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  1. Today
  2. News Article
    More and more midwives are leaving the NHS before they reach 35 because of burnout, worsening the staffing problems that are affecting maternity units. The growing trend of early career quitting has sparked fears it poses a threat to the quality and safety of care that mothers and babies receive from already-understaffed childbirth services. During 2025-26 a total of 1,669 midwives aged 34 or under left the health service in England – more than half (57%) of the 2,949 midwives of all ages who resigned. The intense pressures of working in maternity services, including the growing complexity of childbirth and risks involved, are thought to lie behind the trend. Of last year’s 1,669 younger leavers, 205 were under 25, while 655 were between 25 and 29 and the other 809 were between 30 and 34, parliamentary questions tabled by the Liberal Democrats reveal. The loss of midwifery staff and students underlines what the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) calls the “staffing emergency” in maternity care across the UK. Three-quarters of midwives have considered leaving the profession over the last year, mainly because of concern over staffing levels and patient safety, a recent RCM survey found. Hannah Leonard, the union’s deputy chief midwife, said the exodus of midwives under 35 was “deeply worrying” and showed that too many were ending up “burnt-out within a few years of qualifying because every shift means too few colleagues, missed breaks and unpaid hours”. “Losing these midwives – and students, even before they qualify – is a terrible waste of talent,” she added. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 July 2026
  3. News Article
    Plans to introduce neighbourhood provider contracts next year should be “reconsidered”, the Royal College of GPs’ president has told HSJ. Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown said she supported a delay until the service can be clear “what it is that we are trying to change” with the policy. NHS England launched a consultation on Thursday about details of the single neighbourhood provider and multiple neighbourhood provider contracts, which were proposed in the 10-Year Health Plan. In an interview with HSJ, the East London GP said she supported aspects of neighbourhood health, but warned of risks in the proposed rapid shift in structures and funding. Asked if the move to define the contracts this year – with a view to introducing them next year – was too fast and should pause, she said: “We should reconsider… certainly we need to be clearer of what it is that we are trying to change.” Professor Tzortziou Brown questioned government’s “assumption that you will get the structures and the contracts right… and then things will follow”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 July 2026
  4. News Article
    Maternity services, despite numerous scathing reviews, are still sidelined by trust boards and often poorly understood by medical directors, who view them as being outside the mainstream and delivered by “slightly odd folk”, a leading expert has told HSJ. Bill Kirkup, the senior adviser who quit the national maternity investigation in a dispute over “normal birth ideology”, shared his views on the sector’s response in an exclusive discussion with HSJ’s Health Check podcast. Dr Kirkup said NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey had detected in his 10-point plan for maternity that medical directors tend to be much less involved in maternity decisions going to the board. He said few medical directors have an obstetric background, adding: “Therefore, they’re probably in the same sort of trap as… other clinicians that [maternity] is a bit different, we don’t really understand it, and we just leave it to those slightly odd folk who do maternity. It’s not regarded as mainstream in a lot of places, I don’t believe.” HSJ asked Dr Kirkup about the Amos report’s recommendation of setting up a separate unit within the Care Quality Commission to inspect maternity and neonatal services, despite the regulator’s widespread lack of credibility. Dr Kirkup said he understood the reasoning was to ensure adequate experience and expertise to investigate. But he added: “I’m quite nervous about further othering of maternity… It’s already regarded as something that’s kind of different and offshore, and not part of mainstream medicine and surgery. “I think anything that encourages that… is probably not helpful, given that people using maternity services now are increasingly prone to complications [requiring] input from other specialties.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 17 July 2026
  5. Last week
  6. News Article
    The NHS is unable to perform 1.5m operations a year because of a drastic shortage of anaesthetists, a report reveals. More than 8 million patients are on waiting lists across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Many are in urgent need of a surgical procedure. But an alarming lack of anaesthetists – specialist doctors who provide anaesthesia and pain relief before, during and after operations – is preventing the health service from performing about 4,000 procedures a day, the most comprehensive review of anaesthetic services has found. The UK has 2,256 fewer anaesthetists than it needs, and the record shortfall is derailing NHS efforts to tackle the backlog of care, according to the 63-page report seen by the Guardian. The crisis is leading to painful delays for thousands of patients, with many on waiting lists experiencing a decline in their physical and mental health, the report says. As well as limiting NHS capacity, the shortage of anaesthetists is driving up costs, with hospitals having to divert funding to pay for agency locums and shifting staff to plug gaps. The findings of the review, compiled by the Royal College of Anaesthetists, are being studied by officials in the Department of Health and Social Care, sources said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 11 July 2026
