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For too long, women’s experiences, symptoms and outcomes have not been adequately reflected in the evidence and systems that shape their care. Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents an enormous opportunity to do things differently. But if it is developed using data and approaches that reproduce existing inequalities, we risk carrying those same problems into the future. In this blog the Patient Safety Commissioner for England, Henrietta Hughes, explores why women’s health could be a defining test for AI in healthcare and why safety, transparency and patient voice need to be built in from the start.

National patient safety investigation bodies conduct system-level investigations and produce recommendations intended to improve patient safety. However, evidence that such recommendations translate into meaningful improvement is often weak. This study examined how recommendations produced by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) are produced by investigators and received by the national organizations to whom they are directed. HSSIB investigates patient safety concerns across the NHS in England and in independent healthcare settings where safety learning could help to improve NHS care. Funded by the NIHR Patient Safety Research Collaboration: Greater Manchester, this study analysed 22 published investigation reports, ran two focus groups with 12 HSSIB investigators, and carried out interviews with 11 senior representatives from national bodies including NHS England, the Care Quality Commission, the General Medical Council, and several medical royal colleges.

State of Care is the annual assessment of health care and social care in England by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. The report looks at the trends, shares examples of good and outstanding care, and highlights where care needs to improve.

England’s largest integrated care board (ICB) expects to need almost a tenth fewer hospital beds within a decade as it tries to close a projected financial gap that could reach £4bn. West and North London ICB’s strategy, presented to its board this week, said its modelling suggests the system will need to move to around 5,700 beds by 2035-36 – 9.2 per cent below its current bed base of 6,279. Read full article (paywalled). Source: Health Service Journal, 23 October 2026

New AI tools could help doctors spot prostate cancer more accurately on MRI scans, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has said. It is recommending that five AI technologies can be used in the NHS to highlight areas on a prostate MRI scan where cancer might be present, making it easier to spot and report. AI-Rad Companion Prostate MR, DeepHealth Prostate, ProstatID, Prostate Intelligence (Pi), and QP-Prostate were recommended in the draft guidance for NHS use during a two-year evidence-generation period. The independent NICE committee concluded that the technologies have the potential to improve the accuracy and consistency of prostate MRI interpretation, particularly in settings without specialist expertise. However, further evidence is needed to understand how they perform in routine NHS practice. Read full article. Source: Digital Health, 23 October 2026

A new personalised cancer vaccine given alongside a widely used immunotherapy drug has cut the risk of patients dying or their skin cancer returning by 42% in a major clinical trial. The researchers involved say the results could mark a turning point in cancer treatment, bringing personalised medicine a step closer. The trial also found that the new drug combination reduced the risk of melanoma, a type of skin cancer, spreading by 38% over two years compared to immunotherapy alone. The drug manufacturers MSD and Moderna say the same approach is already being tested against other tumours, including kidney, bladder and lung cancer. Independent cancer experts described the results as impressive but said longer-term studies were still needed to establish whether the treatment really helps most patients live longer, on average. Read full article. Source: BBC News, 23 October 2026

In this HSJ article, Dr Aaliya Goyal argues that the NHS’s new staff standards are hampered by their reliance on annual NHS Staff Survey results, which provide delayed and retrospective insights into workforce problems. Instead, she advocates using real-time, anonymised occupational health (OH) data as an early-warning system for issues such as bullying, discrimination, racism, sexual harassment, burnout and poor management, arguing that these problems often surface in OH consultations long before they appear in surveys, grievances or formal reports.

An independent review into 10 child fatalities has identified fundamental governance and sepsis care failings at an embattled trust, HSJ has discovered. The news comes just days after it was reported that Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust is facing prosecution, brought by the Care Quality Commission, over the deaths of two young children who had sepsis. Documents obtained by HSJ under the Freedom of Information Act show an independent review examined the deaths of 10 children between November 2022 and February 2025 across Southend, Basildon, and Broomfield Hospitals. HSJ understands that the two deaths the trust is facing prosecution over were among the 10 deaths investigated as part of the review. The trust declined to comment. The documents include a summary of the findings of the independent thematic “deep dive” review, although it does not name the author of the review. The summary said the review had identified care failures such as delayed recognition and escalation of deteriorating children, and delayed treatment of sepsis. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 October 2026

