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USA: The AI tools actually improving patient safety

Nursing informatics leaders say the most meaningful patient safety improvements tied to AI in nursing workflows so far have come from mature, predictable decision-support tools — while more experimental applications, including generative AI, remain largely unproven at the bedside.

Marc Benoy, BSN, RN, chief nursing information officer at Summa Health in Akron, Ohio, first cautioned that the term “AI” is often applied too broadly, obscuring critical differences between traditional predictive analytics, embedded machine-learning models and generative AI — each with distinct risk profiles, governance needs and levels of clinical maturity.

At his organisation, generative AI is not currently operationalised in bedside nursing workflows. Any measurable safety gains have instead come from established decision-support tools and predictive risk scoring embedded in the electronic health record.

“When implemented well, they can support safer care by reinforcing consistency, reducing variation and nudging standardized actions in safety-sensitive workflows,” Mr. Benoy said, emphasising that such tools remain supplements to, not replacements for, clinical judgment.

Because these systems behave predictably, he said, they can be validated, monitored and governed over time — a key requirement in evidence-based nursing practice. By contrast, he warned that opaque or poorly understood AI tools can unintentionally shift cognitive burden back onto nurses, introducing new safety risks rather than reducing them.

He also pointed to operational constraints, noting that successful implementation requires staffing, informatics capacity, capital investment and sustained governance — resources that many health systems lack, particularly when returns on newer AI initiatives remain uncertain.

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Source: Becker's Health IT, 29 January 2026

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One in four school leavers have higher cancer risk because they skipped this vaccine

One in four UK students leaves high school without the protection of the HPV vaccine, putting them at higher risk of several cancers, experts have warned.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)’s latest data for the 2024/25 academic year shows that although uptake has remained steady since last year, a quarter of students are still missing the jab that can give vital protection against cervical, mouth and throat cancers.

The report found that year 10 students in England had an HPV uptake of 75.5% for girls and 70.5% for boys, well below the pre-pandemic rates of around 90%.

Regionally, the uptake for year 10 students was the lowest in London (with 61% for girls and 56.9% for boys) and the highest in east England (82.8% for girls and 78.2% for boys).

Dr Sharif Ismail, UKHSA consultant epidemiologist, said: “The HPV vaccine is one of the most effective cancer-preventing vaccines available. Now, just a single dose given in school, it protects against cervical cancer and several cancers caused by HPV that affect both boys and girls, helping to save thousands of lives and the terrible stress on families.”

Health minister Stephen Kinnock said: “Every child deserves protection against cancers caused by HPV, and it's concerning that too many young people are leaving school without this vital vaccine.

“I'd urge any parent whose child has missed their HPV vaccine not to wait – speak to your GP or local NHS service today.”

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Source: The Independent, 29 January 2026

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Trust's maternity care 'exemplary', say inspectors

A hospital trust has seen "widespread improvements" in its maternity and emergency care after being told to improve by inspectors.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out unannounced visits to check on improvements it told the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust to make previously.

Inspectors visited maternity services at Furness General Hospital, Westmorland General Hospital and Royal Lancaster Infirmary, and urgent and emergency services at Furness General Hospital and Lancaster Royal Infirmary.

All maternity services were rated "good" with staff providing "exemplary care", going "above and beyond to ensure women and their babies were well cared for", they said.

In maternity services, inspectors said women were given the opportunity to speak to staff at Royal Lancaster Infirmary about their birthing experience, especially if the experience was not what they had wanted or expected.

Maternity staff at Westmorland General Hospital actively listened to information about women who were most likely to experience inequality in care outcomes and supported their treatment, the CQC said.

People attending A&E at Furness General Hospital scored above average in the national patient survey for how staff communicated with people and how they were treated with dignity and respect.

Chris Storton, CQC deputy director of operations in the north-west of England, said: "We were encouraged to see widespread improvements across maternity care.

"We saw staff providing exemplary care who went above and beyond to ensure women and their babies were well cared for.

