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Urgent call for action as England found to be among worst in Europe for child health

Children in England are facing "some of the worst child health outcomes in Europe," prompting MPs to demand an "urgent" rebuilding of the health visiting workforce.

A new report from the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee has issued a stark warning, highlighting rising obesity levels and "uneven" vaccination coverage among infants.

The cross-party group scrutinised the critical "first 1,000 days" of a child's life, from conception to age two, concluding that government action is imperative to improve national child health.

Committee members urged ministers to expand pledges on Family Hubs, ensuring these vital support centres are accessible in every community.

Crucially, they called for an immediate effort to "urgently rebuild the health visiting workforce," which has seen a significant 43% reduction since 2015.

This has resulted in a shortfall of 5,000 posts, with remaining staff managing “dangerously high” caseloads, the report states.

The report also calls for the target of giving 95% of children their routine childhood immunisations to be reinstated in the NHS.

“The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health says the UK has some of the worst health outcomes for young children in Europe. This should be a source of shame.

“Over the last two decades we have seen a hollowing out of health services for infants – the Family Hubs programme still barely touches the sides of what was once provided by Sure Start centres before they were forced to close."

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Source: The Independent, 22 January 2026

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Use of ADHD medication in UK more than tripled in 13 years, study finds

The proportion of people in the UK on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication has tripled in the past decade, with a 20-fold increase among women aged 25 and over, a study shows.

Researchers led by the University of Oxford examined electronic health records from Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK to estimate the use of ADHD medication among adults and children aged three and above.

Prevalence increased across all five countries between 2010 and 2023, according to the research. The UK had the highest relative increase for all ages, rising more than threefold from 0.12% to 0.39%. In the Netherlands, prevalence more than doubled, from 0.67% to 1.56%.

Adult use increased substantially in all countries, particularly among women. In the UK, prevalence among people aged 25 and over increased from 0.01% in 2010 to 0.20% in 2023, with a more than 20-fold increase in women and 15-fold in men.

Although ADHD medication use remained higher among males, the sex gap in treatment narrowed over time and with increasing age, the researchers said.

“We observed a consistent increase in ADHD medication use across Europe, but the most striking changes were among adults, especially women,” said Xintong Li, the lead study author at Oxford. “These findings likely reflect growing awareness and diagnosis of adult ADHD, but they also raise important questions about long-term treatment patterns and care needs.”

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Source: The Guardian, 21 January 2026

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Families 'failed' by trust meet ahead of inquiry

Families and former patients who say they were "failed" by a health trust are meeting to discuss what they would like to see covered in a public inquiry.

In 2022, an investigation found major failings in the care the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Trust provided to three teenagers before their death. Last month, Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced a public inquiry into it.

He said it would "uncover failures in care and look at the concerning number of patient deaths by suicide at the trust over the past 10 years".

Streeting said he wanted the families to play a key role, and later about 50 families and former patients will meet in Middlesbrough to talk about issues they would like answers on.

Christie Harnett and Nadia Sharif, who were both 17, and Emily Moore, who was 18, were all treated at West Lane Hospital in Middlesbrough and all took their own lives within months of each other.

Their families led the campaign for a public inquiry.

Their solicitor Alistair Smith said the pain of their loss "does not go away, but they want this inquiry to make permanent and radical change".

Among those meeting later is Kate, who was a teenager when she was a patient at West Lane Hospital and said she was "haunted" by the things she witnessed and heard.

A critical report described the unit as "chaotic and unsafe" and Kate said her own health rapidly deteriorated while she was there and she self-harmed more regularly.

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Source: BBC News, 21 January 2026

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NHSE launches ‘sprint’ in bid to hit waiting list target

NHS England has told trusts to begin a “sprint” exercise in a bid to hit its politically critical waiting list target by March.

HSJ understands “tens of millions of pounds” is likely to be made available to trusts to fund extra elective work.

The pot was still being finalised as of last week, with the money due to be released from contingency funds within NHSE’s existing budget.

Some trust leaders were given assurances about indicative allocations last week and told to use it as soon as possible. A formal briefing from NHSE leaders is scheduled for next week.

Progress on increasing the proportion of patients waiting under 18 weeks from referral to first treatment stalled in the most recent reporting period. It remained at 61.8% in November – the same level as in October and September.

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Source: HSJ, 21 January 2026

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Doula warning issued after baby's death

The death of a baby girl has prompted a warning over the use of doulas during births after one had "negatively impacted" midwives.

