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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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NHSE director resigns, claiming politicians wanted ‘change at the top’

Claire Murdoch, NHS England’s national mental health director for the last nine years, has today resigned “with immediate effect”.

In her resignation letter to Sir Jim Mackey, seen by HSJ, Ms Murdoch said it had become “common knowledge that change at the top is wanted” and that she “could no long lead the sector when the political leadership don’t want to engage with me”.

Ms Murdoch wrote in her letter, which is attached to this article, that since it was ”apparently widely already known” that ministers wanted change that ”I cannot continue to do the job in the way it deserves to be done and it’s best you quickly find someone that you and the political leadership can have confidence in.”

Ms Murdoch’s letter also raises concerns about mental health spending and described maintaining its share of NHS funding as “critical”. She said it “…fell last year and will again this year. It likely will continue to do so over the next 3 years. I hope I am wrong.” HSJ reported earlier this year the proportion the NHS spends on mental health was this year cut for the first time in several years. 

Ms Murdoch said tackling inequalities and reducing the premature mortality of people with serious mental illness remains an area that we have sadly made “insufficient progress on”. More needs to be done she said, “much of which does not require additional investment …. but much of which, absolutely does”.

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Source: HSJ, 11 September 2025

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Stroke patients going to A&E themselves are ‘at higher risk’

A rising number of stroke victims are putting themselves at risk by taking themselves to A&E instead of waiting for an ambulance, a charity has warned.

It comes amid concerns about long waits for an ambulance.

But stroke patients who seek help via 999 have a better chance of getting specialist help, the Stroke Association said.

The charity acknowledged people’s concerns about ambulance wait times, but this is still the “fastest and most efficient way to get the best treatment and care for stroke”.

Certain treatments can reduce the risk of death and long-term disability if they are delivered in a timely way.

But new analysis from the Stroke Association shows that a stroke patient makes their own way to A&E, instead of arriving by ambulance, every 22 minutes across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Overall 26.8% of stroke patients – some 23,491 people – reported making their own arrangements to get to the hospital in 2024/25, according to the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme.

The Stroke Association is encouraging people to call 999 rather than making their own way to A&E, saying this is the fastest way to get specialist stroke treatments.

Paramedics know which units are the best for emergency stroke care – which are not available at all hospitals, it added.

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Source: The Independent, 11 September 2025

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Blackpool hospital neglect contributed to suicide of man who waited 22 hours for help, coroner rules

The death of a 27-year-old man who killed himself in a hospital toilet after waiting 22 hours to be seen by the mental health team was “contributed to by neglect”, a coroner has ruled.

Jamie Pearson was admitted to Blackpool Victoria hospital’s A&E department after taking an overdose of high-strength painkillers on 17 August 2024.

An inquest heard that Pearson should have been seen within four hours by mental health specialists but was deemed low risk and was still waiting 22 hours later when he killed himself in a toilet.

His mother, Julie Knowles, previously told the Guardian her son was “badly failed and let down” by health professionals.

Alan Wilson, the senior coroner for Blackpool and Fylde, concluded on Tuesday that Pearson’s death had been “contributed to by neglect”. He said the cumulative effect of the missed opportunities to provide mental health care “very comfortably” crossed the high threshold required for a finding of neglect.

The inquest heard that the hospital was struggling to manage patient levels at the time, with no medical bed available. This meant Pearson was left in a waiting area overnight and into the following day.

A communication breakdown meant that plans were not made for mental health specialists to see him as a priority, the coroner was told.

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Source: The Guardian, 10 September 2025

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More than half of UK births now involve medical intervention, audit finds

More than half of women having a baby in Britain now do so with the help of medical intervention, an audit of NHS maternity care has revealed.

Of the 592,594 births that took place in 2023, 50.6% involved either a caesarean section or the use of instruments such as forceps or a ventouse suction cup.

The increasing regularity of medical intervention is largely down to the sharp rise in caesarean births, in which the baby is delivered during an operation.

The proportion of babies born that way across England, Scotland and Wales has risen from 25% in 2015-16 to 38.9% in 2023, according to the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit (NMPA).

Dr Shuby Puthussery, an associate professor in maternal and child health at the University of Bedfordshire, said: “It’s worrying that over 50% of births involved medical intervention. But it’s linked to a broader demographic trend.

