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New registry launched to tackle ‘Wild West’ IT market

Only around a fifth of ambient voice technology firms understood to be supplying the NHS have been included on a new national registry designed to beef up NHS England’s oversight of the market, described as the “Wild West”.

19 AVT firms have been listed on the new national registry launched today, but it is understood that over a hundred such firms operate in the competitive market.

The suppliers of the AI tools are the first to join the self-certified registry, which requires them to comply with multiple standards covering regulation, clinical safety, and data protection.

AVT software automatically transcribes conversations between patients and clinicians and generates structured medical notes, aiming to reduce the manual documentation burden on staff and free up more time for patient care.

To be listed, suppliers must demonstrate compliance with the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria, hold Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Class I registration, and provide evidence of post-market surveillance.

Additional requirements include evidence of benefit in the NHS, the ability to integrate with existing NHS digital infrastructure and scalability across organisations of different sizes.

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Source: HSJ, 15 January 2026

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Letby trust pays £1.4m damages to ex CEO

A former NHS chief executive has been awarded £1.4m in damages after suing the health service for unfair dismissal.

Dr Susan Gilby took the Countess of Chester NHS Trust to court after being suspended in December 2022.

The compensation is one of the largest payments the NHS has ever made to a former employee.

The final cost to the taxpayer - including court costs - could be around £3m after the trust refused offers to avoid the case going to court.

Gilby told the BBC she was relieved the case was over and that this "was never about the money."

The Countess of Chester NHS Trust - where Lucy Letby worked - confirmed that a settlement had been agreed.

The compensation payment comes after an employment tribunal ruled in February last year that board members at the trust had conspired to remove her from her job.

Gilby had accused the trust's chairman, Ian Haythornthwaite, of bullying and harassment. In response, Haythornthwaite, working alongside three other directors, had set up Project Countess, to force Gilby out.

Gilby, 62, said one of the trust's directors, Ros Fallon, took her to a pub on a Friday afternoon in October 2022 and told her it was "time for you to go".

"She said: 'And if you don't agree to go, we will start a process against you'. She was unable to tell me what that process would be."

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Source: BBC News, 15 January 2026

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System criticised after death of ‘fit and well’ 23-year-old

Urgent and emergency care services in the East Midlands are letting down people with ”serious but not immediately life-threatening” conditions, a coroner has warned after the death of a “fit and well young man”.

Adam Hussain, 23, died from complicated appendicitis at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham in May, after repeatedly asking for help for abdominal pain over the previous four days.

Mr Hussain called emergency and urgent care services five times during the days before his collapse at home on 15 May. He was sent to a walk-in-centre after his first call on 12 May then sent home, but was not seen again face to face. 

The coroner found East Midlands Ambulance Service and the Nottingham Emergency Medical Service – the system’s single urgent care triage system – had failed to recognise the need for further face-to-face assessment and necessary treatment.

She also said there was “confusion” in the system about how to manage category 3 ambulance calls, the classification for urgent but not immediately life-threatening conditions, and where triage suggests the patient can be managed at home.

Elizabeth Didcock, assistant coroner for Nottinghamshire, said: “Had Adam been seen face to face [when he sought help], it is very likely that the intra-abdominal sepsis would have been recognised and treatment provided, likely leading to him surviving what is a treatable condition in a previously fit and well young man.”

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Source: HSJ, 15 January 2026

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One in 10 patients spent over 12 hours in A&E in 2025

One in 10 patients who attended major A&E units in England last year spent more than 12 hours there, a BBC analysis shows.

During 2025, 1.75 million patients waited that long to be treated and discharged or found a bed on a ward - only marginally better than in 2024.

It comes as the Royal College of Nursing warned long waits and corridor care – where patients are left for hours in make-shift areas – was having a devastating impact.

The union published testimonies from members across the UK describing unsafe and undignified care, with one nurse saying animals were treated better at vets.

The government said it was unacceptable, but it was still dealing with the legacy it inherited.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting acknowledged corridor care remained a problem, saying the NHS was "falling short".

"It should never be normalised," he added.

He said he was committed to ending the practice before the end of the parliament and would soon start publishing data on it to ensure transparency.

