will be overseen by a new NHS England Long Covid taskforce which will include Long Covid patients, medical specialists and researchers.

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Source: NHS England, 7 October 2020

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NHS to miss targets for cutting A&E wait times and performance in England

The NHS is set to miss key targets to shorten waiting times for help at A&E, cancer care and planned hospital treatment, leaving millions of patients facing persistently long delays.

The health service in England will not deliver a series of milestone improvements in its performance that ministers demanded it achieve by the time the fiscal year ends on Tuesday, a Guardian analysis of the NHS’s most recent data has found.

The lack of progress raises questions about pledges made last week by Wes Streeting, the health secretary, to get key waiting times back on track by the end of the parliament in 2029.

The findings will concern Keir Starmer, the prime minister, given Labour’s commitment to “get the NHS back on its feet” and the public’s strong desire to see an end to the routinely long waits for care that crept in from 2015.

The gloomy picture on waiting times also comes despite the NHS handing hospitals an extra £120m in recent weeks to fund a pre-deadline “elective sprint” – of extra appointments and more operations – intended to bolster its chances of delivering the necessary improvements by 31 March.

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Source: The Guardian, 29 March 2026

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NHS to miss April deadline to end 78-week waits by around 11k patients

National NHS forecasts are predicting there will be around 11,000 patients on the elective waiting list who have been waiting longer than 78 weeks at the start of April, the target for clearing this cohort, HSJ understands.

Senior NHS figures familiar with the forecasts told HSJ they had stood at around 9,000 last week, but mass cancellations during the three-day junior doctors’ strike had pushed up the potential outstanding cases by approximately 2,000.

One senior NHS figure close to national efforts said they “hoped” trusts could cut the figure to under 10,000 by the deadline, and that intense work was going on across systems to ensure the figure was as small as possible. 

It is understood system leaders expect the 78-week breach figure to be cut to around 2,000 by the summer. However, as has been the case for the 104-week breaches, they are also predicting a long tail due to a combination of complex cases and patients choosing to wait longer.

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Source: HSJ, 23 March 2023

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NHS to lose out on new drugs, pharma firm warns

NHS patients will lose access to new cutting-edge treatments because of skyrocketing costs, the pharmaceutical giant Novartis has claimed amid a row over drug pricing deals.

The warning comes after talks over the cost of medicines for the UK between Health Secretary Wes Streeting and pharma firms broke down last week.

A body assesses whether a new drug is value for money before approving it for use on the NHS, but Novartis said its methods were outdated and made it harder for innovative drugs to be approved and launched.

Norvartis's UK boss Johan Kahlstrom said costs meant the UK was "largely uninvestable", but Streeting has vowed he will not allow firms to "rip off" taxpayers.

Swiss firm Novartis said it was not considering the UK for major new investments in manufacturing, research, or advanced technology because of "systemic barriers".

The firm, which employs 78,000 people globally, said patients were losing access to or missing out entirely on new treatments as a result of the current situation.

It said due to the "declining competitiveness" of the UK market, the company had "already been unable to launch several medicines" in the country "for public reimbursement - medicines that are, or soon will be, available to patients in other European countries".

"The concern is that future launches and research investment could be further deprioritised for the UK if the environment remains uncompetitive," the company added.

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Source: BBC News, 27 August 2025

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NHS to increase accuracy of bowel cancer test in England

The main test for the UK’s second deadliest cancer is being made more accurate in England, in a move NHS bosses believe will save hundreds of lives.

The sensitivity of the faecal immunochemical test (Fit), which detects bowel cancer by spotting blood in the patient’s stool, will be increased as part of an overhaul of cancer diagnosis and treatment.

NHS England is lowering the threshold for the amount of blood detected through a Fit test needed to trigger the patient being sent for further investigation.

It is now 120 micrograms of blood a gram of stool. But that will be reduced to 80 micrograms by 2028 and will bring England into line with the threshold already used in Scotland and Wales.

“This is a major step forward in bowel cancer detection and will help save hundreds more lives from this devastating disease,” said Prof Peter Johnson, NHS England’s national clinical director for cancer.

“Testing at a lower level threshold will now provide a better early warning system for bowel cancer, helping us to spot and treat cancers earlier, often picking up problems before symptoms occur.”

