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Medical training in England needs major overhaul, says landmark review

Training bottlenecks are leaving many resident doctors without a job and must be “urgently” tackled as part of an overhaul of postgraduate medical training, a landmark NHS review recommends.

Competition ratios “are now too high” in many specialties, causing major bottlenecks in training that “do not benefit anyone,” the report from England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty and former national medical director Stephen Powis concludes.

The “diagnostic” report is the first phase of a review representing the biggest overhaul of postgraduate medical training in England for more than 15 years. It was ordered in February in response to grievances from resident doctors about the current training process.

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Source: BMJ News, 24 October 2025

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Private hospitals carrying out more NHS appointments and procedures

The number of NHS appointments, tests and operations delivered by private hospitals and clinics has increased by almost 500,000 this year, now totalling 6.15 million.

Health secretary Wes Streeting said the policy tackles a “two-tier” system by cutting waiting times and ensuring prompt treatment for NHS patients in England. Private providers report delivering around 10 per cent of elective NHS activity.

Between August 2024 and September 2025 they conducted an average of 19,000 surgical procedures and 100,000 outpatient appointments every week, treating more than 1.1 million people.

Mr Streeting said: “I’ll do everything I can to get NHS patients treated faster, free at the point of use.

“This is a principled, progressive position, not just a pragmatic one.

“We’re not prepared to continue two-tier healthcare, when those who can afford it get treated on time, and those who can’t are left behind. Wealth shouldn’t determine health.”

Using spare capacity in the private sector is key to the government’s target of ensuring that 92 per cent of patients in England should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment.

Other measures to cut waiting lists include the use of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and carrying out more surgical procedures on evenings and weekends.

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Source: The Independent, 25 October 2025

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Medics need training after patient died - coroner

More training is needed for hospital staff after a patient died from "a catastrophic and unsurvivable brain injury" following surgery, a coroner said.

It comes after patient John Rust, who had undergone a heart operation at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, died after a catheter leaked, Birmingham and Solihull's coroner Adam Hodson heard.

In the wake of the case, Mr Hodson has written in a report that all staff using cerebrospinal fluid drains, which the catheter was used for, should be "adequately trained" in their use.

The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which has been asked to respond to the coroner by 15 December, said it had introduced extra safety measures.

The inquest heard Mr Rust had been admitted to the hospital on 25 March this year, for an elective thoracic aortic replacement.

It led to a cerebrospinal fluid catheter being inserted to minimise post-operative risks of paraplegia, Mr Hodson was told.

On 27 March, Mr Rust underwent surgery and was taken to an intensive care ward, where concerns were raised the drain was leaking, but the coroner said they were not acted upon.

The inquest concluded this caused him to suffer the major brain injury, and he died on 29 March.

In his Prevention of Future Deaths report, which was sent to the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, the coroner said: "In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken."

He recommended that all clinical staff who use the cerebrospinal fluid catheter "must have completed adequate training to ensure that they are familiar with the functionality of the device prior to use".

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Source: BBC News, 24 October 2025

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NHS App to become default patient communication channel

The NHS App should be the main channel for all types of patient communication by the start of 2029, new national guidance has stated. 

The medium-term planning framework published by NHS England today places the app at centre of its plans for patient triage, appointment booking and all other forms of communication.

The document said the rules “set the scene” for “a crucial new principle that services should be delivered digitally as the default wherever possible”.

The guidance insists the service must “move to a unified access model, using AI-assisted triage, that can effectively guide patients to self-care or to the appropriate care setting, through a single user interface delivered via the NHS App but with an integrated telephony and in-person offering”.

Providers are also told to “fully adopt all existing NHS App capabilities as a priority” over the next three years. This includes ensuring patients can manage their medicines, view waiting times and make appointments via the NHS App.

Patient-initiated follow-ups (PIFU) pathways in which patients trigger their own appointments should also be integrated with the app no later than 2028-29.

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Source: HSJ, 24 October 2025

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Inside looming NHS winter crisis as hospitals face ‘armageddon’

As hospital beds fill up, seriously sick patients are sent to makeshift wards – cupboards, offices and corridors – to be treated by a doctor. Others are left languishing in waiting rooms, sometimes for days on end. In one particularly hard-hit hospital, a Costa Coffee cafe is turned into an emergency ward as medics struggle to cope with rising demand.