But he said on some measures, such as ambulance response times, there had been improvement compared to last year.

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Source: BBC News, 15 January 2025

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Qatar launches new national patient safety classification to boost care quality

According to Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), the Ministry has launched the Qatar Patient Safety Classification as part of its strategic work to strengthen patient safety and improve the quality of healthcare services across the country.

MoPH said the Classification is a unified national framework for classifying and analyzing patient safety information and clinical practice excellence across all healthcare facilities in Qatar. 

The Classification serves as the scientific foundation for the National Learning System for Patient Safety Events and Practice Excellence (NLS-PSEP). MoPH noted that it will help standardise health data, strengthen national-level analysis, and support continuous quality improvement across the health system.

MoPH added that the framework aligns with Qatar National Vision 2030 and the National Health Strategy 2024–2030, and applies to all governmental, semi-governmental, and private healthcare facilities. It is intended for use by healthcare professionals, quality and patient safety teams, risk management teams, health leaders, regulators, and healthcare decision-makers.

Dr. Eman Radwan, Acting Director of MoPH’s Healthcare Quality Department, said the launch is a major step toward improving healthcare quality and building a stronger culture of safety at the system level. She also noted that a national team developed the Classification, bringing together experts in healthcare quality and patient safety from both the public and private sectors in a partnership-based, integrated approach.

MoPH explained that the Classification is intended to standardise patient safety concepts and taxonomies across the health system, strengthen national learning and reduce repeat incidents, improve risk management, enable comparative analysis and evidence-informed decision-making, and enhance transparency and public confidence in health services. MoPH also said implementation will support efforts to raise patient safety levels, strengthen a learning culture across providers, and reduce potential risks and harm at both facility and national levels.

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Source: OncoDaily, 13 January 2026

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‘People will die’: Trump administration cancels up to $1.9bn for substance use and mental health

The Trump administration on Tuesday evening unexpectedly canceled up to $1.9bn in funding for substance use and mental health care, which providers say will immediately affect thousands of patients.

“It feels like Armageddon for everyone who’s on the frontlines of the addiction and mental health space,” said Ryan Hampton, founder of Mobilize Recovery, a national advocacy organization for people in and seeking recovery.

“The scope of care that’s disrupted by these grants is catastrophic. Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people will die.”

As many as 2,800 grantees through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (Samhsa) received a letter immediately ending their funding – about 26% of Samhsa’s entire budget.

“These are programs that save lives, so the impact could be really devastating,” said Regina LaBelle, former acting director of the Biden White House office of national drug control policy and professor at Georgetown University.

“It really covers the spectrum of prevention, treatment and recovery services, both on substance use and mental health,” said Yngvild Olsen, who until last July served as the director for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment at Samhsa and is now a national adviser at Manatt Health.

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Source: The Guardian, 14 January 2026

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Hospital alert after fake doctor-endorsed videos

A hospital trust in south London has issued an alert after fraudulent videos were circulated online claiming its staff endorsed weight loss products.

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust said that the videos, found on social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok, "falsely claim a number of our clinicians are using and endorsing these products".

The videos, which show doctors applying weight loss patches to their bodies and losing weight over a period of time, appear to be AI-generated, the Trust said, and do not show doctors who work there.

The BBC has approached the company and a doctor claiming to be behind the products, but has had no response.

Speaking to the BBC Dr Daghni Rajasingam, deputy chief medical officer at the Trust, said staff were "actively working" to try and get the videos taken down.

"They are fraudulent and they're misleading," Rajasingam said.

"NHS clinicians would never endorse or promote commercial products such as this."

The doctor urged the public to seek health advice on weight loss from "trusted NHS sources".

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Source: BBC News, 15 January 2025

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Plan to include pregnant women in drug trials ‘a generational change’

When Emma decided to try for a baby, she began to come off some of the medicines she relied on to manage her Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. The complex condition affecting connective tissues has left the 35-year-old without a bladder and being fed via a tube into her small bowel. But there were some drugs she couldn’t safely go without. That’s when Emma realised no one could tell her for sure whether those drugs could harm her baby.