"Leaders and staff should feel proud of the changes they've made and the positive impact these changes have had on people using services."

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Source: BBC News, 30 January 2026

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MHRA issues warning after seizing illegal fillers worth up to £4m

Illegal fillers worth up to £4m have been seized by the medicines watchdog after dermatologists warned they could cause “disfigurement and infection”.

More than 27,000 units of unlicensed dermal fillers have been confiscated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) since January 2020.

The MHRA has warned that using these fillers could “put your health at risk” as there are “no safeguards to ensure it meets our quality and safety standards”.

Dermal fillers are injectable substances commonly used to target wrinkles and smooth or “rejuvenate” the skin, but if used incorrectly, they can pose serious health risks.

Dr Emma Wedgeworth, consultant dermatologist and British Skin Foundation spokesperson, told The Independent: “Counterfeit fillers are potentially incredibly dangerous. They are not subject to regulations which are essential to prevent potentially devastating complications. Using these can put people at risk of disfigurement and infection, which can cause huge health issues.”

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Source: The Independent, 29 January 2026

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NHS medical negligence persisting in England ‘despite 24 years of warnings’

Medical negligence in the NHS keeps harming and killing patients because governments and health service bosses have not acted on 24 years’ worth of warnings, MPs have said.

In a scathing report published on Friday, the public accounts committee (PAC) excoriates the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England for allowing the cost of mistakes to balloon to £3.6bn a year.

Between them, the two bodies have failed to take “any meaningful action” to address the problem in England, despite four PAC reports from as early as 2002 advising them to do so, the committee says.

“It feels impossible to accept that, despite two decades’ worth of warnings, we still appear to be worlds away from government or [the] NHS engaging with the underlying causes of this issue,” said Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the chair of the influential cross-party committee.

He cited “unacceptable stasis” surrounding maternity care as an example of inaction that is persistently harming patients and costing ever larger sums of taxpayer funding. Reports have been published since 2015 into maternity scandals in Morecambe Bay, East Kent, and Shrewsbury and Telford. Another inquiry is continuing into childbirth care in Nottingham.

Last year, acute concern about maternity care across the NHS in England prompted Wes Streeting, the health secretary, to order an inquiry, led by Valerie Amos, into maternity care.

“The PAC finds that, as government’s liability for clinical negligence quadrupled over 20 years (£60bn in 2024-25), the [Department of Health and Social Care] is unable to show any meaningful action taken to address this and the NHS has not done enough to tackle the underlying causes of patient harm,” it said.

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The Source: The Guardian, 30 January 2026

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Great Ormond Street doctor who botched surgery harmed nearly 100 children

Nearly 100 children were harmed by a Great Ormond Street Hospital limb reconstruction surgeon, a review has found.

The investigation, published by the world-famous London hospital into Yaser Jabbar, found widespread evidence of unacceptable practice in the botched operations he carried out.

Jabbar worked at the hospital between 2017 and 2022, providing care to 789 children – 94 of them came to harm, GOSH's report concluded.

Most of those – 91 – were patients he did surgery on. He specialised in limb-lengthening and reconstruction for children with complex problems.

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Source: BBC News, 29 January 2026

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NHS cuts use of physician associates over ‘substitute doctor’ fear

The NHS has reduced the use of physician associates after a government review found that they were being used as a “substitute” for doctors, a survey has suggested.

The number of physician associates (PAs) averaging more than 11 patient interactions — including consultations, follow-ups, results and referrals — per shift, has dropped since publication of the Leng review in July. More than three-quarters (76 per cent) of PAs said their scope of practice had been restricted in recent months.

The findings come from a survey of 457 associates by United Medical Associate Professionals (UMAPs), the physician associates union.

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Source: The Times, 29 January 2026

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MHRA issues guidance for people using mental health apps

As an increasing number of people turn to mental health apps and technologies for support, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has published guidance on how to use the tools safely.

Not all digital mental health technologies are regulated as medical devices – some are instead classed as wellbeing or lifestyle products, which means they may not have been through the same checks.