It’s only October, yet the picture across NHS wards up and down the country is one of concern, with medics telling The Independent they fear a winter crisis on a scale only seen at the height of the pandemic. One A&E consultant warns the health service is facing something akin to “armageddon”.

Every year, the NHS is under huge pressure at winter – a result of longstanding problems, including under-funding and an ageing population. But hospitals are already battling an “astonishing” number of flu and Covid patients this year, in part due to a “hugely concerning” early flu season, alongside a surge in A&E demand and staffing cuts.

On Tuesday, health secretary Wes Streeting admitted the NHS faces a “challenging” winter but insisted it was “already running hot” ahead of the season. But top medics have told The Independent that the government has failed to adequately plan for a potentially devastating few months.

Dr Vicky Price, president of the Society of Acute Medicine, told The Independent: “This winter, I’m more scared than I’ve ever been. We are in a state of dread going into these winter months.”

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Source: The Independent, 25 October 2025

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Warning of ‘future deaths’ as repeated governance failures are revealed at major trust

A “failure of governance” has been identified by two coroners investigating deaths at the same major London teaching trust.   

Both coroners discovered that Barts Health Trust did not carry out patient safety investigations into cases that raised serious concerns.

HSJ has uncovered at least five Prevention of Future Deaths reports issued in the past year which highlight patient safety reporting issues at Barts. Some of the patients involved suffered harm caused by medical treatment which contributed to their deaths.

The service is in the process of rolling out NHS England’s new “patient safety incident response framework” (PSIRF). This is leading to fewer incidents needing a full investigation and, as a result, some trusts are having to carry out additional work to meet the needs of coroners.

The most recent coroner’s report said “senior governance staff at the trust still do not understand NHS England guidance on what should trigger a patient safety investigation”. It warned “future deaths may follow”.

That report covered the death of 82-year-old Mohammad Asghar in September 2024. The inquest heard Mr Asghar died from cardiac arrest and excessive bleeding from the bladder after a catheter was wrongly inserted.

The coroner’s report said no patient safety investigation was carried out despite concerns being raised by a medical examiner and “express direction from this court for the case to be reviewed”.

It added: “A failure in governance at the trust meant that this case was not identified as an incident worthy of investigation through the Patient Safety Framework. This omission gives rise to a concern that future deaths may follow due to an inability on the part of the trust to identify, reflect upon, and remediate sub-optimal practice.”

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Source: HSJ, 27 October 2025

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NHS needs up to £3bn extra to avoid cuts, health leaders warn

Health leaders are warning that NHS services and jobs in England will have to be cut unless up to £3bn more in funding is allocated to cover unexpected costs.

The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, representing trusts and other health organisations, said in a joint statement that the cost of covering redundancies and strikes, along with paying more for medicines, was not included in the budget this year and will need extra cash from the Chancellor.

Talks between the Department of Health and the Treasury are ongoing, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has confirmed.

Responding to the statement, the Department of Health said the government was committed to "properly funding" the NHS.

Cuts to NHS services and jobs could mean fewer tests, appointments and operations being carried out.

Senior managers say that demands from the government for significant job cuts in regional health boards and NHS trusts have been made without any promise of extra funding to cover at least £1bn of redundancy payments.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: "The threat from un-budgeted redundancy payments, higher drug prices and renewed industrial action risks derailing progress on key waiting time targets and the wider reforms that are essential to getting the NHS back on track."

Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: "Redundancies cost money, making it harder to make long-term savings without government support.

"As the government prepares its Budget it's time for an honest assessment and discussion about what the NHS can really achieve this year in these challenging financial circumstances - and about what is 'doable'' to meet ministers' ambitions in their 10-year plan for health."

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Source: BBC News, 27 October 2025

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Racist incidents against UK nurses surge by 55%

The number of reports by nurses of racist incidents at work has risen by 55% over three years, according to analysis by the nursing union.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) expects to receive more than 1,000 calls this year from nurses seeking advice and support after racist incidents in the workplace, compared with almost 700 cases in 2022.