Henry Charles, assistant coroner for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton, issued a prevention of future deaths report after an inquest last month into the death of Matilda Pomfret-Thomas.

Her parents had chosen to hire a doula as part of plans for a home birth, having previously experienced a traumatic hospital delivery with their first child.

Doulas are non-medical support workers who are not regulated, and are employed by some families to provide emotional and practical help during pregnancy and labour.

Their role remains controversial, with supporters saying doulas offer valuable support to women, while critics - including some medical professionals - warn they may increase risks for mothers and babies.

In this case, Matilda died on 13 November 2023 at 15 days old after suffering neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE), a form of brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen before or during birth.

Mr Charles said Matilda developed HIE over a period of hours during labour at home and the presence of the doula did "negatively impact" midwives being able to provide advice to the mother and usual care.

He said meconium - a baby's first bowel movement that can indicate distress - had been detected.

Midwives attending the home birth also noted decelerations, which are drops in the baby's heart rate.

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Source: Sky News, 21 January 2026

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Why the US measles review matters as experts warn of wider risk

International health authorities are set to convene in April to determine if the U.S. has forfeited its measles-free designation, a year after an outbreak first emerged in West Texas.

Experts are concerned that the vaccine-preventable virus has re-established a foothold, potentially leading the U.S. to follow Canada in losing this significant public health achievement.

The re-evaluation is largely symbolic, contingent on whether a single measles chain has spread uninterrupted within the country for at least 12 months. Public health scientists are currently investigating potential links between the now-concluded Texas outbreak and active cases in Utah, Arizona and South Carolina.

However, medical professionals and researchers assert that the U.S. – and North America more broadly – confronts a significant measles challenge, irrespective of the upcoming decision.

“It is really a question of semantics,” said Dr. Jonathan Temte, a Wisconsin family physician who helped certify the U.S. was measles-free in 2000. “The bottom line is the conditions are sufficient to allow this many cases to occur. And that gets back to de-emphasizing a safe and effective vaccine.”

“The most important thing that we can do is to make sure the people who aren’t vaccinated get vaccinated,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of Brown University’s Pandemic Center. “We have not issued a clear enough message about that.”

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Source: The Independent, 20 January 2026

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GMC imposes conditions on anaesthetics at Basildon University Hospital amid concerns for trainee doctors and patients

The General Medical Council (GMC) has placed conditions on the Anaesthetics training programme at Basildon University Hospital, part of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, following serious issues relating to patient safety and the quality of postgraduate medical education.

As the regulator responsible for setting the standards of postgraduate medical training, and checking they are being met, the GMC has taken this action to address a range of issues including failures to protect doctors in training from sexual misconduct, misogyny and undermining behaviours, as well as inappropriate staffing levels within the department.

Doctors in training in anaesthetics are currently not working in the department due to the concerns, and the GMC will require evidence of change before conditions can be removed and before they can return.

Professor Pushpinder Mangat, Medical Director and Director for Education and Standards at the GMC, said:

‘We work to make sure that education and training prepares doctors to deliver good, safe patient care by setting high standards and expected outcomes.

‘We need assurance that the required standards and the conditions imposed are being met, including the creation of a working culture where doctors can raise issues openly, without fear of repercussions.’

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Source: GMC, 19 January 2026

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Finger-prick blood test could be early warning for children with type 1 diabetes

All UK children could be offered screening for type 1 diabetes using a simple finger-prick blood test, say researchers who have been running a large study.

Currently, many young people go undiagnosed and risk developing a life-threatening complication called diabetic ketoacidosis that needs urgent hospital treatment.

Identifying diabetes earlier could help avoid this and mean treatments to control problematic blood sugar levels can be given sooner.

Some 17,000 children aged three to 13 have already been checked as part of the ELSA, external (Early Surveillance for Autoimmune diabetes) study, funded by diabetes charities.

Imogen, who is 12 and from the West Midlands, is one of those found to have diabetes thanks to the screening.

Her mum Amy says knowing what's coming, rather than being taken by surprise, has made a massive difference to their confidence and peace of mind.

"Imogen took part in the study to further research and help others, but it has helped her too – being forewarned is being forearmed.

"She was always going to develop type 1 diabetes, but through ELSA we've been able to slow down the process and prepare. We know what's coming, but we're not scared."

Imogen is being given ongoing support to prepare her for what is to come.

Amy, who is 44 and has type 1 diabetes herself, is aware of the risks with the disease. She was diagnosed aged 13 after developing diabetic ketoacidosis.

