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Over 1,000 patients occupying hospital beds despite being medically fit to leave

More than 1,000 patients across Kent, Sussex and Surrey are occupying hospital beds despite being medically fit to leave, according to the latest NHS figures.

"Bed blocking" affects the availability of space for incoming patients, which leads to delays in A&E departments and delayed ambulance handovers.

On 30 November, NHS data showed 462 patients in Kent and Medway, 118 in Surrey and 614 in Sussex were ready for discharge.

The NHS said patients who wait longer to leave often have "complex" health and care needs. Kent and Sussex branches said they work with trusts and partners to find the right support.

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Source: BBC, 8 December 2025

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Change in direction and leadership needed to save Scotland's NHS, report warns

Serious change in direction and leadership is needed to save Scotland’s NHS, a report has found.

The review by Mike McKirdy, a retired consultant surgeon from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the former president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, warned “more of the same will not be enough”.

Mr McKirdy said the founding principles of the NHS were “becoming strained and frayed” and that current trends risk “entrenching a two-tier system where access depends increasingly on ability to pay rather than clinical need”.

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Source: Grampian Online, 8 December 2025

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New immersive room in A&E will 'change so many lives'

The parents of an autistic boy say a new immersive room in their local hospital's children's A&E will "change so many lives".

Robert and Gemma Cummings spent the past year fundraising to open the room, which is the first of its kind in Wales, at the paediatric department of Prince Charles Hospital in their hometown of Merthyr Tydfil.

The project was inspired by their own "distressing" experiences with their six-year-old son Ellis, who struggles with "sensory overload".

They hope the room, officially opened on Thursday, will allow children to receive emergency care without parents reaching a "crossroads" in deciding whether or not hospital visits are worth the potential of trauma.

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Source: BBC News, 7 December 2025

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Thousands of patients in England at risk as GP referrals vanish into NHS ‘black hole’

One in seven people in England who need hospital care are not receiving it because their GP referral is lost, rejected or delayed, the NHS’s patient watchdog has found.

Three-quarters (75%) of those trapped in this “referrals black hole” suffer harm to their physical or mental health as a result of not being added to the waiting list for tests or treatment.

Communication with patients is so unreliable that seven in 10 (70%) only discover they have not been put on a waiting list after chasing up the NHS because they have not been told a hold-up has occurred. In some cases referrals that GPs have agreed to make do not even get sent from their surgery to the hospital, Healthwatch England’s findings show.

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Source: Guardian, 7 December 2025

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Six-fold variation in staff vaccination rates revealed

Fewer than one in 10 frontline NHS staff have been vaccinated at some trusts, despite public appeals from NHS England ahead of this winter.

Data from the UK Health Security Agency says that fewer than a third – 29.7 per cent – of frontline NHS staff in England have received this year’s flu vaccination.

Flu vaccination rates are fewer than one in five at 21 English NHS trusts, and at West London Trust, Croydon Health Services Trust, and Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust – uptake was at just one in 10 or fewer. Lewisham and Greenwich Trust had a similarly low uptake according to the UKHSA data, but the trust has said its rates are in fact much higher.

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Source: Health Service Journal, 5 December 2025.

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Managers ‘defensive and frustrated’ in response to staff concerns

Staff at an ambulance trust fear their managers will “retaliate” if they report concerns to the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, a board report reveals.

South Central Ambulance Service Foundation Trust’s board was told of staff reports that some managers “actively identify and challenge” those who raise concerns or suggestions, “contributing to a culture of apprehension and mistrust”. 

The points were reported to a board meeting last week by its FTSU Guardian Christine McParland. Guardians are meant to act as an independent and confidential channel for employees to raise problems at work, and to support them to do so. 

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Source: Health Service Journal, 3 December 2025.

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Chris Whitty on the infections we should take ‘much more seriously’

England’s chief medical officer says infections in older people must be taken “much more seriously”.

Professor Sir Chris Whitty said older people are “under-served” when it comes to care and research into the illnesses affecting them, adding that doctors should have a lower threshold for prescribing antibiotics than they do for younger adults.

He suggested the medical community has been “nihilistic” about infections in older people historically, adding that “people have assumed it’s one of those things that happen in old age – in fact, we can do a lot about it”.

Discussing his new annual report, which focuses on infections, Sir Chris said: “Whilst we are very systematic about reducing infections and preventing infections in children and in young adults, in older adults it is often a lot more hit and miss.”

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Source: The Independent, 4 December 2025

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Hospitals facing unprecedented flu season, say NHS bosses

The number of flu patients in hospital has hit a record high in England for this time of year with NHS leaders warning the country is facing an unprecedented flu season.

