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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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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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