“The vast majority of the information that’s available is like, ‘To be used if there’s no other options, no research done’. And without the medication, I will end up in hospital, so I don’t really have an option but to take it,” Emma says. The lack of information left her feeling “guilt and anxiety”.

More than 90% of medicines have never been tested in pregnancy, leaving millions of women around the world making this impossible choice: go without treatment or take it without full-throated reassurance from doctors that it’s safe. This year, in the biggest step change in a generation – since the Thalidomide scandal of the 1950s and 1960s – the World Health Organisation (WHO) will begin to work with scientists, doctors and drug developers to change this.

“People have been scared to treat pregnant women since the thalidomide tragedy,” says Mariana Widmer, a maternal health scientist at WHO.

“There’s no one single organisation or one individual that can make this change. This change is huge. This takes time,” she adds. “We need collaboration and we need partnerships. And this is what we at WHO would like to do ... bring together all these players at the table and work together to make this change, that’s the only way to do it.”

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Source: The Independent, 14 January 2026

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NHS corridor care is ‘torture’ leading to patient deaths and staff nightmares

Corridor care is “a type of torture” that is leading to patients dying and causing NHS staff to have nightmares, the UK’s nurses union has warned.

In one case, an elderly patient choked to death in a corridor, unseen by staff, according to a new dossier of evidence highlighting the problem published by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

Demand for care is so intense that hospitals are having to turn dining rooms, staff kitchens and rooms for viewing deceased people into overspill care areas, the RCN reveals.

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has pledged to end the use of corridor care in England by 2029, if not sooner. However, NHS staff groups are sceptical that he can fulfil that promise, given that many hospitals are overloaded so often, and not just during the winter.

The RCN’s dossier is based on testimony from 436 nurses around the UK between 2 and 9 January. One, in the south of England, was “having nightmares” after a patient died in a departure lounge that had been turned into a makeshift ward.

Another, in Yorkshire, relayed how a terminally ill patient had spent a week in an overflow area before being moved to a side room, where they died. “I won’t ever forget that,” the nurse said. A third, in the north-west of England, said it had become “routine” for 26 patients to be stuck in a corridor awaiting a bed, even though their hospital said no more than six should be left there.

Prof Nicola Ranger, the RCN’s general secretary, said: “This testimony from nursing staff reveals once again the devastating human consequences of corridor care, with patients forced to endure conditions which have no place in our NHS.”

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Source: The Guardian, 15 January 2026

Further reading on the hub:

In a series of blogs on the hub, we have been highlighting some of the key patient safety issues surrounding corridor care.

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LGB+ people in England and Wales ‘much’ more likely to die by suicide than straight people

LGB+ people are much more likely to die by taking their own lives, drug overdoses and alcohol-related disease than their straight counterparts, the first official figures of their kind show.

The 2021 census in England and Wales asked people aged 16 and above about their sexual orientation for the first time. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has now analysed differences in causes of mortality from March 2021 to November 2024. The ONS research uses the acronym LGB+ rather than LGBTQ+.

It found that people who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or “other” sexual orientation had 1.3 times the risk of dying than those identifying as straight or heterosexual. The age-standardised rate of death from any cause was 982.8 for each 100,000 people for LGB+ people compared with 752.6 for each 100,000 people for straight or heterosexual people, the ONS said.

While the leading cause of death for all people was coronary heart disease, the second most common cause of death for LGB+ people was taking their own lives, accounting for 7.1% of all deaths.

Dr Emma Sharland, at the ONS, said: “This is the first time we have looked at differences in causes of death among adults by sexual orientation.

“There are some noticeable differences, with nearly three times as many drug poisoning deaths and close to twice as many alcohol-related deaths among the LGB+ group compared with the straight or heterosexual group.

“While this analysis does not explore causality, we hope this data will help inform health professionals and others working with different population groups.”

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Source: The Guardian, 13 January 2026

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Fifth NHS trust declares critical incident as winter bugs lead to overwhelming demand

A fifth NHS hospital trust has declared a critical incident in the last 24 hours as it is overwhelmed by demand for its services.

Nottingham University Hospitals Trust said it was facing “severe and sustained pressure” caused by rising patient numbers, winter infections and staff sickness.