Andy Burnham has backed mandatory suicide prevention training for social workers after the “devastating” death of Matilda Davis, a parent-carer who killed herself minutes after meeting professionals. The Guardian revealed in August how the “absolutely inspirational” 36-year-old had taken her life after feeling “completely exhausted” and failed by England’s social care system. Davis, a former art teacher, had told multiple professionals she was struggling to cope with the significant care for her seven-year-old son and “paralysed with anxiety” about her looming divorce from her estranged husband. She died on 3 October last year, minutes after an emotional meeting with social workers who had not received suicide prevention training. Burnham was asked about Davis’s case at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday and said he supported the extension of this training to all local authorities in England. Manuela Perteghella, the Liberal Democrat MP for Stratford-upon-Avon, highlighted University of Birmingham research showing that 41% of parent-carers have contemplated suicide, and asked Burnham to meet her and Matilda’s family to discuss “mandatory suicide prevention training for local authorities and other measures so that no more normal families suffer such a devastating loss”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 October 2026

This is the second interim report in Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB)s investigation into electronic patient record systems and electronic referrals for ongoing care. It has been published to highlight a risk to patient safety associated with the electronic referral service (e-RS), where referrals may be removed from healthcare provider organisation worklists without warning or recognition. The e-RS system generates digital worklists, which are used by provider organisations to manage patient referral processes. Referrals are automatically removed from a provider’s worklist within e-RS when a user performs an action, like accepting a referral or booking a patient appointment, or when 180 days pass with no action since the unique booking reference number (the patient referral) entered a worklist. The 180-day function was designed into e-RS to reduce the risk of large worklists affecting the performance of the service. However, the investigation found that the function also creates a hazard to patients.

This week the UK Government has dropped its plans to abolish the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) and transfer its functions to the Care Quality Commission (CQC). BackgroundLast summer the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) published the findings of its review of patient safety across England, chaired by Dr Penny Dash.[1] This review proposed several changes which sought to coordinate and rationalise patient safety roles and responsibilities. One of those recommendations was that the functions of HSSIB should be transferred to the CQC. HSSIB investigates patient safety concerns across the NHS in England and in independent healthcare settings where safety learning could help to improve NHS care. It is currently an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by DHSC. The proposal to abolish HSSIB and transfer its functions to the CQC was included in the new Health Bill which is currently progressing through Parliament. Concerns about the changeThe Patient Safety Management Network (PSMN), hosted on the hub, held a discussion about this proposed change earlier this year. The PSMN is an innovative voluntary network for patient safety managers and everyone working in patient safety. They highlighted several concerns about this proposal, most notably: Concerns about combining HSSIB’s investigative role with the CQC’s regulatory and inspection functions, including potential conflicts of interest and reduced staff confidence in sharing information openly. Despite assurances that existing ‘safe space’ legal protections would be retained, members questioned whether these protections would remain secure in the long term and whether staff would continue to perceive them as trustworthy. Similar concerns had also been highlighted by Professor Carl Macrae, Sir Bernard Jenkin MP and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Patient Safety. New amendments in the House of LordsThe Health Bill is currently being scrutinised by the House of Lords. Yesterday, Health Service Journal reported that Baroness Merron, the DHSC minister in the Lords, had sent a letter stating that the government, after listening to concerns about this proposal, has decided not to proceed with this. This has been confirmed in the latest running list of amendments to the Bill, which now includes the Minister’s intention to leave out Schedule 9 of the legislation, which transfers the Health Services Safety Investigations Body’s functions to the Care Quality Commission. Patient Safety Learning's responseIn our response to the Dash Review, Patient Safety Learning stated our belief that HSSIB has an important independent role in the health system which should be retained. We subsequently expressed our view that the provisions included in the Health Bill did not effectively address the concerns about this proposal raised by MPs, members of the Patient Safety Management Network and patient safety campaigners. We therefore welcome this decision to retain HSSIB's independent investigative function and to not proceed with plans to move this into the Care Quality Commission.

