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

Police probe breast cancer treatment allegations

A police force is investigating allegations surrounding breast cancer treatment at a hospital trust.
Durham Police is working to establish if any criminal offences were committed in light of concerns over the care of patients at the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT).
A report last year found unnecessary surgeries were carried out, cancers were missed and poor standards of care were delivered at the University Hospital of North Durham and Darlington Memorial Hospital.
CDDTF said it wanted to support the patients it had let down, including by offering access to psychological support, and to ensure they knew how to make a claim or raise concerns with police.
The Durham force has opened a portal, external where anyone can report their concerns if they believe they are a victim of crime as a result of breast cancer treatment at the trust between 2023 and 2025.
A police spokesman said: "We would stress that the investigation remains in its early stages and detectives from the major crime team are liaising with the trust, which is supporting the inquiry."
Solicitor Hayley Collinson said she had been supporting women who believed they had been affected by delayed diagnosis, had mastectomies they did not require, and patients who had not been offered reconstructions when they should have."
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 12 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Hundreds of thousands of NHS staff in England attacked and harassed, survey shows

Hundreds of thousands of NHS staff have been attacked, harassed, bullied, or subject to racism, latest NHS figures show.
The health service’s 2025 staff survey found that one in seven had experienced violence from patients or the public, while more than a quarter reported harassment, bullying and abuse, the highest levels in three years.
Given that the NHS in England employs 1.5 million people, this would equate to about 217,000 experiencing violence and more than 380,000 reporting harassment and bullying in 2025 alone.
Sexual harassment has also reached record levels, the figures show. Nearly 1 in 10 NHS workers, a third of ambulance staff and more than one in 10 nurses and midwives said they had experienced unwanted sexual behaviour in the past year.
But underreporting is still a problem, the survey found. While three-quarters said they would report violent incidents, barely half said they would report harassment or abuse.
The staff survey also unveils the extent of racism and discrimination. One in five Black and minority ethnic staff reported abuse, bullying or harassment from patients or the public, compared with just 1 in 20 white staff.
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 13 March 2026
Further reading on the hub:
Patient Safety Learning’s response to the NHS Staff Survey Results 2025
Patient Safety Learning

Streeting admits another cut to mental health spend share

The proportion of the NHS budget spent on mental healthcare will be cut for the third year in a row, the health secretary has admitted.
Wes Streeting outlined 2026-27 spending plans for mental health services in a statement to the House of Commons this afternoon.
He said the proportion allocated to mental health in 2026-27 was forecast to be 8.4%, lower than the 8.71% planned for this year.
In a statement, he said: “This is a consequence of significant additional investment in other core areas, including those that benefit mental health services, such as the substantial amounts going into NHS technology and digital transformation, general practice, community-based services, and neighbourhood health centres.
“These system-wide improvements are focused on fixing the fundamentals of the NHS and, although they are not counted in pure mental health service spend, will deliver significant benefits for mental health services and patients.
“There are also important areas of mental health‑related expenditure not captured in the share of spend figure, such as prescribing mental health medication, continuing healthcare and NHS England’s investment in training the mental health workforce.”
CEO of the charity Mind, Sarah Hughes, said: “The UK government is currently carrying out reviews into the prevalence of mental health problems and the delivery of mental health services. But the findings, recommendations and policies implemented off the back of these reviews will be undermined if mental health care is increasingly under-resourced and government shows no urgency in prioritising mental health.”
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 12 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

CEO: We have ‘hurt and let down’ our staff

A hospital group CEO says its leaders have “managed to let people down” and, in some cases, “disconnected” from their staff, in response to very poor NHS Staff Survey scores. 
The Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group CEO’s comments in an all-staff briefing email acknowledge the significant morale problems across the three trusts, which are undergoing a major restructure.
Lesley Dwyer was appointed group CEO and took the group live last year. It comprises Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals, James Paget University Hospitals, and Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn Foundation Trusts.
The results showed a year-on-year decline in staff satisfaction across all three trusts. Professor Dwyer told HSJ  this was “from a starting point that was already too low”.
“This is not the experience we want for our people, and it is not the standard they deserve,” she said.
In a note to staff seen by HSJ, Professor Dwyer cited “re-structures and transformations… changes in leadership combined with waiting list, service, and financial pressures, pressures on beds, strikes etc”, adding: “It’s no wonder so many of you tell us you are weary.”
She added: “But for me, these results speak even more deeply than that – I feel that somehow, despite the best of intentions, I/we have managed to let people down. These results show we have disconnected our people from the very purpose of the NHS organisations they work for and, in some cases, from the people who lead them.”
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 13 March 2026
Further reading on the hub:
Patient Safety Learning’s response to the NHS Staff Survey Results 2025
Sam

