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  1. Past hour
  2. Content Article
    NHS England are seeking views from manufacturers and users of health and social care technology products to help them improve the clinical risk management standards DCB0129 and DCB0160. These mandatory standards protect patients by ensuring all health IT systems are properly assessed for clinical risks before they are used in patient care. DCB0129 sets out requirements for technology manufacturers and DCB0160 covers how health and social care organisations deploy and use these systems safely. This consultation closes on Friday 11 September 2026.
  3. Yesterday
  4. Content Article
    In this reflective blog, Chris Elston describes his experience of helping to implement the National Standards for Safer Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs 2) within an NHS Trust. Drawing on personal experiences of working in operating theatres, he recounts how the project was marked by confusion over changing terminology, slow progress, unclear governance processes, and difficulties identifying procedures, staff, and training needs. A key turning point was establishing an Invasive Procedures Committee to provide oversight and support. Although the new checklists have now been finalised and are being tested, he remains uncertain whether NatSSIPs 2 offers significant safety benefits beyond the simpler WHO Surgical Safety Checklist. Ultimately, he reflects on lessons learned about patience, collaboration, and the importance of clear, centralised document control systems in supporting patient safety improvements.
  5. News Article
    Doctors are issuing urgent warnings about a dangerous online trend involving microwaving "squishy" toys, after several children sustained severe burns. Videos circulating widely online depict these soft, squeezable toys being heated to enhance their pliability. However, experts warn that this causes internal pressure to build within the squishy, significantly increasing the risk of it exploding. The hot gel released can then stick to skin, leading to serious injuries. The Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) in Glasgow has treated six children for injuries related to this trend over the past eight months, with some requiring surgery, including skin grafts. Eight-year-old Joseph Erskine, from Clackmannanshire, was among those injured, needing weeks of treatment and a skin graft after a toy burst across his chest and hand in May. Sharon Ramsay, a burns nurse at the RHC, said: “Unfortunately, we are seeing a growing number of children with preventable injuries linked to this trend. “When these toys are heated, the contents can explode and stick to the skin, causing deep burns. “These injuries can be very serious and may require long-term treatment, including surgery and rehabilitation. “In some cases, children are left with permanent scarring. We strongly urge parents and carers to speak to their children about the risks.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 28 June 2026
  6. Event
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    The National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation is a landmark moment. Its recommendations, published on 30 June 2026, aim to drive urgent improvements in maternity and neonatal care and safety, reduce inequalities and deliver justice and accountability for families. Every maternity professional needs to understand what this means for their organisation - and act on it. Browne Jacobson have assembled a panel of leading legal, clinical and patient voices to help you do exactly that. During this interactive session, you will gain a clear understanding of the investigation’s key findings and recommendations, insight into what they mean for your organisation in practice and actionable steps you can take back to your team straight away. The session will be chaired by Browne Jacobson’s Kelly Buckley, Partner, and Amelia Newbold, Risk Management Lead, who will provide expert legal analysis and discuss the implications with our panel: Sarah Land - Co-Founder and CEO of the charity Peeps, and mum to Heidi. Sarah set up Peeps to support parents, families and friends affected by HIE (Hypoxic-Ischaemic Encephalopathy). She brings a powerful patient and family perspective, advocating for meaningful engagement with affected families throughout the process of change. Dr Denise Chaffer - CBE FRCN, a highly experienced midwife and healthcare executive specialising in clinical risk and patient safety. Denise is the former Director of Safety and Learning for NHS Resolution and Chair of the Independent Review of Maternity and Neonatal Service at Swansea Bay. She brings unparalleled insight into what effective implementation of systemic recommendations actually requires on the ground. Ms Jyoti Sidhu - Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, offering a frontline clinical perspective on the realities of delivering change within a busy NHS trust. Lorraine Cardill - Director of Midwifery and Neonatal Services at George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust and South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust, offering a frontline clinical perspective on the realities of delivering change within two busy NHS trusts. You will have the chance to share experiences and best practice with peers and put your questions directly to the panel. Join this important conversation by registering your free space here. Register
  7. Community Post
    The Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF) would like to better understand the landscape of Human Factors/Ergonomics (HF/E) in healthcare in the UK. Our aim is to support better use of, and integration of, HF/E into the healthcare environment. In order to do this, they want to understand the current picture - how many people work in an HF/E related job? How many work in NHS trusts/private hospitals? What sort of roles do they do? Etc. Please complete this survey. It should only take a maximum of 5 minutes to complete. Human Factors & Ergonomics In Healthcare - UK ONLY survey Please feel free to share this with anyone who you think might be relevant. This includes health and safety and manual handling roles. Responses are anonymous and CIEHF will not collect your personal data. Thank you, The CIEHF Team Deadline: 12th July 2026