Andy Burnham has pledged his support for compensation for those families affected by Primodos. Their tireless campaigning since 1978 was instrumental in securing the First Do No Harm Review led by Baroness Cumberlege. Originally, former Prime Minister Theresa May wanted a public inquiry into Primodos. But in 2018 it was decided that an independent review would examine three major healthcare scandals affecting women: Primodos, pelvic mesh and sodium valproate. In 2021, the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety review, led by Baroness Cumberlege, conducted a comprehensive review of historic documents and found that Hormone Pregnancy Tests had caused avoidable harm, that they should have been withdrawn by the regulator after the first warnings in 1967 and that this failure to act meant that women were exposed unnecessarily to a potential risk. Sadly, although Baroness Cumberlege recommended compensation for all three patient groups, the Primodos families were omitted from the recommendations made by Henrietta Hughes in 2024. Burnham paid tribute to campaigners, who have suffered harm from hormone pregnancy tests between the 1950s and 1970s. Read full story Source: Sky News, 21 October 2026

An integrated quality report (IQR or IQPR) connects clinical quality, experience, workforce, operations, risk and improvement. It is not every metric in one pack; it helps teams and boards judge whether services are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led, where assurance is limited and what must happen next. In this article, GGi senior consultant James Avery asks what constitutes a good integrated quality report. The article explores how: Good quality reports turn data into insight that drives change. Triangulated evidence explains not just what changed, but why. Insight must reach the frontline teams who can act. A seven-step test and maturity matrix shows where to improve.

The government has committed to reform of the scheme that provides financial support for those injured or bereaved by vaccines. It was a key recommendation of the UK Covid Inquiry, and has been a focus for campaigners. One campaign group has welcomed the recognition that vaccine injury and bereavement is real and that the current scheme is not fit for purpose. But it says it wants a clear commitment to action by ministers, rather than simply saying they will look further at what needs to be done. The benefits of vaccination are well documented. The AstraZeneca Covid jab is credited with saving millions of lives worldwide. But some people have experienced harm. In her fourth report, the chair of the Covid Inquiry, Baroness Hallett, called for better support for those affected. More than 24,000 people have made Covid-related claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), a form of financial support paid by the government, but just over 1% have resulted in one-off tax-free awards of £120,000. The report called for "urgent" reform of the scheme, saying that it is "not sufficiently supportive". One of the main campaign groups for those who were injured by the Covid vaccine is Vaccine Injured and Bereaved UK. The group welcomed the government's acknowledgement that vaccine injury and bereavement were real and that the VDPS is not fit for purpose. But in a statement it said that was not the same as committing to action. "After more than five years of campaigning, and with the Covid-19 Inquiry explicitly calling for reform as soon as possible, we had hoped the Government would finally come forward with a clear commitment to action, not simply say it would look further at what needs to be done. "We understand that work may be needed to develop the reforms, but there is a real difference between saying you will look at something and committing to deliver it. "Today, we have no clear timetable, no certainty about what will change and no assurance about when families will finally see meaningful progress." Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 October 2026 Related reading on the hub: UK Covid-19 Inquiry: Module 4 -Vaccines and therapeutics Adverse reactions to Covid-19 vaccination - are adverse reactions adequately understood and are patients affected provided for in your area? Interview with Charlet Crichton, founder of UKCVFamily

Bosses at a trust being investigated for corporate manslaughter have been criticised by a regulator, which found care and patient dignity failings, and a “disconnect” between senior leaders and frontline staff at its high-secure hospital. Rampton High-Secure Hospital, run by Nottinghamshire Healthcare Foundation Trust, was rated “requires improvement” again, following four inspections in April 2026 by the Care Quality Commission. The news follows a criminal inquiry being launched this summer into the trust’s care and treatment of Valdo Calocane, who killed Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and Ian Coates in June 2023. The CQC said that while inspectors found some improvements had been made, they uncovered a series of managerial and care failings in staffing, safe care and treatment, dignity and respect, person-centred care, and in premises and overall management at the hospital. The report said: “We identified a disconnect between senior leaders and frontline staff regarding the rationale for some operational decisions and the day-to-day reality of staffing pressures.” The CQC was “not assured that senior leaders had acted effectively on feedback from previous assessments, as many of the concerns remained”, and staff who spoke up “had not seen meaningful changes as a result”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 October 2026

The Witness to Harm project has published a range of resources to support patients, families, colleagues and members of the public involved in fitness to practise proceedings. Developed from mixed-methods research into people’s experiences of taking part in hearings, the resources aim to improve understanding of the process and help people feel better prepared. They include a short film on what to expect before, during and after a hearing, alongside animations, information about the research and links to further support.

