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BBC investigation finds 50,000 people waited over 24 hours in A&E corridor care

More than 52,000 patients waited longer than 24 hours to be admitted to hospitals across north-west England last year, a BBC investigation has revealed.

Known as "corridor care", patients are lining up on trolleys or sitting on chairs, stuck in A&E because there are no beds for them in the wards.

The Royal College of Nursing has described the situation as a "national emergency" and called on the government to end the practice.

NHS England said the NHS was currently experiencing its busiest winter on record and hospitals around the country had been "experiencing rising demand for a number of years".

Dr Michael Gregory, regional medical director for NHS England in the North West, said: "Providing care in corridors is not what we want for our patients, and we are working hard to reduce the use of corridor care and tackle long waits."

Aside from the misery facing patients, the pressure on medical staff is huge.

The Royal College of Nursing has been campaigning on the issue for several years.

"We're hearing from members who are going to work, feeling anxious and upset. We've had members saying they're sitting in their car crying before they go into work," said Simon Browes, the college's North West regional director.

"It's because they can't do the job they want to do and they're faced with this distressing, relentless situation".

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has described the situation countrywide as "a national shame", while the Royal College of Nursing has called it "a national emergency". Both are demanding an end to the practice.

Browes, who worked as a nurse before taking on his role at the RCN, said the health risks to patients of corridor care are well known.

"We're going to see people dying who should not die. We're going to see people leaving the profession because they can't work under those conditions any more," he said.

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Source: BBC News, 2 March 2026

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Warning over early signs of brain inflammation as experts call for national guidelines

The early detection of brain inflammation could be life-saving, experts have warned, following the tragic death of a 12-year-old girl who died by suicide while suffering from an undiagnosed form of the condition. Mia Lucas developed severe psychosis and was sectioned, ultimately taking her own life in a specialist psychiatric unit, weeks after the onset of her symptoms.

In the wake of her death, Sheffield coroner Tanyka Rawden has urged for national guidelines to be established for the recognition and diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis. Campaigners and medical specialists concur, highlighting the urgent need for greater awareness of a condition often missed in various healthcare settings due to its diverse symptoms.

While the coroner's report was issued earlier this year, some of the world’s foremost experts on encephalitis were already developing crucial national guidelines for doctors. These are anticipated to be published in late 2026.

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Source: The Independent, 2 March 2026

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Government ditches ‘700k appointments’ manifesto pledge

The government has admitted that a manifesto pledge was badly designed and is on course to be missed, a year after telling integrated care boards to deliver it.

Labour’s 2024 manifesto said it “will tackle the immediate [dental] crisis with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments”. A year ago, integrated care boards were told to commission their share of the “additional urgent appointments”  to take place during 2025-26.

But this week, NHS England wrote to ICBs saying: “The government has now confirmed that the 700,000 commitment will be broadened with immediate effect to all dental appointments measured through courses of treatment.”

Several sector sources confirmed to HSJ  that the original target was effectively being scrapped.

Speaking at a conference last week, the former NHSE chief dental officer Sara Hurley said: “It’s lovely that [the government] are going to be able to fiddle with, sorry, amend the definition to what the new appointment offering is.”

There has been widespread outcry in recent years because in many areas it is extremely difficult to get NHS dental appointments.

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Source: HSJ, 2 March 2026

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Scandal-hit hospital left children with lifelong conditions, MSPs told

Children have been left with debilitating conditions due to their treatment at a scandal-hit Glasgow hospital, their parents have told MSPs.

The Scottish government has been urged to launch a probe into concerns children treated at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) are suffering from conditions including chronic stomach pain and incontinence after being given anti-infection treatments for too long.

The families claim children were given prophylactic drugs due to infection risks at the hospital, but say they have been lied to by health chiefs.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said the treatment was an established method of preventing infections, and that the hospital is safe.

First Minister John Swinney's spokesman said he was looking at the issues "as a matter of urgency".

fter years of denials, the health board admitted last month that issues with its water system probably caused infections in child cancer patients at the QEUH campus, which includes the Royal Hospital for Children.

A public inquiry is looking into how design, construction, and system failures led to safety issues, and whether these problems could have been prevented.

Separately, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is looking at seven cases of patients who died, to establish if there is sufficient evidence of criminality such as corporate homicide or breaches of health and safety law.