Streeting urges CEOs to shave seconds off waiting times

Ambulance chiefs have been urged to shave a few seconds off response times in the next three weeks as they are said to be within reach of the government’s key recovery target for the sector, HSJ has learned.
Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting told ambulance trust leaders on Monday that just a few seconds’ improvement could mean the target for category 2 calls – which include suspected heart attacks and strokes – could be met for 2025-26 overall.
Ambulance trust leaders confirmed to HSJ that a small improvement across England in the coming weeks – including some trusts which remain well below 30m – could make the difference between success and failure.
One source, speaking to HSJ, characterised the message from Mr Streeting as “shave two seconds off your average time and we will get there”. But another added that it was important to do the right thing for each patient, even if it took slightly more time.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 11 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

USA: Patients alarmed after glucose monitors used by diabetics are recalled after links to 7 deaths

Diabetes patients and their families in the United States are raising concerns, and in some cases filing lawsuits, after Abbott Diabetes Care recalled glucose monitors linked to seven deaths.
In December, Abbott recalled certain sensors used in its FreeStyle Libre 3 and FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus systems, warning they could produce falsely low glucose readings. The company reported 736 serious adverse events potentially tied to the issue, including 57 in the United States, along with seven deaths worldwide.
One person in the US whose death has been linked to the equipment by their family is Michael Ford of Oakland, California, who had Type 2 diabetes. On a November morning, the 68-year-old’s FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus sensor reportedly issued a low-blood-sugar alert, prompting his son and full-time caregiver, Davonte Ford, to respond.
Trusting the device and following medical guidance, he told NBC News, Davonte Ford gave his father fast-acting carbohydrates to raise his blood sugar – unaware that just eight days later Abbott would issue an urgent warning that about 3 million sensors could produce inaccurate readings. Michael Ford’s death is not included in Abbott’s official count of deaths potentially linked to the equipment, although his sensor came from one of the recalled production lots. Abbott did not list the specific serial number of his device in the recall, leaving families and legal experts concerned that the recall may have overlooked affected devices.
According to a lawsuit Davonte Ford filed last month, the reading displayed on his father’s device that morning was “catastrophically inaccurate.” 
For patients, discovering flaws in devices they rely on can be frightening. Angela Ivery, 71, of Spruce Pine, North Carolina, said she repeatedly went to the emergency room after her Libre 3 sensor falsely indicated low blood sugar, only to find her levels were normal with a traditional finger-stick test, all before receiving a recall notice.
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 11 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

‘ChatGPT listened when my GP didn’t’: why women turn to AI on health

When Katie finally sat down in her GP’s surgery in November she had been in pain for years. Since the birth of her daughter in July 2023, sex had been agony. Yet the mother of three, a teacher, had delayed booking an appointment — she simply didn’t have the time.
After explaining her pain to a stranger, she was met with a shrug. “I was told that this is just what happens after kids. I felt so ignored and so awful. I cried; I felt invisible.”
Feeling failed by a human doctor, she turned to ChatGPT. “I know that AI is programmed to acknowledge me; it said something like, ‘that must be really stressful and tough to deal with right now,’ and then gave me a list of things my pain could be attributed to. It instantly put me at ease,” Katie, 28, said.
She is now in the majority. A study of 1,000 UK women aged 20 to 50 found that 53% would use a free AI tool for medical advice, even while acknowledging the 20 per cent error rate.
The report by Intimina, a Swedish company that makes women’s health products, Sixty-six per cent of women admitted they had avoided booking a GP appointment or collecting a prescription to avoid associated costs and 47% said the cost of living had led them to delay buying treatments until symptoms felt “severe”.
However, a London School of Economics study last year found that AI models systematically downplayed women’s symptoms compared to men’s.
Dr Susanna Unsworth, a women’s health expert with Intimina, said: “AI lacks the clinical nuance essential in intimate health. Self-treating based on a chatbot’s guess can lead to inappropriate treatment and prolonged suffering.”
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: The Times, 8 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Warning issued over ‘deeply concerning’ ads for dangerous BBLs

