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Half of healthcare facilities globally lack basic hygiene services

Half of healthcare facilities worldwide lack basic hygiene services with water and soap or alcohol-based hand rub where patients receive care and at toilets in these facilities, according to a new report by WHO and UNICEF. Around 3.85 billion people use these facilities, putting them at greater risk of infection, including 688 million people who receive care at facilities with no hygiene services at all.

“Hygiene facilities and practices in health care settings are non-negotiable. Their improvement is essential to pandemic recovery, prevention and preparedness. Hygiene in health care facilities cannot be secured without increasing investments in basic measures, which include safe water, clean toilets, and safely managed health care waste,” said Dr Maria Neira, WHO Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health. “I encourage Member States to step up their efforts to implement their 2019 World Health Assembly commitment to strengthen water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in health care facilities, and to monitor these efforts.” 

The latest report, “Progress on WASH in health care facilities 2000–2021: special focus on WASH and infection prevention and control”, has for the first time established this global baseline on hygiene services – which assessed access at points of care as well as toilets – as more countries than ever report on critical elements of WASH services in their hospitals and other health centres. For hygiene, data are now available for 40 countries, representing 35% of the world’s population, up from 21 countries in 2020 and 14 in 2019.

The newly established global estimate reveals a clearer and more alarming picture of the state of hygiene in health care facilities. Though 68% of health care facilities had hygiene facilities at points of care, and 65% had handwashing facilities with water and soap at toilets, only 51% had both and therefore met the criteria for basic hygiene services. Furthermore, 1 in 11 (9%) of health care facilities globally have neither.

“If health care providers don’t have access to a hygiene service, patients don’t have a health care facility,” said Kelly Ann Naylor, UNICEF Director of WASH and Climate, Environment, Energy, and Disaster Risk Reduction (CEED). “Hospitals and clinics without safe water and basic hygiene and sanitation services are a potential death trap for pregnant mothers, newborns, and children. Every year, around 670,000 newborns lose their lives to sepsis. This is a travesty – even more so as their deaths are preventable.”

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Source: WHO, 30 August 2022

 

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Half of Covid-hospitalised still symptomatic two years on, study finds

More than half of people hospitalised with Covid-19 still have at least one symptom two years after they were first infected, according to the longest follow-up study of its kind.

While physical and mental health generally improve over time, the analysis suggests that coronavirus patients discharged from hospital still tend to experience poorer health and quality of life than the general population. The research was published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

“Our findings indicate that for a certain proportion of hospitalised Covid-19 survivors, while they may have cleared the initial infection, more than two years is needed to recover fully,” said the lead author, Prof Bin Cao, of the China-Japan Friendship hospital in China.

Until now, the long-term health effects of Covid-19 have remained largely unknown, as the longest follow-up studies to date have spanned about a year. The absence of pre-Covid-19 health status data and comparisons with the general population in most studies also made it difficult to determine how well patients with Covid-19 have recovered.

“Ongoing follow-up of Covid-19 survivors, particularly those with symptoms of long Covid, is essential to understand the longer course of the illness, as is further exploration of the benefits of rehabilitation programmes for recovery,” said Cao. “There is a clear need to provide continued support to a significant proportion of people who’ve had Covid-19, and to understand how vaccines, emerging treatments and variants affect long-term health outcomes.”

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Source: The Guardian, 11 May 2022

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Half of black women in UK who raise concerns during labour did not receive suitable help, study finds

Almost half of pregnant black women raised concerns to healthcare professionals during labour, with half saying that their concerns were also not properly addressed, according to the largest report of its kind.

Black women in the UK are up to four times more likely to die during childbirth compared with their white counterparts, and are also more likely to experience serious birth complications and perinatal mental health illnesses.

Five X More, an organisation dedicated to improving black maternal health outcomes, confirmed these findings through a study of the maternity experiences of more than 1,000 black and mixed-race people who were pregnant between July 2021 and March 2025.

The report found that more than half (54%) of respondents experienced challenges with healthcare professionals, and that just under a quarter (23%) of black women did not receive pain relief when they requested it. And of these women, 40% said they were given no explanation as to why that was the case.

Furthermore, 45% of respondents raised concerns during their labour and of these, under half (49%) said their concerns were not properly addressed.