About 44,100 people in Britain are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year and it claims about 17,400 lives, making it the second commonest cause of cancer death. Risk factors include eating processed meat, being overweight and drinking alcohol, leading Cancer Research UK to conclude that more than half of cases – 54% – are preventable.

“Once fully implemented testing at the lower level threshold is expected to reduce late stage diagnoses and deaths from bowel cancer by around 6%,” NHS England said. Preventing and detecting more cases earlier will save the health service £32m a year, it estimates.

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Source: The Guardian, 26 January 2026

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NHS to give therapy for depression before medication under new guidelines

Millions of people with mild depression in England should be offered therapy, exercise, mindfulness or meditation before antidepressants, according to the first new NHS guidelines in more than a decade.

Under draft guidance, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends the “menu of treatment options” be offered to patients by health professionals before medication is considered.

Currently, those with mild depression are offered antidepressants or a high-intensity psychological intervention, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). The shake-up forms part of the first new recommendations to identify, treat and manage depression in adults since 2009.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), about one in six (17%) adults experienced some form of depression this summer. The rate is higher than before the pandemic, when 10% of adults experienced it. Younger adults and women are more likely to be affected, the ONS found.

A 2019 review showed 17% of the adult population in England (7.3 million people) had been prescribed antidepressants in the year 2017-18.

Dr Paul Chrisp, director of the centre for guidelines at NICE, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us the impact depression has had on the nation’s mental health. People with depression need these evidence-based guideline recommendations available to the NHS, without delay.”

Nav Kapur, professor of psychiatry and population health at the University of Manchester and chair of the guideline committee, said: “As a committee we have drawn up recommendations that we hope will have a real impact on people who are suffering from depression and their carers. In particular we’ve emphasised the role of patient choice – suggesting that practitioners should offer people a choice of evidence-based treatments and understanding that not every treatment will suit every person.”

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Source: The Guardian, 23 November 2021

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NHS to get millions of pounds to help save babies’ lives

Ministers are to invest millions in making Britain's maternity wards safer, it was announced on Wednesday after The Independent exposed a series of cases in which mothers and babies had suffered avoidable harm during childbirth.

The new money, almost £10m, was announced as part of the spending review unveiled by Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, in the Commons and will deliver new pilots of what the Treasury called “cutting-edge training” to improve practice during childbirth.

Significant failings in maternity safety units across the NHS have devastated families and left some babies needing tens of millions of pounds to look after them in later life.

In November last year, The Independent joined with the charity Baby Lifeline to call for a new fund to be set up after exposing the single largest maternity scandal in NHS history at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust, where dozens of babies have died or been left with brain damage.

The new funding will also cover the final year of the independent investigation into the Shrewsbury trust.

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Source: The Independent, 26 November 2020

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NHS to expand use of private sector to tackle waits

The use of the private sector to tackle the NHS backlog in England is to be expanded, the government says.

Ministers say they want to unlock spare capacity to get more people the treatment and operations they need.

This includes opening eight privately-run diagnostic centres and using new rules to make it easier for the NHS to purchase care in the private sector.

It comes as a record 7.5 million people are waiting for treatment - three million more than before the pandemic.

The private sector already carries out hundreds of thousands of treatments and appointments for the NHS every year. But it has said it has the capacity to carry out about 30% more than it is.

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Source: BBC News, 4 August 2023

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NHS to buy care beds to make space in hospitals

Thousands of NHS patients in England will be moved into care homes as part of the government's plan to ease unprecedented pressure on hospitals.

The NHS is being given £250m to buy thousands of beds in care homes and upgrade hospitals amid a winter crisis. The move aims to free up hospital beds so patients can be admitted more quickly from A&E to hospital wards.

The plans will be included in an emergency package to be unveiled by Health Secretary Steve Barclay.

Helen Whately, minister for care, said, "Getting people out of hospital on time is more important than ever. It's good for patients and it helps hospitals make space for those who need urgent care."

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Source: BBC News

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NHS to benefit from digital 'Redbook' app

As part of the NHS Digital Child Health programme, Personal Child Health Records or “Redbook” will receive a digital makeover.

NHS Digital has considered the limitations of the physical Redbook and decided that digitalisation is the way forward for parents to easily access important health and development information.

Nurturey has been evolving its product to align with NHS' Digital Child Health programme. It aims to be an app that can make the digital Redbook vision a reality and currently in the process of completing all the necessary integrations and assurances.

