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More than 23,000 people died in A&E in England last year, Labour estimates

About 23,000 people died in accident and emergency departments last year, according to an estimate by Labour based on Freedom of Information requests to every NHS trust in England.

Half of the trusts responded to the party’s requests and, based on that information, it calculated that just over 23,000 people had died – an increase of more than 20% on 2021, and nearly 40% on 2020.

The increase in deaths corresponds with a sharp rise in NHS waiting times, as hospitals struggle with high demand and a lack of resources after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said: “People turning to the NHS in an emergency should know they will be seen and treated before it’s too late. The Conservatives’ failure over 13 years to properly staff or reform the NHS has a cost in lives.”

Maria Caulfield, the health minister, defended the government’s record, however, saying: “We are delivering a record number of tests, speeding up discharge from hospitals, and cutting waiting lists as we also work to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, and stop the boats.”

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Source: The Guardian, 19 May 2023

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More than 20 states sue Trump administration over ‘devastating’ funding cuts for medical research

Attorney generals from 22 states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday over significant cuts to grant funding for universities, medical centers, and other research institutions last week.

The cuts would be “devastating” to staff members and faculty — and could even “prove deadly,” the 59-page lawsuit claimed. The new cap takes effect on Monday.

“The reduction of federal funding to the UCs as set forth in the NIH Notice would be devastating for the UC system,” the states noted. The University of California School system is the world's leading public research university system and the state’s third largest employer.

“UW has long relied on being able to negotiate these rates for years, and has built out its research facilities and headcount accordingly — nothing could have prepared UW for a sudden and stinging rebuke of the federal government’s previous positions,” they said of the University of Washington. “The impacts would be devastating not only to the many staff members and faculty who would likely lose their livelihood, but could also prove deadly.”

“A cut this size is nothing short of catastrophic for countless Americans who depend on UC’s scientific advances to save lives and improve healthcare,” UC President Michael Drake said.

“The discovery of new treatments would slow, opportunities to train the next generation of scientific leaders would shrink, and our nation’s science and engineering prowess would be severely compromised,” Harvard University President Alan Garber wrote.

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Source: The Independent, 10 February 2025

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More than 2,000 NHS buildings in England older than NHS, figures show

Millions of patients are being put at risk in crumbling hospitals that are unfit for purpose, MPs have said, as figures reveal more than 2,000 NHS buildings are older than the health service itself.

Health bosses have repeatedly warned ministers of the urgent need to plough cash into replacing rundown buildings in order to protect the safety of patients and staff. The maintenance backlog has risen to £11.6bn in England.

Now analysis of NHS Digital data has found that at 34 out of 211 NHS trusts in England at least one in four buildings have been standing since before 1948, the year the NHS was founded.

Sewage leaking from sinks on to wards are among the issues affecting more than 2,000 buildings that predate the health service. Last month it was reported that the ceiling of an intensive care ward collapsed on to a patient on life support and a falling lift broke a doctor’s leg. One hospital is said to have been using its intensive care unit as a storeroom because it deemed it unsafe for patients.

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Source: The Guardian, 15 April 2024

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More than 2 million people in the UK may have suffered from long Covid

A new survey of half a million adults in the UK has revealed more than 2 million may have suffered from long Covid. 

Currently, long Covid is not fully understood and its definition has not yet been agreed upon. The self-reported survey showed 37% of respondents experienced at least one symptom lasting 12 weeks or more with higher weight, smoking, lower incomes and having a chronic illness being associated with a higher chance of experiencing symptoms of long Covid. 

The government has issued £50m in funding for research on long Covid. 

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Source: BBC News, 24 June 2021

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More than 1m people report Long Covid in UK a year after infection

More than 1 million people in the UK have long Covid at least one year after they were first infected, new figures reveal.

The data, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday, comes as other figures suggest the number of Covid patients admitted to hospital in England is continuing to rise amid a new wave of the virus.

As of 3 September, an estimated 2.3 million people living in private households in the UK – 3.5% of the population – had Long Covid, equivalent to one in every 28 people.

Ondine Sherwood, a co-founder of the advocacy group and charity Long Covid SOS, says the number of people now reporting long Covid – 342,000 of whose lives are “severely impacted” as result – illustrates that this is “not just a personal tragedy but a societal, health and workforce problem”.

Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London and expert on long Covid, described the situation as deeply disappointing, noting that while the number of people with long Covid appeared to dip over the summer, it is now clear there is a definite, ongoing, upwards trend.

