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Southport attack victim accuses trust of ‘cover up’ over care records breach

Hospital staff inappropriately accessed the medical records of victims of the 2024 mass stabbing at a dance class in Southport, HSJ can reveal.

Three young girls – Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar, and Bebe King – were killed in the attack on 29 July 2024, while 10 others were injured. The perpetrator was jailed for life last year.

Some of the injured were treated at University Hospitals of Liverpool Group. HSJ has learned that a “standard” information access audit carried out by the trust in the days after the incident revealed that 48 staff accessed their records without a good reason. However, this information was not given to the patients involved until this week, following HSJ’s inquiries.

Leanne Lucas survived the Southport attack and was one of UHLG patients whose records were inappropriately accessed.

She told HSJ: “I am absolutely devastated and horrified that my privacy has been invaded when I was at my most vulnerable.  Nothing will take away my gratitude to the staff who saved my life, but 48 people not involved in my care abused their position of trust to access the files of victims who have suffered unspeakable trauma. The decision to keep this from me for almost two years is a new low. I am speaking out as I want this scandal and the attempted cover-up by senior management exposed for what it is.”

The trust denies any attempt at a cover-up. Its board had originally planned to tell those involved about the breach. However, HSJ understands its leadership changed their mind sometime in 2025, after trust directors decided that informing the patients would not be in their best interests, as it risked retraumatising them.

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Source: HSJ, 14 May 2026

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Increase in corridor care ‘haemorrhaging morale’, trust told

Governors at one of the largest trusts in the country have warned that moving patients from beds to chairs to free up space is a risk to staff and public morale.

University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust has been moving patients from beds on wards to trolleys and chairs in corridors for at least the past two months, to make way for patients who need beds after arriving in an ambulance or attending A&E.

However, staff raised concerns during a governors’ meeting last month that it had also begun moving patients from beds in the middle of the night, and in a way that undermined their privacy.

Staff governor Lee Williams said this was “sitting very uneasily with the staff” and “badly affecting morale”.

Mr Williams said: “My big fear is the advances the trust has made in terms of its morale in the clinical areas is going to haemorrhage away.”

He added: “Sometimes the [location] of these temporary escalation spaces is preventing other healthcare professionals providing the care that they would like to in cramped spaces in bays… and relatives are very unhappy with the situation too.”

Another governor, Gerry Moynihan, described the situation as “shocking”. He questioned if patients are being displaced “so that we can have statistics that say we’ve offloaded ambulances quickly”. He said that at Heartlands Hospital, patients were being offloaded “very quickly”.

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Source: HSJ, 14 May 2026

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Rise in sickle cell disease prompts NHS call for more Black blood donors

Demand for blood needed to treat rare disorders such as sickle cell has soared by more than 130% in 10 years, forcing the NHS to ask for more donors to come forward.

Requests for haemoglobin S (HbS)-negative blood, the type most used in blood transfusions for sickle cell anaemia patients, stood at 82,181 units in 2015. But last year, more than 191,000 units were needed, a 132% increase.

HbS is a type of haemoglobin commonly found in people with sickle cell trait and sickle cell disorder. It gives red blood cells a crescent or ‘sickle’ shape, reducing the flexibility of the cells in blood vessels.

The NHS Blood and Transplant service (NHSBT) has highlighted the soaring demand from sickle cell disease patients and has made urgent appeals for Black people to donate. It has about 775,000 blood donors overall, about 21,500 of them of Black or mixed Black ethnicity.

John James, chief executive of the Sickle Cell Society, said: “These figures show an urgent need for more blood donors, especially from Black and brown heritage communities. The blood types most commonly needed for sickle cell patients are more prevalent in people of Black heritage, who remain under-represented in the donor pool.

“That’s why, working in partnership with NHS Blood and Transplant, we’ve developed our Give Blood, Spread Love programme to increase the number of Black-heritage donors. Giving blood is a simple act that can save or improve up to three lives, and for people with sickle cell it can be life-saving.”