Tinuke Awe and Clotilde Abe, the co-founders of Five X More, said that the report shows that the maternity system is failing black women, and that it is also a “call to action” to address these disparities.

“Black women deserve better care and communication. The statistics around black women dying in and around pregnancy and having adverse outcomes have been around for decades now. Black women deserve to be treated with dignity at every stage of their maternity journey and the burden cannot keep falling on them to make the system work,” they said.

“While we’re still seeing the same issues we raised years ago, such as systemic failings, being ignored in pain, and poor understanding of conditions affecting black women, new themes are also emerging like the emotional toll of self-advocacy and the impact of not having consistent or trusted care.”

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Source: The Guardian, 21 July 2025

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Half of ambulance arrivals ‘inappropriate’, says acute trust

An audit conducted by an acute trust has found more than half the patients taken to one of its hospitals by ambulance were deemed “inappropriate for conveyance”.

The assessment at Scarborough Hospital in Yorkshire, obtained by HSJ through a freedom of information request, examined a random sample of 100 patients, of which around 50 arrived by ambulance.

Of those arriving by ambulance, half were deemed not to have required an ambulance conveyance. 

The Missed Opportunities Audit, which the trust said was “routine” and looked at a range of areas where the emergency department could streamline operations, said: “Fifty-two per cent of conveyance[s] by ambulances were deemed as inappropriate".

“The reviewer did not have access to the policies of Yorkshire Ambulance Service, which may account for the low number of appropriate conveyances. However, based on clinical judgment for cases presenting by ambulance the arrivals should have presented either to a community service (33%) or via their own transportation methods (38%), as their documented clinical condition and social circumstances allowed for this.”

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Source: HSJ, 9 November 2022

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Half of all hospitals inspected broke covid safety law

Nearly half the hospitals targeted in covid-related spot checks were found to be breaching health and safety laws.

An unpublished Health and Safety Executive report found just five out of 17 acute hospitals inspected had high levels of compliance with measures to manage the risks around covid. 

Meanwhile, letters were sent to eight hospitals “formally requiring them to take remedial action to remedy contraventions of health and safety law”. The remaining four hospitals were given advice.

The inspections — which involved 13 hospitals in England and two each in Scotland and Wales — focused on seven areas: risk assessment; management arrangements specific to covid; social distancing; cleaning and hygiene; ventilation; dealing with suspected covid cases; and personal protective equipment.

The health and safety watchdog highlighted social distancing in non-clinical areas — which covered areas outside of clinical wards such as offices, rest areas, changing rooms and workshops — as needing improvement in some hospitals. 

The inspectors — who visited between November last year and January this year — also found some hospitals needed more robust covid security measures if they were to comply with government guidance.

HSE also noted that, although all the hospitals had adequate supplies of PPE, not all had adequate arrangements in place for ensuring it was used effectively.

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Source: HSJ, 5 May 2021

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Half of all deaths of people with a learning disability ‘avoidable’

Nearly half (49%) of all deaths of people with a learning disability in 2021 were deemed to be avoidable, a major annual report has found.

By comparison, just 22% of deaths were classified as avoidable among the overall general population in 2020.

A new report, led by King’s College London and produced for NHS England – identified that of those avoidable deaths among people with learning disabilities, 65.5% died in hospital.

The learning from life and death reviews programme (LeDeR) report also revealed that the Midlands and North West showed the greatest difference in avoidable to unavoidable deaths at 53%, compared to 48% in London.

And when looking at individual long-term conditions, 8% of avoidable deaths were related to cancer, 17% to diabetes, 14% to hypertension, and 17% to respiratory conditions.

It also found that:

  • More than 50% of people with a learning disability died in areas rated as some of the most deprived in England
  • Around six out of 10 people with a learning disability die before age 65, compared to 1 in 10 from the general public
  • On average, men with a learning disability die 22 years younger than men from the general population.

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Source: Healthcare Leader, 18 July 2022

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Hackers took down high-secure hospital’s security system

A cyber attack disabled alarm systems used by staff at a high-security psychiatric hospital, HSJ can reveal.

West London Trust, which runs Broadmoor hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, is still trying to fix the system after an attack which it says took place in January.

The facility was forced to use extra alarms, radios and staff “in order to respond to incidents in a timely fashion”, a trust board report from April said.

High-secure hospitals are used for patients who have been detained under mental health legislation or present an immediate risk of harm to others, and have the same security arrangements as category B prisons.

