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Pharmacy leaders issue warning over ‘dangerous’ medicine delays

Pharmacy leaders are demanding urgent action to address significant delays in dispensing medication, often caused by widespread shortages.

Under current regulations, pharmacists cannot modify prescriptions, even when stock issues arise.

This restrictive framework means pharmacists cannot offer practical alternatives, such as substituting tablets for capsules, or providing two 10mg doses instead of a single 20mg tablet.

Consequently, patients are frequently forced to visit multiple pharmacies or return to their GP for a new prescription to secure available medication.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has highlighted that these limitations can leave individuals waiting weeks for essential medicines.

The organisation attributes the problem to outdated legislation, which it says prevents pharmacists from supplying suitable alternatives.

The National Pharmacy Association is calling on the Government to change the laws, which have been in place since 1968, to allow pharmacists to make substitutions where a medicine is not in stock, but a safe alternative is.

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Source: The Independent, 16 September 2025

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Charity commits £10m to build ‘neighbourhood’ care with trusts

A charity will invest £10m in a new scheme that aims to shift care from hospitals into the community.

Macmillan Cancer Support has partnered with West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals Trust and non-profit enterprise Social Finance to create what it described as a first-of-its-kind model for neighbourhood health.

The programme will focus on supporting older people with multiple health conditions, including cancer, in South and West Hertfordshire. Around 500 patients will be supported in year one in the Hertfordshire district of Dacorum, 500 more in a different area the following year, and then 1,000 in year three – with the aim of reaching 2,000 patients across four neighbourhoods. 

The initiative, launching in November, has three core elements. The first is a multidisplinary team in the community focusing on preventative care delivered by WHHT’s partner, Central London Community Healthcare Trust; the second a community interest company (CIC) enabling the benefits of reduced hospital spending to be reinvested directly back into neighbourhood teams; and the third a grant-giving enterprise for grassroots organisations to provide additional voluntary support for patients.

Patients will be supported by MDTs including advanced practitioners, GPs, geriatricians, pharmacists, physiotherapists, nurses and Macmillan community workers and support will include medication reviews, home adaptations and links to voluntary sector groups to help patients and their families live active and fulfilling lives.

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Source: HSJ, 17 September 2025

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US health officials to revisit vaccine policies using anti-vax tactics, experts warn

US health officials are reportedly planning to release data on child deaths and serious side effects they would attribute to Covid-19 vaccines, raising alarm among public health experts who say the publicly available data does not support these claims and the report may lead to increased anti-vaccine sentiment.

Independent advisers for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) later this week plan to revisit recommendations for Covid shots as well as vaccines for measles and hepatitis B.

The move is part of a larger effort to cast doubt on vaccines and reduce access to them, said David Gorski, a professor of surgery and oncology at Wayne State University who has tracked anti-vaccine activism for decades.

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is a longtime anti-vaxxer who continues to make sweeping, controversial changes to the US vaccine program, Gorski said.

“RFK Jr wants to take away your vaccines,” he said.

Officials are looking at 25 reports of paediatric deaths following Covid vaccination, apparently stemming from the crowdsourced database known as the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), according to reporting by the Washington Post.

Yet years of data and research show that Covid vaccinations are safe and effective.

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Source: The Guardian, 16 September 2025

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Powerful antipsychotic drugs given to dementia patients outside of guidelines, study finds

New research indicates that individuals living with dementia are being treated with potent antipsychotic medications for periods exceeding recommended guidelines.

The study further suggests that prescribed doses are often higher than advised, and the practice of stopping and then restarting these drugs is "common".

While antipsychotics can help manage the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) advises their use only for severe agitation or distress, and strictly under specialist supervision.

Analysis by experts from University College London (UCL) looked at data from 9,819 people living with dementia aged between 60 and 85, who received their first antipsychotic prescription between 2000 and 2023.

The study found initial treatments lasted seven months, exceeding the Nice guidance of one to three months.

The analysis also showed almost one in five (18%) patients were given an initial prescription higher than the minimum effective dose.

