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Public Health Wales and WHO partner to drive digital health equity

The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated Public Health Wales as a collaborating centre for digital health equity.

The partnership will play a key role in shaping WHO’s work on digital health equity and strengthening collaboration and advocacy among regional stakeholders in this area.

As a WHO collaborating centre, Public Health Wales will contribute to technical reviews, research and evidence-gathering to support WHO’s work on digital health equity at regional and global levels.

Key areas of collaboration include supporting the implementation of the regional digital health action plan for the WHO European Region 2023–2030, identifying best practices and guiding inclusive digital health policy development.

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Source: Digital Health, 28 November 2025.

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EPRs pose ‘persistent’ threat to patient safety

Electronic patient record systems pose “persistent” risks to patients and have directly contributed to several incidents of harm, a national safety watchdog has found.

The Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) has today published the findings of its thematic review into patient safety issues associated with EPRs, which examined 112 of its investigations dating from 2018 to May this year.

The review found EPRs have contributed to incidents where patient care was missed, delayed or incorrect, and that the risks were “persistent despite national recommendations and guidance”.

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Source: Health Service Journal, 27 November 2025.

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The new asthma treatment that could ‘transform lives’

A monthly injection could enable severe asthma patients to stop taking daily steroid tablets without affecting their symptoms, a new trial has found.

The drug, Tezepelumab (also known as Tezspir and made by AstraZeneca), works by binding to and blocking a protein that drives airway inflammation.

The injection is recommended as an additional maintenance treatment for patients over 12 when usual medications have not proven effective enough.

It was approved for NHS use by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in 2023.

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Source: The Independent, 27 November 2025.

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NHS trust fined £200k over vulnerable girl's death

An NHS trust has been fined £200,000 for failing to provide "safe care and treatment" for a 16-year-old girl who died on hospital grounds after fleeing her ward.

Ellame Ford-Dunn, from Upper Beeding, West Sussex, died at Worthing Hospital in March 2022 where she had been admitted as a mental health inpatient.

She ran into the grounds of the hospital and was not immediately followed by a nurse because of "confusion" and a lack of appropriate procedure in place, the court heard.

Last month, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust (UHST) pleaded guilty to failing to provide safe care and treatment to Ellame which exposed her to a significant risk of "avoidable harm".

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Source: BBC News, 26 November 2025.

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Baby died from sepsis after mishandled biopsy, inquest hears

A 10 day old baby died of sepsis following a biopsy after doctors gave her the wrong antibiotics, sent her home too early, and failed to get her parents’ informed consent, an inquest has heard.

Willow Rose Courtney-Thompson, who was born prematurely on 12 October 2024, had problems feeding and underwent a suction rectal biopsy at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford to rule out the rare bowel condition Hirschsprung’s disease.

But an inquest heard the procedure was carried out without informed consent from her parents, Joseph and Lauren Courtney-Thompson, who were not made fully aware of its risks and benefits.

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Source: BMJ News, 25 November 2025

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Maternity warning system hit by IT fault

A maternity unit criticised by the Care Quality Commission is battling a high-risk fault in its new electronic patient record system which causes women’s deterioration scores to display incorrectly.

The issue – affecting St George’s University Hospitals Foundation Trust’s implementation of Oracle Health’s iClip Pro – was first identified in June and remains unresolved.

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Source: HSJ, 26 November 2025

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Mum died days after birth after being given 'wrong drug' and sent home twice

A first-time mum died from a bleed on the brain just days after giving birth following "inadequate care" by medics who sent her home twice from hospital, a coroner has ruled. Ilona Kazik, 32, suffered a major obstetric bleed just hours after her first child Antony was born via a planned c-section at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital.

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Source: Mirror, 25 November 2025

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‘Systemic’ failings resulted in avoidable cancer harm

A decade-long pattern of “systemic” leadership and governance failures led to avoidable patient harm in a trust’s breast cancer service, a highly critical review has found.

The review of the service at County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust found “sustained weakness” in the north east provider’s senior leadership and management team between 2012 and 2025.