The increase in demand has been attributed to a range of factors, including an ageing population, more use of transfusions where all of a patient’s blood is replaced and an increase in numbers from areas where sickle cell is more common. Many sickle cell patients develop antibodies that mean they require very closely matched blood.

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Source: The Guardian, 14 May 2026

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NHS drugs go-ahead offers lifeline to children with rare muscle-wasting disease

Hundreds of children with a rare muscle-wasting disease will be able to receive two drugs that can improve their survival in a move parents hailed as a “lifeline”.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has published final draft guidance recommending that any patient who would benefit can have either drug.

The move means that anyone in England, Wales or Northern Ireland with spinal muscular atrophy will from Thursday be able to get either nusinersen, also known as Spinraza, or risdiplam, also known as Evrysdi, from the NHS.

SMA is a progressive genetic disorder that causes severe muscle weakness and can affect the ability to move, breathe and swallow. Without treatment, patients face devastating consequences including profound disability and reduced life expectancy. Children with the most severe form of SMA – type 1 – usually die before they reach two.

Prof James Palmer, NHS England’s national medical director for specialised services, said: “These lifeline treatments have offered a phenomenal step forward in care for children and families affected by such a debilitating condition and it is fantastic that they will now be available on the NHS in the long term.

“For parents who faced the unimaginable pain of thinking their child would not reach their second birthday, they now have hope of seeing them walk to school and play with their friends, thanks to these lifechanging new therapies.”

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Source: The Guardian, 14 May 2026

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One in seven in UK prefer consulting AI chatbots to seeing doctor, study finds

One in seven people are using AI chatbots for health advice instead of seeing their GP, a UK study has found.

The poll of more than 2,000 people found that – of the 15% turning to chatbots – one in four had done so because of long NHS waiting lists.

The study analysed by researchers at King’s College London revealed the potential risks of using AI for health advice. A fifth of respondents who did so said the technology did not encourage them to seek a professional opinion and a similar proportion said they decided against seeking a consultation because of something an AI chatbot had told them.

The research is the first to quantify the use of AI chatbots for health advice, according to the researchers, and signals how the technology is changing the way people are dealing with health problems.

Prof Graham Lord, the lead author of the study, said growing individual use of chatbots was creating “an unregulated AI healthcare system alongside the NHS”.

He added: “This research underlines the scale and pace at which AI is already shaping how people access healthcare. While the opportunities are significant, it also highlights concerns about safety and accountability.

“When something goes wrong with AI, responsibility is often placed on clinicians, even where they have limited control over how AI tools are introduced. To realise AI’s potential, we need greater transparency about what works, what is safe, how decisions are made and how issues are handled – so staff and patients can feel confident in its use. It is vital we respond to what the public are telling us and ensure we build and maintain trust with them and the AI tools we look to deploy.”

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Source: 13 May 2026

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Trusts expect to miss emergency care target

Four of England’s 10 ambulance trusts are expecting to miss the headline response time target for 2026-27, according to their plans for the year.

Details of trusts’ plans as agreed with their commissioners, collected by HSJ, suggest Category 2 performance could be around 26 minutes 30 seconds nationally, rather than the 25m recovery target.

Recovering response times for Category 2 incidents – which include suspected heart attacks and strokes – has been a key ask from government and NHS England for several years, and has clear targets in the medium-term planning framework.

However, ambulance trusts typically agree their target times each year with integrated care board commissioners and NHSE, based on funding on offer and the expected impact of hospital handover delays, which take crews out of action. They then plan for on-road hours and the staffing needed.

An NHSE spokesperson said: “We have started the year well on track to hit ambitious national targets for category two calls, and we are supporting every ambulance trust to improve their response times and, in some cases, exceed the national target.”