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Source: BBC News, 26 February 2026

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Dash claims NHSE ‘very reluctant’ to tell local leaders what to do

The chair of NHS England has told a patient safety event that the national body is “trying to avoid” telling every part of the country how to work.

Penny Dash said there was a “reluctance” to mandate, dictate and measure from within NHSE.

She said NHSE chief executive Sir Jim Mackey was “very, very antimandating” and that the term would “have many of her colleagues shaking”.

Dr Dash pointed to resistance that officials had experienced from local authorities, health and wellbeing boards, and local authority commissioning services, adding: “They absolutely do not want us to mandate.”

She was responding to a question about how NHSE could regulate effectively with a “mandate-averse philosophy”, while addressing the Public Policy Projects’ Patient Safety Forum on Wednesday.

She said: “We are a national health service, there is quite rightly an expectation that there is some consistency in care, there is quite rightly an expectation that all of these things matter and that us, as NHS England, we should be mandating, dictating and then measuring.

“I can completely see how we can get to that point, and yet, we then have a very, very, very strong view from many people, ‘no, no, no, devolve, devolve, devolve’, and it’s live, and it’s playing out an awful lot…” 

She added: “It’s a really hard balance to strike, and we’re going to have to continue to work our way through it. We don’t want to be overly mandating – there are real negatives of mandating too much…”

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Source: HSJ, 27 February 2026

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NHSE bid to divert referrals falling well short of target

NHS England is set to fall “well short” of a key target to ramp up GPs’ use of “advice and guidance” from specialists – and the model is “unlikely to be the silver bullet ministers hoped for” to help cut waiting lists, experts have warned.

The warning comes in a Nuffield Trust analysis, shared exclusively with HSJ. It represents a blow for ministers and NHS leaders because reducing referrals through an expansion of A&G is one of the central planks of their elective recovery plan.

The findings raise further questions about the NHS’s attempts to meet the government’s headline target of recovering 18-week performance back to the 92 per cent standard by 2029, which is already widely viewed to be off track.

The A&G model, when working well, allows GPs to seek advice from hospital specialists on a patient’s condition before making a referral. And in around half of these cases, the GP can avoid referring the patient onto the waiting list. This is known as a “diversion” – although the report explains that some of these cases would never have resulted in referrals.

But the analysis concludes that, while A&G requests have increased, the NHS will not deliver nearly enough requests overall, or “divert” enough referrals, to meet its ambitious targets.

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Source: HSJ, 27 February 2026

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Drop in overseas workers is ‘car crash’ for UK hospitals and care homes, say experts

Hospitals and care homes in the UK face “an impending car crash”, experts have warned, as research shows the number of overseas nurses and carers has collapsed.

Analysis of Home Office quarterly data reveals the number of overseas nurses granted entry to the UK has fallen by 93% over three years. Just 1,777 overseas nurses were granted entry in 2025, compared with 26,100 in 2022.

Visas for workers in the caring personal service occupations category – which includes care workers, but also nursing auxiliaries, ambulance staff and dental workers – had the steepest decline in new workers from overseas in absolute terms.

The figure fell from 107,847 workers granted entry in 2023 to just 3,178 in 2025, a 97% decline over two years. Only 23 overseas care workers were granted entry from October to December 2025.

The study, by the charity Work Rights Centre, highlights the impact of the UK’s lurch to the right on migration, which some economists fear will compound skill shortages, inflation, tax rises and problems meeting the needs of an ageing population.

Overall, the number of skilled worker visas issued has fallen for the ninth consecutive quarter to the lowest levels since 2021, as fewer migrant care workers, nurses, scientists, therapists, education professionals and tradespeople come to the UK, where visa conditions have been systematically tightened.

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Source: The Guardian, 26 February 2026

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Puberty blockers: Controversial trial paused over safety concerns

The controversial Pathways trial assessing the effect of puberty blockers on young people with gender incongruence has been paused owing to “concerns related to the wellbeing of participants.”

The UK medicines watchdog the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has written to King’s College London, which is leading the trial, “to discuss potential amendments that we believe will strengthen the trial protocol.”

The move comes after a concerted effort by campaigners to stop the trial going ahead. In December the Bayswater Support Group, which represents 800 parents of children and young adults who identify as transgender, sent a pre-action letter to the MHRA threatening judicial review unless the study is halted.

