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Young care leavers in England to get free prescriptions, dental and eye services

Young people leaving care in England will receive free prescriptions, and dental and eye services up to their 25th birthday, the government has said.

A pilot to trial paid internships for care leavers in the NHS and a guaranteed interview scheme for NHS roles also forms part of a package of measures announced by the Department of Health and Social Care.

A separate three-year pilot aims to improve access to mental health support for children in care, the DHSC said.

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Source: Guardian, 23 December 2025 

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Government refuses move to force industry to disclose payments

The government has rejected calls for legislation requiring industry to disclose its payments to the healthcare sector, five years after a major review said statutory rules should be introduced.

It will produce guidance for both the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries instead, it has announced in a new consultation outcome document. This will set out which payments should be reported, as well as the format and frequency of the reporting.

This was one of the recommendations from the 2020 Cumberlege Review, which investigated three women’s health scandals. It found transparency of payments in the healthcare sector was needed to guard against both real and perceived conflicts of interest. There was concern that such conflicts could be encouraging the use of unsafe devices and practices.

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Source: Health Service Journal, 19 December 2025

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Trust takes control of ‘toxic’ service at ‘under siege’ neighbour

A small hospital’s general surgery service is being taken over by a neighbour, after a review found “unacceptable” care standards and reported concerns about a “toxic culture”.

The Royal College of Surgeons review, published today, said staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn (QEHKL) Foundation Trust service also reported a “real disconnect between [the trust’s] senior management and the ground”.

In response, the trust has said the QEHKL service will now be overseen by Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals FT’s general surgery team, under “mandated support arrangements in preparation for establishing a shared service”.

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Source: Health Service Journal, 18 December 2025

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Long waits and ‘unacceptable’ lack of data at NHS gender clinics in England, review finds

Doctors treating vulnerable patients with gender dysphoria have no way of assessing whether the NHS treatment provided has worked because outcomes are not systematically recorded, a damning official inquiry into the clinics has found.

Waiting times for a first appointment at NHS adult gender dysphoria clinics (GDCs) in England are projected to reach 15 years unless there are improvements, the review found. The number of people seeking treatment is rising significantly and on average patients are already waiting five years and seven months for a first assessment.

The review conducted by Dr David Levy, an NHS medical director and cancer specialist, was commissioned after last year’s Cass report on gender care for children and young people.

His report found that the clinics’ failure to study outcomes for their patients made it impossible to judge the safety of these services. Long waiting lists were also leading to safety issues, driving people to self-source hormone drugs from high-risk online providers abroad.

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Source: The Guardian, 18 December 2025.

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Lack of shared patient records linked to mother’s death

The lack of a single patient record across a system led to failures in information sharing, which contributed to a mother’s death, a coroner has concluded.

According to a Prevention of Future Deaths notice, providers across Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board involved in the care of Hannah Booth, who died by suicide in January 2025, did not have the “whole picture” of her mental health deterioration because electronic systems used by different services did not share data.

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Source: Health Service Journal, 19 December 2025

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Leaked report reveals culture of bullying and harassment at scandal-hit NHS hospital

A culture of systemic bullying and harassment has been allowed to flourish among staff at one England’s most scandal-hit hospitals, a damning leaked report reveals.

The safety of patients at Blackpool Victoria hospital was affected as a result of the failings, the report by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) found.

The report was provided to leaders at the Blackpool teaching hospitals NHS trust in January but its findings were not shared widely with staff until 10 months later, prompting concerns that employees’ ability to take urgent action on its 19 recommendations was compromised.

Staff who spoke to the RCP inquiry team said that excessive workloads were handed to inexperienced doctors, leaving them fatigued and stressed while treating patients. They described a “keeping your head down culture” where their concerns were inadequately addressed. Consultants said that there was “systemic bullying, harassment and racial discrimination among staff”.

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Source: The Guardian, 3 December 2025

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Large Language Models hallucinate when removing patient info from EPR, finds study

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools sometimes produce hallucinations when asked to remove personal patient information from electronic patient records (EPRs), a study has found.

Researchers from the University of Oxford evaluated the ability of large language models (LLMs) and purpose-built software tools to detect and remove patient names, dates, medical record numbers, and other identifiers from real-world records, without altering clinical content.

The study, published by iScience on 9 December 2025, found that smaller LLMs frequently over-redacted or produced hallucinatory content, in which erroneous text not present in the original record was shown, or occasionally introducing fabricated medical details.

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Source: Digital Health, 18 December 2025.

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Staff left suicidal by ‘punitive’ and drawn-out HR investigations

Investigations into workplace conflict and alleged misconduct are frequently being used as punishment across the NHS, leaving staff feeling suicidal and alienated, according to findings shared with Health Service Journal.

Failings in probes carried out by NHS employers internally, and commissioned from external companies, are exposed in Investigating the Investigators, a report by workforce culture expert Roger Kline.

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Source: Health Service Journal, 17 December 2025

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Key themes emerging from our ‘Speaking up for patient safety’ interview series

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NHSE cracks down on ‘variable’ testing after C difficile rise

NHS England is introducing new infection diagnosis standards, which experts told Health Service Journal reflected a “real concern” about variation between providers.