It was commissioned after concerns were raised about unnecessary mastectomies, excessive surgery, late diagnosis and missed opportunities for treatment, predominantly at the University Hospital of North Durham.

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Source: HSJ, 25 November 2025

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One in five young women unaware folic acid vital for baby's health

One in five young women and half of men are unaware that taking folic acid in pregnancy is vital for a baby's health.

The worrying findings from a YouGov poll suggest many are not being educated about the diet to follow while pregnant.

Experts say folic acid is vital for protecting babies in the womb against spinal defects that can cause paralysis in the legs, poor bladder and bowel control and a risky build-up of fluid in the brain.

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Source: Daily Mail, 23 November 2025

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Music during surgery can reduce need for drugs and help patients recover faster, scientists find

Playing calming instrumental music during surgery can improve patient recovery, a new study says.

The peer-reviewed study was carried out at the Lok Nayak Hospital and Maulana Azad Medical College in India on patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy surgery, the standard keyhole operation to remove the gallbladder.

The research, published in the journal Music and Medicine, was conducted between March 2023 and January 2024, studying 56 patients, aged 18 to 65 years, to reduce anaesthetic requirement and aid in decreasing perioperative stress.

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Source: Independent, 25 November 2025

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More than 100 MPs urge Streeting to approve prostate cancer screening

More than 100 MPs, including Rishi Sunak, have urged Wes Streeting to introduce screening for prostate cancer.

The UK National Screening Committee, a government agency that advises ministers and the NHS about all aspects of screening, will recommend whether men at higher risk of the disease should be offered checks. It is due to write to the health secretary later this week, the Telegraph reported.

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Source: Guardian, 24 November 2025

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Negligence payouts ‘ridiculous’, says minister

The patient safety minister has criticised the “ridiculous” amount the NHS spends on compensation for harm, claiming it sometimes costs more than services themselves.

Baroness Gillian Merron told the Birth Trauma Association national conference today: “We pay out a ridiculous – sorry, I should be careful – of course, people should be compensated. But we’ve got to a system where we are paying out more in compensation than on services… that can’t be right, it’s not sustainable.”

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Source: HSJ, 18 November 2025

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ICB restructure ‘paralysing neighbourhood health’

The restructuring of integrated care boards is leading to faltering progress on neighbourhood health, primary care leaders are reporting.

They said the cuts to ICB roles and resources  – and the distraction for staff as they embark on restructures and mergers – were harming the development of joined-up community services, which form a key part of the government’s 10-Year Health Plan.

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Source: HSJ, 21 November 2025

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Boards must take their responsibility for cyber security more seriously

Cyberattacks keep crippling NHS services not due to missing technology, but predictable board-level governance failures that leave known vulnerabilities unaddressed

The Synnovis ransomware attack in June 2024 cancelled 10,000 appointments and forced hospitals to rely on manual blood-test processing for weeks – cost: £32.7m. Seven years earlier, WannaCry paralysed 80 NHS trusts – cost: £92m.

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Source: HSJ, 21 November 2025

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Bereaved families’ fears over plans for national maternity taskforce

The first details of the government’s new national maternity and neonatal taskforce have emerged in a letter sent to families, reports the New Statesman.

The document confirms the group will be chaired by Wes Streeting MP, with Women’s health minister Baroness Merron as his deputy. The taskforce will have around 15 members in total and be up and running early in the new year. It will be tasked with turning the recommendations from the national maternity and neonatal investigation into a national action plan.

Three of its 15 members will represent families, and each of those voices will be part of a wider “reference group” of 15-20 families. However, some have expressed concerns about the plans as not reflecting feedback sent by bereaved and harmed families back to the government in July.

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Source: The New Statesman (21 November 2025)

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New online GP access rules already risking patient harm, practices warn

New rules that force general practices in England to accept online queries from patients during core working hours are already risking harm to patients and increasing GPs’ workload and stress, a survey indicates.

More than half (55%) of general practices polled in a BMA survey said online consultations were having a negative effect on patient care.