“This reinforces the message that it’s really foolhardy to imagine we can laugh off a massive, growing BA.5 wave as ‘living with the virus’ and ‘no worse than flu’,” he said. “Long Covid and even long Covid from the 2022 Omicron waves continues to wreck lives in people of all ages. I do wish we could just remind everyone to take this seriously – get boosted, keep indoor meetings well ventilated, wear masks indoors and for travel.”

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Source: The Guardian, 6 October 2022

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More than 1m older people in England waited over 12 hours in A&E last year

More than 1 million older people a year in England are forced to wait longer than 12 hours in A&E, with many having to endure “degrading and dehumanising” corridor waits on trolleys.

The number aged 60 and over waiting more than 12 hours to be transferred, admitted or discharged increased to 1.15 million in 2024, up from 991,068 in 2023. The figure was 305,619 in 2019, according to data obtained by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) under freedom of information laws.

A report by the RCEM also found the risk of a 12-hour wait in an emergency department in England increased with the age of the patient. People aged 60 to 69 had a 15% chance of waiting 12 hours or more. For those aged 90 and over, the likelihood rose to 33%.

“The healthcare system is failing our most vulnerable patients – more than a million last year,” said Dr Adrian Boyle, the president of the RCEM. “These people are our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents.

“They aren’t receiving the level of care they need, as they endure the longest stays in our emergency departments, often suffering degrading and dehumanising corridor care. It’s an alarming threat to patient safety. We know long stays are dangerous, especially for those who are elderly, and puts people’s lives at risk.”

As well as long waits, the RCEM report found many older people were missing out on vital checks in A&E. Of patients aged over 75, only 16% were screened for delirium – a reversible condition linked to an increased risk of death. Fewer than half (48%) of patients were screened for their risk of falls.

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Source: The Guardian, 6 May 2025

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More than 175,000 appointments cancelled over three day junior doctors’ walk out

More than 175,000 patient appointments and surgeries were postponed this week during the three-day junior doctor walk-out, it has emerged.

NHS leaders have warned the strikes were the most disruptive yet with more appointments cancelled across three days than across any of the previous nurse strikes.

Data published by the NHS showed in total 181,049 patients had their care postponed, this included more than 5,000 mental health and hundreds of community health appointments. 

The news comes after nursing and ambulance unions accepted a pay offer from the government, for a 5.3 per cent increase in 2023-24, which their members will now vote on.

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Source: The Independent, 18 March 2023

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More than 153,000 people harmed in Canada's hospitals last year, study finds

One in 17 hospitalizations in 2024-2025 — representing more than 153,000 people — resulted in someone experiencing a potentially preventable harm such as a drug error, hospital-acquired infection, a “patient accident” like a fall or radiation burn or some other incident serious enough to require treatment or a prolonged stay, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

In a quarter of those cases, people experienced two or more harmful “events” during their stay. The data are based on 2.6 million hospital stays. 

The overall rate of harm has remained at six per cent for the fifth year in a row, higher than pre-COVID years. 

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Source: National Post, 9 October 2025

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More than 100,000 waiting for ‘urgent’ operations

More than 100,000 people were waiting for ‘urgent’ priority two operations in late January, as planned care rates plummeted amid the covid third wave, according to NHS data seen by HSJ.

However, the rate of elective procedures carried out last month appears to have been a lot higher than in the spring wave of coronavirus, despite there being more covid patients in hospital this time.

In the three weeks to 20 December, the NHS was reporting around 110,000 day cases and 18,000 planned overnight admissions each week. But during January these totals dropped to around 85,000 day cases and 10,000 planned overnight admissions per week. This equates to a reduction of 23% and 44%, respectively.

Regions that were more severely impacted by the third wave of coronavirus saw steeper reductions as covid pressures forced staff working in routine care services to be redeployed.

In London and the South East, day case activity reduced by around 40% between the same periods, while elective overnight admissions fell by around 57%.

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Source: HSJ, 10 February 2021

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More than 100,000 treated on ‘virtual wards’

More than 100,000 patients, including children, have been treated in so-called virtual wards over the last year, NHS officials have said.

Leading medics said that the use of the system to monitor patients at home has been a “real game changer”.

Officials say virtual wards can help patients avoid unnecessary hospital trips altogether, or enable them to be sent home from hospital sooner.

Using various equipment and technology, clinicians can monitor vital signs such as a patients’ heart rate, oxygen levels and temperature remotely.

NHS England’s national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: “The advantages of virtual wards for both staff and patients have been a real game-changer for the way hospital care is delivered and so it is a huge achievement that more than 100,000 patients have been able to benefit in the last year alone, with the number of beds up by nearly two thirds in less than a year.

