Skip to content

News

Keep up to date with the latest news, research and activity in patient safety.

Three dead after hospital failed to stop rogue consultant

Patients with lung disease suffered harm or died after treatment was repeatedly delayed or replaced with alternatives which had no evidence base, an independent review has found.
The Royal College of Physicians was commissioned by Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust to review the care of 30 patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) treated by Veronica Varney, a former consultant respiratory physician.
It found the majority of patients came to moderate harm or worse, with failures including delayed referrals, keeping patients on clinical trials after they were halted and prescribing treatments with no evidence base for the condition.
The 30 affected patients are a sample of 216 patients with ILD, which the trust previously found received poor care. Many of these patients have since died.
The review graded 12 cases as causing “severe clinical harm” and three as resulting in death.
The review found that Dr Varney “initiated non-evidence-based and off-label treatments for ILD”, including advising patients to avoid covid and flu vaccines and rapeseed oil, and prescribing medications not intended for ILD.
It said treatment decisions “were not consistently supported by clinical guidelines and were not always clearly documented as having been discussed with the patient or colleagues”.
Dr Varney was “reportedly instructed to cease non-evidence-based ILD treatments”, but the practice continued.
“The lack of monitoring at this point was a missed opportunity to ensure compliance and patient safety,” the report said.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 9 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning

German doctor jailed for murder of 15 patients and suspected of more

A German palliative care doctor has been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing 15 of his patients.
A court in Berlin found the 41-year-old man, named only as Johannes M. in line with German privacy rules, guilty of murdering 12 women and 3 men between September 2021 and July 2024.
The authorities believe these killings could be just the tip of the iceberg. Prosecutors are currently investigating dozens of other incidents involving the doctor.
His victims were between the ages of 25 and 94. The court heard how they were all critically ill, but that their deaths were not imminent.
Prosecutors said that during home visits, the doctor administered a lethal combination of various medicines without his patients' consent.
On several occasions, they said he set fires to cover his tracks.
In July 2024, shortly before his arrest, prosecutors said the doctor killed two patients in a single day - a 75-year-old man at his home in central Berlin and, a few hours later, a 76-year-old woman in a neighbouring district.
They said the doctor tried to set fire to the woman's house, but failed.
For much of the trial, which has gone on for about a year, the doctor said nothing. But last month, he confessed to having "killed people," twelve of his severely ill patients.
He told the court he had convinced himself that he was doing the right thing, sparing them "suffering and infirmity".
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 8 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning

A&E visits hit record high in June as heatwave struck UK

An average of 80,000 people visited A&E every day last month for the first time ever in June, as record temperatures hit the UK.
The NHS has said it is under just as much pressure as in winter and staff are facing an “onslaught of demand” amid heatwaves and the World Cup.
Average daily A&E attendances reached 81,264 for the first time ever in June - setting a new daily attendance record.
NHS national medical director Professor Frankie Swords said: “These figures show that summer is now putting the NHS under just as much pressure as winter, with staff facing an onslaught of demand – and we have to prepare for it in the same way.
“What we’re seeing on the ground is really busy Mondays following weekends of football and sunshine, so please don’t delay coming forward for care when you need it, even if it’s in early hours on a weekend.
“In the continuing warm weather, please take precautions like staying hydrated, and check in on loved ones or those who are vulnerable, and as always, please dial 999 in an emergency, and otherwise use 111.”
Read full story
Source: The Independent, 9 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning

CEO warns against ‘top slicing’ acutes for ‘well meaning’ neighbourhood schemes

Large acute trusts are shouldering unreasonable risk because their funding has been “top sliced” to pay for “well meaning” but unproven “neighbourhood health” schemes, a leading London CEO has told HSJ.
Shane DeGaris, of Barts Health Trust, said the financial transition to realise the hospital-to-community “shift” was currently “not clear”, and much of the risk was with with hospital providers.
Mr DeGaris said his £2.7bn organisation was “supportive” of neighbourhood health, and in “live discussions” on how responsibility for it can be divided up in North East London.
But in an interview with HSJ, he warned his and other acutes were facing potential deficits, with the funding regime becoming “increasingly bad” for them.
Mr DeGaris said his trust “fully supports” the shift of services from hospital to community, but added: “There’s going to be a huge chunk of work still going to be required to do in hospitals…
“[We need to make sure] all the stranded costs aren’t there for the hospitals in a world where accountability now is all about individual trusts.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 9 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Mackey threatens sacking or prison for snooping staff