Examples of racist abuse reported to its helpline include a nurse whose annual leave was denied being told by their manager that they should not have come to the UK, and another RCN member being told by a colleague: “I want to remind you that you’re not one of us.”

Other racist incidents reported to the union include a patient and their family repeatedly refusing care from a nurse because they said they didn’t want “people like her” treating them and referring to the nurse as a “slave”. Another member was subjected to racist remarks including being told that you could only see black people’s teeth “when it’s dark”.

Prof Nicola Ranger, the RCN general secretary and chief executive, said it was a “mark of shame” that racist incidents were rising across health and care services.

She said: “Every single ethnic minority nursing professional deserves to go to work without fear of being abused, and employers have a legal duty to ensure workplaces are safe. These findings must refocus minds in the fight against racism.

“If health and care employers fail to make their workplaces a safe environment for nursing staff, it is unsurprising that those same staff leave and their services are [left] less safely staffed.”

The nursing union has urged the government to stop using anti-migrant rhetoric, which it said was putting staff at risk.

Ranger said: “The reality is that our health and social care system only functions because nursing staff of every ethnicity, nationality and faith make it so. We are urging government and politicians of all parties to recognise their role in tackling racism – and that must include an end to the use of anti-migrant rhetoric, which only risks emboldening racist behaviour.”

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Source: The Guardian, 27 October 2025

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NHS trialling rapid blood test to help diagnose sepsis and meningitis in children

The NHS is trialling a rapid blood test to help diagnose life-threatening conditions in children.

The 15-minute blood test can speed up the diagnosis of illnesses such as sepsis or meningitis by telling medical practitioners whether a patient is suffering from a bacterial or viral infection.

Instead of relying on regular blood test results, which can take several hours and require lab analysis, the test can rapidly indicate whether a patient has a bacterial infection that could benefit from immediate antibiotics.

Doctors who participated in the trial say they have witnessed the benefits. In one case, a child with meningococcal meningitis received treatment much more quickly, and another with sepsis started antibiotics straight away.

NHS England has funded a trial of the technology in three emergency departments: at Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool, St Mary’s hospital in London and Great North children’s hospital in Newcastle.

Dr Ron Daniels, founder and chief medical officer of the UK Sepsis Trust, told the PA news agency the test could save lives.

He said: “A recent national publication suggested that, among the deaths of approximately 500 children each year where infection was present, care was suboptimal in 40% of cases.

“Making the right decision around early antimicrobial prescribing in children who need antibiotics the most has potential to save dozens of young lives every year.”

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Source: The Guardian, 27 October 2025

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Demanding A&E, elective and cancer targets for 2026-27 revealed

Trusts have been told to treat 82% of A&E attendees within four hours next year, and must also hit a slew of other new targets revealed in the latest planning guidance.

The new A&E target set in NHS England’s ‘Medium Term Planning Framework’, which is published today, is a significant step up from the 78% target set for this year. 

The NHS has not achieved 85% against the four hour A&E targets since April 2021 when demand was suppressed during the pandemic. The constitutional standard of 95% has not been hit since 2015. The NHS recorded a performance of 75% against the target last month. 

Children’s A&Es have also been told to return to 95% four hours A&E performance “over the coming months”.

Ambulance trusts have been told to deliver an average category two response time of 25m in 2026-27 – an increase on this year’s target of 30m. 

Trusts have been told to deliver a minimum 7% improvement in the proportion of elective patients seen within 18-weeks, or to achieve a  65% performance if that would be greater. The trusts are required to deliver a minimum of 60% in 2025-26.  The national elective target has been set at 70 %, up from 65% this year.

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Source: HSJ, 24 October 2025

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MHRA raids illegal weight-loss jab production line worth more than £250,000

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has seized more than 2,000 unlicensed weight-loss pens, plus raw chemical ingredients in what it says is “believed to be the largest single seizure of trafficked weight-loss medicines ever recorded by a law enforcement agency worldwide”.

The MHRA has confirmed to The Pharmaceutical Journal that the warehouse in Northampton was raided by officers from the agency’s criminal enforcement unit (CEU), supported by Northamptonshire Police, as part of an operation over the course of two days beginning on 22 October 2025.