The combination has led to “significant and unacceptable” delays in A&E and on hospital wards, according to trust chiefs.

A “critical incident” is the highest alert level used by the NHS, and when one is declared, hospitals may redirect resources, postpone non-urgent treatments and seek external support.

Bosses at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust pleaded with the public to go to A&E only in emergencies or serious accidents, and to use other services instead.

Patients were facing what they said were “unacceptable and lengthy” waits in corridors.

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Source: The Independent, 14 January 2026

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US is weeks away from losing its measles elimination status

As of 6 January, the CDC has confirmed 2,147 measles cases in 2025 and 2026, with North Carolina and South Carolina reporting the latest cases amid dozens of outbreaks across the U.S. 

The U.S. achieved measles elimination status in 2020, but the nation could lose this designation in late January. 

In 2025, the CDC logged 49 outbreaks across 45 states. The federal health agency has not reported on any measles-related hospitalizations or deaths in 2026. In 2025, there were 240 hospitalisations and three deaths. 

“About 11% of patients are still being hospitalized for measles, so hospitals may need to be ready to employ isolation precautions to prevent in-hospital spread,” Kaufman Hall said in a news release. 

The majority of infections are among unvaccinated individuals. A national survey conducted from 17 November to 1 December by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania found a decline in the public’s perception of the safety and effectiveness of measles, mumps and rubella vaccines. In 2025, 83% of U.S. adults considered the MMR vaccine as safe, which is significantly lower than the 88% who said the same in 2022. 

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Source: Becker's Clinical Leadership, 13 January 2026

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Unregistered Harley Street plastic surgeon pretended to be patient during inspection

A plastic surgeon has been suspended after performing liposuction at a private Harley Street clinic without proper registration and lying to inspectors from the health watchdog.

Dr Sayed Mia carried out gynaecomastia procedures – male breast reduction – without the necessary registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), a tribunal heard.

During an inspection by the CQC, it was alleged that Dr Mia claimed he was a patient and gave a fake name and contact details.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service has suspended him for 12 months.

The tribunal heard that on 14 November 2023, Dr Mia, who qualified in South Africa in 1999, was in consultation with a patient at the central London clinic when four CQC inspectors arrived and introduced themselves.

The tribunal heard an inspector “intercepted” Dr Mia, telling him the reason for the visit was “to establish if regulated activities were taking place at the clinic”, after receiving complaints from members of the public.

When asked for his name, Dr Mia told the inspector it was “Ahmed Munda”.

He told the inspector he was having a meeting about a procedure and claimed he was a patient.

The tribunal was told a young man waiting outside the consultation room interrupted and said: “He’s not a patient, he’s a doctor I’ve come to see.”

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Source: The Independent, 14 January 2026

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NHS spending up to £19k a time treating people suffering after overseas surgery, research finds

The NHS is spending up to almost £20,000 a time treating people who have suffered serious setbacks after having medical procedures abroad, research has found.

Hospitals are having to “pick up the pieces” when things go wrong for the growing number of Britons going overseas for weight loss surgery, breast enlargements or other operations.

As many as 53% of those who do end up with complications such as infections, organ failure and wounds that do not heal, according to a study published in the journal BMJ Open.

Some people need a stay in intensive care, further surgery and large amounts of antibiotics in order to recover from botched treatment they have paid for in another country, researchers found.

Patients have ended up in a UK hospital for as long as 45 days as a result of complications that arose after an operation to lose weight and even longer – 49 days – after cosmetic surgery.

It costs NHS hospitals between £1,058 and £19,549 to treat such cases, according to a review of evidence undertaken by Welsh researchers led by Dr Clare England of Health Technology Wales.

Prof Vivien Lees, the vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “Too often people are drawn in by cut-price deals and glossy online marketing, only to return with serious, sometimes life-changing complications.

“When things go wrong, the NHS is left to pick up the pieces, often in emergencies and without full information about what surgery was done or by whom. That puts patients at risk and adds avoidable pressure to already stretched services.”

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Source: The Guardian, 13 January 2026

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Circumcision kits found on sale on Amazon UK as concerns grow over harm to baby boys

Circumcision kits have been found on sale on Amazon UK, highlighting lax regulation as concerns grow about deaths and serious harm to baby boys.