  8. Event
    NHS Scotland's 1-day National Human Factors Networking and Learning Symposium meeting. Draft programme with details of speakers, presentations and workshops to follow as soon as possible. Register
  9. News Article
    Ministers should create a new specialist unit to assess maternity services because the Care Quality Commission does not have the credibility to do so, a government review has concluded. Baroness Valerie Amos’ national maternity and neonatal investigation, established by former health secretary Wes Streeting a year ago, published its final report, recommendations and 12 trust-level investigations today. Among the eight national recommendations, it says ministers must establish a “specialist regulatory unit” to provide assessment for maternity and neonatal services. The report said: “We do not consider that CQC has credibility as the regulator of maternity and neonatal care with clinical teams, executive teams, or families.” The Department of Health and Social Care’s oversight of the regulator has also been “insufficient”, with “limited evidence… that [it] has addressed the significant problems CQC continues to experience”. Baroness Amos cited a recent example of a service being rated “good” despite serious safety concerns being raised with her team. The report says officials should “work with CQC to improve its effectiveness immediately and start work to put in place a specialist regulatory unit…[which] must include clinicians from a range of professional backgrounds”. Asked by HSJ, the review team said it intended for this to be a dedicated unit within the CQC. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 30 June 2026
  10. News Article
    The chair of several high-profile safety inquiries has resigned from the government’s national maternity review in a dispute over “normal birth ideology”, HSJ can reveal. Bill Kirkup, who also investigated the Morecambe Bay and East Kent maternity scandals, stepped down from his position as expert adviser to the national maternity and neonatal investigation. In a letter ahead of today’s publication of the national review, its chair Baroness Valerie Amos writes: “Dr Bill Kirkup has decided to step down from his role as one of the expert advisers to the NMNI. “This was following discussions regarding the wording of the conclusions relating to normal birth ideology in the final report, where we were not able to reach agreement.” However, HSJ understands Dr Kirkup’s position is that he resigned because of a disagreement of principle over the findings on normal birth, and not simply on the specific wording. It appears he wanted a stronger line on the patient safety consequences of a normal birth ideology than Baroness Amos would agree to. A “normal birth” ideology has been repeatedly referred to in various recent maternity scandals, prioritising spontaneous vaginal birth with minimal medical interventions as an ideal outcome. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 29 June 2026
  11. News Article
    Families across the country will see their maternity and neonatal care overhauled, as the Government takes urgent steps in response to Baroness Amos’ landmark independent investigation - including the creation of the UK’s first ever Maternity and Neonatal Commissioner. The new commissioner will provide independent leadership to hold the system to account, drive change and rebuild trust, co-chairing the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce with the Secretary of State. Crucially, the commissioner will ensure the voices of women are always heard by those at the heart of the system. Baroness Amos examined the experiences of thousands of women, their families and staff, alongside local investigations of 12 trusts, and her report paints a stark picture. It found a system that is fragmented, overly complex and too slow to learn, that women and families are not being listened to, there is a lack of accountability and answers when things go wrong, and that racism and discrimination are driving inequalities in care. Staff also reported feeling unheard. A comprehensive National Action Plan will be published in December 2026, setting out priority actions and long-term reform to deliver safer, fairer care. This will be driven by the taskforce, bringing together families, clinicians and other experts with a clear focus on safety, equity and accountability. Alongside structural reform, the Government is investing a further £41 million to tackle urgent safety risks in maternity and neonatal facilities, building on £145 million already committed since April 2025. This funding will address issues such as fire safety, ventilation issues and outdated infrastructure - creating safer environments for mothers and newborns. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, James Murray, said: "For too long women, babies and families have been failed by a system that didn’t listen. Their stories are heart-breaking and demand action. I am grateful to Baroness Amos for her work on this landmark review, which is a turning point. Appointing the UK’s first ever Maternity and Neonatal Commissioner will drive lasting change and make sure women and families are never ignored again. For patients, the changes will mean more consistent, responsive care. New national standards for maternity triage will ensure women are assessed quickly, listened to properly and given safe, timely care from the moment they arrive. The aim is clear: to end the postcode lottery and ensure every family receives the same high standard of care." Read press release Source: Department of Health and Social Care, 30 June 2026