Researchers said the findings, published in the Lancet Psychiatry, “highlight a persistent gap between clinical guidelines and real-world prescribing of antipsychotics in people living with dementia, underscoring the need for interventions that prioritise safety and person-centred dementia care”.

Dr Juan Carlos Bazo-Alvarez, of UCL’s department of primary care and population health, added: “Looking at about two decades of primary care data, we found that many people with dementia remain on antipsychotics longer than guidance recommends, and that stopping and restarting treatment is common.

“These insights from routine records can help clinicians make safer, more person-centred decisions about prescribing and reviewing medication.”

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Source: The Independent, 16 September 2025

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Systemic racism affects maternity care for black women in England, say MPs

Black women in England are still facing poorer outcomes in their maternity care due to systemic racism, alongside failures in leadership and data collection, according to a group of MPs.

Across the UK, black women are more than twice as likely to die in childbirth compared with their white counterparts, while babies born to black mothers are at an increased risk of stillbirth.

A report by the health and social care committee found that these disproportionately poor outcomes in maternity care for black women were due to a combination of factors including systemic failures in accountability and leadership, with black women’s concerns “not taken seriously” due to bias, stereotyping and racist assumptions.

“Safe maternal care for Black women depends on a workforce that listens to, understands and respects their needs,” according to Paulette Hamilton, Labour’s MP for Birmingham Erdington and acting chair of the committee. “Leadership must be effective but it must also be accountable. This report proves that this is not, currently, the case.”

She added that the government’s upcoming investigation into NHS maternity care must be a “turning point” for black women in particular. “In-built structural racism in maternity services repeatedly fails Black women. Acknowledging this and addressing racial disparities in maternal outcomes must be one of the investigation’s core aims,” she added.

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Source: The Guardian, 17 September 2025

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Leaders ‘quick to blame’ at ‘inadequate’ hospital department

Staff have accused leaders of being “quick to find someone to blame” in an inspection that has rated a hospital department “inadequate”.

The Care Quality Commission said it had found systemic cultural issues in the children and young people’s service at Broomfield Hospital, run by Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust, where employees “did not always feel listened to or feel safe to speak up in fear of being targeted or bullied”.

The CQC inspection report said: “Staff at all levels were concerned senior leaders within the trust did not fully understand the demand and pressure on staff and told us drastic change was needed.

“Staff said there was a blame culture when it came to incidents and safety. They told us leaders were quick to find someone to blame without looking at the bigger issues with staffing, capacity and leadership.”

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Source: HSJ, 17 September 2025 

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Cardiff University designated as WHO Collaborating Centre for Patient Safety, Learning and Improvement

Cardiff University’s Division of Population Medicine has been officially designated as the WHO Collaborating Centre for Patient Safety, Learning and Improvement, under the leadership of Professor Andrew Carson-Stevens, Professor of Patient Safety. 

The new Centre’s technical remit is to support WHO in drawing lessons from Member States’ implementation of the “WHO Global patient safety action plan 2021–2030” and supporting WHO’s work on patient safety incident reporting and learning systems. Professor Carson-Stevens and his team have previously supported WHO in producing the most recent “Global patient safety report 2024”. 

Speaking about the designation, Professor Carson-Stevens said, “This is a significant moment for Cardiff University and for global health. Patient safety challenges are universal, but solutions emerge when Member States learn with, from and about each other’s experiences. By working together, guided by the Global patient safety action plan, we can strengthen systems, reduce avoidable harm and ultimately save lives. Our Centre is committed to supporting WHO and its Member States in this shared mission.” 

The Collaborating Centre will be formally launched on World Patient Safety Day (17 September 2025), which this year has a global theme of “Safe care for every newborn and every child”. 

“This collaboration will serve as a force multiplier in our global efforts to improve patient safety. Cardiff University’s WHO Collaborating Centre will play a vital role in strengthening the capacity to learn from patient safety data and incident reports, turning information into meaningful insights and concrete actions. This is essential for countries and health-care facilities working to implement the WHO Global patient safety action plan 2021–2030 and eliminate avoidable harm in health care,” said Dr. Nikhil Prakash Gupta, Responsible Technical Officer for Patient Safety and Quality of Care at WHO.