Some 1341 practices responded to the survey, around 22% of England’s total number. Together, those practices represent almost 14 million registered patients.

The Department of Health and Social Care dismissed the data, saying the survey involved a “small minority of GP practices” and did not reflect the national picture.

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Source: BMJ (20 November 2025)

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New jab which could help thousands with rare heart condition approved for NHS use

A new at-home injection has been approved for use on the NHS offering a significant breakthrough for approximately 1,500 individuals in England and Wales living with a rare heart condition.

Vutrisiran will be available for patients suffering from transthyretin amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), a debilitating illness where the liver-produced protein transthyretin misfolds, leading to deposits that stiffen the heart. Without intervention, this progressive condition can tragically culminate in heart failure.

Vutrisiran, sold under the brand name Amvuttra and made by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, works by binding to, and stifling messenger RNA (mRNA) to reduce the amount of transthyretin made by the liver.

The injection, taken every three months by patients in their own home, has been recommended by Nice as a treatment option for some adults with ATTR-CM.

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Source: The Independent (21 November 2025)

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Trust told to open up about ‘maternity scandal’ meeting

A trust under fire for quality and governance failures has been reprimanded by a watchdog for withholding information about a meeting of its senior leaders over maternity failures.

The row relates to a meeting of the CEO, chief medical officer and chief nurse of Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust with the chair and director of corporate governance at Swansea Bay University Health Board in February this year.

Swansea has, like Leeds, been subject to major concerns about maternity and neonatal care failures in recent years, and in the summer was criticised in an independent review.

The online meeting was held weeks after LTHT admitted that the deaths of 56 babies and two mothers may have been preventable, as its maternity and neonatal services came under increased scrutiny.

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Source: Health Service Journal (21 November 2025)

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Barcode errors ‘potentially fatal’, warns patient safety commissioner

Barcode errors on medicines “pose critical patient safety risks” and could have “potentially fatal consequences,” Henrietta Hughes has warned.

The Patient Safety Commissioner for England’s warning comes as a petition has been launched by pharmacists report growing problems with barcode data errors and missing 2D barcodes on UK medicine packs.

The issue has been highlighted by several ‘Class 4 medicines defect notifications’ during 2025 that were linked to barcode or labelling problems, including fexofenadine hydrochloride tablets in August 2025, and simvastatin tablets in July 2025.

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Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal (20 November 2025)

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Poor families of babies brain-damaged at birth given lower payouts than richer parents

Wes Streeting has promised to overturn the “jaw-dropping” and “indefensible” inequality in the NHS compensation scheme for babies brain-damaged at birth that means wealthy parents get higher payouts than poorer families.

The health secretary said he was “determined” to change the system for dealing with clinical negligence in maternity care, which links the level of damages paid to the parents’ income and background.

The existing longstanding compensation scheme includes a payment for future “loss of earnings”, based on what a child might have been expected to earn over the course of their life had they not been harmed at birth.

Under a bizarre anomaly, highlighted by The Observer this month, this is calculated by looking at the child’s background, including their parents’ earnings and education. Other “relevant factors” such as the achievements of their siblings can also be taken into account.

It means that children of wealthy parents can receive higher damages than those from less privileged backgrounds. The largest packages are typically given to the richest families.

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Source: The Observer (20 November 2025)

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Now AI will be used to help NHS doctors spot pre-cancerous growths

NHS doctors will be able to use AI tools to help them spot growths which can turn into bowel cancer after the technology was given the green light for use in the health service.

Growths in the bowel called polyps are not cancerous, but certain types of polyps can develop into cancer if they are not found and removed early. These can be spotted during a camera test to look inside the bowel, known as a colonoscopy.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has conditionally approved five new AI tools, which it said can act as a “second pair of eyes” during these examinations. Nice made the draft recommendations after reviewing evidence which suggests they can help doctors find more polyps during bowel examinations.

The AI technologies can be used in the NHS while more evidence is collected on them over the next four years, Nice said.

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Source: The Independent, 20 November 2025.

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