“We see a rather worrying trend of births to [older] women increasing year by year, along with significant increases in factors such as obesity, maternal diabetes and pre-existing medical conditions, leading to more complex medically assisted births, especially among women from ethnic minority groups and those living in poverty.”

Better access to antenatal care, especially scans, would help detect problems earlier and reduce the risk of mothers needing medical assistance while in labour, she said.

However, Prof Asma Khalil, the vice-president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), disagreed that a caesarean increases the risk faced by women.

“Caesarean births are common and the steady increase isn’t necessarily a cause for concern as long as future services are well-prepared to adapt and ensure they have the right staffing, training and facilities to manage increasingly complex births.

“The caesarean birthrate in England has steadily increased over the past decade. One factor in this is the increasing proportion of pregnancies that are complex.

“We are seeing national rising rates of obesity and people choosing to have children at a later stage in their life, both of which can increase the chance of complications.”

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Source: The Guardian, 11 September 2025

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‘Blizzard’ of NHSE asks is ‘deluging’ trusts, warns chair

Trusts are battling a “blizzard” of new tasks from the centre as officials are “making it up as they go along” in the wake of the 10-Year Health Plan, a chair has complained.

Andrew George, chair of Oxleas Foundation Trust, last week told his board he believed some trusts, NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care were “making it up as they go along to some extent” following major reforms pledged for the health service.

He further said that the “earned autonomy” promised to high-performing trusts in the plan was not yet a reality, with organisations being sent a “deluge” of documents to look through in wake of the 10YHP.

Professor George said the promise that top trusts would “be left to get on with it to carry on performing highly” did not feel like the current reality.

He said: “There’s a deluge of stuff that we are being sent to confirm, to check and to everything else. So at the moment it doesn’t feel like that.”

Professor George added: “Stuff that’s happening at pace is therefore coming as a blizzard and is perhaps not as well thought through as it would be more conventionally done."

Oxleas chief executive Ify Okocha also echoed these sentiments, criticising the pace at which trusts had been asked to come up with five-year plans, as set out in guidance issued by NHS England.

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Source: HSJ, 10 September 2025

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Alzheimer's blood test could 'revolutionise' diagnosis

More than 1,000 people across the UK with suspected dementia are to be offered a blood test for Alzheimer's disease which it is hoped could revolutionise diagnosis of the disease.

The blood test can detect biomarkers for rogue proteins which accumulate in the brains of patients with the condition and will be used in addition to pen and paper cognitive tests, which often misdiagnose it in its early stages.

Scientists leading the trial at University College London believe the blood test will improve the accuracy of diagnosis from 70% to more than 90% and want to see how that helps patients and clinicians.

Patients will be recruited at 20 memory clinics as part of the study, which aims to see how well the test works within the NHS.

The new blood test, which costs around £100, measures a biomarker called p-tau217, which reflects the presence of both proteins.

Previously, the only way to confirm Alzheimer's was by specialist PET brain scans and lumbar punctures to extract cerebrospinal fluid.

However, these "gold standard" tests are not part of routine Alzheimer's diagnosis and only 2% of patients ever receive them.

Professor Fiona Carragher, chief policy and research officer at the Alzheimer's Society, said: "Our recent Lived Experience Survey revealed that only a third of people with dementia felt their experience of the diagnosis process was positive, while many reported being afraid of receiving a diagnosis.

"As a result, too often, dementia is diagnosed late, limiting access to support, treatment and opportunities to plan ahead."

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Source: BBC News, 9 September 2025

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Corridor care ‘new normal’ in England for one in five NHS inpatients

Corridor care has become the new normal in England, experts have said, as a national survey found that one in five patients admitted to hospital had to wait in such settings.

The report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) also found that nearly 10% of patients waited more than 24 hours to be admitted to hospital and 17.5% waited 12 to 24 hours. More than half of all patients waited more than six hours.

Nearly half waited in a treatment bay, but 18% had to wait in a corridor, 31% in a waiting room and 1%, or 361 patients, said they had to wait in a storage room or cupboard in November last year.

The CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, Dr Toli Onon, said trolley waits were regrettable and must not become the norm. She said it was great to see improvements since but that reports of lengthy waits and patients whose health had deteriorated was a real concern.

“Patients should receive safe and effective care in an environment that allows for their privacy and dignity to be protected,” she said. “Corridor care must not become normalised – however, these survey results demonstrate that in some cases the short-term use of temporary escalation spaces to relieve pressure on the ambulance sector is a regrettable reality.”