MHRA and NHS England have developed free online resources for the public, parents, carers and professionals which use short animations and real-world examples to show what safe, well-evidenced digital mental health technologies look like, and explain how to report concerns through the MHRA Yellow Card scheme.

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Source: Digital Health, 28 January 2026

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How robots are allowing surgeons to safely perform common operations from up to 1,700 miles away

Surgeons can safely perform two common operations from distances of up to 1,700 miles, a new study has found.

New research delved into telesurgery, a cutting-edge technique that allows medical professionals to operate on patients remotely using a surgical robot connected via a secure video-link.

Academics in China initiated the study, highlighting that robust evidence on this method has previously been "scarce". Their primary aim was to ascertain whether telesurgery could achieve results comparable to, or "non-inferior" to, those from robotic-assisted surgery performed locally.

Some 72 patients were randomly assigned to be given telesurgery or local surgery, with the main measure of success the outcome of the surgery.

The researchers found telesurgery “was not inferior to local surgery in terms of the probability of surgical success”.

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Source: The Independent, 29 January 2026

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Black women on the nightmare of seeking healthcare in the US: ‘I have to be my own doctor’

Christina Brown was 18 years old the first time she had to correct a doctor when advocating for health.

Breast cancer runs in her family, so she had been taught early by relatives how to examine her own body – what was normal, what wasn’t and when something warranted attention. When she found a lump in her breast in September 2014, she didn’t hesitate. She went to a doctor.

At each appointment, Brown, a 30-year-old content creator in New York City, said she explained the same concern, pointed to the same spot, and was met with the same response. They told her they couldn’t feel anything. That there was no lump. That she was wrong.

“I literally had to grab their hands and show them where the lump was, and they would be surprised and then just pass me to the next doctor to do the exact same thing,” Brown said. It took four rounds of this before anyone agreed to schedule a biopsy. By then, months had passed.

That experience reshaped how Brown approached medical care: it taught her that knowing her body better than the experts is vital. Additionally, it prompted her to seek out Black doctors whenever possible because she figured a Black physician would be more likely to believe her the first time around. A 2023 survey found that Black patients who have more visits with Black healthcare providers report having more positive medical experiences.

Brown’s story is not unique. Across gynecology, primary care, and reproductive health, many Black women describe navigating medical care as a nightmare. “To be a Black woman in America is to have an adverse experience at the doctor’s office, and with her health,” Brown said. “It’s one where you are constantly feeling dismissed, misunderstood, gaslit, downplayed and straight up lied to.” Whether through relentless self-advocacy, intimate knowledge of their own bodies, or the deliberate choice to seek out Black physicians, many Black women move through medical settings strategically, as a means of survival.

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Source: The Guardian, 27 January 2026

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DHSC-NHSE merger timetable revealed

The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England have revealed a full timetable for merging their functions.

An update to staff late on Tuesday, seen by HSJ, says the organisations are aiming for the legal abolition of NHSE to be complete by April 2027, although it requires legislation to pass in time.

The prime minister first announced that NHSE would be abolished in March last year.

A new “target operating model” is being developed and is expected to be published by the end of May (see timeline chart left).

The DHSC plans to launch a 45-day consultation from October on the “detailed design proposals for the new DHSC and on any potential future downsizing”.

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Source: HSJ, 27 January 2026

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British medics could ‘turn their backs on NHS’ if not prioritised for training places

British medics will “turn their backs on the NHS” if they are not prioritised for specialty training, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has warned.

Mr Streeting warned the health service must “break our over-reliance on international recruitment”, as he unveiled plans to give UK and Irish medical graduates precedence for these vital training places.

Specialty training marks the final stage of a doctor’s qualification, focusing on a specific medical field or general practice.

The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill, due for Commons discussion on Tuesday, would also see British and Irish graduates prioritised for foundation training.

Setting out the bill, the health secretary said: “We’ve known for years that the treatment of resident doctors is often totally unacceptable and the very real fears about their futures are wholly justified.