Officers found “tens of thousands of empty weight-loss pens ready to be filled, raw chemical ingredients and more than 2,000 unlicensed retatrutide and tirzepatide pens awaiting dispatch to customers”, with the contents of the pens “still being analysed”, it said.

The MHRA explained that the street value of the finished weight-loss products alone is estimated to be more than one-quarter of a million pounds.

Officers also recovered “large amounts of sophisticated packaging and manufacturing equipment”, as well as £20,000 in cash that they suspect to be linked to medicines trafficking, according to the agency. 

The site is the first illicit production facility for weight-loss medicine discovered in the UK.

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Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal, 24 October 2025

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Simple blood tests identify pregnant women at risk of serious complications from high blood pressure in Sierra Leone

Two simple blood tests could help to predict which pregnant women with high blood pressure are at risk of serious complications, including seizures, stillbirth and newborn death, a new study conducted in Sierra Leone has found.

The study is the first to show how such tests, which are simple to perform and give results within 30 minutes, could help to improve safety for mothers and babies in pregnancies affected by high blood pressure in settings where maternity and neonatal care resources are limited.

Led by King’s College London in collaboration with the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital in Sierra Leone and published in Hypertension, the study included 488 pregnant women admitted to hospital with suspected pre-eclampsia – a pregnancy condition that causes high blood pressure and protein in the urine, and can lead to life-threatening complications for mother and baby.

“The tests were very good at ruling out serious problems when results were normal, meaning these women were unlikely to have life-threatening complications. Abnormal test results identified women at higher risk who may need closer monitoring or earlier delivery of the baby,” says Dr Katy Kuhrt, Clinical Research Fellow and Registrar in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Department of Women & Children’s Health at King’s and lead author of the study.

"Our study shows that simple, bedside blood tests could help doctors decide which women need urgent care, improving safety for mothers and babies in pregnancies affected by high blood pressure."

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Source: King's College London, 18 September 2025

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Prostate cancer drug that can halve death risk to be offered to thousands in England

Thousands of men with advanced prostate cancer in England are to be offered a drug that can halve the risk of death.

In guidance published on Friday, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) gave the green light to darolutamide, which attacks the disease by starving cancer cells and has fewer side-effects than existing treatments.

At least 6,000 men a year with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer will get access to the novel treatment, also known as Nubeqa and made by Bayer, on the NHS.

Darolutamide, taken as two tablets twice daily, works by blocking hormones fuelling cancer growth. The treatment is delivered alongside androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), a hormone therapy that lowers testosterone levels.

Data show the treatment combination is better than using ADT alone and is as effective as other combination treatments, according to Nice.

Helen Knight, the director of medicines evaluation at Nice, said: “I’m pleased we can recommend this new combination treatment, which provides another much-needed option for people with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.

“We are determined to ensure that effective treatments such as darolutamide, which can help extend the length and quality of people’s lives, are made available fast to the people who need them.”

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Source: The Guardian, 24 October 2025

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Local health hubs at risk as community services under strain

The government's goal of moving care from hospitals into neighbourhood health hubs is at risk because community services are under too much strain, the health and care regulator says.

In its annual report, the Care Quality Commission said waiting times were too long and staffing too stretched in areas such as mental health, GP care and social care.

The regulator said there was a real risk patients would suffer because these services would not able to cope with the extra demands.

But the government said investment was being made to address the pressures.

It raised a number of concerns about the current state of community services, including:

Long waits for mental health – with a third of adult patients reporting wiats of three months or more between first assessment and treatment, plus signs that waits for children are even worse.

Continued problems accessing GP services – with only half of patients finding it easy to get through on the phone.

A dramatic drop in district nurse numbers – with 50% fewer per person over 65 than there was 14 years ago.

The struggle to get state-funded social care - with the proportion of older people getting help from councils dropping to 3.6%, compared to over 8% 20 years ago.

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Source: BBC News, 24 October 2025

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Resident doctors in England to go on strike for five days next month

Resident doctors in England will strike again next month – the 13th time since 2023 – a decision NHS bosses say is “the last thing the NHS needs”

Hospital chiefs predicted that the stoppage would make it harder for the NHS to manage the increase in winter viruses and hamper its efforts to tackle the 7.4m waiting list backlog.