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Source: The Guardian, 9 September 2025

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‘Neighbourhood’ pioneers revealed

The first wave of 43 areas chosen to take part in the national neighbourhood health implementation programme can be revealed.

The places, which were selected from 141 applications, represent the first cohort of the programme, which invited bids in July.

Successful sites were told in a letter from the national programme leads: “We had an overwhelming response to the programme and received 141 applications (approximately 83 per cent of the number of places in England).

“It has been encouraging to see so many good examples of neighbourhood working across the country and commitment to go further, backed by senior leaders across health, care, the voluntary and community sector and their wider partners.”

The focus of the programme will initially be on improving services for management of people with multiple conditions and complex needs. 

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Source: HSJ, 9 September 2025

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Regional CEOs to ‘manage’ health systems, says NHSE

The CEOs of seven reformed NHS regions are to be made directly responsible for “the success of the health system they manage”, according to the new “blueprint” for their future.

The Model Regional Blueprint, obtained by HSJ,  confirms the regions will cover the same seven areas as the current NHS England regions. As NHSE is abolished, they will become part of the Department of Health and Social Care, rather than independent health authorities. 

The blueprint, drawn up by current regional leaders alongside the DHSC and NHSE, states: “There is a need to strengthen the regional governance and leadership model. Regional CEOs will have responsibility for the success of the health system they manage, with a clear line to the CEOs of provider and commissioner organisations.”

To strengthen regional leadership, the government plans to “create the new role of regional chair with responsibility for supporting the non-executive directors in ICBs and NHS providers in their region to put in place effective governance and operate to the highest standards”. At present, the seven teams are led by a “regional director” and have no chair.

The new chairs will also “provide assurance to the national centre and the public by formulating an independent view on non-executive capability”, according to the blueprint. It adds: “They will be a driver of improvement, not a further structural or bureaucratic layer, and so will not be part of a board, undertake line management or hold operational responsibilities.

“CEO and chair bilateral discussions with providers and commissioners will be particularly crucial in situations where intervention or regulatory levers are required.”

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Source: HSJ, 10 September 2025

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UK ‘falling behind’ when it comes to diabetes diagnosis, study says

The UK is falling behind other high-income countries when it comes to the diagnosis of diabetes, a new study has found.

Just under three-quarters (74.2 per cent) of people with diabetes are estimated to have been diagnosed in the UK, compared with an average of 79.5 per cent for all high-income nations.

In Canada, some 86 per cent of cases have been diagnosed, while diagnosis rates in the US stand at around 82.8 per cent, according to a study comparing the detection and treatment rates of diabetes in countries around the world.

Researchers, led by academics at the University of Washington in Seattle, in the US, estimated that in 2023, some 77.5 per cent of patients aged 15 and over in western European countries had received a diagnosis.

Among western European countries, only Switzerland and France had lower diagnosis rates than the UK.

Researchers pointed out how complications linked to diabetes “can be averted with timely and appropriate diagnosis”.

“We find major gaps in diagnosing, treating, and managing diabetes globally, with substantial variation between countries,” the authors of the report wrote in the journal Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.

“Despite improvements over the past two decades, underdiagnosis and suboptimal glycaemic management of diabetes remain major challenges globally, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries.

“These findings highlight the urgent need for enhanced strategies and capacity building to improve the detection, treatment, and management of diabetes worldwide.”

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Source: The Independent, 8 September 2025

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Best and worst-performing NHS Trusts in England named

New league tables rating the performance of NHS trusts in England have been published for the first time, external, with specialist hospitals taking the top slots.

Number one is Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, followed by the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust and cancer centre the Christie NHS Foundation Trust.

At the bottom is Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, which has had major problems with its buildings because of structural weaknesses and the need for props to hold up ceilings.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the tables would help inform the public and allow them to exercise choice - but trusts have questioned whether they were using the right metrics.

The rankings score NHS trusts on seven different areas including waiting times for operations, cancer treatment, time spent in A&E and ambulance response times.

Their finances are also assessed, and it is possible that a hospital rated highly for clinical care will be marked down if they are running up a larger than expected deficit.

They are then sorted into four categories, the first of which reflecting the best performers and the last listing the worst.