But the MHRA emphasised that the pause is related to scientific and wellbeing issues and not a direct result of the potential legal action.

The Pathways study was set up after a review of gender services for children and adolescents by the paediatrician Hilary Cass in 2024 found extremely limited data on the harms of puberty blockers and recommended further research.

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Source: BMJ, 24 February 2026

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Patient safety NHSE warns coroners about relying on trusts’ safety reports

Coroners should not rely on trusts’ safety reports as primary or sole evidence for an inquest, NHS England has said, amid concerns some deaths deemed “avoidable” are not even being investigated under the national safety framework.

In an internal newsletter, seen by HSJ, understood to have been circulated to all coroners nationally, NHSE acknowledged “challenges” existed between its patient safety incident response framework (PSIRF) and coronial inquests.

NHSE said in its newsletter that while PSIRF reports can “provide valuable context about wider circumstances and system changes,” they “should not be relied upon as the primary or sole evidence for an inquest”.

It added that PSIRF reports “deliberately exclude activities such as apportioning blame”, determining liability, assessing whether a death is preventable, or identifying cause of death, and focus on systemic insights rather than direct causation.

They also no longer routinely capture witness statements, something coroners have relied upon previously to inform decision-making.

In contrast, coroners are legally required to answer four statutory questions, which often involve establishing causation and examining circumstances around a specific death.

NHSE said: “Some coroners, accustomed to serious incident investigation reports that provided clear chronologies and root-cause analysis, now find that PSIRF outputs, while richer in systemic insight, are lacking the causation detail they expect.”

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Source: HSJ, 26 February 2026

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Merging watchdog into CQC will ‘destroy’ independence

The influential MP who first proposed setting up a safety investigations watchdog for the NHS has warned health and social care secretary Wes Streeting that merging the body into the Care Quality Commission would be “fundamentally wrong”.

Sir Bernard Jenkin, who says he has cross-party support from senior MPs and royal colleges on this, said the move would “destroy” confidence in the independence of the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB).

The long-standing MP and former committee chair delivered a highly critical verdict on the review by NHS England chair Penny Dash that proposed the merger – which he told HSJ “gets some things really badly wrong”.

Sir Bernard told HSJ  that Dr Dash’s review highlighted many problems in the management of healthcare safety systems, but also “reveals a profound misunderstanding of safety system management and of the role of HSSIB”.

He added: “It should remain an independent statutory body precisely because there must be a distinction between learning and regulatory enforcement.

“Dash says that HSSIB has expanded its scope beyond what was intended. That is completely wrong. Dash says it’s meant to look at incidents of ‘severe harm’, not whole system investigations. That is completely wrong.

“The remit of HSSIB is set out in the [Health and Care Act 2022], and it is doing precisely what the Air Accidents Investigation Branch would do in aviation or the Rail Accidents Investigation Branch would do in rail – making systemic recommendations from systemic investigations, and that is precisely why it is so effective.”

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Source: HSJ, 26 February 2026

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‘Confusing’ NHS App functions to be standardised

NHS England is planning to dismantle the patient engagement portal supplier market in a bid to save £11m and directly integrate appointment management into the NHS App, HSJ can reveal.

This month, NHSE has told suppliers of PEPs – who have been the intermediary between hospital IT systems and patients for appointment booking for years – that within the next three years they would no longer be required to provide core appointment features through the NHS App.

Instead, trusts will move towards direct integration into the NHS App through their electronic patient record, known as Wayfinder direct integration.

It comes as the government pushes for the NHS App – which in December had more than 13 million log-ins – to be the single front door for patients.

The five core features NHSE wants to bring in-house are: viewing appointment details, completing pre-appointment questionnaires, accessing documents, managing or cancelling appointments, and receiving notifications.

Hospital patient administration systems (PAS) and EPRs – which hold appointment booking and scheduling data – will share that data with the NHS App.

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Source: HSJ, 25 February 2026

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Hospitals must update 100,000 pacemakers after safety fault

Hospitals are having to update more than 100,000 patients’ pacemakers – and replace hundreds of the devices – after the manufacturer discovered their batteries run down years early, HSJ has learned.

Medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific issued a field safety notice to trusts in December 2024, which stated that around 13% of its Accolade pacemakers manufactured before September 2018 have a battery flaw.