The British Medical Association (BMA) and Wes Streeting, the health secretary, blamed each other for the five-day strike, from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.

Dr Jack Fletcher, the chair of the BMA’s resident doctors’ committee (RDC), said on Thursday that the strike was a response to Streeting offering only “vague promises” after the union’s “reasonable” demands on pay and career progression.

But the health secretary accused the BMA of making a “preposterous” decision and indulging in “reckless posturing” and “unnecessary strikes” that would harm patients.

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Source: The Guardian, 23 October 2025

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Local systems must ‘comply’ with new medicines access policy

NHS England wants to standardise local drug formulary teams and operations while it develops a single national formulary over the next two years, HSJ  has learned.

The centre wants to bring more consistency to local formulary operations while it works on the SNF, one of the biggest changes to national policy in July’s 10-Year Health Plan, which was exclusively revealed by HSJ.

A formulary is a list of medicines that have been approved for use by the regulator and are considered cost and clinically effective in treating specific conditions. Currently, there are multiple local formularies overseen by prescribing committees.

The SNF will introduce a nationally managed list with the overall aim of driving “rapid and equitable adoption of clinically and cost-effective innovations”, according to a letter seen by HSJ.  NHSE sent the letter to regional and integrated care board chief pharmacists and medical directors last week.

“The SNF will be designed to help address inequity and variation in the use of approved medicines across the country. Whilst local clinicians, including pharmacists, will retain clinical autonomy, they will be encouraged to use products ranked highly in the SNF,” it explained.

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Source: HSJ, 24 October 2025

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Government announces Women's Health Strategy to be renewed

Women across the country will soon benefit from better and more compassionate care as the Women’s Health Strategy is set to be renewed to address longstanding barriers, the government has announced.  

This follows the announcement that menopause questions will be included in the NHS Health Check to better support millions of women.  

The renewed strategy will set out how the government will take the next steps to improve women’s healthcare as part of the 10 Year Health Plan and create a system that listens to women’s experiences and tackles the inequalities they face.  

As part of the renewal, which will be published next year, the government will look to identify specific barriers in access to healthcare and set out concrete action to remove them. 

Opinions from women who contributed to our 10 Year Health Plan consultation - the biggest ever conversation about the future of the NHS - will play a central role in developing this strategy. 

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:   

  • We inherited a broken NHS, and as a result too many women are still subject to a system that doesn’t listen to their experiences or understand their needs.  
  • Whether it’s being passed from one specialist to another for conditions like endometriosis or PCOS, the lack of proper pain relief during procedures, or unacceptable gynaecology waiting lists - it’s clear the system is failing women, and it shouldn’t be happening. 
  • Our renewed strategy will set out our longer-term vision so every woman gets the healthcare she deserves, when she needs it. We’re determined to build an NHS in which women can feel safe and can trust.

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Source: Department of Health and Social Care, 23 October 2025

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Weight-loss drug cuts heart attack risk regardless of kilograms shed, study finds

The weight-loss drug semaglutide cuts the risk of heart attack or stroke regardless of how many kilograms people lose, the largest study of its kind has found.

However, shrinking waist size – a sign of less belly fat – was linked to better heart outcomes, according to the research.

The findings, published in the Lancet, suggest drugs could have wider benefits for patients beyond weight loss so should not be restricted to the most obese patients.

Researchers set out to examine the additional benefits of semaglutide, which is the main ingredient of the weight-loss drug Wegovy.

The select trial, led by University College London (UCL), looked at whether or not people taking the drug went on to suffer a “major adverse cardiac event” – including heart disease deaths, heart attacks or strokes.

Previous analysis of the data found that semaglutide reduced the risk of major adverse cardiac events by 20%. Researchers have now found the benefit was apparent regardless of how much weight people lost while taking the drug.

Academics said the findings suggested there were multiple ways the drug could benefit the heart, rather than the protective effect achieved solely by weight loss alone.

The lead author, Prof John Deanfield, of UCL’s Institute of Cardiovascular Science, said: “Abdominal fat is more dangerous for our cardiovascular health than overall weight and therefore it is not surprising to see a link between reduction in waist size and cardiovascular benefit.