To reflect the theme of World Patient Safety Day, the launch of the new Centre will highlight recent findings by Cardiff University researchers on the role of parents in protecting children from harm in health-care settings.

A recent study published in the British Journal of General Practice analysed national patient safety incident reports involving children. It revealed that, in nearly 77% of cases, parents took proactive steps, such as identifying medication issues, chasing delayed referrals or raising concerns to protect their children from harm. Parent actions helped avert or reduce harm in more than half of the incidents reviewed.  

The research underscores the vital role parents play as partners in safer care, particularly as children are more vulnerable to health-care-related harm and depend on parents and caregivers to advocate on their behalf. The study calls for greater collaboration between health-care providers and parents to co-design safer systems and improve patient safety outcomes for children. 

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Source: WHO, 15 September 2025

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MHRA and Department for Education embed medicine safety into school curriculum to empower young people

On World Patient Safety Day (17 September), the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is proud to announce a major milestone in its mission to protect public health: for the first time, the importance of medicine safety and how to report side effects of medicines via the Yellow Card scheme is now part of the RSHE statutory guidance for schools in England. 

Working in close partnership with the Department for Education (DfE), the MHRA has successfully embedded this life-saving knowledge into the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) guidance – reaching children and young people in classrooms across the country. 

This bold step puts patient safety into the hands of the next generation, giving them the tools to recognise and report side effects from medicines. 

The curriculum changes are reflected in the statutory guidance, which now links directly to the Yellow Card scheme and a dedicated child-friendly guide tested with over 3,500 children and young people.

The content covers: 

  • What a side effect is.
  • Why it’s important to report problems with medicines.
  • How to submit a Yellow Card report.
  • Who the MHRA are and how they help keep the public safe.

Lawrence Tallon, MHRA Chief Executive, said: 

“This World Patient Safety Day, we’re marking a new era in public health. By equipping young people with knowledge about medicine safety, we’re laying the foundations for a lifetime of safer healthcare. The inclusion of information on how to report side effects via the Yellow Card scheme in schools ensures every child knows that their voice matters in making medicines and devices safer for everyone.” 

Professor Henrietta Hughes, the Patient Safety Commissioner, said: 

“It’s excellent to see Yellow Card reporting on the school curriculum, so more people know how to report possible side effects.  No one knows themselves better than patients and their families.  When we respect and act on what patients say, improved safety from medicines and medical devices will follow.” 

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Source: MHRA, 17 September 2025

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Suicide leading cause of death among new mothers

The NHS needs to do more to prevent suicides among pregnant women and new mothers, a national audit has recommended.

Specialist perinatal mental health teams need to have a leadership role in the care of pregnant women with mental health conditions, the Maternal State of the Nation Report for 2021-23 said. This should include risk assessment, advice and guidance, and rapid onward referral if needed.

The report, published this month, also called for all those caring for pregnant women and new mothers to be aware of any known domestic abuse via flags in their records. In the years covered by the report, 13 women were killed by their partner or former partner, six of whom had previously reported domestic abuse.

Suicide was the leading cause of death for women between six weeks and a year after the end of their pregnancy. According to the 2021-23 audit, 88 women in Britain and Ireland died by suicide while pregnant or within a year, which was more than 50 per cent higher than in 2017-19.

“Women with social and medical complexity require urgent, specialist care and interagency communication to fully appreciate and coordinate all aspects of care,” the report said, highlighting the trauma suffered by the loss of a child, whether through stillbirth, perinatal death or custody proceedings.

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Source: HSJ, 16 September 2025

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Streeting accused of ‘betrayal’ by maternity campaigners

A campaign group representing families involved in maternity failures says its members feel “completely betrayed” by the health and social care secretary, and are calling for greater scrutiny of national NHS decisions.