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Source: HSJ, 13 May 2026

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Repairing EPR data errors could cost NHS at least £13.5m in 2026

NHS trusts in England could spend more than £13.5 million in 2026 on correcting data problems that emerge after electronic patient record (EPR) go-lives, according to analysis by healthcare data specialists MBI Health.

The £13.5m estimate is based on MBI Health’s estimate of nine number of major acute trust EPR transitions expected to go live in England during 2026, multiplied by a typical post-go-live data remediation cost of £1.5m per trust.

The figure covers the direct cost of post-go-live remediation work needed to stabilise waiting list data, validate pathways, restore confidence in reporting and help trusts manage waiting lists.

It does not include wider productivity losses, internal staff time, longer-term optimisation costs, delayed benefits, or the impact of any patient safety incidents.

Dr Marc Farr, chair of the NHS Chief Data and Analytical Officer Network, said: “Too often, data experts are brought in too late in EPR programmes, when key decisions have already been made.

“If we want these transformations to succeed, data and analytics leaders need to be at the table from the outset, shaping how systems are designed, implemented and data assured.

“EPRs represent one of the largest digital and data investments NHS organisations will make. When issues emerge after go-live, they can take significant time and resource to resolve, delaying benefits and adding pressure to frontline teams.

“The reality is that many of these challenges originate long before implementation. By prioritising data quality and integrity and readiness early, organisations can reduce risk, avoid disruption, and ensure these programmes deliver the value that patients and staff need.”

The risks of EPR transitions extend beyond remediation costs. A recent national review by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body confirmed that new EPR programmes can contribute to missed, delayed or incorrect patient care due to issues in implementation, usability, training and optimisation.

Helen Hughes, chief executive at Patient Safety Learning, said: “Reliable patient records are fundamental to safe care, and when things go wrong, there is a risk that important clinical details are overlooked or that patients experience delays in their care.

“Investigations into EPR-related incidents have shown that these risks can contribute to situations where patients fall through the cracks, receive the wrong treatment, or come to harm in other ways, highlighting the importance of managing patient safety risks carefully during major digital transitions.”

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Source: Digital Health, 13 May 2026

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FDA blocks publication of studies showing covid and shingles vaccines to be safe

Officials from the US Food and Drug Administration have blocked the publication of several studies of Covid-19 and shingles vaccines conducted by the agency’s own scientists, it has emerged.

Each blocked study showed the safety of widespread use of vaccines for both conditions.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed the move, first reported by the New York Times.

FDA scientists conducted the studies, in which they analysed millions of patient records, with the help of a data firm and millions in taxpayer dollars. Two Covid-19 vaccine studies were accepted for publication by medical journals, but in October 2025 the authors were told to withdraw them.

In February 2026 top FDA officials did not sign off two studies of Shingrix, a shingles vaccine. The abstracts required approval for submission to a conference on drug safety.

When questioned by The BMJ the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the FDA, defended the decision.

“The studies were withdrawn because the authors drew broad conclusions that were not supported by the underlying data,” Emily Hilliard, HHS press secretary, told The BMJ. “The FDA acted to protect the integrity of its scientific process and ensure that any work associated with the agency meets its high standards.”

Critics said the blocks on the studies were another example of antivaccine sentiment from the HHS head, US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.

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Source: BMJ, 8 May 2026

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Australia: Patients of retired dentist warned of bloodborne viruses, including HIV

Authorities in Australia have issued a warning to patients of a retired dentist, urging them to test themselves for bloodborne viruses due to "poor infection control practices" at the clinic.

Thousands of patients at Dr William Tam's clinic in Strathfield, western Sydney may have been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, the New South Wales state health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Ministry urged patients to see a doctor and test for such viruses, thought it noted that the "risk is low".

Tam is now retired and de-registered as a dentist, the statement said.

"The poor infection control practices at Dr Tam's practice means all former patients may be at low risk of a blood borne virus infection, which can have serious and long-lasting health impacts," Dr Leena Gupta, the public health clinical director of the Sydney Local Health District, said in the ministry statement.