“However, this still leaves two-thirds of the heart benefits of semaglutide unexplained. These findings reframe what we think this medication is doing.

“It is labelled as a weight-loss jab but its benefits for the heart are not directly related to the amount of weight lost – in fact, it is a drug that directly affects heart disease and other diseases of ageing.”

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Source: The Guardian, 22 October 2025

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NHS in Parkinson’s ‘crisis’ as 21,000 could be living with disease undiagnosed

More than 20,000 people across the UK could be living with undiagnosed Parkinson’s disease, a new study has revealed.

The charity Parkinson’s UK warns that a "painfully slow" NHS backlog, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, has left thousands in a state of uncertainty, with some individuals are waiting up to five years to see a neurologist.

The organisation is now urging the NHS to address what it describes as a "diagnosis crisis".

Research by Parkinson's UK, published in the journal Movement Disorders Clinical Practice, used data from more than 18 million primary care records.

It found diagnosis rates dropped by 26% – from 26,000 to 19,300 – between 2019 and 2021 and still have not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

The study suggests that while excess deaths had a small impact on the prevalence of Parkinson’s, the biggest factors affecting diagnosis have been long NHS waiting lists, and access to neurology services.

Caroline Rassell, chief executive of Parkinson’s UK, said: “The painfully long Covid backlog, and slow recovery of neurology services, has left thousands of people with Parkinson’s struggling to be seen.

“Some people are waiting five years to see a neurologist.

“All too often we hear they are bounced between services, in a state of uncertainty, fearing the worst whilst they wait for a diagnosis.

“It’s simply unacceptable and forces those who can afford it, to turn to private healthcare for answers.”

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Source: The Independent, 23 October 2025

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CQC chief quits with ‘immediate effect’

The chief executive of the Care Quality Commission has quit with “immediate effect”, the regulator has announced today.

Sir Julian Hartley confirmed his departure after deciding his role had become “incompatible” with the ongoing independent maternity and neonatal inquiry ongoing at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, examining care provided while he was CEO. 

Arun Chopra, chief inspector of mental health, is planned to assume the role of interim CEO until a permanent successor is appointed, the CQC said in a statement. 

Sir Julian said: “This has been an incredibly difficult decision. However, I feel that my current role as chief executive of CQC has become incompatible with the important conversations happening about care at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, including during the time I was chief executive there. I am so sorry for the fact that some families suffered harm and loss during this time.

“I will be giving whatever support I can to the inquiry into maternity services at Leeds, so families get the transparency and answers that they need and deserve – and I want to avoid my connection with the trust impacting on CQC’s work to rebuild people’s confidence in the regulator.”

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Source: HSJ, 23 October 2025

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Man murdered stranger in Devon park after losing mental health support, inquest hears

A man with mental health issues and a history of making violent threats murdered a woman in a Devon park after falling off a waiting list for a care coordinator, possibly because a health trust’s computer records were compromised by a cyber-attack, an inquest has heard.

If Cameron Davis had been allocated a care coordinator, a multi-agency meeting on him may have been called before he stabbed Lorna England, 74, the senior coroner for Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, Philip Spinney, concluded.

Cameron Davis fatally stabbed Lorna England after warning he would kill a stranger if he was not sectioned. 

Spinney highlighted that on the day of the murder, a mental health nurse tried to contact the police on their non-emergency 101 line to report that Davis was threatening to kill someone. The nurse waited on the line for about two hours before he was disconnected.

The inquest heard that Davis had been known to mental health services in Devon from November 2021.

In January 2023, the month before he murdered England, Davis presented himself at a police station in Exeter and told an officer he would “100%” kill someone. He was taken to hospital but discharged.

On Saturday 18 February, the morning of the killing, he told a paramedic he would kill a “random person” if he was not detained. He was taken back to hospital but again discharged and went on to attack England that afternoon.

The coroner said psychiatric teams had followed the correct procedures in deciding not to detain Davis. But he said: “There was a mistake in 2022 when Mr Davis appeared to be removed from a waiting list. Mr Davis did not have a care coordinator allocated.”