The Maternity Safety Alliance includes families from several of the 14 trusts that will feature in the investigation confirmed today, as well as some from Nottingham, which is subject to a separate investigation.

The 14 were named today, following Mr Streeting’s announcement of the investigation in June. Some campaigners have welcomed the process, but others remain sceptical and continue to call for a full public inquiry.

In a strongly worded statement, the MSA said the terms of the Amos review had not been co-produced with families as promised. They said they were still in the dark about many details. Wes Streeting has not met with them since the investigation was announced, they said, and letters to him have gone unanswered.

They said that Promises from Mr Streeting about “co-production” have not been carried through, with no consultation over the make-up of the investigation team, final terms of reference not being shared with families and feedback ignored. Families said they have been “gaslit” by government claims that they have been involved, when their views have in fact not been listened to.

Families called for the most serious harms to be focused on, but they feel this has been ignored and there is no mention of deaths caused by negligence in the draft terms seen by the group.

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Source: HSJ, 15 September 2025

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Hillsborough Law will include duty of candour

A long-awaited "Hillsborough Law" bill will force public officials to tell the truth during investigations into major disasters.

The news has been welcomed by campaigners, who had feared the legislation was going to be watered down.

The landmark Public Office (Accountability) Bill will force public bodies to cooperate with investigations into major disasters or potentially face criminal sanctions, as well as provide legal funding to those affected by state-related disasters.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had previously pledged to bring in the law by the 36th anniversary of the tragedy, but Downing Street then said more time was needed to redraft it.

The bill will be introduced to Parliament on Tuesday to begin its journey towards becoming law.

The government has confirmed a new professional and legal "duty of candour" will be part of the bill, meaning public officials would have to act with honesty and integrity at all times and would face criminal sanctions if they breached it.

Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James died at Hillsborough, said she was hopeful the new law "will mean no-one will ever have to suffer like we did".

The government said the new legislation would "end the culture of cover-ups" and learn lessons from wider disasters including the Grenfell Tower fire and the Post Office Horizon and infected blood scandals.

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Source: BBC News, 15 September 2025

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Cost of breast cancer to UK economy set to increase further

The financial burden of breast cancer on the UK economy is projected to surge by nearly a third, reaching £4.2 billion within the next 25 years, according to new analysis.

The charity Breast Cancer Now has issued a stark warning, stating the UK faces "dire consequences" unless decisive action is taken to ensure "everyone an equal chance of the best diagnosis, treatment and care".

A collaborative study by Breast Cancer Now and the think tank Demos estimates that breast cancer is already costing the UK economy between £3.2 billion and £3.5 billion in 2025.

These figures encompass the direct costs to the NHS for diagnosing and treating the disease, alongside the economic impact of lost productivity when patients or their informal carers are unable to return to work.

The report indicates that without intervention, this total could escalate by 31% to £4.2 billion by 2050.

Claire Rowney, chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, commented on the findings, asserting that the report "sets out loud and clear the huge challenges in tackling breast cancer and the dire consequences we’ll face unless urgent action is taken now to save more lives from the disease and give everyone an equal chance of the best diagnosis, treatment and care".

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Source: The Independent, 15 September 2025

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Urgent warning over illegal weight loss jabs ‘not approved for humans’ offered for sale on TikTok

Health experts have issued a warning over the use of illicit weight-loss jabs after The Independent uncovered drugs that have not yet been approved for use being offered for sale on social media.

Retatrutide, or “Reta”, is manufactured by Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical giant behind Mounjaro, which tripled in price in the UK last week, prompting many users to seek out cheaper alternatives.

Retatrutide has been dubbed the “Triple G” of weight-loss drugs because of its unique ability to mimic the actions of three different hormones – GLP-1, glucagon and GIP – which are released after eating and work to reduce appetite, help regulate blood sugar levels and support fat loss. Similar drugs on the market, such as Mounjaro, typically target only two receptors.