"People with HIV, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C may not have any symptoms for decades, so it is important that people at risk of these infections are tested, so that they can access treatment as appropriate."

Gupta said they believed Tam had seen thousands of patients in the last 25 years, but there were no records that could be used to contact them.

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Source: The Guardian, 13 May 2026

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Expert calls for safety review at Scotland's troubled superhospital

A risk assessment should be carried out on Glasgow's entire Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus, a leading safety expert has told BBC Scotland News.

Andrew Poplett, who conducted safety reviews for the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, said it was "incredibly difficult" to say whether the hospital was safe or unsafe for all patients.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has admitted there were failings with the hospital when it opened and now accepts that some patient infections were probably linked to contaminated water.

The board has said the whole hospital is now safe but families and lawyers for the public inquiry say they want to see further evidence to back this up.

The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry was ordered in 2019 after a number of deaths and high levels of infection at the QEUH campus, which had opened just four years earlier.

The inquiry drew to a close in January and Lord Brodie's final report is expected later this year.

Engineer Andrew Poplett was the independent expert who wrote reports on water and ventilation, external for the inquiry.

First Minister John Swinney and the health board have said Poplett's evidence supported the claim that both the QEUH and the Royal Hospital for Children, on the same site, were now safe.

But in an exclusive interview with BBC Scotland News, Poplett said it was "incredibly difficult to give a black and white 'safe or unsafe' answer".

He said this was because of the complexity of assessing risk when caring for vulnerable patients.

Popplett said: "If you want to reassure the public that this building is safe, do a risk assessment.

"You don't need to wait for a final report from the public inquiry."

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Source: BBC News, 12 May 2026

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‘Unprecedented’ global effort gives new name to polycystic ovary syndrome – and new hope to millions of women

After more than a decade of global consultation, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) – a condition that affects one in eight women – has been renamed.

The hormonal disorder, estimated to affect 170 million women worldwide, will now be known as polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS).

The name change was published in the Lancet and announced at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Prague on Tuesday, after 14 years of collaboration between international societies and patient groups across six continents.

The renaming was spearheaded by the endocrinologist Prof Helena Teede, the director of Melbourne’s Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation. For too long, experts including Teede say, the misleading nature of the term “polycystic” in PCOS contributed to delayed diagnosis and inadequate medical care.

Announcing the new name at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Prague on Tuesday, Teede said the term PCOS didn’t capture the “multi-system burden that people with this condition have suffered”, and that it “directs attention to only one organ”.

PMOS is hoped to better reflect the condition’s complex nature – which affects not only the reproductive system in people assigned female at birth but also the metabolism and the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

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Source: The Guardian, 12 May 2026

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Hospitals with the highest avoidable admissions

Around 15% of emergency admissions at some trusts are potentially avoidable, according to new NHS England data.

NHS England started publishing data  on the amount of non-elective hospital admissions that “may be avoidable” at the beginning of the year.

HSJ analysis of this shows the national average at 10%, but this rises to up to 15%t at some trusts in the 12 months to January 2026, the most recent month of data. 

This means around one in six patients who were urgently admitted to hospital, and spent at least a day there, could have instead been seen by ambulatory, or same-day emergency care services.

The data focuses solely on hospital admissions, which could have been treated in other care settings, rather than “avoidable” accident and emergency attendances, which HSJ has previously reported on.

The national data, which now goes back to 2021, shows the avoidable admission rate has remained relatively stable at around 10%.

Sarah Scobie, deputy director of research at the Nuffield Trust, said: “The fact we aren’t seeing a decline in the proportion of these admissions that are potentially avoidable could come as disappointing news for Department of Health and Social Care, as efforts to shift care away from acute hospitals and into the community haven’t yet translated into fewer preventable admissions.”