“With up to a fifth of emergency hospital admissions estimated to be avoided through better supporting vulnerable patients at home and in the community, these world-leading programmes are making a real difference not just to the people they directly benefit but also in reducing pressure on wider services.”

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Source: The Independent. 11 March 2023

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More than 100 MPs urge Streeting to approve prostate cancer screening

More than 100 MPs, including Rishi Sunak, have urged Wes Streeting to introduce screening for prostate cancer.

The UK National Screening Committee, a government agency that advises ministers and the NHS about all aspects of screening, will recommend whether men at higher risk of the disease should be offered checks. It is due to write to the health secretary later this week, the Telegraph reported.

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Source: Guardian, 24 November 2025

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More than 100 maternity staff sue NHS over gas exposure

More than 100 maternity staff are taking legal action against a hospital trust after being exposed to what they say were "hazardous" levels of nitrous oxide.

The staff, who include midwives and healthcare assistants, all worked at Basildon Hospital in Essex between 2018 and 2023.

Symptoms including fatigue, anxiety, headaches and "brain fog" were reported.

The trust that runs the hospital has said it "should have acted faster to address the issues".

The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust has already paid out £89,000 in settlements over claims staff were exposed to "excessive and foreseeably dangerous" levels of Entonox, which is often called gas and air.

A total of 141 claims have been received, according to the NHS.

Entonox is a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen that is used as pain relief for women giving birth.

According to the claimants, levels of nitrous oxide can build up quickly in maternity units with poor ventilation. The gas enters the atmosphere when birthing mothers exhale, when gas lines are leaky, and when cannisters of nitrous oxide are opened and connected to equipment.

Maternity staff were exposed to gas levels up to 30 times higher than the legal workplace exposure limit, an internal hospital report found.

For people giving birth, the NHS says gas and air is "generally very safe", and side effects are not expected until after patients have used it for longer than six hours.

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Source: BBC News, 18 May 2026

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More than 100 alerts over deaths linked to antidepressants taken by Thomas Kingston

More than 100 alerts were made in a decade to the UK’s medicines regulator over deaths linked to the antidepressants which Thomas Kingston was taking before he killed himself.

A coroner ruled that Mr Kingston, the husband of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent’s daughter Lady Gabriella Kingston, fatally shot himself after an adverse effect to the medications he had been prescribed, which included the common antidepressant citalopram.

The UK’s medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it is undertaking a review of safety warnings for 30 antidepressants including citalopram and prozac.

Data analysis by The Independent has now found the MHRA has received more than 71 alerts over fatalities linked to the antidepressant citalopram since 2014.

The data, called yellow card alerts, also shows 114 alerts over fatal adverse reactions linked to sertraline, another antidepressant taken by Mr Kingston, over the same period.

However, the data does not determine whether the drug was the direct cause of death.

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Source: The Independent, 8 December 2024

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More than 10,000 patients given faulty knee replacements

More than 10,000 patients have been given a faulty knee replacement which doubles the risk of joint failure, The Telegraph has disclosed.

The implant, which has been in use since 2003, was withdrawn from the market by its manufacturer in October.

The Telegraph has learnt that UK health regulator the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is now preparing to issue a field safety notice, prohibiting its use.

Available across multiple NHS trusts, the implant, manufactured by Zimmer Biomet, a US firm, has been shown to fail in up to 7% of patients after ten years - twice the accepted failure rate of 3.5% set by the National Joint Registry. 

One study found the failure rate to be much higher at 17.6% - more than five times as high as the accepted level.

This can have catastrophic consequences for patients, many of whom are elderly, as undergoing a second knee replacement operation poses a much greater risk. 

The knee replacement, called the Nexgen, is part of a family of Zimmer Biomet implant devices with 88 possible variants. In total, these have been given to over 183,000 people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and more than five million worldwide. Of these variants, three combinations have been proven to place patients at a dangerously high risk of joint failure.

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Source: The Telegraph, 5 December 2022

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More than 1.3bn adults will have diabetes by 2050, study predicts

The number of adults living with diabetes worldwide will more than double by 2050, according to research that blames rapidly rising obesity levels and widening health inequalities.

New estimates predict the number will rise from 529 million in 2021 to more than 1.3 billion in 2050. No country is expected to see a decline in its diabetes rate over the next 30 years. The findings were published in The Lancet and The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journals.