Staff could face the sack or even time in prison if they access patient records without a legitimate reason, Sir Jim Mackey has warned.
In a letter to hospital and regional leaders today, the NHS England chief executive called on boards to put a “renewed focus” on educating staff and implementing a “tough approach” in response to staff who “breach patient trust in this way”.
HSJ revealed in June that multiple hospital staff had viewed medical records of Southport attack survivors without clinical reason in 2024 – resulting in allegations of a “cover up” and with no clear firm disciplinary action having been taken.
Also in June, Nottingham University Hospitals announced it was sacking 11 staff for snooping on records after three people were killed in a stabbing in 2023.
HSJ has revealed thousands of other similar concerns have been reported nationally, and that Cambridge University Hospitals has recently sacked staff.
Sir Jim’s letter said: “There can be no place in the NHS for those who misuse patient information. Patient trust in our handling of their most sensitive data cannot be taken for granted and it is therefore critical that we both educate staff and take a hard line when their access to records falls below the standards we expect.
“Anyone considering accessing records for personal reasons or out of curiosity should be in no doubt they could be putting their career at risk, and may face disciplinary action, dismissal, referral to the regulator or even time in prison.”
NHSE has also published staff guidance and launched a campaign to remind them “of the law and the potential impact” of snooping. The headline messaging warns: “Don’t let curiosity kill your career.”
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 8 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Complications after overseas surgeries cost NHS £1.8 million

Almost half of patients who travelled abroad for cut-price cosmetic surgery returned home with serious complications such as splitting wounds, tissue death and sepsis, a new study has revealed.
The medical tourism industry is estimated to be worth more than £20 billion, with surgery packages abroad often marketed at prices up to 80% lower than procedures in the UK.
But if there are complications following the surgery patients can face difficulty accessing follow up support and plastic surgeons in the UK have warned “a cheaper operation can end up becoming a very expensive complication.”
A study from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) analysed almost 200 cases of patients treated in the UK after undergoing cosmetic procedures overseas.
Nearly three in four patients required medical procedures or surgery after returning home, while almost half needed an operation under general anaesthetic to correct complications.
The most common problems included severe infections, wounds splitting open, tissue death, nipple loss and fluid collections requiring repeated treatment. Tragically, one patient died from a pulmonary embolism.
However, the NHS is footing the bill, which between September 2022 and 2024 is estimated to have cost about £1.8 million - approximately £5883 to £9328 per patient.
Read full story
Source: The Independent, 7 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Thousands of women could be spared painful cancer exam by new NHS AI blood test

Thousands of women could be spared having a painful intrusive exam for suspected cancer thanks to a new AI-powered blood test being trialled by the NHS.
Around 90,000 postmenopausal women a year in England are referred by their GP to be investigated for possible womb cancer because they are bleeding a lot.
Around 10,000 women a year in England are diagnosed with the disease – which is also known as uterine or endometrial cancer – and 2,700 die from it.
However, the PinPoint blood test could save one in five of those women – 18,000 a year – from needing to undergo a diagnostic procedure called a transvaginal ultrasound scan, which measures the thickness of the lining of their womb, and many find uncomfortable or painful.
Avoiding having that test unnecessarily has become a realistic prospect because, although 20% of women referred turn out not to have the disease, under the current NHS system of diagnosing cancers of the reproductive system, all have a pelvic examination involving an ultrasound scan. If doctors still suspect cancer, women potentially then have a tissue sample taken during a biopsy and a further examination called a hysteroscopy, which can often be painful.
Prof Sean Duffy, the firm’s chief medical officer – an ex-NHS England national clinical director for cancer – said the test’s 99% accuracy for womb cancer “is remarkable by any clinical standards”.
“But equally, its value lies in safely ruling out very low-risk women. This has the potential to spare thousands of patients from painful invasive procedures they do not need.”
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 8 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning

‘Clear consequences’ for leaders who fail to tackle racism

Board members will be held accountable for tackling workplace racism via personal objectives that must be made public under new national standards.
The government’s NHS staff standards guidance, published this week, says organisations must “ensure every board member (including non-executive directors) has a published… objective on tackling racism”.
They must appoint either their chief executive or chief operating officer as the senior responsible officer for tackling racism, and they will be “held to account against relevant workforce data [with] strong and clear consequences for poor performance”.
“Tackling racism” is one of six staff standards set by the Department of Health and Social Care, as proposed in last year’s 10-Year Health Plan.
The guidance said: “The 2025 NHS Staff Survey showed that instances of staff experiencing discrimination at work from patients, their families and the general public, managers or other colleagues, had increased again and are higher among ethnic minority staff compared to white staff.
“Given these inequalities, this standard sets out the minimum national expectations for how all NHS organisations must prioritise, prevent, respond to and learn from incidents of racism in the workplace.”
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 8 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Online hospital risks ‘leaving behind’ mental health, top CEO warns