The government has U-turned on its plan to abolish an independent health service investigations body after opposition in the House of Lords, HSJ has learned. Ministers told peers on Wednesday that they would be dropping proposals in the Health Bill to merge the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) into the Care Quality Commission. It followed concern that clinicians would be less willing to speak candidly to HSSIB investigators, who work under a legally protected “safe space” and a “no blame” approach, if it became part of a regulator. Several parliamentarians have criticised the proposal, including the all-party parliamentary group for patient safety. The government’s health minister in the Lords, Baroness Merron, said in a letter seen by HSJ: “I am grateful to colleagues across the House for their constructive engagement on the future of HSSIB. Noble Lords have raised important questions, in particular about the independence of its learning-focused investigation capability from within the CQC. “We have listened carefully to those representations in considering the best way forward and decided not to proceed with the provisions in the Bill as drafted, and have tabled amendments today that would preserve HSSIB’s current status in legislation.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 22 October 2026

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is examining the circumstances surrounding the death of a patient at a psychiatric hospital in Birmingham. Poppie Rogers, 22, died in June last year after taking a poisonous substance she ordered online while on the Larimar ward, an acute inpatient ward run by Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust. The CQC told HSJ it is looking into the case and gathering information, including from the provider, so that it can determine whether any further action is required. The incident is referred to in BSMHFT board papers from earlier this year, which cited a “risk that patients may bring in or have delivered to wards harmful products leading to a risk of serious harm to themselves, other patients, or staff”. The papers said the risk was identified “following a serious incident where a patient was able to have a poisonous substance delivered in a parcel and ingest it, leading to their death. When the parcel was delivered to the ward, it was not checked by staff.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 October 2026

Only properly trained professionals will be allowed to offer high-risk cosmetic procedures like liquid Brazilian butt lifts (BBLs), vampire facials and chemical peels, under long-awaited government plans for England in 2027. The government said it wanted to "drive cosmetic cowboys out of the market" and shield people from treatments "that can go badly wrong". Currently, there are no restrictions over who can carry out these 'no scalpel' procedures, which can harm or kill if not performed safely. Under the new rules, high-risk procedures for under-18s will also be banned, and rogue providers will face new criminal offences and fixed fines of up to £4,000. It comes following horror stories of procedures reportedly carried out in Airbnbs, hotel rooms, garden sheds and even public toilets, by "cosmetic cowboys". Alice Webb, a mother-of-five from Gloucestershire, died within hours of getting a liquid Brazilian butt lift in 2024. That same year, Sasha Dean, from Bedfordshire, was left in a coma after receiving a liquid BBL. A BBL is a non-surgical cosmetic procedure in which dermal fillers are injected into the buttocks to alter their size or shape. Some of Sasha's treatment took place in a private house and she ended up developing sepsis. She told BBC News: "Very quickly it turned into a complete nightmare. "I had a heart attack, one of my lungs had collapsed, my kidneys were failing. My body was just completely shutting down." Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 October 2026

A baby girl who died from meningitis might have been saved if doctors had tested her for the infection sooner, rather than putting her symptoms down to Covid, an inquest jury has found. Five-month-old Esta High died at Leeds General Infirmary in November 2023, days after she was taken into the emergency department with a high temperature and vomiting. She had tested positive for coronavirus, and so opportunities were missed when doctors stuck with a diagnosis of Covid, the inquest found. Esta died from streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis, and her parents Lynsey Carr and Leon High told the inquest that doctors had missed vital chances to test for a bacterial infection and start vital antibiotic treatment. Carr told the inquest, at Wakefield coroner’s court, that their concerns were ignored until it was too late. Carr said she and her partner had refused advice from doctors to take Esta home, as she would not stop vomiting and had a temperature of over 40C. She said her daughter developed a rash and her arm started shaking, which she feared was a seizure. She told the jury “we were extremely worried” and “kept asking for help”, but “staff were rude and don’t listen to our concerns”. Carr told the inquest that the family, from Leeds, were put into a side room at the hospital’s children’s assessment and treatment (CAT) unit, adding that she believed staff were more concerned with isolating Esta due to the Covid risk than listening to her parents. She described Esta’s time on the CAT unit as “15 hours that were filled with missed opportunities”. “Unfortunately, as our daughter had been left untreated for 55 hours, it was too late to save our darling girl,” Carr told the inquest, describing her daughter as “bright, beautiful and perfect from the first moment”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 October 2026