The injection is not yet approved for human use and is still undergoing clinical trials, but The Independent has uncovered dozens of accounts on TikTok, Instagram, and X purporting to sell it – despite TikTok and Meta saying such activity is banned on their platforms.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which approves and regulates drugs in the UK, and Eli Lilly have warned that such compounds are illegal and could expose users to “dangerous ingredients that can have serious health consequences”.

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Source: The Independent, 14 September 2025

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‘Unacceptable’ waiting list of up to eight years for NHS gender care, reveals health secretary

Patients needing NHS gender care face a 42,000-long waiting list, with some waits as long as eight years, health secretary Wes Streeting has revealed.

Mr Streeting has vowed to address the “unacceptable” waits for tens of thousands of people needing access to NHS adult gender dysphoria services, The Independent can reveal.

At a speech for the NHS England LGBT+ Health Annual Conference in London on Monday, the health secretary will say: “Evidence shows trans people have higher rates of mental health conditions, including depression, when compared to the general population. Longer wait times only steepen this pain.

“Over 42,000 people are still waiting, often for years, for their first appointment at adult gender dysphoria clinics. That’s 42,000 people who are hurting, anxious, and exhausted.

“This breaks my heart...42,000 or more individuals should not be feeling invisible, misunderstood or unsupported.”

A national review of adult gender dysphoria clinics, led by Dr David Levy, is being carried out following concerns raised by Dr Hilary Cass, who led the Cass Review into gender services, about adult services.

The review is looking into how the services operate, areas of concern, and action being taken to improve services.

In a statement ahead of the pilot announcement, Mr Streeting said: “It is fundamentally wrong that so many LGBT+ people still face challenges when accessing healthcare – including barriers such as discrimination, misunderstanding, and miseducation…

“This pilot marks a major step – acknowledging the unacceptable waits endured by thousands of transgender patients and starting to tackle it head on.”

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Source: The Independent, 15 September 2025

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‘Serious risk of imminent breakdown’ for maternity units, admits NHSE

Many maternity and newborn units are at “serious risk of imminent breakdown”, regularly hit by leaks and floods, and too cramped to provide the necessary care, an official NHS England report admits.

The national survey of all maternity and neonatal services found 42 per cent nationally were “operational” but in need of “major repair or replacement… soon”. Seven per cent were judged to be even worse, at “serious risk of imminent breakdown”.

Around 155 maternity units were surveyed nationally, and a similar number of neonatal services.

The report said doctors and midwives were losing significant time due to the state of buildings, with 14,500 incidents over the past three years, including power outages and faulty nurse call systems. 

The most common issues disrupting services were water, sewerage and drainage issues – such as leaks and flooding – with more than 5,300 such incidents. This was followed by ventilation and heating – where a typical problem is overheating – at 2,913.

The NHSE review said: “The survey findings demonstrate that much of the current maternity and neonatal estate lacks sufficient physical space to operate in accordance with best practice under current activity levels.

“These existing infrastructure issues will be further exacerbated with the trend towards more complex births, requiring larger teams and more specialist equipment, and many women and families staying longer in hospital.”

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Source: HSJ, 12 September 2025

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Three in four English hospitals failing to hit two cancer targets in league tables

Three in four NHS hospital trusts are failing cancer patients, according to the first league tables of their kind, prompting experts to declare a “national emergency”.

Labour published the first league tables to rank hospitals in England since the early 2000s this week. The overall rankings score trusts based on a range of measures including finances and patient safety, as well as how they are bringing down waiting times for operations and in A&E, and improving ambulance response times.

Guardian analysis of the underlying data has found that about three-quarters of trusts are failing to hit either of the two cancer targets in the tables.

Ninety of the 118 trusts (76%) are missing the first target of ruling cancer in or out within 28 days of urgent referrals in at least 80% of cases.

The analysis also reveals that 86 of the 118 trusts (73%) are failing to hit the second cancer target measured in the tables, of starting treatment within 62 days in 75% of patients.

Delaying cancer diagnosis or treatment can lead to worse outcomes for patients, fewer options for tackling the disease, and earlier death. 