Mental health is at risk of being “left behind” by the first online NHS hospital, a top mental health chief executive has said.
Ify Okocha, CEO of Oxleas Foundation Trust told his board last week that he had personally challenged NHS Online’s new chair over the exclusion of mental health from the service’s initial plans.
He said: “I feel strongly about it. This is often what happens – mental health is left behind, and then we’re told ‘we don’t quite know how to help you’. I’m keen for us to be a part of that.”
The NHS “online hospital” will offer remote specialist treatment to patients referred by their GP. It is scheduled to see its first patients in 2027.
Last month, one of NHS Online’s non-executive directors pledged that safeguards would be put in place to prevent the organisation from “draining the resources” of the wider NHS workforce. The trust is currently recruiting for its chief digital and information officer.
In January, NHS England announced nine areas which would be the focus of the new hospital, including women’s health issues, prostate problems, and ophthalmology conditions.
Dr Okocha said he was “struck by” the emphasis being placed on services like ophthalmology “but no mention of mental health”.
He said he had raised this issue with those overseeing the hospital launch and was told, in essence, that “the service needed to start somewhere”.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 7 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning

NHS trust 'to spend £30m' on mental health inquiry

The NHS trust at the centre of a public mental health inquiry estimates it will need to spend £30m to cover the costs of the process.
The Lampard Inquiry is looking into the deaths of more than 2,000 people under Essex NHS mental health services between 2000 and 2023.
Paul Scott, the former chief executive officer of Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust [EPUT], admitted the figure was "substantial" but said there was no set budget for the legal process.
"Our position is we need to spend what we need to spend to serve the inquiry," he said.
Scott was called back to give evidence to the inquiry, having appeared at a previous hearing.
Chief counsel to the inquiry, Nicholas Griffin KC, said that EPUT had spent £13.5m up to the end of November 2025 on the Lampard Inquiry and its predecessor - the Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry - but was forecasting a £30m spend overall.
Scott left his role at the end of June to become CEO of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Colchester and Ipswich hospitals.
Bereaved families criticised the timing of his departure from EPUT when the Lampard Inquiry was still active.
Scott apologised to families who had been upset by the move, but told the inquiry: "I'm here…to assure people that I'm not running from anything."
He added he was "available to be accountable for my time in EPUT".
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 7 July 2026
Sam

CEO admits underestimating requirements of deaths inquiry

A trust has been slow to provide records to an inquiry examining more than 2,000 deaths, because it underestimated the resources needed, its former CEO has admitted.
Paul Scott, who left Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust last month, said the trust “underestimated at the outset the scale and complexity of what would be required of it” as the main NHS trust respondent to the Lampard Inquiry.
Baroness Kate Lampard is investigating more than 2,000 mental health deaths in Essex between 2000 and 2023, with her inquiry due to report in 2028.
In a statement read to the inquiry on Monday afternoon, Mr Scott said: “That underestimation was not in bad faith, but rather an error of planning and resourcing in not appreciating the wide focus which would be put on the delivery of services by it and predecessor trusts.
“This had real consequences: it generated delay, eroded the inquiry’s confidence, and [in some cases] directly affected bereaved families.”
The problems included a failure to quickly forward 30 “next of kin” letters provided by the inquiry in February. EPUT said it was trying to validate families’ addresses, but has apologised for the unacceptable delay.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 6 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning

NHS says it’s ‘crucial’ parents check children are vaccinated against deadly diseases

Health officials are urgently calling on approximately one million families to ensure their children receive vital vaccinations against potentially deadly childhood diseases.
The NHS has initiated a catch-up campaign targeting parents of children aged two to 11 who have missed their measles jabs.
This push comes after two children in England tragically died from measles this year, amidst a significant rise in cases. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reports 801 measles cases already this year, compared with 959 cases in 2025.
The MMR/V vaccine provides crucial protection against measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox. General practitioners will be contacting parents of children under six to arrange these essential immunisations.
Those with children aged six to 11 will be contacted via the NHS App, text, email or letter.
Read full story
Source: The Independent, 7 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Fresh concerns over safety and quality at maternity scandal trust

NHS England took action at a maternity scandal trust over “immediate risks” to women and babies, HSJ can reveal.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals was placed in “enhanced support” because of “quality and safety” concerns in its antenatal and newborn screening services last year, according to a letter released following a freedom of information request.
The programme includes tests for infectious diseases and some genetic disorders during pregnancy, as well as checks for hearing and some conditions after birth.
Senior midwife Donna Ockenden, who earlier this month found hundreds of mothers and babies had suffered avoidable harm in Nottingham, is set to begin a similar exercise in Leeds in the coming months.
An independent review into maternity services at the trust was announced in October, amid concerns that its mortality rates were an outlier.
Now HSJ has learned NHSE’s screening quality assurance service wrote to the provider in September last year to warn of “immediate risks” to women and babies.
This included late or missed interventions and wrongful birth claims, in which disabilities or health conditions that should be detected in pregnancy are not picked up.
NHSE said it was not clear the trust had enough staff to safely deliver the service, or that all eligible women and babies were tested, or that there were “timely processes to put things right… when things go wrong in the screening pathway”.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 7 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Dying patients face ‘avoidable distress’ due to poor communication from professionals