"When I was diagnosed, I had no warning and ended up quite poorly in hospital," she recalls.

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Source: BBC News, 21 January 2026

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Botched 'Turkey teeth' op victim warns of dangers

A woman who needs reconstructive surgery after dental work in Turkey failed says she is being kept going by a need to warn others of the dangers.

Leanne Abeyance, 41, from Telford - who underwent a so-called "Turkey teeth" operation - was left unable to breathe through her nose, which then collapsed days before she underwent an implant removal operation.

She remains in constant pain, which she controls with sleeping tablets and morphine every day, and feels too self-conscious to go outside.

"It doesn't get any easier, but I'm glad that it's touched so many people," Abeyance said. "I just want to chop my head off and start again."

She had started using a prosthetic nose but had to stop after suffering an allergic reaction.

In the week before the implant-removal operation at Guy's Hospital in London, she said her septum "came apart" and would not stop bleeding.

"I got my mum round, I got everyone round. I actually said goodbye to my little girls, because I thought I was going to die, I thought I was going to get sepsis and die," Abeyance said.

The failed dental work has also led her to develop auto-immune conditions that are causing damage to her face and have made it painful to eat.

Advice from the NHS for people who are considering going abroad for dental work, external is that while it might be cheaper than the UK, the risks of the surgery need to be weighed against the savings.

Patients should consult their NHS dentist first, it says, as standards vary in different countries.

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Source: BBC News, 21 January 2026

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UK glaucoma cases will rise to 1.6m by 2060 amid ‘demographic timebomb’, experts say

New estimates predict at least 1.6 million people in the UK will be living with glaucoma, the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, by 2060.

The figure is much higher than the current 1.1 million people estimated to have the condition, research published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology suggests.

The sharp rise will be driven by an increasingly ageing population and growth in the proportion of higher-risk ethnically diverse groups, prompting a need for an expansion in eye health services to meet demand.

The glaucoma “demographic timebomb” will require “serious planning and action now” to ensure future patients have timely diagnosis and treatment, experts say. They also stressed the importance of annual eye checks for people in middle age, and called for awareness campaigns to be rolled out to address late diagnosis.

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Source: The Guardian, 20 January 2026

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The finger prick blood test that could revolutionise Alzheimer’s diagnosis

A pioneering trial has begun to assess whether a simple finger-prick blood test could offer an early diagnosis for Alzheimer’s disease, even before symptoms manifest. Experts are optimistic that this research will lead to an affordable and straightforward blood test, replacing the currently invasive diagnostic procedures.

At present, a definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s requires patients to undergo either a specialised brain scan or a lumbar puncture to obtain a sample of cerebrospinal fluid. Should the new blood test prove successful, it would be significantly more accessible, enabling quick and inexpensive testing within GP surgeries, thereby transforming early detection efforts.

The new test is led by the not-for-profit medical research organisation LifeArc and the Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation (Gap), with support from the UK Dementia Research Institute (UKDRI).

Dr Giovanna Lalli, director of strategy and operations at LifeArc, said: “Over the last five years, there has been substantial progress in identifying blood-based biomarkers to identify people at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease before their symptoms present.

“Developing cheaper, scalable and more accessible tests is vital in the battle against this devastating condition.

“We are committed to improving patient lives through the development of new tests and treatments, and we are excited about the prospect of a finger prick blood test for Alzheimer’s disease because it will allow more patients to access new drugs, currently being developed, to slow disease progression in its early stages.”

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Source: The Independent, 19 January 2026

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Small hospices ‘probably unsustainable’, says Mackey

Some small hospices are “probably unsustainable”, Sir Jim Mackey has told MPs, while also warning integrated care boards they needed to clarify their local commissioning intentions this year.

The NHS England CEO told the Commons public accounts committee evidence session on the sector, held last week, that “an awful lot of rebuilding” was required for ICBs to develop clearer payment mechanisms for hospices.

He admitted publication of the new “modern service framework” for palliative and end of life care, which promises to overhaul the sector, including its funding, had now been delayed from spring to autumn. However, he said he still expected ICBs to work this year to “provide a clarity of direction about what will be commissioned over time”.

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Source: HSJ, 20 January 2026

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Don’t rely on BMI alone when diagnosing eating disorders in children, says NHS England

A child’s body mass index should not be the key factor when deciding which under-18s get help for an eating disorder, the NHS has told health professionals.