In December, a UK coroner issued warnings about insufficient circumcision regulation after the death in 2023 of a six-month-old boy, Mohamed Abdisamad, from a streptococcus infection.

In a prevention of future deaths report, Dr Anton van Dellen, assistant coroner for west London, highlighted how “any individual may conduct a non-therapeutic male circumcision (NTMC) without any prior training”, with “no requirement for any infection control measures [and] no requirements for any aftercare”, adding that “action should be taken to prevent future deaths”.

The Guardian found “Plastibell” kits, in various sizes, on sale for £200 on Amazon in January. A listing on the site promised “a circumcision procedure which requires no special post-operative care or dressing [which] means a significant saving in both time and money”.

It added: “The disposable PlastiBell circumcision device eliminates the need for the repetitive and costly sterilisation required for stainless steel clamps … No special dressings required.” Similar devices were on sale on eBay.

On Saturday, the Guardian reported that draft guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) classes circumcision as a potential crime. The CPS said while circumcision was legal and “for many, a safe and celebrated tradition”, it had recently prosecuted cases of “significant harm” and that “rigorous scrutiny” and “extensive consultation with different communities” was being carried out before the guidance was finalised and brought into force.

Lord Scriven, the Liberal Democrat peer who has repeatedly raised concerns in parliament about lax regulation, said: “Parliament needs to think about how it can defend a system where a tattooist requires a licence and a sterilised studio to carry out a tattoo, but a person carrying out genital surgery on a baby boy doesn’t."

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Source: The Guardian, 14 January 2026

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‘Shocking decline’ in cancer waits at laggard trusts

Nearly half of all trusts recorded a drop in their 62-day cancer performance over the past year, official data shows, as system leaders gear up to publish new national strategy.

HSJ analysed the data following NHS England elective lead Mark Cubbon telling trusts to work with their cancer alliances to improve performance in a letter to local leaders last month. HSJ also understands the new national cancer plan is due imminently. 

Mr Cubbon praised the Royal Free London Foundation Trust for its “impressive improvements” and highlighted that the trust had recorded a 21 percentage point improvement between September 2024 and September 2025.

However, the period between November 2024 and October 2025, the latest available data, shows that 57 of 118 (48%) relevant providers saw performance on the key cancer target decline, while 19 trusts recorded double-digit percentage point slumps.

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Source: HSJ, 13 January 2026

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New York City expects biggest nurses strike as nearly 15,000 set to walk off job

Thousands of nurses are set to walk off the job at several of New York City’s largest hospitals on Monday, staging a strike amid an intense flu season.

The action comes three years after a previous strike that compelled some of the same hospitals to move patients elsewhere and reroute ambulances.

Hospital operations are expected to be disrupted at a number of major private institutions, including Mount Sinai in Manhattan, Montefiore medical center in the Bronx, and NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving medical center.

Close to 15,000 nurses are participating, making it the biggest nurses strike the city has ever seen. Most union members voted last month to authorize the walkout.

Anticipating the possibility of a strike, New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, declared a state of emergency on Friday and urged hospital administrators and union leaders to reach a last-minute agreement. She warned that a strike “could jeopardize the lives of thousands of New Yorkers and patients”.

“I’m strongly encouraging everyone to stay at the table, both sides, management and the nurses, until this is resolved,” Hochul said.

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Source: The Guardian, 13 January 2026

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USA: Study reveals dementia patients are prescribed risky drugs despite safety warnings

Dementia patients in the U.S. are still being prescribed risky stimulant medications despite longstanding warnings about their safety, new research has found.

For decades, clinical guidelines have discouraged giving central nervous system stimulants to older patients because they increase the risk of delirium, falls, and hospitalizations.

But in a peer-reviewed study published Monday in the American Medical Association's official journal, researchers estimated that roughly 25% of dementia patients enrolled in Medicare parts A, B, and D received at least one such "potentially inappropriate" medication between 2013 and 2021.

That description covers a wide range of drugs, including antipsychotics, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and certain antidepressants such as doxepin and imipramine.