A warning has been issued over “deeply concerning” adverts for dangerous Brazilian Butt Lifts (BBLs) after 9 in 10 were found to be breaking the rules.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it banned ads after discovering some that suggested the potentially fatal procedures are safe, exploited people’s insecurities, or pressured individuals into making quick decisions.
The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), the body that writes the UK advertising rules, is now taking action to tackle “irresponsible” ads for non-surgical liquid BBLs and cosmetic surgery abroad, which remain widespread.
While currently legal, liquid BBLs are unregulated in the UK and can lead to serious complications, including infection, sepsis and embolism.
Surgery abroad can also involve added risks, particularly when standards of care differ from those in Britain. For some people, these procedures have had devastating consequences, including serious infections, long-term health problems and in some tragic cases, death.
Read full story
Source: The Independent, 12 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Women receiving worse treatment for back and neck pain

Women are receiving worse treatment for back and neck pain because their experiences are not factored into “male by default” clinical guidelines in the UK, research has found.
The NHS fails to acknowledge sex-specific considerations such as pain being more common among women in its model of care for non-surgical management of chronic neck and back pain, according to research from the University of Lancashire.
A major review of clinical guidance, published in the Physical Therapy Reviews journal, found that by consistently only referring to people, individuals or patients, clinical guidance in the UK ignores the role women’s different skeleton size, hormones, experience of pregnancy or menopause can play in musculoskeletal pain. Guidelines also ignore the different biological characteristics of intersex patients.
Lauren Haworth, research associate at the University of Lancashire and lead author of the study, said that considering sex-specific biology was important to deliver personalised, equitable healthcare.
“We know that large breasts can be heavy, and without adequate support this additional weight, combined with gravity, can cause strain on a woman’s body, which may contribute towards neck and back pain,” she said.
But she added that because existing guidance doesn’t acknowledge sex-based differences, “women may still be disadvantaged simply because their biological needs differ from those of men”.
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 11 March 2026
Further reading on the hub:
Top picks: Women's health inequity Gender bias: A threat to women’s health Women’s heart health - a patient safety priority Medicines, research and female hormones: a dangerous knowledge gap
Patient Safety Learning

NHS has lost ‘muscle memory’ on corridor care, minister says

The NHS has lost “muscle memory” about how to tackle corridor care, a health minister has said.
Karin Smyth said the problem was an “issue of clinical leadership and managerial leadership”, telling MPs she was a “strong supporter of managers… recognising what should be pretty basic and is known but doesn’t happen now”.
Ms Smyth made the comments during a Commons health and social care committee session  about corridor care on Wednesday. Last year,HSJ  revealed  that around one million accident and emergency patients had been placed on corridors or in other temporary spaces across a 12-month period.
The minister said: “I think we can’t underestimate what [is] sometimes called muscle memory loss about how to do things right.”
Last week, NHS England said trusts could “virtually eliminate” corridor care  with the right leadership, ordering executives to take personal charge of the problem.
Labour MP Danny Beales told the committee this week that the recommendations, which include executives walking corridors and senior leadership being present at discharge meetings, were “quite basic”.
Professor Tim Briggs, a surgeon and national director for clinical improvement, said: “The big thing that’s going to be required is cultural leadership change.”
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 12 March 2026
Related reading on the hub:
HSSIB Investigation Report: Patient care in temporary care environments Corridor care: Patient Safety Learning’s response to the latest HSSIB report Corridor care guidance needs to move beyond what “should” happen and grapple honestly with why it isn’t The crisis of corridor care in the NHS: patient safety concerns and incident reporting
Patient Safety Learning