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Source: HSJ, 13 May 2026

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Hospital trust ‘deeply sorry’ for harm to dozens of children

At least 40 children suffered harm – with over 20 cases classed as “moderate or severe” – due to delays while receiving care from a hospital’s audiology department, HSJ  can reveal.

Bedfordshire Hospitals Foundation Trust has identified 109 children who may be at risk of harm due to problems with their hearing aid management, and harm has been identified in at least 40 of them, including developmental delay.

The findings were included in an interim “patient safety incident review” being carried out by the trust and supported by NHS England.

The preliminary findings were published in papers for Luton’s health overview and scrutiny committee last month.

The review follows a major national investigation into harm caused by audiology failings, culminating in the Kingdon review, published in November 2025, which found the NHS ignored warnings on testing failures for a decade.

Bedford’s review is understood to form part of the national improvement programme for paediatric audiology services.

It comes as the sector awaits the Department of Health and Social Care’s response to the Kingdon review, which British Association of Audiology President Claire Benton said she hoped would bring “additional support desperately needed for the system”.

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Source: HSJ, 12 May 2026

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MHRA strengthens safety warnings for finasteride and dutasteride

Updated safety advice has been issued to strengthen warnings about potential psychiatric and sexual dysfunction linked to finasteride and to provide precautionary advice on dutasteride.

Following an additional detailed review of the evidence, including the outcome of a European regulatory review, the MHRA has published a new Drug Safety Update and is updating product information for medicines containing finasteride and dutasteride to provide clearer guidance for healthcare professionals and patients. 

Finasteride is used to treat male pattern hair loss at a dose of 1mg, and benign prostatic hyperplasia at a dose of 5mg. Dutasteride (0.5mg) is used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia. 

The updates include: 

  • strengthened warnings in the product information for finasteride 1mg for androgenetic alopecia to clarify that sexual dysfunction may contribute to mood disorders, and that sexual dysfunction has also been reported with and without mood alterations.
  • a precautionary warning added to the product information for dutasteride to note that mood alterations have been reported with a medicine in the same class, finasteride.

Existing UK patient alert cards for finasteride, introduced in 2024, remain in place. These cards highlight the risks of sexual dysfunction, depression and suicidal thoughts and advise patients on what action to take if side effects occur. 

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Source: MHRA, 11 May 2026

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Palantir’s access to identifiable NHS England patient data is ‘dangerous’, MPs say

MPs have warned that an NHS decision to grant Palantir access to identifiable patient information in its plan to use AI to improve the health service is “dangerous” and will fuel public fears that data privacy is not being prioritised.

NHS England has allowed staff from the US tech firm and other contractors to access patient data before it has been pseudonymised, despite internal fears of a “risk of loss of public confidence”, the Financial Times reported.

The health service made the move to allow Palantir to access the data in recent weeks according to the reports, which revealed an internal NHS briefing that said it would allow “unlimited access to non-NHSE staff” to part of the NHS’s federated data platform (FDP), which holds identifiable patient information.

Palantir was awarded a £330m contract to help build the FDP, installing AI systems to integrate scattered health datasets and bring efficiencies to medical treatment. But the deal has been dogged by warnings from campaigners and MPs concerned about the security of patient records.

The Patients Association said it was concerned patients were not consulted on a significant change to who has unlimited access to patient data. Rachel Power, its chief executive, said patients wanted “transparency, clear boundaries around access to their data, and to be consulted when changes to those agreements are proposed”.

The leaked NHS England briefing acknowledged the “considerable public interest and concern about how much access to patient data Palantir/Palantir staff have”. In 2023, shortly after the deal was agreed, NHS England said it would ensure “personal data remains protected and within the NHS at all times”.

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Source: The Guardian, 11 May 2026

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More than 6,000 children treated at obesity clinics in England, figures show

More than 6,000 children living with obesity, including hundreds as young as four, have required treatment at specialist NHS weight-loss clinics, new figures reveal.