  7. News Article
    Integrated care boards will be expected to offer GP practices additional services and funding to drive them to form new “neighbourhood providers” – but will get no new national money to do so. NHS England launched a consultation today on its proposals for single neighbourhood provider (SNP) and multineighbourhood provider (MNP) contracts, which were proposed in the 10-Year Health Plan. The documents said: “For general practice to opt out of the primary care network [directed enhanced service] and switch to an SNP contract, they will want to see not only simpler service specifications but additional services and funding.” But they also state: “Local commissioners will have the flexibility to define most of the content [of the contracts] and fund [them] locally. There is no new national funding for these contracts.” The consultation begins to describe a picture of how the contracts will sit alongside existing core GP contracts and gradually replace PCNs. SNPs will deliver “enhanced” GP services, “lead” health services in the “local neighbourhood team”, plan and organise other NHS services, and coordinate non-NHS care and support with other organisations. The typical footprint is estimated at 50,000, but “footprints may vary”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 17 July 2026
  8. News Article
    A senior clinical manager at the trust that runs mental health services in Essex says he was told 4,000 unresolved patient safety reports needed to be "gone", while a public inquiry was under way. Giving evidence to the Lampard Inquiry, Brian O'Donnell, a clinical lead at the St Aubyn Centre in Colchester, accused the trust of a "cover up" to stop him from speaking out. The inquiry was set up following the deaths of more than 2,000 mental health patients over a 24-year period. Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) told the BBC: "All reports are taken seriously, recorded and investigated." O'Donnell told the inquiry that, at the end of 2024, he was asked to review thousands of incident reports raised by staff, some dating back to 2021. He said he was instructed by a senior member of staff, who said: "We need to get these gone." They included incidents involving self-harm, assaults on staff and racial abuse, he explained. "The first thing that popped into my head was there's an inquiry going on and they're panicking about these because no-one's looked at them - that was my first thought and that's what I still think." O'Donnell said he initially closed some of the reports but stopped after becoming uncomfortable. "I thought, I can't put my name to this and say I've thoroughly investigated it because I haven't," he told the inquiry. Asked what happened to the remaining reports, he said: "They sat on my dashboard for a very long time then disappeared one day. I don't know whether they've been dealt with. I doubt it." Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 July 2026
  9. News Article
    All teenagers across the UK should be offered a meningitis vaccine on the NHS following a series of fatal outbreaks, a government commitee has said. The recommendation, made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), would mean that young people would be eligible for the menB vaccine at the age of 15, alongside catch-up programmes for those who otherwise would have missed out. This intervention follows several meningitis outbreaks occurring across the UK, resulting in dozens of confirmed cases alongside several deaths. In March, a major outbreak in Kent linked to a Canterbury nightclub killed two people and left over a dozen needing hospital treatment, while a similar outbreak in Berkshire in May led to the death of a school student. Specifically, the committee is recommending that the government introduces a booster jab for those aged around 15 who had the menB jab as an infant, and the first cohort to which this will apply to are those who will turn 15 in 2030. Meanwhile, children who missed the jab as a baby will be offered two doses. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 16 July 2026
  10. News Article
    Every baby born in England will be screened for a rare muscle-wasting disease, starting next year, the Department of Health and Social Care announced on Thursday. Campaigners said the “landmark moment” should lead to babies who were found to have spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) being treated early and thus growing up without any of its debilitating symptoms. SMA leaves babies with floppy arms and legs, unable to sit up, crawl or walk, and prone to problems breathing and swallowing. If it goes undiagnosed, it can kill those who have the condition within two years. It affects about one in 10,000 babies; usually, about 48 a year in the UK. Those detected at birth can be given an effective gene-therapy treatment. Almost three-quarters (72%) of newborns in England are already due to be tested for the condition from October under a pilot programme announced in April. However, that prompted criticism that a less-than-universal testing regime would result in a “postcode lottery” of some cases going undetected. Ministers have responded to those concerns by announcing that all babies born in England – between about 560,000 and 570,000 a year – will be screened from October 2027. Universal coverage will be achieved by using all 13 laboratories that can test for it, up from the current seven. “This is a hugely important step forward,” said Giles Lomax, the chief executive of Spinal Muscular Atrophy UK. “When newborn screening for SMA begins later this year in October, thousands of babies will benefit from earlier diagnosis and access to life-changing treatment.” From October, blood tests taken from newborns when they are five days old, through the heel-prick test, will be screened for SMA as well as the 10 conditions – including cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease and chronic hypothyroidism – they are already used to detect. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 16 July 2026