Experts described the data as alarming, saying diabetes was outpacing most diseases globally, presenting a significant threat to people and health systems.

“Diabetes remains one of the biggest public health threats of our time and is set to grow aggressively over the coming three decades in every country, age group and sex, posing a serious challenge to healthcare systems worldwide,” said Dr Shivani Agarwal, of the Montefiore Health System and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

The research authors wrote: “Type 2 diabetes, which makes up the bulk of diabetes cases, is largely preventable and, in some cases, potentially reversible if identified and managed early in the disease course. However, all evidence indicates that diabetes prevalence is increasing worldwide, primarily due to a rise in obesity caused by multiple factors.”

Structural racism experienced by minority ethnic groups and “geographic inequity” were accelerating rates of diabetes, disease, illness and death around the world, the authors said.

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Source: The Guardian, 22 June 2023

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More than 1,500 NHS breast reconstructions delayed due to Covid

More than 1,500 breast cancer patients in UK face long waits to have reconstructive surgery after hospitals could not operate on them during the pandemic because they were tackling COVID-19.

The women are facing delays of “many months, possibly years” because the NHS has such a big backlog of cases to get through, according to research by the charity Breast Cancer Now.

When the lockdown began in March the NHS stopped performing breast reconstructions for women seeking one after a mastectomy as part of its wider suspension of care. That was because so many operating theatres were being used as overflow intensive care units and because doctors and hospital bosses feared that patients coming into hospital might catch Covid.

The NHS started doing them again in July, but not everywhere and not in the same numbers as before.

“We are deeply concerned by our finding that over 1,500 breast cancer patients may now face lengthy and extremely upsetting delays for reconstructive surgery,” said Delyth Morgan, the chief executive of Breast Cancer Now. “This will leave many women who want to have reconstruction with one breast, no breasts or asymmetric breasts for months, possibly even years.”

Lady Morgan said: “Reconstructive surgery is an essential part of recovery after breast cancer for those who choose it.

“Women with breast cancer have told us these delays are causing them huge anxiety, low self-esteem and damaged body confidence, and all at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has denied them access to face to face support from healthcare professionals and charities.”

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Source: The Guardian, 18 September 2020

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More than 1,300 deaths a month in England due to long A&E waits, figures suggest

More than 1,300 patients a month in England are dying needlessly due to long A&E waits, a tenfold rise in a decade, figures suggest.

There were more than 300 deaths linked to long waits every week in 2025, up from 30 a week in 2015, according to analysis by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.

The RCEM’s president, Dr Ian Higginson, said he wondered how many more deaths it would take before there was a meaningful plan to tackle the crisis.

“We have to ask why this awful problem isn’t the subject of relentless focus and political conversation. The number of deaths linked to long stays in our emergency departments explicitly show the system is failing the patients it is meant to be caring for,” he said.

Higginson said: “As an emergency doctor, it’s heartbreaking that patients arrive to our emergency departments in their time of need, and we can’t do our jobs properly because we are full. To make things worse we are being asked to focus on the least sick patients to try and marginally improve headline statistics, rather than on those who need our services the most.

“It’s frustrating that we continue to see a lack of solutions designed to tackle the root causes of the problem. Instead, we are fobbed off with recycled ideas that haven’t ever worked, performance data that doesn’t reflect reality, and a focus on perceived ‘quick fixes’.”

He added: “Whilst we welcome the government’s stated commitment to eliminate corridor care, until we prioritise patients who experience long waits for admission, we will not get to the bottom of the whole issue.”

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Source: The Guardian, 8 June 2026

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More than 1,000 patients in one region awaiting urgent cancer surgery

More than 1,000 people needing urgent cancer surgery in London have no date for their treatment, HSJ can reveal.

A document leaked to HSJ showed that, at the end of last week, more than 1,000 of London’s cancer surgery patients without an appointment date were defined as P2 (priority two), meaning they needed to be seen within four weeks or risk their condition worsening.

The report seen by HSJ also showed more than 300 P2 patients had their surgery postponed in the past week, a statistic NHS England London has so far refused to disclose.

Hospitals in the capital are facing their highest-ever COVID-19 occupancy rates, with surgical lists at many trusts being cancelled.

Meanwhile, a separate NHSE London document reported in the press this week revealed: “Most NHS Green sites [those cancer surgery sites intended to be covid-free to avoid risk to very frail patients] are now compromised with only a limited number of cases being undertaken in NHS sites this week”.

The papers also said the current plans to increase indepedent sector capacity usage were “insufficient to offset the NHS shortfall”, and noted there was a two week lead-in time to move patients into private hospitals “based on clinical rotas, theatre bookings, [and] patient isolation”.