NHS England data, published for the first time, underlines the scale of the growing childhood obesity crisis.

Since the first Complications from Excess Weight clinic (CEW) opened in 2021, the NHS has treated 6,497 children and teenagers. Of these, 423 were four years old, 1,088 were aged between five and eight, 1,791 were aged nine to 12 and 3,137 were aged between 13 and 17. The age of a further 58 is unknown.

All were “extremely” overweight for their age, with the four-year-olds weighing an average of 33kg (5st 3lbs), the same weight as a typical 10-year-old. About 400 of the children treated by CEWs have had weight loss jabs as part of their treatment plans.

In order to be treated at a CEW, children must be referred by a community or hospital paediatrician, a GP or childhood mental health services and have a BMI above the 99.6th percentile as well as an illness linked to their excess weight.

The research, by Sheffield Hallam University, Leeds Beckett University, the University of Leeds, the University of Bristol and the University of Sheffield, found that just under 30% had metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and 17% had obstructive sleep apnoea. About 9% had deliberately self-harmed, and the same proportion had anxiety. A significant number were neurodivergent. Just under 30% had autism and about 12% had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. A further 24% had a learning disability.

Katharine Jenner, executive director at the Obesity Health Alliance, said: “These figures should be a wake-up call. All parents want their children to grow up healthy, yet seeing children as young as four needing specialist NHS treatment for their weight highlights just how early the drivers of poor health are taking hold.

“Children today are growing up surrounded by unhealthy food at almost every turn, leaving families struggling against a system that stacks the odds against healthier options.

“The fact that some children are already developing high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and early signs of heart disease at such a young age underlines why prevention has to begin in the earliest years of life."

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Source: The Guardian, 12 May 2026

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Green targets ‘prioritised over patient safety’ at super-hospital

The drive to hit green targets was prioritised over patient safety when the beleaguered Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) was built in Glasgow, a key expert has warned.

Andrew Poplett, an engineer specialising in healthcare ventilation who has conducted audits of the building, said the air cooling system installed in most patient rooms, known as “chilled beams”, was good at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but did not meet healthcare standards for circulating air.

Engineers who worked on the building have also told a public inquiry, which is considering fatal infections among patients, that the drive to hit a low carbon emission target was “paramount” from the start.

Under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, there was a fixed emissions reduction target for 2015 — the year the hospital opened — a goal the SNP government under the first minister Nicola Sturgeon later announced they had met. In previous years, milestones had been missed. 

The comments throw light on a key aspect of the £842 million hospital, which was opened by Queen Elizabeth amid much fanfare, but went on to encounter multiple problems, including infection outbreaks.

Seven patient deaths are being investigated by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. In 2021, a review found 84 children had been infected with rare bacteria while undergoing treatment on site. Kimberly Darroch has argued for years that her daughter, Milly Main, died from an infection she caught at the hospital while recovering from leukaemia in 2017.

Poplett said the “chilled beams” were installed to ventilate rooms at the QEUH. This ceiling-based system uses cold water to reduce air temperature, a little like radiators use hot water to warm rooms. They change the air, depending on room size, around two to four times per hour, compared with the level recommended for healthcare facilities of six.

He told The Times: “The NHS is a government organisation committed to achieve an awful lot of different priorities, one being net-zero carbon. If you want to move towards net-zero carbon and energy efficient buildings, chilled beams are useful.

“However, the protocol of the required ventilation rates from a clinical perspective is diametrically opposed to net-zero carbon. You cannot have both.

“It appeared that the environmental consideration to make the hospital as energy efficient and as green as possible took priority over the clinical requirement for high change air rates.”

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Source: The Times, 11 May 2026

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CEO: ICB must take ‘urgent action on shameful situation’

The boss of a trust where a child recently spent over two months in A&E has urged other local system leaders to take “urgent action” to help resolve the “shameful situation” concerning vulnerable children.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust CEO Matthew Trainer said “the scale of these challenges” concerning children experiencing long waits in A&E “probably need[ed] a regional solution across London”.