It is hoped that by using smart digital records, parents will be more aware of their child’s health information like weight, dental records, appointments and other developmental milestones.  

Tushar Srivastava, Founder and CEO of Nurturey, said:

“Imagine receiving your child's immunisation alert/notification on the phone, clicking on it to book the immunisation appointment with the GP, and then being able to see all relevant immunisations details on the app itself. As a parent myself, I see the huge benefit of being able to manage my child’s health on my fingertips. We are working hard to deliver such powerful features to parents by this summer.”

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Source: National Health Executive, 5 February 2020

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NHS to begin move to dismiss staff who refuse covid vaccine or redeployment

Trusts will be told next week how they should go about dismissing potentially thousands of NHS staff who have decided not to be vaccinated against covid, HSJ has learned.

Last year, the government decided all patient-facing NHS staff would need to have received their first dose of the covid vaccine by 3 February, and two doses by April 2022. The stipulation covers non-clinical staff who may have face-to-face contact with patients, such as receptionists, porters and cleaners.

NHS England published the first part of its guidance for employers in December last year, which warned staff who have to be redeployed because of a refusal to have the covid vaccination could be forced to compete for their job and also have their pay and pension affected.

HSJ understands NHSE will issue its ‘phase two’ guidance’ next week.

To date, government and NHSE announcements or guidance have not mentioned what will happen to patient-facing staff who refuse to be redeployed or are exempt from the requirement.

However, HSJ understands the new guidance will make it clear that — while redeployment remains the preferred outcome — some staff are likely to be dismissed and trusts should be prepared for taking that action next month.

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Source: HSJ, 6 January 2022

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NHS threatens legal action to block second day of nurses’ strike

The NHS has launched a legal challenge that could end in the high court to block the second day of an upcoming strike by tens of thousands of nurses.

Officials at NHS Employers wrote to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) on Wednesday saying the union’s plans for a two-day strike were unlawful.

In response, it is understood the RCN has said it will “forcibly resist” employers’ attempts to seek a high court injunction designed to block the strike, which they insist is lawful.

The threat raises the possibility of a high court clash between NHS lawyers backed by the government and those of the nursing union. It also highlights the increasingly bitter relationship between the government and those representing workers on the frontline of the health service.

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Source: The Guardian, 20 April 2023

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NHS testing initiative to eliminate hepatitis C in England by 2025

Thousands of people who are unknowingly living with hepatitis C in England could be identified and treated due to an expanded NHS testing initiative.

The initiative includes new liver scanning and portable testing units to be rolled out in communities where people may be at a higher risk of contracting the infection.

Also included in the initiative are testing events happening at GP surgeries and community outreach at drug and alcohol support services.

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Source: Guardian 8 April 2024

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NHS test and trace unable to reach almost 30% of people with COVID-19

The government’s contact-tracing programme failed to reach almost 30% of people who tested positive for the coronavirus in England last week, the latest figures show.

Only 70% of the 6,923 people who tested positive for COVID-19 during the period were reached by NHS Test and Trace staff, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.

This means that 2,054 people with the virus – and potentially thousands of their close contacts – could not be traced by the new system.

The fact that one in four people with the virus had not been reached since the launch was “surprising and worrying”, said Keith Neal, emeritus professor of the epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham.

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Source: The Independent, 26 June 2020

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NHS test and trace hit by delays and COVID home test failures

England’s test-and-trace system has been hit with fresh problems after there were delays in contacting nearly 2,000 people infected with coronavirus, and one in seven home tests failed to produce a result.

An internet outage meant nearly 3,000 more people than usual were transferred to the contact-tracing system after testing positive for COVID-19 in the week ending 19 August. Two-thirds of these people had been tested days or weeks earlier, meaning there was a delay in reaching them and their close contacts when they should have been self-isolating.

The proportion of home tests kits failing to produce a result that week rose sharply, from 4% to 15% of the total, equating to more than 18,000 tests.

The Department of Health and Social Care figures also show that test and trace failed for a ninth week running to reach its target of contacting 80% of close contacts of people who test positive for COVID-19.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, acknowledged on Thursday that the programme was “not quite there” in reaching that target. He told LBC radio: “One of the challenges is we want to get NHS test and trace up to over 80% of contacts, getting them to self-isolate – we’re at just over 75%, so we’re nearly there but not quite there.”

