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

Doctors ‘intimidated and belittled by colleagues’

Resident doctors face “intimidating” communications from nurses and have been reduced to tears by consultants in a hospital service with long-standing medical training concerns.
Acute internal medicine at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust is one of a small number of services nationally under “enhanced monitoring” by the General Medical Council because of concerns over the training and treatment of resident doctors.
BHRUHT has been subject to this status for seven years. But HSJ can reveal that an education quality review by an NHS England team last year found there were still major problems.
The report, which was released to HSJ this month after a Freedom of Information request, said the NHSE team observed trainees working in acute internal medicine – known as the acute medical take – “crying as a direct result of inappropriate communication with emergency department consultants”.
Corridor care was becoming “somewhat normalised”, according to the findings, with corridors set up like wards. There were cases of patients “going missing” or being transferred before being reviewed by a consultant, and there was poor communication between trainees and consultants.
Some patients did not get a consultant review even if they had been there for 24 hours, and workload in the same day emergency care unit “felt unsafe and chaotic”.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 31 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

UK patients told ‘not to worry’ over medicine supply amid Iran war

Patients have been advised "not to worry" about medicine supply concerns despite potential links to the conflict in Iran.
While reassurances are offered, pharmacy bodies are noting early warning signs.
The Independent Pharmacies Association warned the UK faces a "perfect storm of factors exacerbating medicine shortages."
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) adds that pharmacists are seeing "evidence of escalating price rises" for medicines, a potential early warning for supply constraints.
Chief executive Dr Leyla Hannbeck said: “The UK pharmacy sector depends heavily on imports, particularly from India and China, and ongoing pressures, from rising energy costs to constrained raw ingredients from the Middle East conflict, are already disrupting supply and risk worsening shortages without decisive action.”
Olivier Picard, chairman of the National Pharmacy Association said: “The medicine supply chain is complex and fragile and global trends and events in the Middle East have the potential to cause disruption, as it does with other products.
“We have already seen evidence in recent weeks of escalating price rises for medicines for pharmacies in the UK, as the cost of ingredients goes up, and this can be an early sign of supply pressures.
“Medicine supply issues vary from month to month, and pharmacies do all they can to ensure patients get the medicines they need."
Read full story
Source: The Independent, 31 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Milburn: Hold CEOs accountable on cyber security

Trust chief executives should face stronger “personal consequences” if their organisation’s cyber security fails, according to a senior government figure.
Alan Milburn, who is the Department of Health and Social Care’s lead non-executive director, today endorsed a report that said there was “insufficient accountability or personal consequences for senior executives who fail to fulfil their responsibilities to ensure a minimum level of cyber security and resilience”.
King’s College London published the report on “building NHS resilience to ransomware”, calling for a new “cyber leadership framework” for the NHS.
The report acknowledges that resources for cyber security in the NHS are meagre, unevenly distributed and not centrally tracked. But it says that, despite this, cultural changes could make it more resilient.
It recommends more centralised and consistent standards – to be enforced by regulators – and adding a cyber security rating to existing NHS England provider league table rankings.
In a foreword to the report, Mr Milburn argues: “We need to reduce the risk, especially as we press forward with better leveraging patient data and AI.
“I very much welcome… the focus on how governance and cultural fixes can reduce the risk – rather than simply throwing more resources at the problem. There are few, if any, areas where achieving clarity of accountability and consistency matters more than in cyber security and resilience.”
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 31 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Four deaths prompt ICB to rethink crisis care

An integrated care board is rethinking its approach to crisis mental health care after “confusion” contributed towards the deaths of four people.
Multiple trusts in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB raised concerns about the “Right Care Right Person” (RCRP) policy, a national agreement between police and the NHS, which means that police should not need to attend a mental health-related incident unless there is a risk to life.
North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust and Midlands Partnership University Foundation Trust told the ICB that police support was “not forthcoming” on several occasions and that “harm was potentially being caused because of this”.
Last year, coroners issued multiple warnings following a series of deaths linked to the controversial national policy, which was introduced despite concerns in the NHS and from patient groups.
The ICB commissioned a joint thematic review of four cases between October 2024 and March 2025, where people were found dead, and the RCRP process may not have been followed.
The review was finished at the end of last year and has only now been released to HSJ under the Freedom of Information Act.
Findings included that “system challenges” contributed to delays in gaining access to patients’ properties to check on them when there was a concern for their safety.
The review found that while RCRP had been launched by the trusts involved, “there were a number of healthcare staff in the community and in hospitals who were not fully aware or had a full understanding of the process and its needs and requirements”.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 31 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Drug warnings review after some patients 'misled' over impulsive behaviour side effects