He has announced he will write to North East London Integrated Care Board’s CEO, Nnenna Osuji, to call for urgent action.

A&Es were “increasingly becoming the default place of safety” for children either suffering mental health crises or experiencing a breakdown in their care placements, he said.

He added: “This is a shameful situation, and it is getting worse every year. These children do not need hospital care. They need a place to live, but no other part of the health and care system can provide them with a roof over their heads.”

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Source: HSJ, 11 May 2026

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How worried should we be about hantavirus?

Passengers from the cruise ship struck by a hantavirus outbreak are being evacuated and sent to their home countries to isolate and receive medical treatment if necessary.

Some other passengers from MV Hondius left on earlier flights or connections and their contacts are now being traced as a precaution.

Officials say the risk of the infection spreading to the general public remains low.

Crew and passengers now face having to self-isolate for more than a month to avoid any potential spread.

Three died either on board or after travelling on the ship, which set sail from Argentina a month ago. Four others were medically evacuated from the ship for treatment.

In an update on Thursday, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove from the World Health Organization (WHO) stressed it was not the start of a pandemic, saying: "This is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently."

Unlike diseases such as measles, which are highly contagious and spread easily, the Andes strain of hantavirus behind the outbreak is not that infectious.

Human-to-human spread is possible but the risk of infections globally remains low, says WHO.

In its latest update, external, it says eight cases - six confirmed - have been identified in people who were on the ship.

It is still not clear how the outbreak started.

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Source: BBC News, 7 May 2026

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GPs and hospitals in England to be required to share data to create single patient records

GPs and hospitals will be required to share patient data under legislation to be announced in the king’s speech on Wednesday.

Legislation to create a single patient record (SPR) for each person, which would be used across all healthcare providers, is part of a £10bn digitisation of the health service.

The health secretary, Wes Streeting, said making the data accessible in one place would be a “gamechanger” that would save lives.

The legislation aims to spare patients from constantly having to repeat their medical history when turning up at hospital or being discharged back to their GP.

“As patients, there’s nothing more frustrating than having to repeat your medical history at every appointment,” Streeting said. “When paramedics arrive to heart attack and stroke patients, they can’t see the patients’ medical records, putting them in even greater danger.

“For the first time ever, the single patient record will mean patients are given real control over their care through a single, secure and authoritative account of their data.

“It will be a gamechanger that means NHS staff can see patients’ medical records, allowing them to deliver better care faster and more conveniently, and even saving lives.”

Although some emergency information is already available – such as current medicines and known allergies – hospitals often cannot access the full medical history of a patient. GPs have to wait for letters, sent by email, from consultants to be informed of what happened to their patient in the hospital.

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Source: The Guardian, 10 May 2026

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Trust upgraded despite staff reports of discrimination and fear

A large acute trust has had its leadership rating upgraded from “inadequate”, despite serious concerns, including allegations that a board member made “divisive and discriminatory remarks” about a Ramadan initiative.

University Hospitals Sussex Foundation Trust’s “well led” rating has moved to “requires improvement” in a Care Quality Commission report published.

It said the trust had made progress since 2023 when its leadership was rated “inadequate”, and that there was “strong commitment from staff” and “effective partnership working in some areas”.

Inspectors said the trust’s leaders were “passionate”, with “a clear intent… to improve”. They “understand what is required” and “the priority now is to deliver improvements with pace and purpose”, the CQC said.

However, the inspection report listed some serious reservations and concerns.

It said leaders still needed “to strengthen action to ensure fair and inclusive working conditions for all staff groups”.

Staff told inspectors who visited in July last year that a non-executive director – who was not identified to the CQC – did not support an initiative to provide Muslim staff with fruit and drinks to break their fast during Ramadan, and had made “divisive and discriminatory remarks”.