NHS figures show there were an average of 1,700 patients in hospital with flu last week - that is more than 50% higher than the same time last year - and early indications from this week are that hospitalisations have continued climbing sharply since.

It comes as the flu season hit a month earlier than normal this year, with experts warning there appears to be a more severe strain of the virus circulating.

England's chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty has warned the NHS must take diseases like pneumonia and flu in older people much more seriously to save lives.

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Source: BBC News, 4 December 2025

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Director excluded for a year by his trust

The British Medical Association has claimed the exclusion of a medical director from his trust role for more than a year reflects a “toxic culture” and “disturbing pattern” when concerns are raised.

Tim Noble has been excluded from his director role at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust since September 2024, his union confirmed to HSJ this week. The British Medical Association claims the exclusion is unlawful as he has been prevented from returning to work.

It is thought Dr Noble’s case is due to proceed to a formal disciplinary hearing at the trust this month, but the details, including any allegations, are not known. He has continued one session a week for the trust in his consultant medical role.

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Source: Health Service Journal, 4 December 2025

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Wes Streeting orders review of mental health diagnoses as benefit claims soar

The health secretary, Wes Streeting, has ordered a clinical review of the diagnosis of mental health conditions, according to reports.

Streeting is understood to be concerned about a sharp rise in the number of people making sickness benefits claims because of diagnoses for mental illness, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the Times reported.

He has asked leading experts to investigate whether normal feelings have become “over-pathologised”, the newspaper said, as he seeks to grapple with the 4.4 million working-age people now claiming sickness or incapacity benefit.

The figure has risen by 1.2 million since 2019, while the number of 16 to 34-year-olds off work with long-term sickness because of a mental health condition is said to have grown rapidly in the same period.

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Source: The Guardian, 3 December 2025

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Doctors failed to tell father of seven he was terminally ill, investigation finds

A father of seven was not told he was terminally ill by doctors, who instead said he would be okay, an investigation has found.

William Chapman, known as Syd, only found out he had deadly pulmonary fibrosis when his GP, who thought he already knew the prognosis, mentioned it during a phone call.

He died eight months later.

An investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has found doctors at the Countess of Chester Hospital showed a "worrying lack of accountability" and failed to keep proper records, engage fully with Mr Chapman's family or learn from mistakes.

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Source: Sky News, 4 December 2025.

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Nearly 1 million ‘corridor care’ cases in past year

About one million A&E patients have been placed in corridors or similar “temporary” spaces over the past year, information obtained by HSJ reveals.

Sixty-six of England’s 118 acute trusts with accident and emergency departments responded to freedom of information requests for their record of how many times an A&E patient had been placed in a corridor or “temporary escalation space”.

The data released by hospital trusts gives the clearest picture yet of the scale of “corridor care” in crowded emergency departments – a practice labelled “unacceptable” by the government amid deep concerns over patient safety.

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Source: Health Service Journal, 4 December 2025

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‘Sexual misconduct and blame culture’ found at hospital

Specialist medics in training have been removed from a hospital department after an NHS England investigation uncovered concerns about sexually inappropriate, undermining and aggressive behaviours.

Anaesthetic residents were removed from Basildon University Hospital — part of Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust — after NHS England’s workforce, training and education quality team inspected the trust and provided feedback to senior management over the summer.

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Source: HSJ, 3 November 2025

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Numbers leaving A&E without treatment triples in six years

The number of people in England walking out of A&E without treatment has tripled in the past six years, new figures show.

Analysis of NHS data by the Royal College of Nursing shows soaring demand for urgent hospital care and long waits has led to what it describes as a “shocking” rise in the number of patients leaving emergency departments untreated.

Between July and September 2025, more than 320,000 people left A&E without being treated – a more than threefold increase from the same period in 2019, when just under 100,000 people walked out untreated.

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Source: Guardian, 3 November 2025

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Breast cancer failings: “Culture of complacency” led to unnecessary surgery and delayed treatment at NHS trust

Patients underwent unnecessary mastectomies or had cancer diagnoses delayed because of long running systemic failures at an NHS hospital trust, an independent review has found.1

A “culture of complacency” let governance failures in the breast surgery service at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust go uncorrected from 2012 to 2025, the external review by the governance expert Mary Aubrey concluded.

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Source: BMJ News, 1 December 2025

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NHS to pay 25% more for innovative drugs after UK–US zero-tariff deal

The UK has agreed to pay 25% more for new medicines by 2035 as part of a US-UK drug pricing deal that will cost an estimated additional £3bn a year.

The transatlantic agreement will also see the health service in England, which currently spends £14.4bn a year on innovative therapies, double the percentage of GDP it allocates to buying such products, from 0.3% to 0.6% over the next decade.