  12. News Article
    Regulators are about to significantly strip back regulation of ambient voice technology (AVT) – one of the fastest-growing healthcare AI tools – HSJ has learned. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will make clear that some AVTs, also known as AI scribes, will no longer be classed as a medical device, according to several well-placed sources. This would remove a key oversight mechanism for a rapidly developing area and a provider market that NHS leaders have likened to the Wild West. National leaders are seeking to accelerate roll-out of the tech, which will potentially release huge amounts of medics’ time by automating entry into medical records and other admin. Under guidance that HSJ understands is due to be published shortly by the MHRA, most suppliers would no longer need to seek medical device classification for their ambient scribes. The regulator will stress that this is only required for AVTs with a “medical intended purpose” – effectively only advanced products which also profess to make medical diagnoses or have a therapeutic function. The move would mark a major departure from NHS England policy over the past year. NHSE’s national AVT registry, launched just five months ago to tackle what a national official called a “Wild West” market, requires suppliers to hold at least self-certified Class I accreditation (the lowest risk category of medical device registration). And a year ago, NHSE warned trusts against adopting “non-compliant” AI technology, stating that tools must have at least Class I accreditation and Class IIa for enhanced “capabilities” such as “generative diagnoses, management plans or other medical referrals and calculations”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 29 June 2026
  13. Content Article
    Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) is the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide, occurring in an estimated 27 million women globally every year and causing about 43 000 maternal deaths. Common causes of PPH are uterine atony, trauma, retained placenta, and coagulopathy, with risk heightened by factors including caesarean birth, anaemia, and inadequate antenatal care. In a three-paper Lancet series, prevention centres on addressing modifiable risk factors for PPH, reducing unnecessary caesarean sections, and administration of uterotonic prophylaxis. Early diagnosis by objective quantification of blood loss and monitoring of vital signs is crucial. Swift treatment following a standardised bundle, and avoiding delays along the management pathway, saves lives.
  14. Content Article
    Kath Sansom, founder of Sling the Mesh, asked what should be an easy mesh data question. Except nobody at NHS England can answer. Which tells us everything about gaps in accountability. The question? How many women have had to have part of their bladder or bowel removed because pelvic mesh eroded into their organs? How many are now living with a stoma bag because of these complications? The answer should exist. It should be easy to find. It should be centrally recorded. But NHS England says it does not hold this information. We are talking about some of the most severe, life-changing outcomes possible and there is no national record. Women are instead told that the data might sit with individual Trusts, scattered and inaccessible unless someone tries to piece it together manually. That’s not transparency. That’s a system that doesn’t fully see the harm it has caused.
  15. Content Article
    More information about "10 questions every organisation should ask about their PPIE"
    In this blog, hub Topic leader Aurora Todisco shares her new mini-guide - 10 questions every organisation should ask about their PPIE. She explains how and when it can be used to help improve approaches to Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement. A reflective tool for stronger involvement Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) is often well intentioned, but not always well examined. Over time, practices can become habitual, with limited reflection on whether involvement is genuinely inclusive, ethical or impactful. I have developed a new resource, 10 Questions Every Organisation Should Ask About Their PPIE (attached below). It is designed to prompt honest reflection and meaningful improvement. 10_Questions_Every_Organisation_Should_Ask_About_Their_PPIE (1).docx Why questions matter Rather than offering prescriptive answers, this mini guide encourages organisations to pause and ask critical questions such as: Why are we involving people? Are we involving them early enough to influence decisions? Are diverse voices genuinely represented? Do people know how their input has been used? These questions can be uncomfortable – but they are essential if involvement is to move beyond a tick box exercise. Supporting better conversations The questions are suitable for: team discussions and away days governance and quality improvement reviews planning new projects or programmes. They are supported by a clear checklist covering accessibility, feedback, support, recognition and evaluation of impact. Creating accountability Asking these questions regularly helps organisations: identify gaps between values and practice strengthen accountability to lived experience contributors improve the quality and credibility of PPIE activity. Used together with my other resources (links below), this guide helps create a more thoughtful, transparent and respectful approach to involvement. An invitation to reflect Strong PPIE isn’t about having all the answers – it’s about being willing to reflect, listen and change. These ten questions offer a simple but powerful starting point. Related resources How authentic patient stories can shift systems thinking and improve care Being ready for meaningful Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement, and why it matters for patient safety Making meetings inclusive: a practical guide for PPIE Avoiding tokenism: ensuring meaningful Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) The Lived Experience Involvement Toolkit: turning good intentions into practical involvement From consultation to co-production – a beginner’s guide