  11. News Article
    Nearly 200 doctors at a major teaching hospital have told a “listening exercise” prompted by a major care scandal that they feared raising patient safety concerns. The doctors at Cambridge University Hospitals Foundation Trust raised fundamental concerns about the organisation’s culture, with one alleging they had seen “colleague[s’] professional lives destroyed… for speaking up”. The trust commissioned the exercise, undertaken by the NHS’s internal consultancy, Transformation Partners in Health and Care, as part of its response to an investigation into a failing paediatric surgeon. Kuldeep Stohr is accused of harming numerous children over a 10-year period at the trust, while many staff feared speaking up about their concerns about the now-suspended consultant. In February 2025, CUH confirmed nine children were so far found to have received substandard care from Kuldeep Stohr, with a wider review of 800 further cases, due to be published this year. The “listening exercise” report, published by the trust and sent to staff this week, suggests fears about speaking up about patient safety – which arose in the case of Ms Stohr – are not confined to a single department. Three-quarters (175) of the 233 senior doctors who responded described either “fear associated with speaking up [and] concern about repercussions; emotional fatigue; or low confidence that concerns would be addressed”. Departments with the most concerns included “neurosciences; emergency medicine; paediatrics, and some surgical specialties”, but across all areas “most participants described either direct or indirect concern about repercussions” from speaking up. And when patient harm matters were raised, “the vast majority of participants perceived ‘nothing’ had happened once concerns were raised”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 16 July 2026 Related reading on the hub: Speaking up for patient safety: A new interview series about raising concerns and whistleblowing Key themes emerging from our ‘Speaking up for patient safety’ interview series The whistleblower playbook
  12. News Article
    Emily Miles has been appointed Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Emily joins CQC from her current role as Director General for Food, Farming and Biosecurity at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and will take up the role in the autumn from interim Chief Executive Dr Arun Chopra. Arun will be returning to his substantive role of Chief Inspector of Mental Health. Emily brings significant experience of regulation, including as CEO of the Food Standards Agency overseeing food safety and protecting the consumer interest in the food system across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Her selection follows a robust recruitment process led by Kay Boycott, CQC's Interim Chair, with the involvement of the non-executive members of CQC's Board, representatives from stakeholder bodies and regulators, and Baroness Julia Neuberger, the government’s preferred candidate as CQC’s Chair. Emily said: “I’m delighted to have been appointed Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission and look forward to starting the role later this year. My career has been built on public service and rooted in a deep commitment to putting people's needs first. I’m immensely proud that I will have such a crucial role in delivering CQC’s vision that everyone gets safe, effective, compassionate care.  “I will do all I can to make sure that the independent regulator of health and social care protects people and supports services to improve – as well as encouraging services to work better together so people stay well and get high-quality care when they need it.”  Emily is expected to take up her role at CQC in October. Read full story Source: Care Quality Commission, 16 July 2026
  13. News Article
    The UK “doesn’t have the luxury of waiting six months” for an action plan for maternity care, a senior midwife has warned, after publishing several damning enquiries that revealed dismissive attitudes to women which contributed to avoidable deaths. Baroness Valerie Amos, who led the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, made a key request for a neonatal and maternity commissioner and a national taskforce, after exposing repeated failures in NHS care. The government is now due to publish a comprehensive National Action Plan in December to overhaul services. But Donna Ockenden, who led the Independent Review of maternity services at Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust, has argued the government shouldn’t be waiting six months to act. Speaking in a Health and Social Care Committee on Wednesday she said: “We don’t have the luxury of six months. How long does it take once the action plan is out to then get that implemented? “If we were to look at how many midwives will hang up their uniforms in the next six months, how many doctors will decide they can’t do this anymore, and how much harm potentially could be caused, I would say we do not have six months to create an action plan.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 15 July 2026