The new guidance from NHS England to GPs and nurses follows criticism that over-reliance on BMI has led to children who have an illness such as anorexia or bulimia being misdiagnosed and missing out on care.

“Single measures such as BMI centiles should not be a barrier to children and young people accessing early and/or preventative care and support,” it says.

Other factors, such as changes in behaviour by the young person and concerns raised by their family, should help guide decision-making, according to the document. It was welcomed by Beat, an eating disorders charity, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists, both of which helped draw it up.

However, eating disorders campaigner and author Hope Virgo voiced alarm about the plan.

“Whilst I have been actively campaigning for a decade to get clinicians and society to view eating disorders as more than just a BMI issue, removing BMI completely may be a dangerous step,” Virgo said.

Not only would it “dismiss the fact that in some cases BMI will show a person whose body is in a life-threatening state of survival”, she added, it would also fail to “take into account the impact of malnutrition on the brain”.

She added: “I am concerned the NHS are doing it to give them an ‘out’ in treating people. We have seen far too many people with eating disorders being marked as terminal, too ill, complex or not sick enough in the last few years.

“I think it is a slippery slope and one which will mean clinicians are not being monitored effectively on helping those with eating disorders recover.”

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Source: The Guardian, 20 January 2026

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Urgent review ordered after deaths in fragile maternity services

NHS England has ordered trusts to “urgently” review their home birth services, it has emerged – as an HSJ  investigation reveals widespread fragility and safety risks.

Chief midwifery officer Kate Brintworth wrote to trust and integrated care board CEOs late last year after “gross failures” were identified in the care of Jennifer and Agnes Cahill during a home birth under the care of Manchester University Foundation Trust in 2024.

Ms Cahill died shortly after suffering a haemorrhage during labour, while baby Agnes had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and was not breathing when she was delivered.

Coroner Joanne Kearsley identified serious failures by two inexperienced community midwives, and  a subsequent prevention of future deaths report warned of a lack of national guidance on staffing, training and experience for midwives attending home births.

NHSE’s letter, which was sent last year but has not been made public, comes as HSJ analysis shows multiple coroners have been raising concerns about poor support for and oversight of home birth services for several years.

Separate HSJ research has found  widespread and regular suspensions of the services across the country, underlining their fragility and pushing some women towards giving birth with minimal support.

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Source: HSJ, 20 January 2026

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Doctors warn of 'horrific' impact of tech and devices on children and young people's health

Doctors and medical experts have warned of the growing evidence of "health harms" from tech and devices on children and young people in the UK.

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) said frontline clinicians have given personal testimony about "horrific cases they have treated in primary, secondary and community settings throughout the NHS and across most medical specialities".

The body, which represents 23 medical royal colleges and faculties, plans to gather evidence to establish the issues healthcare professionals and specialists are seeing repeatedly that may be attributed to tech and devices.

It intends to highlight the sometimes-hidden risks of unrestricted content and screen time to children and young people and provide guidance to the medical profession about how to identify and manage the harm being done.

The academy said it already had "evidence of the impact on children and young people's physical and mental health both from excessive screen time as well as exposure to harmful online content".

It says the work is due to be completed within three months.

The letter was sent to Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall.

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Source: Sky News, 18 January 2026

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Trump claim linking paracetamol during pregnancy to autism rubbished by major new study

President Donald Trump’s claim that taking paracetamol during pregnancy is linked to autism is not based on robust evidence, a study has found.

The claims were made by Trump and health and human services secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr in September, 2025. They urged women to not take Tylenol, known as paracetamol in the UK, and repeated numerous conspiracy theories about autism.

Kennedy, who has previously been accused of spreading vaccine misinformation and pushed a discredited theory that routine childhood vaccines were linked to autism, said the department would encourage clinicians to prescribe the lowest effective dose of the pain relief drug.

UK scientists hit back at the “fearmongering” claims and health secretary Wes Streeting stressed to not “pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine.”

Now a review of the medical evidence published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women’s Health journal, has found there is no strong evidence that paracetamol use during pregnancy increases the risk of autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or any intellectual disability among children.

“Autism diagnoses have surged by 787 per cent in the UK since 1998, which naturally raises questions around what’s behind this trend. It’s simply bad science to automatically assume that this is due to autism becoming much more prevalent. It’s even worse to attribute it to a simple cause like taking paracetamol during pregnancy without foundation,” Dr Lisa Williams, founder and clinical director, The Autism Service, who was not involved in the study, told the Independent.