  16. Content Article
    More information about "Independent Investigation into Maternity and Neonatal Services in England – Final report and recommendations (30 June 2026)"
    On the 23 June 2025 the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced a rapid, national, independent investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services. This final report highlights key areas of concern, identifies barriers to delivering change and sets out a robust package of eight recommendations aimed at delivering long-term systemic and cultural transformation in maternity and neonatal care. It builds on an interim report published in February 2026. The report makes eight recommendations aimed to address the systemic problems identified in this report: The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) must create a statutory Maternity and Neonatal Commissioner, introducing legislation into the Health Bill at the earliest possible opportunity, and appointing a Commissioner within six months of Royal Assent. DHSC, NHS England (NHSE), Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and NHS trusts must take action to listen to the voices of women, birthing people and families within 12 months. DHSC, NHSE and CQC must drive improvement, within 12 months, of the quality, transparency, oversight and accountability of investigations and ensure learning is captured and acted upon when things go wrong. DHSC/NHSE must design a Modern Service Framework for maternity and neonatal services within 12 months and begin rollout within 18 months. DHSC, NHSE, ICBs, NHS trusts, the General Medical Council (GMC) and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) must treat racism, discrimination and inequality as a critical maternity safety issue – within 12 months, with work starting immediately. DHSC/NHSE must clarify existing system governance, oversight and accountability structures and improve the effectiveness of regulatory oversight within nine months. DHSC, NHSE, ICBs and NHS trusts must work with colleges, universities, post graduate educators and others to improve culture and teamworking, and strengthen leadership at all levels of the system and across professions within 12 months. DHSC/NHSE must deliver estates and digital systems that are fit for modern maternity and neonatal care with 12-month, five-year and 10-year investment commitments and implementation deadlines.
  17. Last week
  18. Event
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    Dr Zoe Brummell will summarise her research into the Learning from Deaths programme and explore the obstacles to organisational learning as well as the ways it should happen. The session will explore How the Learning from Deaths programme failed to learn. What gets in the way of learning. What learning that leads to improvements looks like. Why partnership with families for organisational learning matters and what it looks like. Register
  19. Event
    Families are contacted by a Family Liaison Officer from the NHS at one of the most vulnerable moments people are likely to experience – following an unexpected and traumatic death. Families, often overwhelmed by grief, face arranging the funeral, an NHS investigation, a Coroner’s Inquest – processes that are unfamiliar, confusing and often alarming. Families describing these processes talk about feeling lost, frightened, confused, faced with trying to ask questions to systems they don’t understand. The Family Liaison Officer can offer support, information, understanding, signposting and consensual referrals to other sources of help. But not all Trusts employ them and it is not always clear how their insights help Trusts learn and improve. The session will explore: The role of Family Liaison Officers? – A national perspective The difference between a Family Liaison Officer working in the NHS and in the Police How families experience Family Liaison Officers How we hope this role will develop Register
  20. Event
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    Mental health services have developed Experts by Experience work to involve patients/service users in services, but the engagement of family and friends carers has progressed much more slowly. It’s complicated by complex family relationships and potential disagreements and estrangements, yet family and friends know their loved one best of all and hold information that can assist with safety planning, understanding risk and supporting recovery. This session will explore: What co-production is – and what it is not. How co-production with patients/service users can work well. How can we improve co-production with family and friends carers. What best practice looks like. Register
  21. Community Post
    Digital health technologies have transformed many aspects of healthcare, from electronic health records and telemedicine to remote patient monitoring and AI-assisted decision support. While these innovations have the potential to improve patient outcomes, many healthcare professionals also report challenges such as alert fatigue, increased documentation, and workflow disruptions. I'm interested in hearing from others working in healthcare: Which digital health tools have had the biggest positive impact on patient safety in your organisation? Have you experienced situations where technology created new risks or made clinical workflows more complicated? What strategies have helped balance innovation with usability for frontline staff? How can healthcare providers ensure that digital transformation genuinely supports clinicians rather than adding administrative burden? It would be great to hear real-world experiences, lessons learned, and examples of digital solutions that have successfully improved both patient safety and efficiency.