  14. News Article
    Black doctors in England are four times less likely to be offered a training place than their white counterparts, according to analysis. As part of their medical training, doctors across the NHS are able to apply to placements within specific branches of practice such as psychiatry, obstetrics and gynaecology, and emergency medicine. Analysis of NHS England data by researchers at the BMJ found black doctors were four times less likely to be offered a training place in any of these specialities than their white counterparts. For some specialities, the disparity was even wider. For doctors applying for a core training 1 placement in anaesthetics, black applicants had a less than 1 in 100 chance of being offered a place in 2024 – 30 times less likely than their white counterparts. Only 10 of 1,158 black applicants received an offer, compared with 7% of Asian applicants and a third of white applicants. In obstetrics and gynaecology at the first year of speciality training, black applicants were almost 11 times less likely to be offered a place compared with their white counterparts. Sheila Cunliffe, the report’s author, said that within the application process the disparity becomes evident when candidates are selected rather than when they are shortlisted. “This raises questions about the robustness of the process, the training of panels, and whether issues such as available finance and personal connections enabling internships or training opportunities can influence final decisions in highly competitive fields,” said Cunliffe, a senior HR professional and independent researcher into racism in the NHS. She added: “In these circumstances it is difficult to understand how NHS England are complying with the statutory requirements of the Public Service Equality Duty to monitor and take action on any ethnicity-based disparities in selection.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 15 July 2026
  15. News Article
    A maternity service which has had elevated neonatal mortality for several years has joined an NHS England programme for extra “support”, it has confirmed to HSJ. Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust joined NHSE’s maternity and neonatal safety improvement programme in early June, HSJ understands. The programme aims to help maternity services reduce unwarranted variation for women and babies, and cut rates of maternal and neonatal deaths, stillbirths, brain injuries, and preterm births. The trust – which has very large deprived and minority ethnic populations – was named in the autumn as 1 of 14 to be examined by a national investigation into maternity and neonatal. The final report of the review, led by Baroness Valerie Amos, cited serious whistleblower allegations of unsafe local practice and guidelines. This included staff being told to “stay in the room… and watch the baby die” after observing nine minutes of bradycardia, and after attempts to intervene at three and six minutes. A member of staff claimed this was on a risk register, “with the trust willing to take that risk”. The report said the trust denied this guideline existed, although it has issued an open letter responding to the report, saying it was “deeply sorry” for failures. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 15 July 2026
  16. News Article
    The chief executive of the Care Quality Commission is set to become responsible for deciding whether to remove “safe space” protection from whistleblowers’ information, which a former health minister has called an “inherent conflict”. Safety minister Preet Kaur Gill chaired a Commons Health Bill committee debate last week in which MPs discussed the Healthcare Services Safety Investigations Body’s (HSSIB) absorption into the CQC. High-profile concerns have emerged about the move, first proposed in Penny Dash’s 2025 review of patient safety organisations, especially how the organisation’s “safe space” protection, which prevents certain whistleblower information from being disclosed to providers, will be safeguarded. Other parts of the CQC may be legally required to identify the information for its regulation purposes, it has previously warned. Now Ms Gill, in response to MP questions on how the CQC will provide confidence that the safe space will not be compromised when HSSIB becomes part of the watchdog, said it will be for the regulator to appoint a responsible person. This individual will decide whether a particular case matches “a high bar” of criteria set out in the bill, she said. The minister added: “As the bill sets out, the CQC will appoint a responsible person who will decide whether the case matches the criteria and whether it warrants information sharing outside the safe space. “That person is likely to be the CQC’s chief executive officer.” In response to her comments, former Conservative health minister Edward Argar warned: “That is an inherent conflict. If the person who is the head of the regulatory body is making the decision on whether information should be disclosed by HSSIB in its folded-in form, that will do nothing to inspire confidence in disclosure and the safe space provisions. “I fear that drives a coach and horses through some of the arguments being made that there are sufficient safeguards within this merger to ensure HSSIB can continue as it has done thus far.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 15 July 2026 Related reading on the hub: The future of the Health Services Safety Investigations Body: a recent discussion at the Patient Safety Management Network The King’s Speech 2026: Six key takeaways for patient safety (Patient Safety Learning)