It means they are more likely to suddenly switch into a limited, back-up “safety mode”, which can be fatal for some patients who are fully reliant on their pacemaker.

Estimates of the numbers affected in the UK have never been issued, but the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has now told HSJ that 13,969 devices affected by the flaw were sold to 153 hospitals in the UK.

In addition, last autumn, Boston Scientific issued a software update for the problem, which it said should be made via in-person appointments. The MHRA said this means a further 97,557 devices across 308 UK hospitals, in addition to the initial 13,969, should be updated.

Acute trusts are now in the process of calling in the patients affected, HSJ has learned.

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Source: HSJ, 26 February 2026

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Shocking allegations of racism, bullying and babies misclassified as stillborn uncovered in maternity care report

An interim report into maternity and neonatal services across England has uncovered shocking allegations of racism, bullying, crumbling infrastructure, and births in undignified circumstances.

Some families said that baby deaths were being misclassified to prevent further investigation.

Baroness Amos, who is leading a national investigation into maternity care, said: "Maternity and neonatal services in England are failing too many women, babies, families, and staff."

Investigators spoke to hundreds of harmed families and staff across 12 NHS trusts in England, many of whom shared shocking accounts of their experiences.

Some families alleged in the report that their babies were designated stillborn instead of dying after birth.

"They felt the system incentivised the recording of deaths as stillbirths as this prevents the case from being investigated by a coroner," the report said.

Jack and Sarah Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn, were not part of the Amos investigation, but have fought to get a separate inquiry launched for bereaved and harmed families in Nottingham.

Jack said: "We have met a number of people and heard reports from a number of people whose babies they say were born alive and who the hospital say were born dead.

"And that is a horrific position, a horrific thing to say, and yet of course we believe the victims, not the NHS, who have shown themselves to be sparing with the truth around some of these issues."

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Source: Sky News, 26 February 2026

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Cancer patients waiting over 104 days for treatment as data shows the NHS trusts failing to meet crucial target

Nearly all NHS trusts across England are failing to meet a crucial cancer treatment target, with some of the poorest performing trusts only managing to treat around half of their patients within the stipulated timeframe.

New data reveals significant disparities between trusts, with some individuals enduring waits exceeding 104 days.

The long-established NHS benchmark mandates that 85 per cent of cancer patients should commence treatment within 62 days of their referral. However, this national target has not been achieved since 2014. In response to the ongoing challenges, the government has set an interim goal for this figure to reach 75 per cent by March 2026.

The new analysis of NHS England figures shows just three of 119 acute trusts with comparable data hit or surpassed the 85% target last year, while only around a quarter made it above 75%.

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Source: The Independent, 25 February 2026

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GPs told to guarantee same-day appointments for urgent cases

GPs in England will have to guarantee same-day appointments for any patient with urgent health needs, under a new clause being added to their contract.

The government said the changes would ensure everyone who needs to be seen quickly would be.

Spending on GP services will increase by nearly £500 million - a 3.6% boost in cash terms - to help pay for the commitment, which the government said will be used to help recruit more doctors.

But the British Medical Association said the government was at risk of creating unrealistic expectations given how stretched GP services already were.

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Source: BBC News, 24 February 2026.

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Ireland launches digital strategy to increase mental health support

The Republic of Ireland has launched a digital strategy to increase access to mental health services through technology and improve digital health literacy.

The ‘Sharing the Vision Digital Mental Health Strategy 2026-2030’, published by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Department of Health in Ireland on 20 February, aims to enhance mental health through digital technologies that improve infrastructure and provide “safe, effective, and accessible mental health information, tools, and services”.

As part of te 2026 Budget, €1 million (£873,455) funding was secured to implement the strategy, bringing investment in digital services such as online cognitive-behavioural therapy and text-based supports to more than €7m (£6.1m).

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Source: Digital Health, 24 February 2026

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NHS secures alternative medical cement supplies after surgery delay fears

The NHS has secured two alternative suppliers of medical cement, a move set to prevent delays for patients awaiting surgery. This crucial intervention follows global supply issues that impacted the health service's main provider of bone cement.

Bone cement is vital for anchoring artificial joints and filling the space between new implants and a patient's bone. Earlier this month, experts warned that a shortage could lead to significant postponements for hip and knee replacements and other pre-planned operations.