Cancer experts said they were alarmed by the Guardian’s findings. Paula Chadwick, the chief executive of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, said: “Three-quarters of NHS hospitals failing to meet cancer targets is nothing short of a national emergency.

“Behind every missed target is a person left waiting, a family left in limbo, and lives put at greater risk because the system simply isn’t moving fast enough. Cancer does not wait. Delays in diagnosis and treatment cost lives – it’s as stark as that.”

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Source: The Guardian, 15 September 2025

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Mothers and babies at risk of harm in ‘toxic’ NHS cover-up culture, health leader to say

Mothers and babies being harmed in the NHS risks becoming normalised because of its toxic cover-up culture, a health leader will say, as it emerged that 14 trusts are the focus of a national maternity investigation in England.

Charles Massey, the chief executive of the General Medical Council, will tell a conference on Monday that “something must have gone badly wrong” when trainee obstetrics and gynaecology doctors are fearful of speaking up.

The “tribal” nature of medicine with doctors and other staff pitted against each other could be preventing people from raising their concerns or admitting when things go wrong, Massey will say.

His stark warning came as the government named 14 NHS trusts that are being examined as part of its rapid inquiry into maternity and neonatal services in England.

They are:

  • Barking, Havering and Redbridge university hospitals NHS trust.
  • Blackpool teaching hospitals NHS foundation trust.
  • Bradford teaching hospitals NHS foundation trust.
  • East Kent hospitals NHS trust.
  • Gloucestershire hospitals NHS foundation trust.
  • Leeds teaching hospitals NHS trust.
  • Oxford university hospitals NHS foundation trust.
  • Sandwell and West Birmingham hospitals NHS trust.
  • Shrewsbury and Telford hospital NHS trust.
  • The Queen Elizabeth hospital, King’s Lynn NHS foundation trust.
  • University hospitals of Leicester NHS trust.
  • University hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS foundation trust.
  • University hospitals Sussex NHS foundation trust.
  • Yeovil district hospital NHS foundation trust/Somerset NHS foundation trust.

The investigation, first announced in June and being led by Valerie Amos, will use lessons learned from previous inquiries to create one “clear set of actions”, in an effort to improve NHS care.

Alongside the investigation, which is due to report preliminary findings in December, a maternity and neonatal taskforce has been set up, chaired by Wes Streeting and made up of experts and bereaved families.

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Source: The Guardian, 15 September 2025

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Campaigners demand action in a rally outside Parliament to mark World Patient Safety Day

Campaigners affected by the medical scandals of pelvic mesh implants, Primodos, and sodium valproate gathered outside Parliament to mark Patient Safety month with a powerful protest demanding justice and reform.

Joined by cross-party MPs from the First Do No Harm All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), the demonstrators called on the Government to fully implement all recommendations of the landmark Cumberlege Review.

The protest (Wednesday 10 September) was led by representatives impacted by the three medical interventions investigated in the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, chaired by Baroness Julia Cumberlege.

The review, published in 2020, exposed systemic failures in patient safety and called for sweeping reform – including of the regulator the MHRA, an independent redress agency, specialist centres for treatment, financial redress and Sunshine legislation to improve transparency of payments from industry to the health sector.

Sharon Hodgson MP, Chair of the First Do No Harm APPG, who has been a vocal advocate for justice for women – including her mam who has been harmed by pelvic mesh, said after the event: “We are now five years on from the Cumberlege Review and over 18 months since the Hughes Report on redress – yet thousands of women and children are still waiting to be heard, acknowledged, and properly cared for. This is not just a delay; it is a systemic failure. Their pain, their stories, and their voices must not be ignored. Women and children deserve to be seen, believed, and supported. Campaigners are right to stand firm because until the Cumberlege recommendations are implemented and justice is truly delivered, the fight must go on.”

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Source: Sling the Mesh, 10 September 2025

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Clinicians’ concerns have held-up outpatient reform, says Mackey

NHS England’s outpatients’ recovery efforts have been stymied by a lack of funding and because “we’ve struggled to get the clinical community uniformly behind it”, Sir Jim Mackey has told MPs.