Across all study participants, prescriptions fell over the course of the study from around 20% to around 16%, but continued to be higher for patients with cognitive impairment as of 2021.

"While this decline was encouraging, over two-thirds of patients receiving these prescriptions lacked a documented clinical indication in 2021, the end of the study period, suggesting high levels of potentially inappropriate and harmful prescribing," said study author and UCLA medicine professor Dr. John M. Mafi.

“Compared with patients with normal cognition, we also found higher levels of prescribing among older adults with cognitive impairment, who face a higher risk of adverse effects from these drugs.

"These results underscore substantial opportunities to improve the quality and safety of care for millions of older Americans."

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Source: The Independent, 13 January 2026

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Family have 'lingering questions' over baby's death

A family has been left with "lingering questions" about the death of a baby at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, an inquest has been told.

Darrach Smyth, an infant from the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, died in 2008 following cardiac complications.

A decision was subsequently taken to transfer children's heart surgery from Belfast to an all-Ireland centre in Dublin.

The death of Darrach, who was born with Down's syndrome and was subsequently treated for heart and lung problems, was part of a review conducted prior to the decision to move the services from Belfast.

At the inquest, Cora and Joseph Smyth both outlined their ongoing concerns about a decision to temporarily stop the sedation - or pain relief medication - of their son about a week before he died.

In a statement to the inquest, his mother, Cora Smyth, explained how her son, who died almost eight months after his birth, had been receiving routine hospital treatment during his short life.

He died shortly after cardiac surgery.

She said her son's death had "a huge impact" on their lives and they had "lingering" unanswered questions.

These questions are about the pausing of sedation for a period during and after Darrach's transfer from the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit to the Children's Hospital, shortly before his death.

Cora Smyth explained that the family was not aware of this at the time, and only discovered it when they requested hospital notes, following a BBC News NI report four years later in 2012, about a review of children's congenital cardiac services in Belfast.

She said no one at the hospital has ever adequately answered their questions about this issue.

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Source: BBC News, 12 January 2025

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‘He tried so hard to get help’: the tragic results of NHS right-to-choose for ADHD patients

When Leigh White remembers her brother Ryan, she thinks of a boy of extraordinary ability who “won five scholarships at 11” including a coveted place at Bancroft’s, a private school in London. He was, she said, “super bright, witty, personable, generous and kind”.

Ryan killed himself on 12 May 2024. A report written after his death acknowledged significant shortcomings in the support he received while seeking help for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Ryan had followed the “right to choose” pathway, whereby patients can pick a private provider anywhere in the country for assessment, diagnosis and initial treatment. They then ask their GP to enter a shared-care agreement for prescriptions and monitoring. However, Ryan struggled to get the two services to link up.

The problem lies in the fact that shared care is voluntary and not all GPs agree to it. Some patients told the Guardian their doctor had rejected their private diagnosis on the grounds that it did not meet their standards. This was even after the NHS had paid for it – and despite there being no official rules for private providers to follow. Some, like Ryan, end up stuck in administrative limbo.

Ryan is one of many people who have been failed by the right to choose system. Psychologists and psychiatrists who spoke to the Guardian shared their concerns that allowing NHS patients to obtain ADHD assessments at private providers was “premature” and had led to a “wild west”.

Right to choose was introduced for mental healthcare and neurodevelopmental care in 2018, in part to ease pressure on waiting lists that were up to a decade long.

But Marios Adamou, a consultant psychiatrist and founder of the UK Adult ADHD Network (UKAAN), said this had come too soon, because “there was no standard in what good assessment looks like and there’s still no standard for what a qualified assessor would look like”.

Right to choose was “poorly regulated, poorly managed and some people are making lots of money out of it”, Adamou said, adding: “If you don’t have regulation for that you are inviting a wild west.”

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Source: The Guardian, 13 January 2026

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Four NHS trusts declare ‘critical incidents’ amid surge of flu and norovirus cases

Four NHS hospital trusts in south east England have declared a “critical incident” as they struggle to cope with a surge in admissions due to flu and norovirus.

Three trusts in Surrey and one in Kent said the escalations have come after a “surge in complex attendances to A&E departments” driven in part by soaring numbers of patients with winter illnesses.