Staff have access to alarms for their safety and that of their patients.

In a board report last week, West London Trust said clinical and operational services continued to operate with “minimal” disruption to patients. It said the organisation’s “cyber posture” would be enhanced to “limit the impact of future incidents”.

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Source: HSJ, 19 June 2025

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Hackers obtain patient data from NHS Dumfries and Galloway

A hacker group is in possession of at least a “small number” of patients’ data following a cyber-attack, NHS Dumfries and Galloway has said.

Reports emerged on Wednesday of a post by the group Inc Ransom on its darknet blog, alleging it was in possession of three terabytes of data from NHS Scotland.

The post included a “proof pack” of some of the data, which has been confirmed by the board to be genuine.

The chief executive of the NHS board, Jeff Ace, said in a statement: “We absolutely deplore the release of confidential patient data as part of this criminal act.

“This information has been released by hackers to evidence that this is in their possession. We are continuing to work with Police Scotland, the National Cyber Security Centre, the Scottish government and other agencies in response to this developing situation.”

Patients whose data has been leaked will be contacted by the board, he said, while patient-facing services would continue as normal.

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Source: The Guardian, 27 March 2024

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Hackers breach cancer screening data of almost 500,000 women

Personal health data from more than 485,000 women has been stolen after hackers accessed the IT systems of a cervical cancer screening programme in the Netherlands. 

The incident occurred between 3 July and 6 July 2025 at the Eurofins Clinical Diagnostics NMDL laboratory in Rijswijk, which tests cervical smears and self-tests for the Dutch Population Survey (BDO).

Cyber criminals are believed to have accessed sensitive patient information including names, addresses, dates of birth, citizen service numbers, test results, and participants’ healthcare providers, according to a press release from the BDO.

Elza den Hertog, chair of the board of directors of BDO, said: “We are deeply shocked by this data breach, and we understand that participants who participated in population screening through us are also very shocked.”

She added: “Participating in the cervical cancer screening programme is already a stressful experience for many participants and now you’re being told that your personal data may have been leaked as well. 

“At BDO, we set high standards for due diligence and data security for participants in the screening programmes, and we always make agreements about this with the laboratories that perform the tests. 

“We deeply regret that this has now gone so wrong at one of the laboratories we work with.”

Commenting on the breach, Rik Ferguson, vice president of security intelligence at Forescout, said: “This breach is a clear example of a systemic blind spot. 

“Almost half a million highly sensitive medical records were exposed because they passed through a subcontracted lab where attackers found a way in. 

“The result is not just another breach statistic; it’s a demonstration of how quickly a single weak link can compromise an entire security chain.

“What happened here fits a much broader pattern. Healthcare has become a prime target because the data is priceless, the networks are complex, and the sector is under constant pressure to deliver more with less.”

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Source: Digital Health, 13 August 2025

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Hacked UK trove includes data on newborns, cancer patients...

Hackers behind a London hospital attack recently published records that include personal information about pregnant women, newborns, cancer patients, people suffering from schizophrenia and thousands of others across the UK and Ireland, revealing the breach was far more widespread than authorities have previously indicated.

An analysis of the data trove by Bloomberg News found that it contains tens of thousands of medical records on patients from more than 400 public and private hospitals and clinics. Among the records are some 40,000 highly sensitive documents sent by doctors requesting biopsies and blood tests for individual patients in all regions of the UK and some hospitals in Ireland.

A breach of the kind faced by Synnovis was inevitable, according to Saif Abed, a former NHS doctor and expert in cybersecurity and public health. “The NHS has some of best patient safety and cybersecurity standards in the world,” Abed said. “They are just immensely poorly enforced.”

Abed said that there was a lack of mandatory cybersecurity audits on any contractors providing services to the NHS, which meant those contractors could have substandard cybersecurity practices that could in turn leave the NHS vulnerable.

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Source: Bloomberg UK, 26 June 2024

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Hacked London NHS hospitals data allegedly published online

Data from a ransomware attack has allegedly been published online weeks after the attack halted operations and tests in major London hospitals, NHS England has said.

A Russian group is believed to have carried out the cyber-attack on Synnovis, a private pathology firm that analyses blood tests for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust (GSTT) and King’s College trust, on 3 June, forcing hospitals in the capital to cancel almost 1,600 operations and outpatient appointments.