The NHSE chief executive told a Public Accounts Committee evidence session that national leaders all accepted “we have to do more on outpatients” and revealed that a new outpatient recovery plan was being finalised for next year.

Asked if outpatients should have been more of a focus of NHS resources, Sir Jim said: “Yeah. I think the programme probably was under-resourced at the time.”

He added: “But I think the material issue throughout has been clinical engagement, and we’ve struggled throughout to get the clinical community uniformly behind it. So, once we’ve achieved that, the thing will get resolved.”

He continued: “The big concern that’s prevented us from going really hard at it is the concern about missing clinical risk. So, if we do really sweeping changes without really strong clinical engagement, that [could mean] a patient should have been seen in a follow-up setting and wasn’t and comes to harm. None of us wants that.

“We all agree outpatients is the big untapped thing for us to go at that can be dealt with without a lot of resource, but it’s very complicated.”

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Source: HSJ, 11 September 2025

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Children detained under Mental Health Act held for hours in A&E departments

Children as young as nine detained under the Mental Health Act are spending hours in NHS accident and emergency departments under police control rather than in specialist mental health assessment suites.

The detention under the act of children in England and Wales in police cells was banned in 2017 but a lack of suitable options has led to the use of A&E departments.

Research to be presented at a British Sociological Association conference at Northumbria University on Friday found that 187 nine-to-18-year-olds were detained under the act in a single constituency in the north of England between 2017 and 2021. Three-quarters were taken to A&E, where legally they could wait for up to 24 hours, accompanied by police officers, until they were assessed.

It was mainly children aged 16 and over who were able to access adult facilities who were taken to specialist suites under the care of trained mental health staff.

The author of the research, Dr Jayne Erlam, of Liverpool John Moores University, will tell the conference: “What is clear is that the youngest detained do not gain access to specialist suites and instead are taken to A&E.

“Taking into consideration that the person has been detained because of mental distress, such a public environment under the gaze of others can do nothing to alleviate any distress. The public nature of A&E departments is concerning, and police officers are fiercely against the use of them as a place of safety.

“Shortfalls in health and social care provision increase police contact with persons experiencing mental distress to the point where there is a reliance on policing to bridge gaps and to safeguard people who are at risk of future episodes of acute mental distress.”

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Source: The Guardian, 12 September 2025

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Doctors warn hospitals under pressure as NHS waiting lists rise

Doctors say the NHS is struggling to meet demand in England as new data shows the waiting list for routine treatment increasing for the second month in a row.

An estimated 7.4m planned procedures were waiting to be carried out in July, up 34,000 on the previous month and the highest level since March.

NHS England said many more patients were coming forward for treatment and a doctors' strike in July left 50,000 appointments cancelled.

The Royal College of Surgeons said the system was coming under severe strain and called for more money for new operating theatres in the autumn budget.

"Crumbling hospital buildings are leading surgeons to have to compete for space, directly contributing to delays and leaving patients waiting for the care they need," said the organisation's vice president Prof Frank Smith.

The latest monthly data also showed the number facing very long waits to start routine treatment had increased.

There were 1,429 patients waiting more than 18 months in July, up from 1,103 in June, though down sharply compared to last year.

Routine treatment includes anything booked in advance, from a consultation with a specialist to minor operations or major surgery.

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Source: BBC News, 11 September 2025

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Briton’s top NHS priority revealed amid falling confidence in government’s health service policy

The government’s flagship NHS policy is at odds with what the general public view as a top priority, a new poll suggests.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s “plan for change” pledged that by July 2029, 92% of patients will be seen within 18 weeks for routine hospital treatment such as hip and knee replacements.

But cutting waiting times for routine hospital services ranks only fifth for the public in terms of NHS priorities, the poll suggests.

The public’s top priority for the NHS is making it easier to access GP appointments followed by improving A&E waiting times and reducing the number of staff leaving the NHS, the Health Foundation think tank found.

Researchers found that public confidence in the government’s NHS policies “remains low” after just over half (53 per cent) said they disagree that the government has the right policies for the health service, compared to 16% who agree.