  17. News Article
    Andy Burnham has hailed a power shift from the state to the people as MPs finally passed the stalled Hillsborough law, a rare moment of Labour unity with the bill set to be a key legacy of Keir Starmer’s government. In his first intervention in the Commons since returning as an MP, Burnham said the bill was a significant step towards securing the accountability the Hillsborough families had fought for – but should never have had to do. “We have had a situation in this country where people suffer the trauma of the initial bereavement, the incident that took their loved ones away, and then they are re-traumatised by the behaviour of the state,” he said. “We can’t take that hurt away tonight. But we can put decency back at the heart of the British state, and that is what this bill does.” Burnham, who has been a long and passionate campaigner for the Hillsborough families and for the law, said the bill would be “truly a rewiring of the state” and that the lessons were still relevant to other major public scandals where institutions have protected themselves rather than the people. The public office (accountability) bill puts a duty of candour on public officials, meaning those who lie or evade during inquiries into tragedies would face prosecution. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 14 July 2026
  18. News Article
    The lives of NHS staff and patients were put at risk in the pandemic because of a lack of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), with almost £10bn of taxpayers' money wasted in a scramble to buy more, the Covid inquiry has said. The chair Baroness Hallett criticised the "vast" waste in procurement, put at £9.9bn – two-thirds of the £14.9bn the government spent on PPE. The UK entered the pandemic with its stockpile of masks, gowns and gloves in a perilous state and was unprepared for the global race to secure supplies, she added. She described the controversial VIP lane, which prioritised PPE offers from those with political connections, as a misguided policy that should not be repeated. But she said there was "no evidence of cronyism or corruption" by ministers or other officials when awarding the final contracts. When the cost of home testing kits and other equipment, such as ventilators, was included, the total amount spent by the government between January 2020 and June 2022 exceeded £42bn, the inquiry found. The UK's emergency stockpile of PPE, meant to last at least 15 weeks before being replenished, was running out by the end of March 2020 as demand from hospitals soared. Only a third of the masks in England's pandemic stockpile were usable, the inquiry found, while Scotland had no supplies of high-grade respiratory masks used in hospitals. At the time, care homes, GP surgeries and pharmacies were all expected to source their own PPE, something the report described as a "major failure in planning". Read full story Source: BBC News, 14 July 2026
  19. News Article
    The NHS has launched its largest-ever regional deployment of ambient voice technology, covering 70,000 clinicians across 15 trusts and 1,239 GP practices. NHS England’s Midlands team ran a competitive procurement process, selecting Australian vendor Heidi Health as sole supplier for the framework, which spans emergency departments, outpatient services, and primary care. The framework emerged from pilots at the Dudley Group Foundation Trust, which, according to Heidi, reduced emergency care documentation time by 80 per cent and cut a six-month rheumatology letter backlog to 14 days. Neighbouring providers expressed interest in replicating the business case and rollout, prompting NHSE’s Midlands team to coordinate a single regional procurement route. Five trusts – Dudley Group, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals Trust, the Royal Wolverhampton Trust, Walsall Healthcare Trust, and University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust – have begun deployment. Heidi declined to name the remaining 10 trusts expected to follow. The framework was opt-in, meaning it covers only those trusts that chose to participate and is closed to new joiners. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 15 July 2026
  20. News Article
    A groundbreaking blood test could one day identify healthy older adults at high risk of developing Alzheimer's symptoms years before memory loss begins, offering scientists a powerful new tool in the quest to halt the disease's progression. Researchers announced on Wednesday that individuals with the highest levels of a blood marker called p-tau217 faced a 38% probability of developing cognitive impairment within five years, escalating to a 78% chance within a decade. While the test is not yet ready for widespread clinical use, and experts caution against healthy individuals rushing to get screened, its immediate value lies in identifying volunteers for clinical trials. These trials aim to determine whether new drugs can effectively delay or prevent Alzheimer's disease. Should these treatments prove successful, scientists believe a reliable method for identifying at-risk individuals before symptoms manifest will be crucial. "Wait and get tested when you can potentially do something about it," advised Dr. Reisa Sperling of the Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute, the study's senior author. "At this point it wouldn't change what I would tell someone to do. I'd still tell them to eat well, sleep well, exercise a lot and stay engaged." Read full story Source: The Independent, 15 July 2026
  21. News Article