Warnings about common medications that can cause impulsive behaviours, such as sex and gambling addictions, are being officially reviewed after BBC News identified an error in drug leaflets.
Side effects of a family of drugs used to treat Parkinson's, Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) and other conditions have led to huge debts, broken marriages, criminality and suicide, our year-long investigation found. More than 350 affected people have contacted the BBC during that period.
One in six Parkinson's patients taking the drugs are affected by impulse control disorders, the clinical term for these behaviours, according to one study cited as the largest of its kind.
Yet those side effects are described as "uncommon" in leaflets for one of the drugs, suggesting they only affect fewer than one in a hundred patients.
After being alerted by the BBC, the UK's drug safety regulator said that "an error has been identified" and it would be changing that label to "common".
In response to our findings, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has also begun reviewing warnings for all eight of these medications, which are known as dopamine agonist drugs.
Boehringer Ingelheim, the developer of Pramipexole - the Parkinson's drug with impulsive behaviours listed as "uncommon" - said the regulator had approved its leaflets and that it was committed to improving patient safety.
Neither it nor the MHRA were able to say how long the error had existed for, but the BBC has discovered its inclusion in a leaflet from 2021 - meaning patients have been misled for at least five years.
The MP who heads the Health Select Committee has told us she "wants answers" from the MHRA and believes it should apologise to families for the mistake.
"I just can't even begin to imagine hearing what they've been through - abuse, financial ruin, all that you've uncovered - and then to find out that they could have been so much better forewarned," said Layla Moran.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 28 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

'Alarming' report reveals number of UK meningitis deaths - with warning over falling vaccination rates

An "alarming" report has linked meningitis to 159 deaths in the UK in one year - as pharmacists warn that childhood vaccination rates are falling.
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has called for an immunisation catch up service to be rolled out for teenagers who have missed out on being vaccinated against meningitis and other diseases.
NPA chair Olivier Picard said declining immunisation rates for illnesses, including meningitis and measles, highlighted that the current strategy was "not fit for purpose" in the face of growing "vaccine hesitancy".
It comes after a deadly outbreak of the disease in Kent earlier this month claimed the lives of two students.
Mr Picard said: "It's clear there are gaps in the original national vaccination strategy for meningitis and pharmacies want to reach those in need of protection.
"The NHS should urgently commission pharmacies to provide a catch-up vaccination service for teenagers who did not receive their MenACWY immunisations, as well as commissioning pharmacies to support NHS colleagues with wider childhood vaccinations."
Read full story
Source: Sky News, 28 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Pregnant women and cancer patients at risk from sonographer shortage

Pregnant women and cancer patients could face “life-threatening” delays because of a worsening shortage of sonographers, experts warn.
The vacancy rate for sonographers is 24.2% across England, rising to 38.2% in some areas, according to the Society of Radiographers (SoR).
In addition, 1 in every 13 (7.6%) sonographers are planning to retire within the next year, the census found.
Sonographers carry out ultrasound scans which are essential to pregnancy care and are also used to diagnose cancer.
Pregnant women undergo scans when their baby is 12 weeks old and again at 20 weeks.
Katie Thompson, SoR president and a practising sonographer, said shortages forced hospitals to pull in practitioners from other areas to keep the antenatal services going at the "expense of those other services".
"Hospitals try their very best to get the three-month and five-month antenatal screening scans done on time," she said.
"But when there aren't enough staff, prioritising those scans has a knock-on effect on more urgent later foetal growth scans, which in some cases need to be done within 24 or 36 hours.
"Departments end up struggling to fit in patients who need these emergency scans."
Read full story
Source: Sky News, 28 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

NHS to miss targets for cutting A&E wait times and performance in England

The NHS is set to miss key targets to shorten waiting times for help at A&E, cancer care and planned hospital treatment, leaving millions of patients facing persistently long delays.
The health service in England will not deliver a series of milestone improvements in its performance that ministers demanded it achieve by the time the fiscal year ends on Tuesday, a Guardian analysis of the NHS’s most recent data has found.
The lack of progress raises questions about pledges made last week by Wes Streeting, the health secretary, to get key waiting times back on track by the end of the parliament in 2029.
The findings will concern Keir Starmer, the prime minister, given Labour’s commitment to “get the NHS back on its feet” and the public’s strong desire to see an end to the routinely long waits for care that crept in from 2015.
The gloomy picture on waiting times also comes despite the NHS handing hospitals an extra £120m in recent weeks to fund a pre-deadline “elective sprint” – of extra appointments and more operations – intended to bolster its chances of delivering the necessary improvements by 31 March.
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 29 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Digital health equity gaps remain, finds WHO research