Government failures caused Covid-19 to spread “like wildfire” among vulnerable and elderly people, and Matt Hancock’s “protective ring” around care homes did not exist, a public inquiry has found. Heather Hallett, who is leading the Covid-19 inquiry, said the care sector was an “afterthought” and rejected the former health secretary’s long-held claim that he threw a “protective ring” around care homes from the start of the pandemic, saying it was “unfounded” and the “opposite was true”. She described the government’s failure to advise that patients discharged from hospitals into care homes should be isolated was a “significant omission”, which led the virus to spread rapidly among residents and staff. Lady Hallett also said preventing visits to care homes led to “immense emotional harm” for residents and left them with “profound isolation and a sense of abandonment”. “The adult social care sector as a whole appeared to be something of an afterthought, where the mantra of ‘protecting the NHS’ sometimes came at the expense of the users and providers of care,” she said. “Care homes received insufficient protection at the time they most needed it. These failures created environments in care settings in which the virus could spread like wildfire. “Most distressingly, some people were not permitted to be with their dying loved ones. Many remain racked by a guilt that they do not deserve to carry.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 October 2026 Further reading on the hub: Questions around Government governance Covid Inquiry Recommendations Tracker (Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice)

Patients have been waiting up to a month for chemotherapy appointments because of staffing shortages, partly caused by reductions in bank rates. In August, patients at East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust waited three to four weeks for new patient and pre-chemotherapy appointments, leading to breaches of the 31-day standard. Board papers blamed “high levels of nursing vacancies” and said the August position was “due to lack of take-up of bank shifts due to NHSP [NHS Professionals] rate changes”. Trusts in Kent and Medway are now paying less for temporary shifts after two separate changes: one for nurses and other Agenda for Change staff, and one for doctors Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 October 2026

A former chief crown prosecutor has been appointed to chair England’s largest trust. Nazir Afzal will take up the role at Manchester University Foundation Trust on 4 January, succeeding Trevor Rees, who stepped in as acting chair after Kathy Cowell left to become regional chair for NHS England North West. Mr Afzal was previously a director at the Crown Prosecution Service in London, and served as the chief crown prosecutor for North West England from 2011 to 2015. He is also chancellor of Manchester University. He led an independent review into the Nursing and Midwifery Council in 2024, which found “dysfunctionality” “at virtually every level of the organisation, across all directorates”, alongside instances of bullying, racism, and discrimination. Mr Afzal said: “I intend to listen, to challenge when necessary and, above all, to keep patients and communities at the heart of what we do. “You cannot lead an organisation this important from a boardroom alone. I want to spend time with our teams, hear what is working and what isn’t, and make sure people feel able to speak openly. Good organisations are built on people who feel listened to and valued." Read full story Source: HSJ, 20 October 2026

Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) can bring valuable lived experience into decision-making, service improvement, research, and patient safety work. However, even well-intentioned organisations can make mistakes that reduce the impact of involvement and leave participants feeling undervalued. hub Topic leader, Aurora Todisco shares seven of the most common pitfalls and how to avoid them.

This study assesses the effects of an ambient artificial intelligence (AI) scribe on documentation time, note quality, clinician and patient experience in clinician–patient encounters. Using an ambient AI scribe for clinician-patient encounters reduces documentation burden, enhances clinician fulfilment and satisfaction and improves quality of interactions for patients. Effects of longer-term scribe use on professional efficiency and well-being, and patient care and outcomes warrant investigation.