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Source: The Guardian, 27 August 2020

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NHS tells GPs they must offer patients face-to-face appointments

GP practices are being told they must make sure patients can be seen face to face when they need such appointments.

NHS England is writing to all practices to make sure they are communicating the fact doctors can be seen in person if necessary, as well as virtually. It's estimated half of the 102 million appointments from March to July were by video or phone call, NHS Digital said.

However, the Royal College of GPs said any implication GPs had not been doing their job properly was "an insult".

NHS England said research suggested nearly two thirds of the public were happy to have a phone or video call with their doctor - but that, ahead of winter, they wanted to make sure people knew they could see their GP if needed. Nikki Kanani, medical director of primary care for NHS England, said GPs had adapted quickly in recent months to offer remote consultations and "safe face-to-face care when needed".

Prof Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said general practice was "open and has been throughout the pandemic", with a predominantly remote service to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

He said: "The college does not want to see general practice become a totally, or even mostly, remote service post-pandemic. However, we are still in the middle of a pandemic. We need to consider infection control and limit footfall in GP surgeries - all in line with NHS England's current guidance."

He said most patients had understood the changes and that clinical commissioning groups had been asked to work with GP practices where face-to-face appointments were not possible - for example, if all GPs were at a high risk from coronavirus.

"Any implication that they have not been doing their job properly is an insult to GPs and their teams who have worked throughout the pandemic, continued delivering the vast majority of patient care in the NHS and face an incredibly difficult winter ahead," he said.

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Source: BBC News, 14 September 2020

Research from the college indicated that routine GP appointments were back to near-normal levels for this time of year, after decreasing at the height of the pandemic.

"Each and every day last week an estimated third of a million appointments were delivered face to face by general practices across the country," added Prof Marshall.

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NHS taskforce to drive improvements in young people’s hospital mental health, learning disability and autism care

NHS Chief Executive Simon Stevens has announced that a new taskforce will be set up to improve current specialist children and young people’s inpatient mental health, autism and learning disability services in England.

The NHS Long Term Plan sets out an ambitious programme to transform mental health services, autism and learning disability; with a particular focus on boosting community services and reducing the over reliance on inpatient care, with these more intensive services significantly improved and more effectively joined up with schools and councils.

The NHS Chief Executive said: “This taskforce will place a spotlight on services and care for some of the most vulnerable young people in our society, bringing together families, leading clinicians, charities, and other public bodies to help make these services as effective, safe and supportive as possible for thousands of families."

“The NHS Long Term Plan lays out a package of measures which will mean more than two million extra children and adults get the mental health care they need and while early intervention to stop ill health escalating is a priority, we are also determined to provide the strongest possible safety net for families living with the most acute conditions.”

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Source: NHS England, 10 October 2019

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NHS summer crisis: Hospital suspends all inpatient surgery for three weeks over bed shortages

A hospital in Yorkshire has suspended all routine inpatient surgeries amid overcrowding in A&E caused by a lack of beds. Staff at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust were told in an email that this had been a "critical issue for too long."

“It is with regret that this decision has had to be made given that it will result in less patients receiving surgical treatment, slowing down our progress on reducing waiting times. However, the extreme pressure on beds has to be reduced and quickly. The trust consistently has between 25 and 50 patients waiting for a bed at any one time at Pinderfields emergency department, causing serious overcrowding and long delays [and] contributing to an unacceptable patient and staff experience.” Martin Barkley, chief executive of the trust, told staff.

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Source: The Independent, 14 August 2021

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NHS struggling to provide safe cancer care, say senior doctors

The Royal College of Radiologists is warning that all four UK nations are facing "chronic staff shortages", with cancer patients waiting too long for vital tests and treatments.

Half of all cancer units are now reporting frequent delays for both radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Ministers say a workforce strategy for the NHS in England is due shortly.

The plan, which is meant to spell out how the government will plug staffing gaps over the next 15 years, has been repeatedly delayed, to the frustration of some in the health service.

In June 2022, Carol Fletcher, from South Wales, finally had her routine screening appointment for breast cancer, which was itself overdue.

"It took another eight weeks after my mammogram before I was told there might be something wrong," she said.

Since her cancer diagnosis, there have been more waits - for scans, tests, surgery and then chemo.

"I was told that I might not get results back [quickly] after my mastectomy because they haven't got enough pathologists, so there was another eight-week delay for chemotherapy," she said.