People with greater health needs and language barriers still struggle to use digital health services and technologies, according to research led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Public Health Wales.
The scoping review found that these groups experience difficulties accessing technology because of limited access, low digital literacy and services being poorly adapted to diverse needs.
It also identified that inequities in digital infrastructure between regions risk creating uneven access to innovation.
Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, director of health systems at WHO/Europe, said: “One of our main objectives with this new review was to understand what exactly drives inequity in digital health, and how equity is incorporated into regulation, implementation and evaluation processes globally.
“One of the key takeaways is that equity in digital health cannot be achieved through isolated actions but requires a coordinated, whole-system approach to ensure equitable regulation, implementation and evaluation of digital health.”
The scoping review covers literature published between 2015 and 2024, assessing 154 articles to identify where good practices and persistent gaps exist.
While equity is increasingly referenced in digital health strategies, it often lacks operational standards to guide its inclusion or mechanisms enabling governments to provide oversight, risking the benefits of digital health and AI being unevenly distributed.
Dr David Novillo Ortiz, regional adviser for data, AI and digital health at WHO/Europe, said: “Equity should never be treated as an afterthought in the development and implementation of digital health technologies.
“If someone in a rural area cannot access a telehealth consultation because it requires high-speed internet that is unavailable in their village, then innovation is failing the very people it should serve.”
Read full story
Source: Digital Health, 23 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

SPHERE-PPL NHS Severe Patient Harm Forecasting Contest

The SPatial, Health & Environmental REsearch using Probabilistic Programming Languages (SPHERE-PPL) team are excited to announce the launch of the SPHERE-PPL NHS Severe Patient Harm Forecasting Contest.  
SPHERE-PPL is a community of researchers and data scientists focused on advancing the use of AI forecasting in health and environmental science.   
Every four hours of delay in Emergency Department (ED) admission is associated with an 8% increase in 30-day mortality risk — roughly 25 potentially avoidable deaths per month. Accurate forecasting can help hospital managers take pre-emptive actions to reduce this risk.  
The goal of the contest is to develop an algorithm that accurately forecasts the number of estimated avoidable deaths over 1–10 day horizons.  
Data: Estimated avoidable deaths as the outcome variable, alongside 220 explanatory healthcare variables, covering March 2023 – September 2025 (development set) and October 2025 – March 2026 (assessment set).
Timeline:
Final algorithms due: 5 June Assessment dataset released: 6 June Final submissions (including performance on assessment dataset) due: 20 June Tools:
Models should be implemented in R or Python. Evaluation:
Accuracy assessed via Mean Squared Error (MSE) over short-term (1–5 day) and medium-term (6–10 day) horizons.   For full contest details and participation instructions, please visit the GitHub repository: https://github.com/SPHERE-PPL/NHS-EAD-forecast
This is a unique opportunity to make a real-world impact. The winning model will be used daily by Bristol NHS managers to provide advance warnings and support proactive decision-making.  
Further information:
Email: [email protected] https://sphere-ppl.org
Patient Safety Learning

UK patients ‘denied joint replacement operations because they are obese’

Nearly one in five NHS organisations are "rationing" crucial joint replacement surgeries based on patients' weight, a new report has claimed.
Arthritis UK has warned that this practice is creating a "postcode lottery" of care across the country, leaving individuals in urgent need of operations at risk of enduring prolonged pain.
The charity also expressed concerns that these policies are being implemented "in a bid to cut waiting lists and costs".
An analysis conducted by Arthritis UK found that 31 out of 42 NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) currently have policies linking body mass index (BMI) to hip and knee replacements.
Specifically, eight ICBs, representing 19% of the total, are "rationing" procedures by setting defined BMI thresholds as a criterion for surgical referral.
A further 23 have policies that encourage or mandate weight loss to become eligible for these operations, the report said.
According to Arthritis UK, ICBs justify the use of BMI policies by highlighting risks.
However, it said research only shows a significant risk for people with a very high BMI, and these policies have “been inappropriately used” to cut off patients with lower BMIs, such as 35.
This move has affected thousands of people “who would have received the significant improvements in their joint pain and function,” the charity said.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) advises against using BMI to exclude patients from referral to surgery.
Read full story
Source: The Independent, 26 March 2026
Sam

Why NHS 111 call handlers are quitting their jobs in large numbers

Staff operating NHS 111 calls are leaving in significant numbers, a union has warned.
Heavy workloads, chronic staff shortages and abuse from callers have been listed as reasons for their departures from the service.
Unison revealed figures from six ambulance services in England and Wales, showing almost half of their workforce left their jobs in the three years leading up to April 2024.
The study also highlighted a severe impact on well-being, with 300,000 days lost to ill health across these six organisations during the same period.
The report also includes a survey of more than 200 staff, who said the volume of calls, staff shortages and aggressive and abusive callers were the worst challenges they faced in the job.
Unison’s national ambulance officer Sharan Bandesha said: “NHS 111 is a lifeline for patients and their families.
“The service provides vital advice and access to care when they urgently need it.
“But staff are under immense pressure and it’s no surprise many don’t stay in the role.
“Bringing 111 services back in-house, paying staff properly for their work and employing enough staff to alleviate pressure would help ensure NHS 111 is fit for the future.”
Read full story
Source: The Independent, 27 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