NHS England said on Friday it had “been made aware that the cyber-criminal group published data last night which they are claiming belongs to Synnovis and was stolen as part of this attack. We know how worrying this development may be for many people. We are taking it very seriously.”

In the attack, it is understood hackers from the Russian-based ransomware criminal group Qilin infiltrated Synnovis’s IT system and locked the computer system by encrypting its files to extort a payment for restoring access. The trusts have contracts with Synnovis totalling just under £1.1bn for services that are vital to the smooth running of the NHS.

NHS England said an analysis of the data was under way involving the National Cyber Security Centre and other partners to confirm whether the data was taken from Synnovis’s systems and what information it contained.

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Source: The Guardian, 21 June 2024

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Gynaecology waits soar by 60% during pandemic

Gynaecology waiting lists in England have risen by 60% during the pandemic - more sharply than any other specialty.

Across the UK, more than 570,000 women are waiting for help.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) said patients were "consistently deprioritised and overlooked".

NHS England says hospitals are making progress on dealing with the Covid backlog and average waiting times for elective treatment are coming down.

The RCOG is calling for much greater attention to women's views, and for care to be designed around their needs.

Chetna Mistry says she is a "prisoner" to endometriosis, a painful condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, like the ovaries.

She described it as "a whole-body disease which affects you physically and mentally". It has left her infertile, and, at 42, she needs a hysterectomy.

Chetna said she was referred to a specialist in June 2020, but 21 months later still does not have a date for surgery.

RCOG president Dr Edward Morris said he felt helpless not being able to speed up access to care for women and people on his waiting lists.

"There is an element of gender bias in the system. I don't think believe that we are listening to voices of women as well as we should be. The priority they urgently need is not being given to them."

The Royal College asked 830 women on waiting lists about the other impacts on their lives.

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Source: BBC News, 4 April 2022

 

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Gynaecology waiting lists double, leaving women in pain

Waiting lists for gynaecology appointments across the UK have more than doubled since February 2020, BBC research reveals.

Records show around three-quarters of a million (755,046) women's health appointments are waiting to happen - up from 360,400 just before the pandemic.

This would suggest around 630,000 people - at the very least - are on the list to be seen for problems that range from fibroids and endometriosis to incontinence and menopause care.

Health ministers across the UK say they are working on plans to improve the situation, but health leaders say that women are being let down.

"Women are being let down" and change is "urgently needed," says Dr Ranee Thakar, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).

The college's new report, external looks at the impact on people waiting for care.

"Gynaecology is the only elective speciality that solely treats women and has one of the worst waiting lists across the UK.

"This reflects the persistent lack of priority given to women and women’s health, " Dr Thakar says.

"Women are suffering. We know it is affecting their mental health. They are not able to go to work, they are not able to socialise."

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Source: BBC News, 18 November 2024

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Gynaecology patients going private to avoid NHS waiting lists

Women waiting in agony for vital gynaecological treatment are turning to the private sector in the hope of being referred urgently to the top of the NHS waiting list.

The heads of 11 leading women's health organisations have signed an open letter, external urging the public and health professionals to participate in their "Change NHS" conversation.

They said: "Women and girls have repeatedly been left to 'fall through the gaps' of fragmented government policy."

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says the discussion around the government's 10-year health plan, external is a chance to lobby for "much needed" funding and system-wide support essential to transforming women's health.

An NHS spokesperson said: "While latest data shows NHS staff are making progress to cut waiting lists and tackle the backlog, we know there is much more to do to bring down long waits for care, particularly for women who are waiting for crucial appointments and treatment.

"We welcome feedback from the public and those working in women's health services via Change NHS to build on our work on improving services for women - which includes developing a network of women's health champions in every local care system and expanding neighbourhood women's health hubs across the country - giving thousands more women access to specialist women's health teams in the community."

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Source: BBC News, 9 December 2024

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Guy's and St Thomas' launch "3D printing farm"

Guy's and St Thomas' has received its first delivery of face shields created in a specially developed "3D printing farm", in collaboration with 3D printing companies and enthusiasts.

The face shields will be worn by frontline medical staff tending to patients during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Several 3D printing manufacturers have been brought together at Guy's and St Thomas' supply chain hub in Dartford, with over 200 printers working 24 hours a day to make the face shields. This 3D printing farm can produce roughly 1,500 face shields a day.