Other staff reported “fear and toxicity”, with “poor behaviours” from directors.

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Source: HSJ, 8 May 2026

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Digital tool to analyse maternity data

The NHS is introducing new clinical standards for maternity services in England, including the rollout of the Maternal Outcomes Signal System (MOSS), a digital tool designed to rapidly analyse routine maternity data and flag emerging safety concerns

MOSS will enable maternity teams to spot potential safety issues requiring urgent attention, with findings published every six months to ensure trusts take action to reduce risks. The NHS has allocated up to £5 million to trusts this year to implement the maternal care bundle, which includes upgrading facilities with direct telephone lines for ambulance crews and new monitoring systems for pregnant women.

The new standards, part of the NHS’s maternal care bundle, aim to reduce maternal deaths caused by conditions such as blood clots, strokes, cardiac disease, suicide, sepsis, obstetric haemorrhage, and pre-eclampsia, which account for 52% of maternal deaths. They include early risk assessments for venous thromboembolism, tailored care plans for women with epilepsy, and routine mental health assessments.

Kate Brintworth, chief midwifery officer for England, said: “Every death during or after pregnancy is a tragedy, especially when differences in care may have changed the outcome. We still see symptoms of serious medical problems being missed, especially for Black and Asian women. By setting out these clinical standards and holding hospitals to account, we can significantly reduce avoidable deaths and prevent future tragedies.”

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Source: UK Authority, 1 May 2026

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New evidence confirms malaria vaccine saves child lives and will have high impact in wider rollout

Findings of a rigorous evaluation of the public health use of the RTS,S malaria vaccine, published in The Lancet, confirm significant reduction in child deaths in the first African countries to offer the vaccine. 

Over a period of four years, an estimated 1 in 8 child deaths were averted among those eligible to receive the malaria vaccine in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. According to the authors, positive impact is likely to be as high or higher in other African countries now offering malaria vaccines to young children in areas of high malaria burden. 

The evaluation assessed data generated through the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP), which examined the outcomes of malaria vaccine introduction in the first three countries from 2019 to 2023. 

Despite global progress, malaria continues to take a devastating toll on children in Africa. In 2024, an estimated 438,000 African children died from the disease. Tens of thousands of lives could be saved every year through the wide implementation of World Health Organization (WHO) recommended malaria vaccines, RTS,S or R21. WHO recommends an integrated approach because the highest impact on malaria is achieved when countries apply a combination of preventive, diagnostic and treatment strategies.  

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Source: WHO, 8 May 2026

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Digital tools key to improve patient flow in the NHS, report says

Digital technology should be used to support whole-system patient flow rather than simply improving bed management, according to a new report from Public Policy Projects (PPP).

Beyond bed management: enabling whole-system patient flow through digital intelligence argues that persistent flow problems across the NHS are rooted as much in governance and fragmented pathways as in operational pressures within hospitals.

It says digital tools have potential to improve the movement of patients across acute, community and neighbourhood care settings. However, participants warned that technology alone will not resolve longstanding bottlenecks.

Instead, it calls for a shift from viewing patient flow as solely a bed management issue.

The report draws on a roundtable held on 18 March 2026, chaired by Dr Victoria Betton, director for digital, data and AI at Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex.

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Source: Digital Health, 6 May 2026

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‘Breakthrough’ drug for severe muscle wasting condition set for NHS rollout in England

Hundreds of children across England are set to benefit from a new drug which has been approved for rollout on the NHS to treat a severe muscle-wasting condition.

Givinostat is expected to enable eligible patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy to maintain their mobility for longer.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence confirmed the drug's availability after its manufacturer reached a commercial agreement with NHS England.

This decision marks a significant step for families affected by the rare genetic disorder.

While campaigners welcomed the long-awaited approval, they highlighted the "agonising" two-year process, during which many families were left without access to the drug as their child's condition continued to deteriorate.

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Source: The Independent, 8 May 2026

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