NHS bosses say resident doctors’ strike will cause ‘maximum harm’

NHS bosses have accused resident doctors of seeking to cause “maximum harm” to patients by striking for six days next month over pay and jobs.
Wes Streeting has given resident – formerly junior – doctors in England until 2 April to reconsider their rejection on Wednesday of his “generous” offer to end the dispute. It would have given them £700m in extra pay over the next three years.
The British Medical Association’s decision to withdraw from talks with the government and NHS chiefs aimed at settling the long-running dispute has sparked a war of words.
Glen Burley, NHS England’s financial reset and accountability director, said during NHS England’s board meeting on Thursday that the BMA’s decision was “really disappointing for patients. I mean, this is a point where we know we’ll be at a busy stage again. So it feels like it’s trying to push maximum harm and we will try and make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 26 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Hundreds stuck in ‘inadequate’ hospital

The majority of patients in a hospital at the centre of a safety scandal are yet to be moved – despite orders nearly three weeks ago to transfer them, HSJ understands.
NHS England ordered the removal of nearly 300 patients from St Andrew’s Northampton, the mental health provider’s flagship hospital, on 9 March. The national organisation called on local commissioners to “act now” to transfer them.
This follows a string of serious concerns about care and conditions over the past year, which NHSE said was not improving as required. 
However, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation today told HSJ the majority of the 300 patients were yet to be moved. 
Several national mental health sector sources said they were concerned about the pace so far.
NHSE said the transfers would take place “in phases”, which it is understood to be based on the complexity of needs.
Local managers are likely to be grappling with shortages of alternative inpatient beds, as these are already often in high demand.
The hospital is also the subject of three police investigations, with 15 staff members arrested following abuse and neglect allegations.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 26 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

US left without functioning vaccine panel as adviser says ‘drama distracts’

Amid upheaval to the US vaccine advisory committee Robert Malone, the former co-chair and controversial figure who has opposed vaccines, says he has been pushed out and will not be involved in any future decisions. The move comes after a federal judge stayed the appointment of 13 members of the advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP), essentially invalidating their roles on the committee and the decisions they have made.
Those new advisers were all hand-picked by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, after he fired the previous 17 members of the ACIP in June – but the judge ruled they were unqualified and not selected properly.
The US now has no functioning advisory committee, and several key vaccines are no longer recommended, including the latest version of flu and Covid shots and the inclusion of the RSV shot for infants in the federal Vaccines for Children program, which covers immunisations for more than half of US children.
Malone has incorrectly claimed that vaccines are dangerous and ineffective; at one point, he was banned from Twitter for allegedly spreading misinformation. In the most recent ACIP meeting in December, he frequently interrupted other advisers and outside experts, and he raised doubts about the vaccination schedule.
“The specific elephant, in this case, has to do with cumulative risk across the entire childhood vaccine schedule, and that is a risk for which we do not have adequate data,” he said – a claim disputed by the CDC’s own data.
“It is good that Dr Malone wishes now to decrease drama regarding vaccines,” which “contrasts” with his prior statements, said Joseph Hibbeln, a psychiatrist and nutritional neuroscientist who was also appointed to the committee in June.
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 25 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Communities to benefit from health centres on their doorstep

Tens of thousands of patients in England will benefit from improved healthcare on their doorstep, as the government rolls out the first 27 neighbourhood health centres – bringing more services into the community.
Once completed, patients will immediately be able to access a greater range of health services from these centres - all under one roof and closer to their homes - including include urgent treatment, GP and pharmacy services.
The 27 will be open by 2027 and are the first of 50 neighbourhood health centres backed by a total of £200 million in government investment to upgrade existing buildings.
In total the government has pledged to open 250 by 2036, with the first 120 open by 2030.
Neighbourhood health services will benefit patients by providing end-to-end care and tailored support, looking beyond the condition at wider causes of health issues to the specific individual, helping avoid unnecessary trips to hospital, prevent complications and end the frustration of being passed around the system. This will have particular benefits for people with complex conditions, such as those at the end of their lives.
A range of services under one roof will mean more conditions can be treated swiftly locally - allowing people to talk through their health conditions as well as their lifestyle and quality of life and any other relevant contributing factors, enabling a rapid referral to the appropriate care and support where this is needed.
Read press release
Source: Department of Health and Social Care, 26 March 2026
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