A draft document on proposed changes to the NHS Standard Contract 2026-27 says adherence to national guidance on diarrhoea sampling and testing for C difficile was currently “variable” across providers, while NHSE has also warned about variation in service delivery and outcomes for blood culture pathways.

It comes amid national concern over the rising numbers of infections caused by C difficile, a type of bacteria which can cause diarrhoea, with cases reaching a 13-year high in 2024 and experts warning they could rise again.

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Source: Health Service Journal, 18 December 2025

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Patients left stranded and forced to take public transport to hospital appointments

Patients with mobility issues have been left stranded with no way of getting to and from their hospital appointments, according to a review.

Every weekday, more than 20,000 people use NHS non-emergency patient transport services to get to appointments, operations and services such as dialysis.

But a review by Healthwatch, the patient watchdog, revealed transport services across the country are sometimes cancelled at the last minute or patients are told they do not meet the requirements for transport.

Wheelchair user John Nye told The Independent he had to pay almost £100 for a wheelchair accessible taxi to get to and from his operation in June. The appointment was at 7am but patient transport was unable to take him before 8.30am.

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Source: The Independent, 17 December 2025

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Managers ‘felt pressured and bullied’ in overcrowded ED

Managers in a major emergency department felt “pressured and bullied not to disclose difficulties” and were left to manage “extreme risk” including avoidable deaths, the Care Quality Commission has reported.

The CQC warned University Hospitals Sussex Foundation Trust it could face enforcement action over concerns about overcrowding and the use of “escalation areas” for emergency care at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

In a report issued today, the hospital’s emergency care was rated “requires improvement” overall, but “inadequate” for safety. It was based on an inspection in February, prompted by concerns raised with the CQC.

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Source: HSJ, 17 December 2025

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‘High risk’ patients waiting years for struggling service

Several reviews are under way of a hospital’s struggling ophthalmology service, after it reported backlogs of hundreds of patients at high risk of harm.

Concerns have repeatedly been raised at George Eliot Hospital Trust about clinical practice and safety for optometry and glaucoma patients, according to several board papers issued over recent months.

The ophthalmology service was taken back into the trust’s direct control five years ago, having previously been outsourced to private provider Newmedica from 2012.

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Source: HSJ, 17 December 2017

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Doctors start five-day strike as hospital bosses warn of disruption

Patients are being told to expect disruption as doctors start their five-day strike in England, with NHS bosses saying they are struggling to keep as many services going as they have done in recent walkouts.

NHS England said with a wave of flu placing pressure on hospitals, non-urgent services would be affected by the strike, which began at 07:00 Wednesday.

This is the 14th walkout by resident doctors, the new name for junior doctors, in the long-running pay dispute.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the strike had been timed to inflict most damage on the NHS and put patients at risk, but the British Medical Association said it would work with NHS bosses to ensure safety.

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Source: BBC News, 17 December 2025

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Dentists in England to be paid more for emergency NHS appointments

Dentists in England will be paid more to ensure patients have easier access to emergency appointments under government plans, but experts have expressed doubt that it will improve care.

The changes, which will be introduced from April next year, will include dentists being incentivised to provide emergency and complex treatments through the introduction of a standardised payment package, ministers said.

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Source: Guardian, 16 December 2025

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FDP AI tool at centre of regulatory row

A federated data platform AI discharge tool hailed as “potentially transformational” by Wes Streeting is at the centre of a spiralling regulatory row, HSJ  can reveal.

The main concerns centre around whether the tool had been classified as a medical device by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, given that it was generating patient discharge summaries that, if incorrect, could impact continuity of care.

There have also been concerns about the information governance implications of using patient data to develop and validate the tool and whether this was being considered as direct care.

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Source: HSJ, 15 December 2025

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People pulling own teeth due to lack of urgent NHS dental care in England, watchdog finds

People needing emergency dental care in England are being denied help from the NHS despite guidance saying that it should be available, in some cases resorting to risky self-treatment such as pulling out their own teeth, the patient watchdog has found.

Patients who experience a sudden dental crisis such as a broken tooth, abscess or severe tooth pain are meant to be able to get help from their dentist or by calling NHS 111.

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Source: Guardian, 15 December 2025

 

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'More victims in NHS child abuse probe' - police

*Warning - this story contains distressing content and references to alleged child abuse

Police investigating historical child abuse at two former NHS mental health units in West Sussex say they have spoken to 12 alleged victims – and believe there are more.

One former patient, aged nine at the time, says he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a member of staff at Larchwood and Colwood in Haywards Heath.

Christopher – not his real name – said the first alleged attack happened in the late 1970s after the staff member lured him outside to pick flowers for his mum.

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Source: BBC News, 15 December 2025

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Mum's 'life sentence of pain' after death of nine-year-old son

Three years after the tragic death of her nine-year-old son Dylan, Corinne Cope continues to campaign for changes she believes could prevent other families experiencing avoidable harm and loss.