The face shields are paired with a visor, assembled by a team of volunteers made up of 3D printing enthusiasts, as well as students and staff from King's College London and Brunel University.

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Source: Guy's and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, 21 April 2020

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Guilty verdict for nurse RaDonda Vaught’s dosing mistake could cost lives

Patient safety and nursing groups around the country are lamenting the guilty verdict in the trial of a former nurse in Tennessee, USA.

The moment nurse RaDonda Vaught realised she had given a patient the wrong medication, she rushed to the doctors working to revive 75-year-old Charlene Murphey and told them what she had done. Within hours, she made a full report of her mistake to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Murphey died the next day, on 27 December 2017. On Friday, a jury found Vaught guilty of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect.

That verdict — and the fact that Vaught was charged at all — worries patient safety and nursing groups that have worked for years to move hospital culture away from cover-ups, blame and punishment, and toward the honest reporting of mistakes.

The move to a “Just Culture" seeks to improve safety by analyzing human errors and making systemic changes to prevent their recurrence. And that can't happen if providers think they could go to prison, they say.

“The criminalization of medical errors is unnerving, and this verdict sets into motion a dangerous precedent,” the American Nurses Association said. “Health care delivery is highly complex. It is inevitable that mistakes will happen. ... It is completely unrealistic to think otherwise.”

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Source: The Independent, 31 March 2022

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Guidance on confirming death in infants is reviewed after court case

Guidelines for confirming death in very young babies are being reviewed amid concerns about a case in which a baby boy started to breathe after a diagnosis of brain stem death.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust applied to the High Court in June for a declaration that A, who was born in April, was dead and for authorisation to withdraw his ventilation, ancillary care, and treatment. Aged 2 months, he had sustained a profound hypoxic ischaemic brain injury after a cardiac arrest that happened shortly after he was found limp in his cot with abnormal breathing.

But before the case came to court a nurse observed him breathing spontaneously, and the trust rescinded the declaration of brain stem death. 

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Source: BMJ, 31 August 2022

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Guernsey endoscopy waiting list patients 'at risk'

Some patients waiting for an endoscopy in Guernsey may be "at risk" because of a large backlog in procedures, the States medical director has warned.

The government has announced a tender process to bring in clinicians to help clear the list, which is three times longer than before the Covid pandemic.

More than 430 people were on the gastroenterology waiting list as of Tuesday, Dr Peter Rabey said.

"We're worried that there is risk to patients in waiting too long," he said.

"Although a lot of patients who get an endoscopy have completely normal results, and some have benign disease which can be treated with tablets and things, there will be some patients who might have cancer and we need to find out as best as possible".

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Source: BBC News, 20 December 2022

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Growth in covid hospital patients slows across the country as peak approaches

The growth in covid positive hospital patients is rapidly slowing in every English region and appears to have stopped in the south east.

The weekly increase in covid inpatients across England fell to 8% yesterday, the first time it had dropped to single figures since 12 December. A week earlier, on 10 January, the growth rate stood at 23%.

There are now 33,352 covid hospital patients in English hospitals, an increase of 2,594 in the last seven days. The previous week had seen a rise of 5,801.

The weekly growth rate of covid positive hospital patients in the seven English regions currently ranges from 26% in the south west to zero in the south east. In every region, the growth rate is seven to 20 percentage points lower than recorded on 10 January.

London’s weekly growth rate is now three per cent and the east’s is 2%. There has been no substantive change in the south east total in the past week. It is likely covid patients will be seen to have peaked in these three regions between 13 to 15 January.

The slowing in the growth of national covid patient numbers means the total is likely to peak during the next seven days at a level lower than many had feared and expected. HSJ has seen internal NHS England projections from last week that saw growth continuing into February and total covid patient numbers rising well above 40,000, this now seem very unlikely.

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Source: HSJ, 18 January 2021

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Growing private services creating ‘regulatory gap’ , claims watchdog

There is a growing “regulatory gap” around several NHS services where private provision has grown rapidly, the Parliamentary watchdog has told HSJ.

Paula Sussex, who became the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in August, said she received a large number of concerns about ADHD and autism  services, and provision of wheelchairs.