Dying patients and their loved ones are being "let down" by inadequate communication, a failing that is "adding to their grief," an ombudsman has warned.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) issued a stark warning, emphasising that such breakdowns can not only impact a patient's immediate care but also lead to "severe consequences" for their families, exacerbating an already difficult time.
A new PHSO report highlighted a particularly distressing case where one man, referred to as Mr O, discovered he was dying "by accident".
An NHS trust had failed to inform him that his bowel cancer, which had spread to his liver, was terminal. The hospital, according to the PHSO, "failed to clearly and promptly inform" Mr O about the disease's spread and its fatal nature.
Instead, he only learned of his terminal diagnosis when his GP "unintentionally disclosed it". The PHSO said this delay “denied Mr O additional time to prepare for the end of his life”.
The man’s wife told the PHSO: “What stays with me most is how alone and powerless we felt.
“We weren’t kept informed, we didn’t understand what was happening, and we lost precious time that we can never get back."
The report also highlights cases of families not being informed and “left unprepared”.
The authors add: “It meant families missed the opportunity to spend meaningful time with their loved one in their final days.”
Meanwhile, families also described feeling dismissed or not properly listened to.
One family member of a dying person told the PHSO: “There were comments around the fact that I was a nuisance… It was obvious anyway, that I was not welcome.”
Read full story
Source: The Independent, 7 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Rapid endometriosis tests to be made available on NHS in England and Wales

Two tests that can dramatically speed up diagnosis of endometriosis are to be made available on the NHS in England and Wales, in a move hailed as a “gamechanger” for millions of women.
One in 10 women of reproductive age are affected by the condition, where tissue similar to that found in the womb lining grows elsewhere, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes. Symptoms include painful periods, painful bowel movements, pain when urinating and pain during or after sex.
Current tests include ultrasound scans, MRI or a laparoscopy – where a camera is inserted through a tiny cut in the stomach. But despite the devastating effect it can have on a woman’s physical and mental health, and the large numbers affected, getting a diagnosis can take years.
Now the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has given the green light to two tests, EndoSure and Endotest. It says they will help rapidly reduce the time it takes for women to be told whether they have the condition. One provides results in just 45 minutes.
Dr Anastasia Chalkidou, Nice’s healthtech programme director, said: “A diagnosis of endometriosis can for some women take the best part of a decade, with the UK average standing at nine years and four months, and rising to 11 years for those from ethnically diverse communities.”
Delays meant chronic pain, affecting daily life, relationships and work, she said. “These technologies have the potential to change that by giving primary care professionals better non-invasive tools to identify endometriosis earlier, allowing earlier and better treatment.
“Our draft guidance reflects our commitment to getting promising innovations to patients quickly, while making sure the evidence to support their wider use is built in a rigorous way.”
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 7 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning

First complaints made over clinician use of AI

The first complaints about the alleged inappropriate use of AI by clinicians have been received by professional regulators, HSJ can reveal.
The General Medical Council received eight complaints against the same number of individual doctors in 2025. It received a further six complaints concerning five individual doctors in the first half of 2026.
Two of the 2025 complaints progressed to investigation, with one still ongoing and one closed. The other six complaints were closed at triage.
The  Nursing and Midwifery Council saw its first four referrals in 2025 and has received one to date in 2026. All the complaints involve different registrants. One of the referrals has progressed to a full investigation.
In response to this new class of complaint, The GMC has published guidance which states: “Doctors, physician associates, and anaesthesia associates are responsible for the decisions they take when using new technologies like AI, and the principles in our professional standards continue to apply.
“For example, it’s important to discuss the use of innovative technologies with patients, what other options may be available and any uncertainties and limitations, so they can make informed decisions. This is in line with the principles set out in good medical practice  and our guidance on decision making and consent.”
Organisations, in contrast, would be responsible if, for example, AI was used to share data inappropriately via electronic patients records. However, there remain considerable grey areas in what is a fast-developing field and Alastair Denniston’s review on AI regulation commissioned by government is considering this and is due to report this summer.  
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 6 July 2026
Patient Safety Learning
Registered address: Patient Safety Learning, China Works SB203, 100 Black Prince Road Vauxhall, London, SE1 7SJ

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications
Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.