Officials had estimated a potential six to eight-week supply gap after Heraeus Medical, the NHS's primary German-based supplier, reported a packaging fault. The new agreements aim to avert this critical disruption.

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Source: The Independent, 25 February 2026

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Trust using security staff for ‘inappropriate’ patient supervision

Board papers for the Humber Health Partnership show that security staff are carrying out one-to-one supervision “due to reduced non-registered nurses in several of the clinical areas at the North Bank”.

The North Bank is the name given to two hospitals run by Hull University Teaching Hospitals Trust. The trust formed the HHP with Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Foundation Trust in 2023. Major finance and governance problems mean the group is soon expected to enter NHS England’s new failure regime. 

A safer staffing paper presented to the HHP board last week said: “Additional investment in non-registered nursing workforce will support the reduction of inappropriate use of this [security staff] workforce and enhance patient experience.” 

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Source: HSJ, 20 February 2026

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People with rare genetic conditions are ‘systematically ignored’ by NHS

Millions of people living with rare genetic conditions across the UK are being “systematically ignored” by the NHS and facing inadequate care, according to a report.

Rare genetic conditions, such as Williams syndrome and Duchenne muscular dystrophy, affect more than 3.5 million people across the UK. One in 17 people are affected by a rare condition at some point during their lives.

The research, published by the charity Genetic Alliance UK, surveyed 290 people living with a rare condition about their experience with the healthcare system.

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Source: Guardian, Monday 23 February 2026

Further reading on the hub:

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Teen wins battle for 'groundbreaking' MND drug

A 19-year-old with motor neurone disease (MND) says she has been given a "future" after winning a battle for access to a groundbreaking drug.

Lillia Jakeman, of Romsey in Hampshire, has a rare form of MND which the drug Tofersen has been shown to slow.

The medication has not yet been approved for use on the NHS but after an awareness campaign by Lillia and her family she has now been offered treatment at King's College Hospital in London.

A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson said the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) was working with the manufacturer on whether Tofersen should be routinely funded by the health service.

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Source: BBC News 24 February 2026

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Earlier diagnosis of ovarian cancer possible with medical tampon, research suggests

A specialist medical tampon could be used to help diagnose ovarian cancer earlier, researchers believe.

In the UK about 7,500 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year. If the cancer is caught in the early stages a woman has a 95 per cent chance of surviving the disease.

But only around one third of women are diagnosed at the earliest stages with more than 50 per cent diagnosed when the disease is at an advanced stage when fewer treatment options are available, according to Ovarian Cancer Action.

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Source: Independent, 21 February 2026

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Data on corridor care still not released

As pressure on emergency departments continues, the Royal College of Physicians calls on the government to release long-promised data on corridor care. 
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has called on the government to publish promised data on corridor care, as new NHS England performance figures show sustained pressure on urgent and emergency care services in England.

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Source: Healthcare today, 23 February 2026

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Scotland safety chief says maternity system failing

must be urgently redesigned to address safety concerns in both rural and urban communities, saying the current system is “not working”.

Karen Titchener told The Herald she intends to challenge health boards and government over maternity care failures, warning that patients and frontline staff are too often ignored when raising safety concerns.

Her intervention comes as The Herald’s exclusive investigation revealed that nearly £100 million has been paid out by NHS Scotland in maternity negligence claims over the past five years, despite record low birth rates.

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Source: The Herald, 23 February 2026

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Patients lost in NHS ‘maze’ as doctors demand simpler access to care

Patients are struggling to navigate the “maze” of NHS services, with health leaders warning that the current system is “confusing, frustrating and demoralising”.

A new report from the Royal College of GPs and the Patients Association highlights an urgent need for the Government to simplify access to the health service.

They describe the NHS as a “complex web of organisations”, making it increasingly difficult for individuals to receive the care they require.

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Source: Independent, 23 February 2026

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Streeting says he takes Leeds maternity care inquiry concerns 'extremely seriously'

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he takes the concerns of bereaved families "extremely seriously" after acknowledging trust had been "damaged" around a promised Leeds maternity care inquiry.

He announced the investigation into Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in October, after a BBC investigation revealed that the deaths of at least 56 babies over the past five years may have been prevented.

But nobody has been appointed to chair the inquiry, leading to some families urging Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to intervene.

Streeting is expected to meet some of families affected by the deaths on Monday afternoon.

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Source: BBC News 23 February 2026

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