The public will be able to use the league tables check the performance of their local hospital, ambulance service or mental health trust.

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Source: BBC News, 9 September 2025

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Review finds nine infant deaths at trust ‘potentially avoidable’

A trust has apologised after an external review into maternity failures concluded that nine neonatal deaths may have been avoidable.

Gloucestershire Hospitals Foundation Trust announced in 2024 that its board had commissioned external reviews into deaths at its maternity services.

This followed an “inadequate” rating from the Care Quality Commission and a subsequent BBC Panorama investigation which raised concerns over cultural and staffing issues.

The reviews, which examined seven maternal deaths between 2017 and 2023 and 44 neonatal deaths between 2020 and 2023, found that nine of the neonatal deaths warranted further investigation due to “missed opportunities” in care that “could have potentially changed the outcome”.

Concerns included “incomplete risk assessments” during pregnancy, particularly around reduced foetal movements, and “misinterpreting” foetal heartbeat monitoring during labour and “delaying calling for senior review”.

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Source: HSJ, 8 September 2025

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Gap in crisis services risks future deaths

Only 10 integrated care boards have set up a mental health crisis text service, leaving a “gap” in service provision that could risk future deaths, a coroner has warned.

Joanne Kearsley, senior coroner for Manchester North, raised this concern in a Prevention of Future Deaths report relating to 27-year-old Jessica Smithson, who died by suicide last August. 

During the inquest, the coroner discovered that before her death Ms Smithson, who was under the care of Pennine Care Foundation Trust, contacted Shout, a mental health crisis text message service, after making an allegation of sexual assault to Greater Manchester Police.

Ms Kearsley noted that Shout receives 1,500 to 2,000 crisis texts per day and is contacting police forces with, on average, 28 cases per day where there is an immediate risk to life.

The coroner found that the text crisis service did not know Ms Smithson’s name or location but had an arrangement with the Metropolitan Police, who have the power to try to locate anyone who is at “real immediate risk”.

It was found the service did not contact the police but should have done, although Ms Smithson’s death would not have been averted even if contact was made, Ms Kearsley said.

However, Greater Manchester ICB is one of about 30 ICBs which have not commissioned a local crisis text service, and the coroner warned that this created a “gap” across much of the country, which is being filled by more informal services run by charities. These are not connected to local healthcare providers, and have different policies if someone’s life is at risk, resulting in a “lack of consistency”. 

The coroner warned: “As they are not linked into local NHS trusts, [these [providers] have limited ability to understand local mental health NHS pathways or to offer a more co-ordinated response where someone is already under local mental health services.”

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Source: HSJ, 5 September 2025

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Women in UK with polycystic ovarian syndrome facing widespread failures in treatment, report finds

Women living with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) face prolonged delays in diagnosis and limited access to treatment, according to a report by a parliamentary group.

More than a third of women with the condition had to wait longer than four years for a PCOS diagnosis, according to the report, and after diagnosis almost two-fifths (38%) of respondents were not provided with any resources.

Published by the all-party parliamentary group on PCOS, the report consists of oral evidence sessions, a survey of more than 2,000 patients on their experiences, as well as freedom of information requests to all 42 Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in England.

Only 3% of patients with the condition felt supported by healthcare providers, with almost a third (28%) feeling dismissed or not taken seriously.

“PCOS affects one in eight women and those assigned female at birth, yet for too long it has been sidelined in policy, overlooked in funding, and misunderstood in practice,” said Michelle Welsh, Labour MP for Sherwood Forest and chair of the APPG on PCOS. “This report sets out a clear and urgent case for reform. If we are serious about improving women’s health, we must act now to break the cycle,” she said.

Stark inequalities were also highlighted by the report, with women from Black and Asian backgrounds being up to 2.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with the condition, and those from ethnic minority backgrounds more likely to present with more severe symptoms such as insulin resistance.

Dr Itunu Johnson-Sogbetun, GP and founder of the Royal College of GPs’ Women’s Health Special Interest Group, said the report reflected “what many of us with PCOS already know from lived experience: care is fragmented, diagnosis is delayed, and long-term risks are too often ignored.”

She said: “PCOS is a multisystem condition, yet the NHS frequently treats it narrowly as a fertility or gynaecological issue. The report rightly highlights the postcode lottery of care, the lack of national pathways, and the absence of coordinated support for the metabolic, cardiovascular, and psychological complications that come with PCOS.”