    An ambulance trust is now investigating whether staff snooped on Southport victim records, HSJ can reveal, intensifying calls for a national review into patient privacy. North West Ambulance Service did not inform patients or their families – nor take disciplinary action – after identifying potential breaches, according to internal NHS documents. It comes just weeks after another NHS trust was accused of attempting to cover up the inappropriate access of Southport victim records by dozens of staff, revealed by HSJ. NWAS said it was still investigating the cases, two years after the attack on a children’s dance class in which three young girls were killed and many other people injured. Chief executive Salman Desai told HSJ: “We have identified concerns about potential inappropriate access to patient records and are formally investigating the matter… “We will contact families and patients who may have been affected as our enquiries progress… We are deeply sorry for the concern and distress this may cause.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 14 July 2026
  22. News Article
    NHS England is set to equip patients at risk of deadly sepsis with wearable technology, aiming to prevent 1,000 deaths annually. This initiative forms part of a broader drive to enhance monitoring and treatment, with the health service targeting the prevention of thousands of sepsis-related fatalities by 2035. Sepsis, often triggered by a bacterial infection, presents with various symptoms. Adults may experience confusion, slurred speech, uncontrollable shivering, muscle pain, and breathing difficulties. The UK Sepsis Trust estimates that sepsis contributes to approximately 48,000 deaths in the UK each year, with a significant number of these cases considered preventable. The new NHS England strategy, announced on Tuesday, seeks to address this critical public health challenge. Its measures include giving wearable devices to people at risk of sepsis, such as watches or bracelets, or via tech on their mobile phone. This technology can keep track of blood pressure and heart rate, flagging if a person’s condition has deteriorated and they need to be tested for sepsis. Professor Ramani Moonesinghe, NHS England’s deputy medical director, said: “Every year, sepsis causes of tens of thousands of deaths, and leaves thousands more with long-term disabilities, so it’s vital the NHS has an ambitious plan to reduce this harm over the next decade. “Key to tackling sepsis is catching it early – the longer sepsis goes undetected the less chance a person has to survive or make a full recovery. “That’s why the NHS will be trialling new wearable devices that will allow people’s vital signs to be monitored at home, so that if they deteriorate, they can get tested and treated faster.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 14 July 2026 Related resources on the hub: Top picks: 13 resources about sepsis Spotting the signs of sepsis: a series of short videos
  23. News Article
    Hospitals are persisting with using variable methods and tools to measure the growth of unborn babies, which experts say is leading to avoidable deaths, HSJ can reveal. Fetal growth restriction is a leading cause of stillbirth, and failure to detect it means maternity services are missing opportunities to intervene. However, HSJ research reveals significant fragmentation in the tools used and concerns about whether some are flawed. HSJ found that across 113 trusts with maternity services that provided information, eight different types of growth charts were used, including several with their own localised system. Some 14 trusts continue to use in some capacity a system called Intergrowth, despite NHS England warning in December that it is flawed for estimating fetal weight. A small number of providers persisted in using it for this purpose, and NHSE said it was “now seeking assurance” they had stopped. Recent maternity reviews by Baroness Valerie Amos and Donna Ockenden acknowledged concerns about growth charts, but did not shed light on the huge fragmentation in the tools used. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 14 July 2026
  24. News Article
    Longstanding issues with leadership and clinical oversight across two trusts contributed to failures surrounding the death of a teenager, two independent reviews have found. Lucy Curtis, 17, died in hospital on 1 January 2024, five days after an incident of self-harm where she was found unresponsive at the Riverside Adolescent Unit at Blackberry Hill Hospital in Bristol. The hospital is run by Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust. Lucy had previously been admitted “informally” to Wessex House General Adolescent Unit, which is run by Somerset Foundation Trust, after her mental health deteriorated in summer 2023, and had been discharged on 27 November. An inquest into her death finished on Friday. It found there were “multiple missed opportunities and failures” in Lucy’s care across both trusts, which “possibly” contributed to her death. Its judgment was critical of poor communication around Lucy’s discharge from Wessex House, and a delay in accepting her onto the caseload of the AWP child and adolescent service. It also criticised Riverside’s failure to adequately observe her, and problems with delivering emergency treatment when she was discovered by staff. In addition, an independent review published earlier this year, commissioned by the South West mental health provider collaborative and shared with HSJ, found “systemic failures across the care pathway”, which left Lucy “without timely, coordinated, and effective support at critical points”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 13 July 2026
  25. Earlier
  26. News Article