Health secretary Wes Streeting has warned the NHS is “not out of the woods yet”, as flu cases spiked once again last week, following two weeks where admissions had fallen after high numbers of cases were seen before Christmas.

In a statement on Monday, NHS Surrey Heartlands added the situation had been “exacerbated by increases in flu and norovirus cases and an increase in staff sickness” as well as the impact of the recent cold snap on more frail patients.

The three Surrey trusts affected are Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust ,and Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (EKHUFT) also declared a critical incident due to what it called “sustained pressures” at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.

It said its hospitals are experiencing “exceptionally high demand, driven by a continued high admission rate and a large number of patients with winter illnesses and respiratory viruses”.

NHS Surrey Heartlands urged patients to ensure they are using services “appropriately” and only attending A&E in an emergency.

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Source: The Independent, 13 January 2025

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‘Distressing’ rise in maternal deaths as progress stalls

More women are dying during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth compared to over a decade ago – despite a pledge by the last government to halve maternal mortality rates, new data shows.

The research by MBBRACE-UK suggests the national rate of maternal deaths is now 20% higher than it was in 2009-11.

It found there were 252 maternal deaths between 2022 and 2024, with most women dying due to blood clots and heart disease, while around a third died by suicide.

The investigation, led by Oxford Population Health’s national perinatal epidemiology unit, examined the deaths of women between January 2022 and December 2024 during pregnancy or within six weeks after their pregnancy had ended.

It found the rate of direct maternal deaths, due to conditions occurring as a result of pregnancy, such as blood clots, bleeding and pre-eclampsia, increased by 52%, while indirect deaths caused by pre-existing conditions were largely unchanged.

Inequalities remained, with black women dying at a rate three times higher than those from a white ethnic background.

Donna Ockenden, who is currently leading the Nottingham University Hospitals Foundation Trust maternity review, said: “It is so distressing to read of the issues outlined in the latest MBRRACE report… but unfortunately it is not unexpected.

“We have known about the inequalities within maternity care provision in excess of a decade, yet the same issues still persist despite stated ambitions to reduce harm.

“Nowhere near enough has been done to fix the chronic problems, and sadly, it appears that progress has stalled. Suicide has been known to be a leading cause of death for years. This highlights once again that maternity services are not ‘an island’ and that families deserve better support before, during, and after the birth of their baby.”

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Source: HSJ, 13 January 2026

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Elderly woman dies alone on corridor trolley in 'final straw' for NHS A&E staff

Exhausted NHS staff have told how a woman was tragically left to die alone on a trolley in a crowded A&E corridor.

Staff at Arrowe Park Hospital's emergency department in Merseyside said they have reached breaking point as they are repeatedly faced with more patients than they can safely care for.

Wirral University Teaching Hospital Trust (WUTH) said the hospital's A&E department is experiencing "extremely high demand", with attendances around 30 per cent higher than expected for this time of year. Daily patient numbers have exceeded 330, peaking at 370 on some days in December.

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Source: The Mirror, 11 January 2026

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Two men died after falls at overstretched A&E

Two men died a day apart after suffering head injuries in separate unwitnessed falls at an overstretched south London hospital.

David Ward, 76, died at St George's Hospital in Tooting on 10 February 2024, while Dr Debapriya Ghosh, 83, died the following day.

Fiona Wilcox, Senior Coroner for Inner West London, has written to the health secretary, saying the cases highlighted "impossible situations where demand clearly exceeds available resource".

A spokesperson for St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has offered their condolences to the families, adding that "immediate changes" were made following their deaths.

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Source: BBC News, 11 January 2026

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‘Spat at, pushed, punched’: medics tell of soaring levels of violence in hospitals

A Guardian call-out to NHS staff in England to share their experiences of violence in hospitals has revealed that doctors, nurses, paramedics and managers are being overwhelmed by a torrent of physical assaults and sexual abuse by patients.

Most respondents said they had little faith in the NHS to tackle the scale and severity of this abuse, which included being attacked with weapons, including knives and chairs. Many staff felt there was no point in reporting physical or sexual harm because perpetrators faced no real comeback from the NHS or the police.

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Source: Guardian, 10 January 2026

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