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Source: The Guardian, 7 September 2025

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Private menopause tests risk undermining NHS care, doctors say

Expensive, over-the-counter hormone tests for menopause are clinically useless and risk undermining women’s healthcare, senior doctors have warned.

The testing kits, offered by private clinics and available to buy for self-testing, claim to offer tailored insights through measuring hormone levels. But they have been described by experts as misleading and medically unnecessary.

“There are lots of private healthcare and telehealth clinics offering tests and increasing numbers of medically untrained, self-proclaimed ‘experts’ giving advice on social media and podcasts to get these tests done,” said Dr Stephanie Sterry, who recently co-wrote an editorial for the BMJ titled Menopause Misinformation is Harming Care.

“Unfortunately, these tests are not evidence-based,” she added. “They’re not giving us any new information or making treatment more effective. All they are doing is encouraging women to spend hundreds of pounds on tests that don’t make any difference to the treatment they should be given.”

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Source: The Guardian, 7 September 2025

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Spending freeze imposed after NHSE identifies £300m budget hole

The government has ordered a spending freeze and told the NHS to absorb the £300m cost of the most recent resident doctors’ strikes from existing budgets, HSJ  has learned.

The Department of Health and Social Care has told all arm’s-length bodies to pause any uncommitted spending outside a small number of essential priorities, according to an internal NHS England document.

The paper reveals for the first time the estimated £300m bill for July’s industrial action, which it says “cannot be easily covered”.

It says NHSE is also preparing to impose fixed prices for commissioner-funded drugs, and offer “incentives” for local systems to spend less than planned this year, to help “support the overall NHS position”.

The NHSE paper, written by NHSE deputy chief financial officer Nicci Briggs, states: “The resident doctors’ industrial action has introduced extra challenge that cannot be easily covered within the Spending Review settlement. Initial analysis indicates that industrial action has already cost the NHS approximately £300m.

“It is in this context that the DHSC has introduced an admin or programme [resource department expenditure limit] (revenue) spending moratorium with immediate effect… [it] sets out that new, uncommitted spend cannot now go ahead unless it is considered an exception.”

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Source: HSJ, 5 September 2025

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Thousands of opioid deaths missed off official figures

More than 13,000 heroin and opioid deaths have been missed off official statistics in England and Wales, raising concerns about the impact on the government's approach to tackling addiction.

Research from King's College London, shared exclusively with BBC News, found that there were 39,232 opioid-related deaths between 2011 and 2022, more than 50% higher than previously known.

The error has been blamed on the government's official statistics body not having access to correct data and it is understood ministers are now working with coroners to improve the reporting of deaths.

A former senior civil servant said fewer people might have died if drug policies had been based on accurate statistics.

The number of opioid deaths per million people in England and Wales has almost doubled since 2012, but this new study means the scale of the problem is likely to be even greater.

Researchers from the National Programme on Substance Use Mortality at King's used data from coroners' reports to calculate a more accurate estimate of opioid-related deaths.

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Source: BBC News, 16 September 2025

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Calls for halt to mesh surgery after surgeon struck off

Calls are being made for an immediate suspension of rectopexy bowel mesh surgery after the surgeon who pioneered the procedure was struck off.

Bristol surgeon Tony Dixon was removed from the medical register for serious misconduct, including performing unnecessary surgeries and fabricating patient records.

Patient safety campaigners and MPs say there is now growing concern over the credibility of his research, which underpins the procedure used to treat bowel conditions.

Kath Sansom, founder of the patient-led campaign group Sling the Mesh, said: "The government must suspend rectopexy mesh procedures immediately and launch a full review."

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence there are "well‑recognised, serious but infrequent complications" with this type of surgery.

But Ms Sansom said: "Women have suffered horrific complications - pain, mesh erosion where it slices into nearby organs and tissues, nerve damage - and many were never warned.

"Our rectopexy members suffer some of the most horrific life-changing complications, including a high number now living with stoma bags as a result."

Mr Dixon pioneered the LVMR (laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy) procedure and promoted it through a series of studies.

But two separate tribunals found him to have performed operations on five patients without obtaining informed consent and that one of these procedures was not clinically indicated.

They also found that he failed to provide post operative care and to have dishonestly created patient records long after he was involved in their care.

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Source: BBC News, 4 September 2025

 

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