“Every time I’ve met a resident doctor, either formally or informally, they tell me, without fail, how their careers are blocked because there are far too many applicants for training places.

“Not only do I think they have a legitimate grievance, I agree with them.”

Mr Streeting warned that if they do not deal with the issue, “the resentment it causes will just get worse” and British medics will “turn their backs on the NHS”.

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Source: The Independent, 28 January 2026

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Newborn baby dies after mum not woken for heart rate check

A newborn baby died after hospital staff failed to wake his mother for "potentially lifesaving observations" before his birth, an investigation has found.

Sonny Taylor was left "distressed for a significant amount of time" before a delayed emergency Caesarean at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor, and died three days later from a severe brain injury caused by sepsis and lack of oxygen.

His parents Eve and Thomas said he was "badly let down when he needed help the most".

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board accepted the report's findings and apologised "unreservedly" for the failures in care.

Sonny's mother, Eve, 29, had been admitted to hospital after her waters broke at 36 weeks. Later that afternoon she was taken to the maternity ward after signs of potential infection were identified.

At 18:00 GMT, her observations and Sonny's heart rate were recorded as normal.

While Eve was asleep at 22:00, midwifery staff did not wake her to carry out further observations or listen to Sonny's heart rate, despite this being required, an internal investigation report found.

"When I awoke Sonny was not moving as much and I immediately knew something wasn't right," she said.

A registrar confirmed the foetal heart rate was abnormal, but Eve was wrongly transferred to the labour ward, causing further delay before Sonny was delivered by emergency Caesarean at 02:03.

Tests later showed Sonny "had been distressed for a significant amount of time" and should have been delivered earlier, the report said.

Investigators said that if Sonny's heart rate had been identified as abnormal earlier, "this would likely have changed the outcome".

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Source: BBC News, 27 January 2026

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Inquiry examining thousands of deaths will not report until 2028

A high-profile inquiry into mental health deaths will not be complete until at least 2028, after its chair announced a delay to its timeline.

The Lampard inquiry, set up to examine at least 2,000 deaths over a 23-year period, was made statutory in 2023. Closing hearings had originally been expected to take place, with recommendations issued in 2027.

However, chair Baroness Kate Lampard today announced final hearings will now take place in June 2027, with findings pushed back to 2028.

In a statement, she said hearings planned for April would be “vacated… to permit sufficient time to undertake [the inquiry’s] investigative work and collate related evidence”.

Baroness Lampard said the inquiry had experienced delays to obtaining witness statements and documents, particularly from the main provider, Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust. The FT was a “clinical service with competing priorities”, she said.

The delays in receiving information had “impacted the ability of the inquiry to progress investigations and other work as quickly as I would like”.

Recent statements from lawyers for families involved have also accused the inquiry of being “inexcusably silent” on its timetable and being at risk of failing in its duties.

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Source: HSJ, 28 January 2026

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Five trusts ‘high outliers’ for ‘largely preventable’ infections

Five trusts with unusually high levels of surgical infections, which experts called “largely preventable” harm, have been identified by the UK’s health security agency.

The UKHSA briefing issued last month said the acute providers had rates of surgical site infections (SSIs) that fell above 95th percentile thresholds for certain orthopaedic categories in 2024-25.

The group of “statistical high outliers” were Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, and Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals trusts, identified for repair of neck and femur. North Tees and Hartlepool FT were identified for reduction of long bone fractures, and North Bristol Trust for hip replacement.

Infection Prevention Society vice president Kerry Holden toldHSJ: “Reducing surgical site infections is fundamental because they are largely preventable harms that have a significant impact on patients, including increased morbidity, prolonged recovery, and avoidable readmissions, as well as substantial cost pressures on the healthcare system.”

She added that an outlier trust would be expected to review practices such as theatre discipline, skin preparation, and treatments or action taken to prevent disease, as well as develop targeted quality improvement interventions with clear leadership oversight.