Dylan Cope, from Newport, died on December 14, 2022 after developing sepsis caused by a perforated appendix - a condition considered extremely high risk and life-threatening. He had been taken to A&E eight days earlier with abdominal pain, after being referred by a GP who noted "query appendicitis", a note that was not read by hospital staff.

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Source: Wales online, 14 December 2025

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Seeking better sepsis awareness in Wales (a film by Corinne and Laurence Cope)

Destructive investigations: our experience of the investigation into our son's death

 

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Risk to women of severe bleeding after giving birth at five-year high in England

The risk of women in England suffering severe bleeding after giving birth has risen to its highest level for five years, prompting fresh concern about NHS maternity care.

The rate at which mothers in England experience postpartum haemorrhage has increased from 27 per 1,000 births in 2020 to 32 per 1,000 this year, a rise of 19%.

Last year had the largest number of incidents of postpartum haemorrhage in the five years since records began – 16,780 – despite the number of births falling in recent years, NHS England figures analysed by the Liberal Democrats also reveal.

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Source: Guardian, 13 December 2025

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Patients’ safety tsar raises alarm over spate of sexual assaults in Scots hospitals

Scotland’s Patient Safety Commissioner has expressed deep concern over new figures which suggest around 1,000 sexual assaults and rapes have taken place in Scottish hospitals in the last five years.

A study by the Women’s Rights Network Scotland (WRNS) found almost 300 sexual assaults and rapes were logged by police between 2019-2024, with more than half on hospital wards.

But the group concluded that as only 29% of hospitals are reporting cases to Police Scotland, the true number is likely to be closer to 1,000 attacks.

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Source: The Sunday Post, 15 December 2025

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Inquiry to be held into north-east England NHS trust after patient deaths

A public inquiry will be held into the failures of a north-east NHS foundation after the deaths of several patients, Wes Streeting has confirmed.

The health secretary made the announcement in Darlington, speaking to the families of patients who died while receiving treatment from hospitals run by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS foundation trust, which is headquartered in the County Durham town.

The inquiry will look into the number of the trust’s patients who took their own lives in the past decade, which the Department of Health and Social Care called “concerning”.

Three of the people known to have died while under the trust’s care were the 17-year-olds Nadia Sharif and Christie Harnett, who killed themselves at West Lane hospital in Middlesbrough in June and August 2019 respectively, and 18-year-old Emily Moore, who died in February 2020 after a week at Lanchester Road hospital in County Durham.

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Source: The Guardian, 11 December 2025.

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FDA intends to put its most serious warning on Covid vaccines, sources say

The US Food and Drug Administration intends to put a “black box” warning on Covid-19 vaccines, according to two people familiar with the agency’s plans.

A boxed warning, which appears at the top of prescribing information for medicines, is the agency’s most serious, designed to warn about risks such as death or life-threatening or disabling reactions that should be weighed against the intervention’s benefits. They can also be used when a risk might be lowered by using a medicine in a targeted way, such as only in certain groups.

Boxed warnings on opioids, for example, warn about risks of abuse, addiction, overdose and death. The acne medication Accutane carried a warning about the risks of birth defects when used during pregnancy. ACAM2000, a smallpox and mpox vaccine, has a warning about complications such as heart inflammation and encephalitis.

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Source: CNN, 12 December 2025

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Flu surge a challenge for NHS 'unlike any' since pandemic, Streeting says

A surge in flu cases will present the NHS with a challenge "unlike any it has seen since the pandemic", Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said.

Writing in the Times, Streeting said the NHS was in a "precarious situation", and warned that next week's planned strikes by resident doctors could be the "Jenga piece that collapses the tower".

The number of patients in hospital with influenza has risen more than 50% in the past week, with officials warning there is still no sign of it peaking yet.

In the week up to Sunday there were 2,660 flu cases a day on average in hospital, which NHS England said was the equivalent of having three hospitals full of flu patients.

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Source: BBC News, 11 December 2025

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Initiative launched for the safe use of agentic AI in health and care

An initiative called TrustX has been launched to help verify, deploy, and test agentic AI for use across the NHS and social care.

It aims to support the government’s NHS 10 year health plan, which calls for the large-scale adoption of AI tools, including technology to support diagnosis, automation of admin tasks, predicting demand for services, and ambient voice agents for tasks such as note-taking.

TrustX aims to address the risk of bias, potential errors and misinformation from AI agents by evaluating how they behave in real-world situations, interact with other technologies and data sources, and how they may change over time.

The initiative is being run in partnership between Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS), the University of Cambridge’s Trustworthy AI Lab, the Responsible AI Institute and The King’s Fund.

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Source: Digital Health, 11 December 2025

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Ministerial power grab could ‘undermine NICE independence’

The government plans to take direct control of the cost effectiveness thresholds used by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), in an unprecedented move its own impact assessment says could “undermine the independence” of the standards setting organisation.

The government also wants to ensure ministerial instructions to NICE do not need to be consulted on first.

These potential options have been raised in a new government consultation on changing the regulations under which NICE operates. 

Read full article (paywalled).

Source: Health Service Journal, 10 December 2025.

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