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Source: Guardian, 1 December 2025

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Doctors to stage five-day strike before Christmas

The British Medical Association has announced a fresh round of strikes in England in the long-running pay dispute.

Resident doctors, the new name for junior doctors, will stage a five-day walkout from 17 December.

This will be the 14th strike by the doctors' union since March 2023 and is expected to cause significant disruption, particularly in hospitals.

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Source: BBC News, 1 December 2025

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Our daughter died from meningitis after starting uni - a jab would have saved her

A popular and sporty teenager who made a "big impression" at her new university died within weeks of starting, after contracting meningitis.

Meg Draper was 18 and had joined swimming and netball teams, but died in October from meningococcal type B meningitis, external (MenB) while studying physiotherapy in Bournemouth.

Her parents, from Pontypool, Torfaen, and the National Union of Students UK, external are now calling for a vaccine, or booster, to be made available to young adults on the NHS.

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Source: BBC News, 1 December 2025

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New AI tools could help save lives by spotting warning signs of bowel cancer earlier (20 November 2025)

Five smart technologies that act as a "second pair of eyes" during bowel examinations have been conditionally recommended by NICE for NHS use, potentially helping doctors spot harmful growths that could turn into cancer.

Patients having a colonoscopy – a camera test to look inside the bowel – could benefit from cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) tech that helps doctors spot small growths called polyps more easily. Some of these polyps can turn into bowel cancer if not found and removed early.

NICE's independent advisory committee has said five AI technologies can be used in the NHS whilst more evidence is collected over the next four years to understand their full benefits.

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Source: NICE News, 20 November 2025

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Serious NHS patient care incidents rise 55% in four years

Serious patient safety incidents recorded across Scotland’s health service have risen by more than half in four years, prompting fresh criticism of the Scottish Government’s handling of the NHS.

Incidents involving falls, delays in treatment as well as gynaecological and neonatal incidents saw the steepest increase, according to the data.

New figures obtained by Scottish Labour through freedom of information requests show that the number of Significant Adverse Event Reviews (SAERs) carried out across health boards and the Scottish Ambulance Service increased by 55% between 2020 and 2024.

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Source: The Herald, 1 December 2025

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Failure to diagnose treatable male infertility leading to unnecessary IVF, experts say

Couples are needlessly going through IVF because male infertility is under-researched, with the NHS too often failing to diagnose treatable causes, leading experts have said.

Poor understanding among GPs and a lack of specialists and NHS testing means male infertility is often left untreated in couples struggling to conceive, despite men accounting for 50% of all infertility cases

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Source: Guardian, 30 November 2025

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CQC admits it falsely claimed not to know about trust maternity concerns

The Care Quality Commission has admitted it did know about concerns over the death of a baby at a trust being investigated for serious maternity failures after initially denying it had been informed.

Baby Harriet Hawkins died during her mother’s six-day labour at Nottingham City Hospital in 2016 following a series of mistakes by hospital staff. 

Last year, the CQC launched an independent external review after Harriet’s parents Sarah and Jack claimed a right of reply statement provided by the regulator to the ITV documentary Maternity: Broken Trust was “dishonest”.

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Source: HSJ, 28 November 2025

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Women 'traumatised' by breast cancer treatment at NHS trust

Breast cancer patients suffered unnecessary mastectomies, delayed diagnoses and a lack of compassionate care at an NHS Trust in north-east England, the BBC has learned.

More than 200 cases are now being investigated at County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust (CDDFT) - 43 of these are reported to involve significant harm. One death is also being examined.

Women have told the BBC that they were left feeling "butchered" by surgery, while a leading expert says that what went on at the trust was "a textbook example of how not to carry out breast cancer management".

In addition, the BBC discovered that nearly £6m was paid out by the trust to clinics run privately by its main breast cancer surgeon.

In total, medical records of nearly 1,600 patients treated since 2023 are now being examined following concerns about the service the trust offered.

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Source: BBC News, 28 November 2025

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Call for medical notes alert for maternity scandal families

When Kayleigh Griffiths lost her baby daughter, Pippa, in 2016 through maternity failings in Shropshire, she had no idea how many times she would have to retell her traumatic story at future medical appointments.

She has worked to get a so-called "Ockenden alert" on her medical notes – an idea which came out of meetings with other traumatised families.

Donna Ockenden is the senior midwife who led the 2022 review which found more than 200 babies and nine mothers in Shropshire could have survived with better care.

Mrs Grifiths wants the alert to be offered to more affected families, and eventually to people nationally.

She said it meant health workers "can see that alert and have a look at what that means for us".

"And it might just mean that they take a bit of extra time to read our notes, to understand what our history is, so that we don't have to keep going over that same story at every single appointment because it is retraumatising," she added.

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Source: BBC News, 28 November 2025

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