  22. Content Article
    The 2026 National Model for Clinical Governance (national model) aims to drive high-quality care and better outcomes for patients in Australian hospitals. The national model is a short, simple, principles-based document that describes key actions and clarifies roles within health services to achieve high-quality care. It signals a strategic shift in how clinical governance is understood, led and embedded in all health services. The model:  elevates clinical governance to the highest level of organisational leadership and oversight, highlighting the crucial role of boards and executives in governing for high-quality care reshapes Australia’s approach to clinical governance, shifting the main focus from complying with accreditation requirements to building the culture of the organisation to one in which delivery of high-quality care is the core focus of everyone in a health service, every day. The national model is accompanied by a practical guide to implementation and tools.
  23. News Article
    Women in England are at their highest risk of suffering a serious injury while giving birth since records began in 2020, NHS figures show. The rate of women sustaining the most serious type of tear during childbirth rose to 31.1 in every 1,000 in January, February and March – the highest since monitoring started in 2020. Similarly, the rate of women having a postpartum haemorrhage increased during 2025 to 31.2 in every 1,000 births – the highest annual rate over the five years data has been collected. Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, who obtained the figures from NHS England, said: “Behind these statistics are women going through unimaginable trauma, requiring surgery and in many cases months or even years of recovery. Some will never fully recover. “This news … shows that we need to treat maternity services as a national crisis. The truth is that we will not reverse this dangerous, unacceptable trend – of rising blood loss and record severe tears – until we make safety a priority.” NHS bosses and ministers are preparing for the publication on Tuesday of Lady Amos’s government-commissioned report into the state of childbirth care. It will add to the increasingly urgent clamour for a major transformation of often-inadequate childbirth care in order to make it safe. The government intends to publish an action plan to transform maternity services by the end of the year. But pressure is intensifying for it to spell out its plans sooner. The rate of third- and fourth-degree perineal tears has risen to 31.1 in 1,000, from 25 in 1,000 when figures were first published in June 2020. The rate of postpartum haemorrhage – which involves the loss of 1.5 litres of blood – has increased similarly over that time, from 25.6 in 1,000 to last year’s 31.65 in 1,000. It was slightly lower – 31.2 in 1,000 – in early 2026. The Department of Health and Social Care voiced unease at the birth injury trends. “These are concerning findings, and as last week’s shocking report into maternity services at Nottingham university hospitals [trust] underlined, too many women are being failed by poor quality maternity care,” a spokesperson said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 28 June 2026
  24. News Article
    One person a week dies with undiagnosed and therefore untreated tuberculosis in England, a study has found. British-born, older men were among those most likely to have TB diagnosed only after death, researchers said, suggesting healthcare workers could be overlooking the possibility of the disease in these patients. Being diagnosed with TB postmortem should be considered a “never event” that prompts urgent investigations, they said, describing it as “the ultimate diagnostic delay”. Tuberculosis rates in England are at a 10-year high, with 9.4 cases per 100,000 people in 2024. The rate is only just below the World Health Organization’s “low incidence country” threshold of 10 cases per 100,000 – a level expected to be breached when 2025 figures are published. Most TB cases are diagnosed in people born outside the UK, with an average age of 36. But research published in the journal Thorax found that was not the case in those diagnosed after death, who tended to be older and British-born. “As TB rates continue to rise, we need to keep asking: ‘Could this be TB?’, even in people who do not fit the usual risk profiles,” said Dr Eleanor Morgan, the study’s co-author and a resident doctor at Liverpool University hospitals NHS foundation trust. “If England is to eliminate TB, reducing delays in diagnosis will be essential so that fewer people miss the opportunity to receive effective treatment.” The researchers also found children aged under four were at higher risk, which they said could be linked to underdeveloped immune systems, non-specific symptoms, and challenges in getting samples from very young children for testing. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 29 June 2026
  25. News Article