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Source: HSJ, 12 January 2021

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More than 1,000 doctors want to quit NHS over handling of pandemic

Over 1,000 doctors plan to quit the NHS because they are disillusioned with the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and frustrated about their pay, a new survey has found.

The doctors either intend to move abroad, take a career break, switch to private hospitals or resign to work as locums instead, amid growing concern about mental health and stress levels in the profession.

“NHS doctors have come out of this pandemic battered, bruised and burned out”, said Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden, president of the Doctors’ Association UK, which undertook the research.  The large number of medics who say they will leave the NHS within three years is “a shocking indictment of the government’s failure to value our nation’s doctors,” she added. “These are dedicated professionals who have put their lives on the line time and time again to keep patients in the NHS safe, and we could be about to lose them.

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More than 1,000 ‘definitely unvaccinated’ staff at one trust

At least 1,000 staff at the country’s largest NHS trust are still unvaccinated with a week to go until the deadline, it can be revealed.

Senior leaders at University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust (UHB), which has a total workforce of over 20,000 people, told a board meeting that 9% of staff, including substantive and active bank workers, had an ‘unknown’ or ‘unvaccinated’ status as of yesterday.

Like many trusts, UHB is still working through hundreds of records manually, and seeking to contact staff, to establish which are truly ‘unvaccinated’ rather than ‘unknown’, the trust’s chief people officer, Cathi Shovlin, said.

But she confirmed to the board today that of approximately 1,799 substantive-only staff listed as unknown or unvaccinated, “at least” 1,171 of those in scope are definitely not vaccinated.

She said the mandatory vaccine programme was “having a significant impact on staff, who range in emotions from disbelief that this will go ahead through to fear of the vaccine, their job, their career, through to anger about the mandate itself”, Ms Shovlin told executives.

Low uptake has been found particularly among healthcare support workers, porters, housekeeping and cleaners, she said. Diagnostic services, outpatients and surgery, particularly operating departments, were among clinical areas with lower vaccination rates.

And there has also been reduced uptake in females, particularly women aged 20 to 35, and among Asian, Black British and Black Caribbean staff.

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Source: HSJ, 27 January 2022

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More testing needed for genetic cancer risk as too many women ‘missed’, experts say

A new study has revealed that families of some cancer patients are being denied the opportunity to learn about their potential cancer risk due to inconsistencies in genetic testing.

Academics have warned that the absence of adequate testing for Lynch syndrome is leaving some cancer patients unaware of their risk of developing other cancers.

Lynch syndrome, a rare hereditary condition, elevates the risk of cancers of the bowel, womb, and ovaries. It arises from a gene mutation affecting DNA error correction during replication, potentially leading to uncontrolled cell growth.

NHS guidelines stipulate that patients with bowel or womb cancer should undergo tumour assessments for Lynch syndrome markers.

The identification of these markers should prompt a referral for genetic testing, confirming the diagnosis and enabling access to support and guidance regarding cancer risks for both the patients and their families.

However, a new study by academics at the University of Edinburgh found not all womb cancer patients are being sent for genetic testing.

Researchers said those who were referred faced long waits, resulting in high dropout rates, meaning only 48 per cent of those eligible went on to get the test.

Experts from the university said gaps in testing mean some womb cancer patients with Lynch syndrome go undetected.

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Source: The Independent, 10 June 2025

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More teenagers unprotected from serious diseases as vaccine uptake falls

More teenagers are at risk of contracting rare but serious diseases due to a fall in immunisations as a result of the pandemic, according to a report.

The uptake of vaccines among teenagers in secondary schools that protect against meningococcal disease, diphtheria, tetanus and polio has dropped since COVID affected routine school immunisation programmes provided by the NHS.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) found that 69% of children in year nine, aged 13 and 14, had the MenACWY vaccine and the Td/IPV booster in 2021-22. This marked a 7% drop in coverage for both vaccines compared to the previous year.

The 3-in-1 Td/IPV booster helps provide teens with long-lasting protection against tetanus, diphtheria and polio, diseases that can result in serious illness or even death.

Doctor Vanessa Saliba, consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA said: "In recent years we have seen vaccine uptake fall due to the challenges posed by the pandemic.

"Many young people who missed out on their vaccinations have already been caught up, but more needs to be done to ensure all those eligible are vaccinated.

"These vaccines offer the best protection as young people start their journey into adulthood and mixing more widely - whether going to college, starting work, travelling or going to summer festivals."