He said: “It is my conclusion that Mr Davis would have greatly benefited from a care coordinator as a single point of contact as would the other agencies involved to share information.

“A care coordinator may have convened a multi-agency meeting after a decline in Mr Davis mental health at the end of January [2023].”

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Source: The Guardian, 22 October 2025

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NHS health checks in England to have questions on menopause for first time

NHS health checks are to include questions about the menopause for the first time, ministers have announced, with millions of women in England expected to benefit.

Adults aged from 40 to 74 who do not have a pre-existing long-term health condition are eligible for an NHS health check every five years. The checks are intended to identify those at higher risk of heart and kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia and stroke.

The checks will also include questions about the menopause, which the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) estimates could help as many as 5 million women. The questions will be written over the next few months and ministers hope the change will take effect from 2026.

The health secretary, Wes Streeting, said the change would give women “the visibility and support they have long been asking for.”

“Women have been suffering in silence for far too long,” he said, and they are “left to navigate menopause alone, with very little support – all because of an outdated health system that fails to acknowledge how serious it can be.

“No one should have to grit their teeth and just get on with what can be debilitating symptoms or be told that it’s simply part of life.”

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Source: The Guardian, 23 October 2025

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‘Troubling’ bid to curb checks for restricted patients

The Government is making a legal bid to curb the need for health and care providers to get council sign-off and oversight when they admit and put restrictions on people with limited mental capacity.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is asking the Supreme Court, in a case brought by the attorney general of Northern Ireland, to set aside a 2014 legal ruling known as “Cheshire West”, which widened the definition of when so-called “deprivation of liberty safeguards” (DoLs) apply.

The move comes at the same time as the DHSC has revealed proposals to reform the DoLs system in England.

A panel of judges this week began considering whether the Northern Ireland minister of health has the power to revise the DoLs code of practice. 

The Cheshire West ruling resulted in a revised two-part test of whether someone is being deprived of their liberty: if they are under continuous supervision and control, and not free to leave.

It applies where a person is deemed to lack mental capacity to decide themselves. Previously there had been no clear definition.

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CQC prosecutes hospital over ‘avoidable harm’

The Care Quality Commission is prosecuting a large hospital trust for an alleged failure to provide safe care and treatment resulting in “avoidable harm”. 

The regulator today said it was launching the prosecution against University Hospitals Sussex Foundation Trust, with a hearing due to take place at Brighton Magistrates Court on Monday.

It said it was bringing the action under regulations 12 (1) and 22 (2) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, which relates to a provider’s responsibility to ensure people receive safe care and treatment, and making it a criminal offence where a breach results in avoidable harm or where a person has been exposed to a significant risk of avoidable harm.

The prosecution relates to a young person who was able to abscond from an acute children’s inpatient ward at Worthing Hospital in 2022.

UHSFT has been under intense scrutiny over recent years and is one of the 12 trusts subject to a government-commissioned investigation into maternity service quality. An independent review also recently uncovered claims of misogyny and sexual harassment reported by female staff members.

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Source: HSJ, 22 October 2025

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‘I’m 43, blind and stuck living in a lockdown with my parents’

A blind man said he is living in a “personal lockdown” after having to move back in with his parents while waiting 18 months for vital support.

David Brookmyre, 43 and from Middlesbrough, had to quit his job and move 50 miles away to live with his parents last summer after the glaucoma he’s had since birth rapidly deteriorated. Now, he is unable to leave the house on his own and go out at night without careful planning.

“It's almost like a bit of a personal lockdown,” he told The Independent. “There’s one route I can take down the road with a bit of care because it’s a quiet path to where I live, but other than that, I need to be walking along with somebody, and this is why I was hoping to get some mobility training.”

Mr Brookmyre is one of thousands of visually impaired people who have been forced to wait for local authority training, known as vision rehabilitation, to help them relearn how to do things and live independently. Experts warn that without timely help, those experiencing sight loss will become isolated from society.

A Freedom of Information request by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) revealed that 20% of local authorities, including the likes of Newcastle upon Tyne, Brighton and Hove, and Croydon in London, have people waiting for more than a year to receive just an initial assessment of the services they need.

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Source: The Independent, 22 October 2025

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