    More than 2,700 people may have died from heat-related causes in England and Wales during the exceptionally hot weather in May and June, experts' estimates suggest. The figure, from a team at Imperial College London, the Met Office and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, is based on what's known about the dangers of extreme heat. Most deaths will have occurred in the June heatwave, they say - the warmest June on record in England, when temperatures hit 37.7C (99.9F) at Lingwood, Norfolk, smashing the previous high of 35.6C set in 1957. A rare red heat alert, external was issued for parts of England and Wales at the time, warning even healthy people of the significant risk to life. Many UK homes are not built to cope, leaving people vulnerable to prolonged, high temperatures. Heat puts immense physical strain on the body, made worse if you are dehydrated, with the heart pumping harder and faster to cool you off. Babies and older people are among those most at risk of harm, as well as those with existing health conditions. It can lead to more heart attacks, strokes and other potentially fatal emergencies. Intense heat can affect anyone, including fit and healthy people, and is dubbed a 'silent killer' because early symptoms are easily overlooked. And when the hot air is very wet or humid, like it was in June, it's more difficult for the body to cool down through sweating. Prof Fredi Otto, an expert in climate science at Imperial who was involved in the research, told the BBC's Today Programme: "Don't underestimate the risks. Just because you're fit and healthy, you're not safe." Read full story Source: BBC News, 13 July 2026
  27. News Article
    As he speaks, there’s fear in Grant McPherson’s eyes. “You won’t make me go back, Dad. Horrible. Nasty. They hurt me dad. Stay here.” Grant, 48, is in the living room of the specially adapted house he shares with his father Leonard McPherson in Wolverhampton. He has cerebral palsy, sight impairment, epilepsy, a learning disability and uses a wheelchair due to paralysis following a spinal operation as a child. Grant and his father are happy. But they have endured years of heartache in their bid to be reunited at their family home. Leonard is one of hundreds of people across the country who have faced ongoing battles to advocate for their vulnerable loved ones in care after raising concerns about their treatment. During five years trapped in council-sponsored accommodation, Leonard says Grant suffered physically and mentally. Among the roll call of injuries, Grant suffered a severely broken leg, contracted two life threatening infections and was burnt twice – the second time so severely that he spent three months in hospital. But, as Grant was moved between different council care, it was his father Leonard who was put under scrutiny when he asked to remove Grant from care and take him home instead. Incredibly, Leonard was also gagged with legal orders, meaning he could not talk publicly about his struggle to bring his son home. Leonard was on the cusp of being restricted to seeing Grant for just one hour a week – an issue the government has now vowed to crack down on – when a judge finally agreed that Grant could return home to live with his father. This is not an isolated case, with concerns raised nationally about draconian conditions placed on parents and guardians, preventing them from advocating for their children, with restrictions often put on visiting rights. Earlier this year, the government vowed to crack down on care companies and councils that ban families from visiting vulnerable relatives and promised to improve visitation rights. The chief inspector of the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and social care in England, also admitted that care companies who look after people with learning disabilities need to be inspected “more consistently and more regularly”. Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 July 2026
  28. News Article
    Private providers have accused 10 integrated care boards of blocking access to eye care, which they argue is redirecting tens of thousands of patients to A&E and GPs. Providers Newmedica and Specsavers identified 10 ICBs as decommissioning services, setting minimum waits, and capping referrals. The restrictions will lead to additional pressure on accident and emergency departments, GPs and other services, they argued in evidence submitted to the Parliamentary committee considering the Health Bill. The ICBs told HSJ they aimed to balance “patient need, clinical safety, waiting times, value for money and the fair use of public resources” – and argued NHS-provided alternatives were available. Newmedica said Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB had used an “indicative activity plan” to cut activity in its elective ophthalmology service by more than half year-on-year. Meanwhile, Specsavers’ submission also identified Coventry, Sussex and Leeds as having either withdrawn or restricted community urgent eye care. The high-street chain said in each of these areas, tens of thousands of patients were “now diverted to A&E or GPs”. In addition, it said Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB had moved community glaucoma schemes back into hospitals and planned to cancel community eye care when its contract expires this year, with GPs and pharmacies to carry out the work. Specsavers said the ICBs had restricted access to services to “save money”, but these would not be realised because they will “simply reappear as a trust overspend against its block contract for urgent and emergency care”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 13 July 2026
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