They said that public perceptions of the NHS “remain negative overall” but there are some signs that views are “slowly improving”.

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Source: The Independent, 12 September 2025

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Banking baby teeth: companies may be misleading parents with “outrageous claims”

Parents are spending thousands of pounds to bank stem cells from their children’s milk teeth—but the recipient companies’ claims about their future medical value are unproved and potentially misleading, an investigation by The BMJ has found.

The three UK companies advertising tooth banking services tell parents that milk teeth are a “valuable” source of stem cells, with the ability to repair tissue cells throughout the body. Their claims include that these stem cells are already being used in treatments for autism and diabetes. They also point to current research using stem cells in multiple sclerosis, myocardial infarction, and Parkinson’s disease.

But several experts have told The BMJ that they are concerned about the claims being made, which risk exploiting parents—with the promise of a treatment for autism deemed particularly outrageous.

The BMJ found that the three companies in the UK offering tooth stem cell banking—BioEden, Future Health Biobank, and Stem Project—all operate through one laboratory. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) says it will review concerns we have raised about how the service is promoted on their websites.

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Source: The BMJ, 20 August 2025

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Postcode lottery for new cancer treatments, doctors warn

Senior cancer doctors are warning that excessive red tape means some patients in England are struggling to access the latest cancer treatments.

The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) says bureaucracy is "stifling innovation" and that applying for funding to pay for new treatments can be "cumbersome" for some cancer centres.

It says the situation is leading to an unacceptable postcode lottery with some cutting-edge treatments only available in the larger, better-funded units.

The government says a new cancer strategy, due later this year, will "put the NHS back at the forefront of global cancer care".

Survival rates for many common cancers have been rising, partly driven by new technologies such as immunotherapy drugs and more advanced radiotherapy.

But the body representing both radiologists, who analyse scans and treat patients, and cancer doctors says that NHS bureaucracy means some are missing out on the latest life-saving treatments.

The RCR says that even some well-established advances, such as Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy - or SABR - can still be difficult to access.

SABR is a way of more accurately targeting the disease with a precise dose of high-strength radiation, and is typically used to treat very small tumours in the lungs, liver, lymph nodes and brain.

The RCR says individual cancer units still have to apply to NHS England to fund its use, leading to a postcode lottery where some patients lose out.

"That is inequitable and unjust and not compatible with the National Health Service," says Dr Nicky Thorp, a practising cancer doctor and vice president for clinical oncology at the RCR.

"We would like red tape to be cut and the commissioners to listen to clinicians who really understand the impact on patient care," she added.

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Source: BBC News, 11 September 2025

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Fertility clinics must stop unproven treatments, watchdog warns

Both NHS and private fertility clinics must stop offering unproven treatments that don't help people have children, new official guidelines say.

The draft guidance advises against several popular fertility "add-ons", including so-called endometrial scratches.

These add-ons can "give false hope and put people through unnecessary procedures at an already difficult time", experts at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) say.

They also recommend fertility preservation services such as egg freezing should be more widely available, including to women with severe, recurrent endometriosis.

The guideline committee considered a recent survey by the fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which showed almost three-quarters of people who had had fertility treatment between September and October 2024 had said they were using additional tests or emerging technologies, despite most not being proven to work.

And only 37% of those questioned said the risks of any add-ons had been explained.

The updated draft guidance specifically advises against:

  • intracytoplasmic sperm injection, external (ICSI) for men with healthy semen – where a sperm is directly injected into an egg in a laboratory
  • endometrial scratch – where the lining of the womb is "scratched" with a small sterile plastic tube before IVF
  • hysteroscopy - a fine telescope like instrument is used to visualise the womb, as a pre-treatment to improve IVF outcomes
  • tests on the lining of the womb called endometrial receptivity testing, external, as a suggested add-on before embryo transfer

The guidance says patients must be given all the information necessary about treatments, including how likely they are to be successful and the risks and benefits involved.

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Source: BBC News, 10 September 2025

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