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Source: The Independent, 16 January 2026

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Staff left with ‘strong sense of betrayal’ after manager jailed for fraud

A former manager at a now-dissolved trust has been sentenced to 30 months in prison after using his position to defraud the organisation of more than £100,000.

Alec Gandy, a former senior operational manager at Dudley Integrated Health and Care Trust was sentenced along with two others at Wolverhampton Crown Court for his role in defrauding the trust of £123,090.

Mr Gandy pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position. He filed multiple false invoices and used the money to partly fund a “gambling habit” and to fund businesses he had formed, one of which was called “Crooked Spire.”

In its victim impact statement, the trust outlined how the stolen funds could have been used to pay the annual salaries of four nursing associates, two community paramedics or two clinical pharmacists. None of the money stolen has been recovered.

The statement added: “Many of the staff involved in the investigation and those across the wider workforce felt personally connected to Mr Gandy, and therefore have felt a strong sense of mistrust and betrayal from his actions. In turn, the investigation itself led to months of scrutiny over the activity across the service, which could have eroded the trust between the organisation and our contractors.” 

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Source: HSJ, 17 January 2026

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Charter to tackle sexual harassment across NHS in England has failed, say unions

A flagship strategy to tackle sexual harassment across the NHS in England has failed to improve the safety of female staff, according to legal experts and healthcare unions.

The NHS sexual safety charter, launched in September 2023, was supposed to improve how hospitals, GP surgeries and other organisations address sexual harassment. But the UK-based charity Rights of Women said calls from NHS staff to its sexual harassment at work advice line had increased significantly since the charter was rolled out.

Laura Bolam, the employment law officer at the charity – which provides free legal advice to 3,000 working women each year across England and Wales – said the proportion of its callers who were women in the NHS had doubled recently.

“In 2023, around 11% of our calls came from women working in the NHS; this rose to 19% in 2024 and increased again to 22% in 2025. This highlights that sexual harassment within NHS trusts is not only rising but appears to be an entrenched, systemic issue.”

All NHS organisations in England have signed the sexual safety charter, which commits them to taking a zero-tolerance approach to unwanted sexual behaviour. But a Guardian investigation found many trusts continued to report improbably low numbers of incidents, particularly for staff sexually assaulting or sexually harassing colleagues and other staff.

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Source: The Guardian, 18 January 2026

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Women ‘being failed by underfunded and understaffed’ UK postnatal care

Women in the UK are being failed by a postnatal care system that is “dangerously underfunded and understaffed”, a damning report has warned.

Thousands of new mothers feel unsafe, unsupported and overwhelmed in the weeks and months after giving birth, according to the National Childbirth Trust (NCT).

Experts said the report was “deeply troubling” and too many women were “being left without a safety net at one of the most important and vulnerable times of their lives”. Feeling overwhelmed should never be considered a normal part of early parenthood, they added.

The NCT report included a survey of 2,000 new and expectant parents across the UK, including 500 women who were pregnant at the time. Almost a quarter – 24% – said they did not have regular access to NHS staff in the weeks and months after birth.

Nearly nine in 10 (87%) reported feeling overwhelmed at least some of the time, with 22% always feeling overwhelmed. Meanwhile, 62% reported feeling lonely sometimes, with 12% saying they felt lonely all of the time.

More than half (59%) of pregnant women said they worried about their mental health.

The NCT chief executive, Angela McConville, said: “Every major report has shown that the UK’s maternity system is failing to provide safe, compassionate care."

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Source: The Guardian, 19 January 2026

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Cancer patients 'warned for years' about hospital water infections

The father of a woman whose death is being investigated by prosecutors said a health board was "warned for years" about issues with a major hospital's water system that it has now admitted probably caused infections in child cancer patients.

Molly Cuddihy - who died in August aged 23 - became seriously ill in 2018 with an infection potentially acquired at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) had consistently denied bacteria in the water was responsible for causing some infections which led to the deaths of patients.

But in closing submissions to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, external it has now admitted "on the balance of probabilities", that there was a "causal connection" between some infections and the hospital environment.

The probe was launched to examine mistakes made in the planning, design and construction of the QEUH campus following concerns about unusual infections and the deaths of four patients.

Those included 10-year-old Milly Main, who died after contracting the stenotrophomonas bacteria while undergoing treatment for leukaemia in 2017.

A separate corporate homicide investigation into the deaths of Milly, two other children and 73-year-old Gail Armstrong was launched in 2021.

And last year prosecutors opened an investigation into Molly's death after it was reported by a consultant.