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Source: Sky News, 24 April 2023

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More support needed for people with mental health difficulties at work

Being in a productive and supportive work environment is linked to better mental health. However, those experiencing mental health problems are often either excluded from the workplace or not supported appropriately when in work, according to new guidance from the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

As many as one in six people of working age are diagnosed with a mental health condition. Mental health problems are a leading cause of absence from work, but ‘good’ work can improve overall wellbeing. This is achieved by improving self-esteem, feeling useful, building a routine, and importantly, avoiding poverty, which adversely impacts health in many ways.

‘Good’ work should offer standard benefits such as job security, an appropriate wage, positive work/life balance, and opportunities for career progression as well as supportive mental health and wellbeing policies. These practices should support employees with existing mental health disorders while minimising the risk of developing issues with mental health and well-being.

This includes flexible working policies, use of appropriate reasonable adjustments to help people maintain employment and access to counselling and support services as needed.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists is calling for better support for people with mental health problems to find, return to, and remain in good work, and for employers and Government to recognise the valuable contribution these people make to the workforce.

Dr Adrian James, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said:

“We all need to do more if the workplace is to consistently play a positive role in a person’s mental health and wellbeing. We know that issues such as insecure work and unemployment can have a disproportionate impact on the wellbeing of people with mental health conditions.

“Psychiatrists and occupational therapists can play a key role between employers and patients, ensuring staying in good work is seen as an important outcome of treatment. We must put in place better support for people with mental health problems to find, return to, and remain in good work and for employers and Government to recognise the valuable contribution these people make to the workforce.”

Read press release

Source: Royal College of Psychiatrists, 14 July 2022

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More support needed for GPs to treat eating disorders

Two leading medical organisations have told the BBC that GPs are not getting the right support to treat eating disorders.

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the British Medical Association (BMA) say doctors need more time with patients and more specialist units.

Beat Eating Disorders asked nearly 1,700 people about their experience of trying to get a diagnosis from their GP. Over 92% asked thought their GP needed more training with eating disorders. Out of those questioned, 69% also said they felt their GP didn't know how to help them.

The survey has been released to coincide with Eating Disorder Awareness Week.

Jess Griffiths had an eating disorder between the ages of 11 and 21 and, now in full recovery, she works as a consultant to NHS England and with her local eating disorder service in Dorset.

She tells the BBC that when she first went to her GP to try to get help, she wasn't entirely transparent about what she was struggling with.

"I was presenting at a low weight and not having periods, so the GP put me on the pill, but I went there hoping he would ask me the questions [about a potential eating disorder]" she says.

"But it's really hard for people with eating disorders to - in a really pressurised situation with a doctor - say how they really feel."

Dr Richard Van Mellaerts is part of the BMA's GP committee and has told the BBC the results of the survey are "deeply saddening".

"People with eating disorders should never feel that GPs are a barrier to accessing care, so it is vital that medical education and training supports doctors to identify eating disorders and support their treatment," he says.

But he adds that there is "poor provision of specialist care", which has left GPs "frustrated up and down the country".

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Source: BBC News, 3 March 2022

Read hub blog from Dr Joanna Silver on the challenges the pandemic has brought to patients with eating disorders

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More sick kids go private as others face NHS waits

The number of children receiving treatment in private hospitals across the UK rose by almost a quarter last year to more than 46,000, according to new data seen by the BBC.

In each case, families either paid for treatment or used medical insurance - rather than being referred by the NHS.

The record figures from private healthcare providers come as England's NHS trusts tell File on 4 that children have become the “forgotten generation” in the race to reduce health service backlogs.

The Department of Health says NHS staff are “working tirelessly” to cut waiting lists.

But the Royal College of Surgeons of England told us children were lagging behind adults and spending years waiting for NHS surgery - with potentially life-long consequences for their health and development.

The BBC has spoken to a number of families whose children’s conditions have deteriorated during long waits.

They include 16-year-old Georgina Smith from Hertfordshire, who is waiting for open-heart surgery to repair a valve on her right side which doesn’t close properly. It can cause her blood to flow the wrong way, making it harder for her heart to work.

Georgina is one of 601 children waiting for heart surgery in England - 139 have been waiting more than six months.

She suffers chest pains, extreme fatigue and fainting episodes and has been forced to miss a lot of school.

Georgina says she feels like her operation will never happen. “It’s like a cloud over my head, it’s always just this waiting and waiting and waiting,” she says.

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Source: BBC News, 18 June 2024

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