    More than a million children in England are currently engaged with mental health services, a figure described as revealing the "sheer scale of distress young people are facing today". The Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has declared that the nation is "in no doubt that we are facing a crisis in young people’s mental health". Her annual report, published on Monday, revealed that 1,048,965 children had active referrals to children and young people’s mental health services in the 12 months leading up to March 2025. This figure encompasses children who were referred for, awaiting, or receiving treatment during that period, though it excludes those already undergoing treatment at the start of the year. The number of active referrals has almost doubled from 563,639 in 2018-19, with a 9.5% increase in the last year alone. While Dame Rachel noted there appeared to be "no straightforward answers" to the surge, data obtained from NHS England by her office indicates anxiety as the primary reason for referrals. The report also exposed concerning waiting times, with a weighted average of 128 days for all children in the year ending March 2025. Of those still awaiting treatment at that point, 60,041 (16%) had been waiting for over two years, an increase from 14% the previous year, with waits exceeding a year described as "common". Dame Rachel branded the figures "stark", stating: "Roughly one in 10 children have an active referral to mental health services in England, which clearly demonstrates the sheer scale of distress young people are facing today. These are not just numbers, but children whose lives have been put on hold for months and, in some cases, years waiting for support they urgently need." Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Independent, 29 June 2026
  26. News Article
    Nearly all the first wave of “neighbourhood health centres” (NHC) – currently being developed for launch by next year – were already doing the job required of the model, government documents reveal. Ministers – who have used the centres as a high-profile symbol of delivering their 10-Year Health Plan – announced in March that 27 would be opened by 2027. The Department of Health and Social Care said at the time that the centres would mean “tens of thousands of patients… will benefit from improved healthcare on their doorstep”. Government has previously accepted that many NHCs will be created from “upgrading, repurposing, or extending” existing NHS buildings. However, documents obtained by HSJ reveal for the first time that, for 22 of the 27, officials recorded they “could already be considered an NHC” when they were considered for acceptance to the programme. An industry source, who wished to remain anonymous, told HSJ: “It’s an open secret in the sector that lots of these sites are already performing the function required of NHCs.” They said most were community centres built under a national private finance scheme in the 2000s and “were designed to do exactly the same thing” at that time. The source added that: “Labour seems to have taken a leaf out of the Tories’ [new hospital programme] playbook on a more modest scale.” This meant, they said, finding out “what projects were underway already” and then to “badge them up as a programme”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 29 June 2026
  27. News Article
    An NHS manager died after an urgent referral was “recategorised” and a triage time of six weeks was arranged instead. Mr Paul Harries was scheduled to undergo a scan in July 2022 as the result of a 2020 test showing an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) was increasing in size. However, he did not attend and was then “lost to follow-up”, according to a coroner’s report into his death. In February 2023, Mr Harries attended accident and emergency department for an unrelated reason. A scan showed the AAA had grown even larger. However, his GP was not informed of this finding until April 2024. The GP made an urgent referral to the vascular surgery team at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton. However, the surgeon who was sent the referral rated Mr Harries as “amber”, meaning he would be triaged within six weeks and be seen within 40. A scan in May 2024 showed the AAA was “difficult to measure”, and Mr Harries was given an outpatient appointment in October of that year. However, he died at his home in Brighton two weeks before the appointment. His family contacted the hospital in February 2025, raising concerns that he had not been followed up appropriately, and an inquest opened in September last year after a patient safety incident investigation was concluded. West Sussex, Brighton and Hove coroner Joseph Turner said that the changes made by the hospital since his death “do not appear to fully resolve the observed weaknesses” that saw an urgent GP referral not resulting in appropriate action by the hospital. He said that the hospital remained reliant on three separate referral systems, and the emergency department had an inconsistent approach to reporting incidental findings in existing conditions to GPs. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 29 June 2026
  28. Content Article
    Mental health inequalities are systematic, avoidable and unfair differences in mental health outcomes between groups. Disadvantage is not evenly distributed in UK society, but follows clear patterns across geography, age, gender and socio-economic position. These differences are shaped by the social determinants of mental health – the social, physical and economic conditions that impact us across our lifespan. The Foundation Reports research series provides recommendations for decision-makers to tackle mental health inequalities in each nation, to target preventative action for the people and communities in greatest need.
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