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Source: HSJ, 27 January 2026

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Trans people ‘increasingly heading abroad’ for gender surgery due to ‘horrific’ NHS waiting lists

Trans people are increasingly travelling abroad to countries such as Thailand to undergo gender-reassignment surgeries (GRS), with lengthy NHS backlogs resulting in some patients waiting up to 20 years for treatment.

Charities have warned that difficulties in accessing healthcare in the UK harm patients’ mental health and create a “desolate experience” for the trans community.

As a result, there has been a rise in recent years of trans people taking increasingly drastic action by paying thousands to travel to countries such as Thailand, Poland, Spain and Turkey for speedier treatment.

The damning Levy Review, which was published in December, found that waiting times for a first appointment at an NHS adult gender dysphoria clinic are projected to reach 15 years unless there are improvements.

Dr David Levy found that long waiting lists were also driving people to self-source hormone drugs from high-risk online providers abroad, while there was “virtually no other data” available from adult clinics beyond the waiting times.

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Source: The Independent, 26 January 2026

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Human rights groups hit out at Trump expanding ‘disastrous and deadly’ abortion policy

Human rights groups and charities have hit out at the decision by Donald Trump's administration to extend the US policy that bars groups receiving foreign aid from promoting abortion — even using their own money — in what has been called a "disastrous and deadly" move.

Known as the "Mexico City policy" or by critics as the "global gag rule," the policy was reinstated by Trump when he returned to the White House last year. That followed a tradition for Republican presidents since Ronald Reagan introduced the policy in 1984. Democratic presidents have repeatedly dropped it.

In what Vice President JD Vance has called “a historic expansion of the Mexico City Policy”, the U.S. will stop funding any organization working on diversity and transgender issues abroad. Mr Vance says the change will make the policy “about three times as big as it was before... and we’re proud of it because we believe in fighting for life”.

In response, Amnesty International’s senior director for research, advocacy policy and campaigns, Erika Guevara-Rosas, said: “The expansion of the Global Gag Rule is an assault on human rights. By targeting organizations that support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and recognise gender diversity, the Trump administration is deliberately deepening inequality and putting the lives of millions around the world at risk.

“The Global Gag Rule is a disastrous and deadly US policy. It strangles healthcare systems, censors information and violates the rights to health, information, and free expression... Doubling down on this policy is cruel, reckless and ideologically driven. Expanding it to international and U.S.-based organizations will impact the poorest and marginalised first and hardest," she added.

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Source: The Independent, 26 January 2026

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Google AI Overviews cite YouTube more than any medical site for health queries, study suggests

Google’s search feature AI Overviews cites YouTube more than any medical website when answering queries about health conditions, according to research that raises fresh questions about a tool seen by 2 billion people each month.

The company has said its AI summaries, which appear at the top of search results and use generative AI to answer questions from users, are “reliable” and cite reputable medical sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Mayo Clinic.

However, a study that analysed responses to more than 50,000 health queries, captured using Google searches from Berlin, found the top cited source was YouTube. The video-sharing platform is the world’s second most visited website, after Google itself, and is owned by Google.

Researchers at SE Ranking, a search engine optimisation platform, found YouTube made up 4.43% of all AI Overview citations. No hospital network, government health portal, medical association or academic institution came close to that number, they said.

“This matters because YouTube is not a medical publisher,” the researchers wrote. “It is a general-purpose video platform. Anyone can upload content there (eg board-certified physicians, hospital channels, but also wellness influencers, life coaches, and creators with no medical training at all).”

Google told the Guardian that AI Overviews was designed to surface high-quality content from reputable sources, regardless of format, and a variety of credible health authorities and licensed medical professionals created content on YouTube. The study’s findings could not be extrapolated to other regions as it was conducted using German-language queries in Germany, it said.

The research comes after a Guardian investigation found people were being put at risk of harm by false and misleading health information in Google AI Overviews responses.

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Source: The Guardian, 24 January 2026

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UK loses WHO status as measles-free after rise in deaths and fall in jab uptake

The UK has lost its status as a measles-free country after a rise in deaths from the disease and fall in the proportion of children having the MMR jab in recent years.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it no longer classified Britain as having eliminated measles because the disease had become re-established.