In relation to neurodiversity diagnosis, there has been rapid growth in NHS-funded and self-funded independent sector provision responding to growing demand, alongside an absence of agreed standards, qualifications, and training.

As a result, Ms Sussex often receives complaints that other services are refusing to recognise and act on the diagnoses, she said.

Wheelchair services, meanwhile, are often privately provided through block contracts and subject to regular concerns about long waits for equipment and repairs.  These services are not registered with the Care Quality Commission as they are not counted as a healthcare service.

Ms Sussex said private provision – which was patchy, sometimes poor quality and not properly regulated – was “driving more costs into the system”.

She suggested the Department of Health and Social Care should examine “who is going to pick up” these “regulatory gaps”.

She added: “That would give more clarity to [integrated care boards] and providers to say: ‘Is it okay to accept this diagnosis?’ or for them to know there is a body overseeing private sector provision.”

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Source: HSJ, 22 May 2026

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Growing numbers of NHS nurses quit within three years, study finds

Gruelling 12-hour shifts, exhaustion and burnout are leading growing numbers of nurses to quit the NHS within three years of joining, new research reveals.

Stress, lack of access to food and drink while at work, and the relentless demands of caring for patients are also key factors in the exodus, the King’s Fund thinktank found.

The NHS must make it an urgent priority to tackle the worryingly poor working conditions nurses and midwives face in many hospitals or face worsening workforce shortages, it said.

“Staff stress, absenteeism and turnover in the professions have reached alarmingly high levels,” the thinktank said after investigating the working conditions faced by NHS nurses and midwives.

“This has been compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has laid bare and exacerbated longer-term issues including chronic excessive workload, inadequate working conditions, staff burnout and inequalities, particularly among minority ethnic groups.”

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Source: 23 September 2020

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Growing number of trusts defy system leaders on FFP3 guidance

Over 30 trusts are now mandating FFP3 masks are used beyond settings stipulated in national rules, amid calls for system leaders to clarify the national position on the key staff and patient safety issue.

Fresh Air NHS, a group of frontline staff who campaign for better protection against Covid-19, said it now knows of 32 trusts which have already introduced enhanced infection prevention control policies that mandate FFP3 use beyond national guidance.

News that a growing number of trusts are mandating more stringent PPE use comes amid fresh confusion around the national guidance after small but potentially significant alterations were made last week. A new line has been added to guidance which says:: “FFP3 respirator or equivalent must be worn by staff when caring for patients with a suspected or confirmed infection spread by the airborne route.”

David Tomlinson, consultant cardiologist and also a member of Fresh Air NHS, said NHS trusts were “in fear of going beyond the guidance and allowing non-ICU staff to wear FFP3 respirators”.

“The guidance doesn’t mandate respirators for staff in highest risk of transmission areas, for example, medical wards housing symptomatic patients at a time in their disease when they are releasing greatest amounts of infectious aerosols,” Dr Tomlinson said. “Real world data has consistently shown far greater rates of SARS2 infection comparing non-ICU healthcare workers to those on ICU.”

Alison Leary, chair of healthcare and workforce modelling at London Southbank University, said: “Trusts choosing to implement evidence based safety interventions is a positive move towards workforce safety.”

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Source: HSJ, 27 January 2022

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Group set up by govt review flags ‘culture of protect and deny’

The Department of Health and Social Care has been criticised after it accepted only 4 out of the 9 recommendations set out in the Cumerledge review.

Marie Lyon, co-chairwoman of the patient reference group for the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review has said “Unfortunately, the culture of protect and deny continues to be the default response to patients, while stating lessons have been learned. These lessons will never equate to action and improved safety of drugs and devices, while government ministers mark their own performance as satisfactory when it is not. Many more women and children will be damaged unless this systemic culture of protect and deny undergoes a profound change.”

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Source: HSJ, 22 July 2021

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Groundbreaking NHS innovation from Pontefract clinician wins global prize after slashing surgery infections

The Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust’s Director of Innovation and Consultant antimicrobial pharmacist, Dr Stuart Bond, has won an internationally acclaimed award, on the back of implementing a clinician innovation project at Pinderfields and Pontefract Hospitals.
Stuart was honoured with one of the world’s most prestigious awards for his leadership in a groundbreaking NHS-first project that has slashed surgical site infections.

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Source: Wakefield Express, 25 August 2025

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