Molly's father, John, told BBC Scotland News the statement was "overdue recognition".

He added: "Molly's words and experience must continue to echo beyond her lifetime."

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Source: BBC News, 18 January 2026

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‘Jess’s rule’ posters remind GPs in England to re-examine patients’ symptoms

Millions of patients in England will this week be urged to ask their GP to think again if they have not had a diagnosis for their symptoms after three appointments.

From Monday, GP practices across the country will use posters to promote Jess’s rule, a new system aimed at preventing serious illnesses from being missed and needless deaths. It is named after Jessica Brady, a 27-year-old who contacted her surgery 20 times before dying of cancer in 2020.

Jess’s rule urges family doctors to consider a second opinion, conduct a face-to-face physical examination or order more tests if a patient has had three appointments for their symptoms but no diagnosis.

Posters advertising Jess’s rule have been sent to all 6,170 GP practices in England. The system was launched in September but the new posters will boost patient safety by reminding GPs to rethink initial assumptions, ministers said.

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Source: The Guardian, 19 January 2026

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NHSE’s ‘model A&E’ delayed after ‘real world value’ questioned

Senior leaders have been drafted in to draw up NHS England’s new blueprint for A&Es, following internal criticism of the highly anticipated guidance.

NHSE has been working on a new plan for accidents and emergencies – titled the “model emergency department” – to outline how they can achieve the “ambitious” targets for four hours performance, as outlined in the medium-term planning guidance.

In October, NHSE had promised the ‘model ED’ blueprint would be published “soon”, but HSJ understands the process has stalled following internal criticism.

HSJ understands Birju Bartoli, chief executive of Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust, and Emma Rowland, chief operating officer at Homerton Healthcare FT, are among the senior figures drafted in by NHSE to work on the “model ED” policy.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine is also understood to have privately raised concerns about the “model ED”, including over a lack of any new money for emergency departments.

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Source: HSJ, 15 January 2026

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US health officials reverse course and reinstate $1.9bn to mental health and substance use

US health officials reversed course and began reinstating nearly $2bn in cuts to mental health and substance use programmes on Wednesday night, one day after they unexpectedly announced the immediate shutdown of programmes.

The reversal is a blow to the agenda of Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, who has made aggressive and legally contested cuts to health agencies in the first year of the Trump administration and has proposed folding the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (Samhsa) into a new agency he would call the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).

There was immediate outcry about the effects of shutting down vital programs amounting to one-quarter of the budget of Samhsa.

The cuts would have affected overdose prevention and reversal, mental health and substance use support for children, mental health training and support for first responders, support for pregnant and postpartum women, and recovery support programmes.

“After national outrage, Secretary Kennedy has bowed to public pressure and reinstated $2 billion in SAMHSA grants that save lives,” DeLauro said. “These are cuts he should not have issued in the first place,” and they “created uncertainty and confusion for families and healthcare providers”, Rosa DeLauro, ranking member of the House appropriations committee, said.

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Source: The Guardian, 15 January 2026

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Hospitals with unsafe concrete expected to miss rebuild deadline

Work to fix hospitals built using unsafe concrete will not be completed in time to meet the government's target, a new report has warned.

Seven hospitals built using Raac, or reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, were prioritised for remedial work last year, with the government setting a deadline of 2030.

The new buildings are now expected to open in 2032 and 2033 - but some are already facing pressure to meet the revised timetable, the National Audit Office (NAO) said.

In a number of hospitals, roofs are being supported by metal props and some areas have been closed as unsafe.

Meanwhile, affected health trusts face huge maintenance bills to keep their aging buildings safe.

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Source: BBC News, 16 January 2025

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NHSE’s ‘model A&E’ delayed after ‘real world value’ questioned

Senior leaders have been drafted in to draw up NHS England’s new blueprint for A&Es, following internal criticism of the highly anticipated guidance.

NHSE has been working on a new plan for accidents and emegencies – titled the “model emergency department” – to outline how they can achieve the “ambitious” targets for four hours performance, as outlined in the medium-term planning guidance.

In October, NHSE had promised the ‘model ED’ blueprint would be published “soon”, but HSJ understands the process has stalled following internal criticism.

HSJ understands Birju Bartoli, chief executive of Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust, and Emma Rowland, chief operating officer at Homerton Healthcare FT, are among the senior figures drafted in by NHSE to work on the “model ED” policy.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine is also understood to have privately raised concerns about the “model ED”, including over a lack of any new money for emergency departments.

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Source: HSJ, 15 January 2026

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