"I can't plan for the future and it's had a huge impact on my family."

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Source: BBC News, 8 June 2023

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NHS struggling to open extra winter beds and fill staffing gaps

Hospital bosses in England are warning a lack of funds means they are having to scale back on plans to open extra beds to cope with winter.

The warning, from NHS Providers, which represents managers, came after the Treasury rejected pleas for an extra £1bn to cover the cost of strikes.

Recruitment to plug gaps in the workforce was also having to be put on hold, NHS Providers said.

But the government said winter planning was on track.

It pointed out the goal to open 10,000 "virtual" hospitals beds had been met. This is where doctors remotely monitor patients with conditions such as respiratory and heart problems who would otherwise have to be in hospital.

Progress was also being made on opening 5,000 new permanent hospital beds - a 5% increase in numbers, the government said.

"We recognise the challenges the NHS faces over the coming months, which is why we started preparing for winter earlier than ever," a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman added.

But NHS Providers said the steps being taken may be insufficient.

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Source: BBC News, 14 November 2023

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NHS strikes force thousands to wait 18 months for surgery as flagship target to be missed

Thousands of patients are being forced to wait more than 18 months for treatments such as knee and brain surgery as the health service is set to miss its flagship target because of NHS strikes.

NHS England last week claimed it was “on track” to hit the mandated target, but senior sources have warned that the impact of prolonged walkouts combined with unprecedented demand for emergency care means that this is now unlikely.

The sources say it is probable that up to 10,000 patients will still be waiting for 18 months or more by the end of March, as a knock-on effect of the cancellation of 140,000 appointments because of strike action. More walkouts are planned over the coming weeks.

Patricia Marquis, RCN director for England, said the backlog was “yet even more evidence of what happens when you fail to invest in the workforce. If ministers are serious about preventing a further exodus and cutting the backlog, they need to hear the calls of NHS leaders and come to the table and talk about pay. Only then will patients receive the care they need and waiting lists start to come down.”

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Source: The Independent, 15 February 2023

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NHS still waiting for over £1bn capital funding announced five years ago

More than half of £2.7bn awarded to NHS organisations for capital projects in 2017 and 2018 has yet to be delivered, research by HSJ has discovered. 

The government announced almost £3bn  in capital funding to upgrade NHS estates and services in four waves during 2017 and 2018. This was before the pledge to build 40 “new hospitals” by 2030, which has since largely dominated decisions about NHS capital investment.

HSJ looked at the progress of the 143 schemes, worth a total of £2.7bn, known to have been included in the “sustainability and transformation partnership” capital funding programmes. 

Only £1.2bn has been given to the organisations involved, and over a fifth of live schemes – which range from emergency department upgrades to new primary care hubs – have not received any allocated funds to date. 

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Source: HSJ, 15 May 2023

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NHS staffing crisis: A critical exception to the immigration rules

Staffing shortages remain a pervasive challenge for the NHS, risking patient safety, care standards and the pursuit of innovation. 

There are now 106,000 vacancies across the NHS in England, with over 44,000 vacancies in nursing. Overseas staff are a crucial way of filling those vacancies, but the message to potential workers is confused to say the least.

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Source: Health Europa, 14 February 2020

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NHS staffing ‘crisis’ as nursing vacancies rise by almost 20% in three months

Vacancies for nurses and midwives in Scotland have increased by almost 20% in just three months, new figures show.

Official figures revealed that at the end of September the whole time equivalent (WTE) of 5,761.2 posts were unfilled across the NHS – a rise of 18.9% from the WTE total of 4,845.4 that was recorded at the end of June.

The rise in vacancies comes at the same time as health service staffing reached a record high, with the NHS employing the equivalent of 154,307.8 full-time workers as of September 30 – 5.2% higher than a year ago.

However, opposition leaders warned the health service, which is coming under ongoing pressure as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, is facing a “staffing crisis” this winter.

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman and deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “Across our NHS services are on the brink of collapse, and things will only get worse as the cold weather bites.

“This staffing crisis at the heart of this catastrophe has unfolded entirely on Nicola Sturgeon’s watch and will jeopardise the ability of services to remobilise and cope with demand.

“Looking at the state of services in Scotland, we can all only hope we don’t get sick this winter.”

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Source: The Independent, 8 December 2021

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