The UK is one of six countries in Europe and central Asia that the WHO says is no longer measles-free, the others being Spain, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

The WHO had adjudged the UK to have eliminated the disease between 2021 and 2023, but recent increases in the number of recorded cases – there were 3,681 in 2024 – and rises in the number of outbreaks and deaths has led to a rethink.

Doctors, public health experts and local councils said the WHO’s decision reflected the country’s diminishing uptake of the MMR vaccination, which they linked to vaccine hesitancy and parents’ difficulty in getting appointments for their child to be immunised.

Dr Simon Williams, a public health researcher at Swansea University, said: “It’s sad to see the UK losing its measles elimination status, although it’s not surprising given outbreaks in recent years. Measles is an eminently preventable disease but vaccine coverage of MMR has declined. We are seeing vaccine hesitancy growing in the UK, as in many countries, and social media-based conspiracies about MMR are a factor.”

He said the decision by the UN health body “is a wake-up call that more needs to be done” to get rates of MMR in children in the UK back up to the 95% that the organisation says is needed to eliminate measles, mumps and rubella altogether through herd immunity.

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Source: The Guardian, 26 January 2026

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Trusts scramble to improve reviews of babies’ deaths

Trusts have been scrambling to make reviews of babies’ deaths more “fair and transparent”, after a new national requirement for independent input.

Maternity providers are required to review all perinatal deaths, and it has long been a national recommendation that they should involve at least one external, independent reviewer.

However, in April 2024, it became a formal requirement from NHS Resolution to have an external reviewer in at least half of the cases.

Figures obtained by HSJ show that at least 19 trusts did not meet this benchmark overall in 2024.

NHSR, which runs the NHS clinical negligence indemnity scheme, said the requirement “ensures that reviews are conducted with fairness and transparency built on open, honest conversations and free from any internal bias”.

One trust did not use external reviewers at all to look at late miscarriages, stillbirths and neonatal deaths, while others only used them for a small fraction of cases. The external reviewer is required to be a relevant senior clinician who is not part of any trust involved in the case.

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Source: HSJ, 26 January 2026

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Providers ‘extending waiting times due to staffing cuts’

Eight in 10 NHS physiotherapists have reported they do not have enough staff to meet demand, up by 10 percentage points since 2024.

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy survey, carried out in October and the results shared with HSJ, also found 65% of respondents said their service was subject to a recruitment freeze, an increase from 58% in July 2024.

The 1,100 members surveyed also said temporary roles were not being renewed, and that many services no longer cover maternity leave.

The proportion of NHS members concerned about staffing levels being insufficient to meet patient needs grew from just under 70% in the first quarter of 2024 to 80% in the fourth quarter of 2025. 

Ash James, the CSP’s director of practice and development, described the recruitment freezes as “absurd” when the NHS has a “ready and waiting physiotherapy workforce”. It was leading to longer waiting times, he said.

He said: “For example, I know of a community [musculoskeletal] service where their waits are two and four weeks, based on an activity-based contract. But because the trust didn’t have the funding to be able to maintain that level of activity, to deliver that for patients, they have imposed 12-week waits on the service when it was already two to four weeks.

“The funding is having a massive impact on the delivery of care for patients. They are waiting longer, their pain is getting worse, [and] we are getting poorer health outcomes because of those longer waits.

“We don’t want patients paying the price for this when there’s a solution ready to go.” The cuts were also damaging the morale of the remaining staff, added Mr James. 

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Source: HSJ, 26 January 2026

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UK’s biggest hospital was nicknamed Death Star. Then things got worse

The biggest hospital in the UK was known as the Death Star before it even opened.

The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH), with its imposing star-shaped design, rose 14 storeys high into the Glasgow skyline more than ten years ago.

But fears were raised about the building, with around 1,538 beds, long before patients arrived including over the design, functionality and capacity of the children’s wing. Documents show staff from the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC), the paediatrics wing in the QUEH complex, pleading months before the ribbon was cut: “Please listen to us … your management is lying if they are telling you that all of these decisions have been accepted and not challenged by clinicians.”

In 2015 patients began to arrive after the project was delivered on time and on budget, but safety problems quickly emerged, particularly for those with weak immunity. Less than two weeks after it opened 18 leukaemia patients were moved because of fears about air purity.

By 2019 two patients had died from an airborne disease linked to pigeon droppings and doctors had conducted a review that associated 26 patient infections to contaminated water. Among those affected was a ten-year-old leukaemia sufferer, Milly Main, who died in 2017 after contracting an infection found in water despite signs she was recovering from cancer.

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Source: The Times, 17 January 2025

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‘I’m sorry’: hospital boss wishes he’d stopped rogue surgeon sooner

The chief executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital said he is “deeply sorry”, after an internal report revealed a rogue surgeon harmed more than a quarter of the children he operated on.

Matthew Shaw’s apology to families comes before the publication of a major review this week, which will set out the full scale of botched operations carried out by the orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar.

The review of Jabbar’s care will confirm that of the 333 children he performed surgery on during a six-year period, 91 were harmed — representing 27% of his surgical patients.

One child had a leg amputated, another may need to have an amputation in the future, while others have been left with chronic pain from nerve damage and debilitating deformities.

“I wish we could have stopped him earlier,” said Shaw, who is leaving Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in April, after six years in charge.

He also apologised to whistleblowers who helped to expose the scandal, and warned of weaknesses in the wider NHS that meant rogue surgeons like Jabbar, working in highly specialised areas, could be going under the radar.

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Source: The Times, 24 January 2026

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Thousands of children facing 'catastrophic' waits for NHS community care

Tens of thousands of children in England have spent more than a year waiting for NHS community care such as hearing services, speech and language therapy and disability support, the BBC has found.

The analysis shows a quarter of the 300,000 children on waiting lists have been waiting more than 12 months.

Tiya Currie's six-year-old son, Arun, struggled to get the support he needs.

He has had difficulties with his speech since he was just a toddler. But when Tiya, 46, from London, tried to get help she faced "waiting list after waiting list", she said.

"I was completely in the dark and I was tearing my hair out. That was really stressful."

After two years of waiting, Tiya and her husband felt they had no choice but to use £4,000 of their savings to pay privately for speech therapy and a formal diagnosis, which revealed Arun had developmental language disorder (DLD).

NHS leaders and doctors say the delays are "catastrophic", harming not only their health but also development – and are calling for the same priority to be given to tackling these long waits as has been given to the hospital backlog.

The government says the long waits are unacceptable, but under its 10-year plan greater investment in community services will improve access to care.

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Source: BBC News, 26 January 2026

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US officially leaves World Health Organization

The US has officially withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO), leaving the UN agency without one of its biggest donors.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order signalling the withdrawal a year ago, having criticised the organisation for being too "China-centric" during the Covid pandemic.

The US Department of Health and Human Services said it took the decision due to the WHO's alleged "mishandling" of the pandemic, an inability to reform and political influence from member states.

The WHO has rejected these claims and its director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the withdrawal was as a loss for the US and the world.

The organisation pointed to its global efforts to combat polio, HIV aids, maternal mortality, and its international treaty on tobacco control.

"The WHO tarnished and trashed everything that America has done for it," a joint statement from US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy and Secretary of State Marco Rubio read.

The pair said the organisation had "abandoned its core mission and acted repeatedly against the interests of the United States", including failing to return the American flag based at its Geneva headquarters.

"Going forward, U.S. engagement with the WHO will be limited strictly to effectuate our withdrawal and to safeguard the health and safety of the American people," they added.

The US department said it would have bilateral relations with other countries to ensure disease surveillance and pathogen sharing, but were unable to provide information about which specific countries they had such links with so far.

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Source: BBC News, 23 January 2026

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