AI could spot a quarter of breast cancers doctors miss on scans

A large study using NHS breast screening data suggests that artificial intelligence could detect a quarter of breast cancers that human specialists initially miss on mammograms, a breakthrough researchers say could mark a turning point in the battle against the disease.
Scientists say the technology could also make breast screening doctors roughly twice as effective by dramatically reducing the number of scans they need to review, potentially helping address chronic staff shortages in the NHS.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, affecting about one in eight during their lifetime. Early detection is crucial: tumours found through screening are typically easier to treat, and survival rates are far higher when the disease is caught before it spreads.
The findings, published in Nature Cancer, come from a large study analysing mammograms from about 150,000 women in the NHS breast-screening programme. In the UK system, every scan is normally reviewed independently by two trained specialists, with disputed cases referred to senior clinicians for arbitration.
Researchers examined what would happen if one of the two human readers were replaced by an AI system trained to analyse mammograms for subtle signs of cancer.
One of the most striking findings was the system’s ability to identify “interval cancers” — tumours that are not detected during screening but are diagnosed later, before the next routine mammogram after three years. In retrospective analysis, the AI flagged about a quarter of these cancers on earlier scans, where they had initially been missed.
“These cancers are very subtle,” said Susan Thomas, a researcher at Google Health, who worked on the study. “If we can increase the chances of detecting them earlier, that has the potential to make a real difference for patients.”
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: The Times, 10 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Rogue cosmetic clinics fake credibility with Harley Street pop-ups

Harley Street is being used by rogue practitioners to establish pop-up cosmetic treatment clinics to trick patients into thinking they are credible, a professional standards body has revealed.
Complaints about unqualified individuals carrying out procedures at temporary offices on the Marylebone street, renowned as a centre for plastic surgery, have increased from 18 to 118 in the last five years.
The figures have been released by Save Face, a government-approved register of accredited aesthetic practitioners that also offers support to people who have undergone botched procedures.
Ashton Collins, director of Save Face, said her organisation has seen a sharp rise in people setting up pop-up clinics on Harley Street to acquire a veneer of respectability despite having no qualifications to carry out cosmetic treatments.
She explained that these treatments ranged from Botox and fillers to more dangerous procedures such as non-surgical Brazilian butt lifts (BBLs).
The rogue services are typically being advertised through social media sites such as Instagram and TikTok at bargain prices to attract clients, she added.
But in the event that treatments are botched, victims then discover their practitioner is not permanently located on Harley Street and they have nowhere to go to seek corrective procedures or financial compensation.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: The Times, 9 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Trump’s new abortion policy ‘threatens UN protections for women and LGBT+ rights’

The decision by Donald Trump's administration to extend the US policy that bars groups receiving foreign aid from promoting abortion risks weakening United Nations (UN) programmes designed to protect women and support LGBT+ people around the world, experts has warned.
The policy – branded the “promoting human flourishing in foreign assistance policy” – dramatically expands the so-called Mexico City policy, which restricts organisations receiving US funding from providing or promoting abortion services overseas.
The new rule goes much further and attaches broader ideological conditions to American foreign assistance. Organisations that receive US assistance must now ensure that none of their activities, even those funded by other governments, conflict with Washington’s positions on abortion, gender identity or diversity programmes.
The rule took effect in February and could apply to tens of billions of dollars in US foreign aid. Under the policy, non-compliance could lead to funding being withdrawn and previously disbursed money being clawed back.
Experts say the measure could have far-reaching consequences for the UN, which relies heavily on voluntary contributions from member states, including the US, historically its largest donor.
"The new human flourishing policy projects the Trump administration’s political position against gender equality through its global financial assistance", Cristal Downing, a director at the International Crisis Group said.
"This could have broad implications at the UN and elsewhere, compounding the global regression on gender equality that we have seen accelerate in the last year," she continued.
Read full story
Source: The Independent, 11 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Victims of mental health violence ‘left in dark under new bill’

Bereaved families and victims of mental health-related violence will continue to be “left in the dark” under planned laws which allow hospitals to withhold information about patients, charities have warned.
The victims’ commissioner has also expressed concern that the government is missing an important opportunity to redress the balance towards victims, who she said already faced barriers to getting “even the most basic information” about offenders.
The Victims and Courts Bill, being debated in the Lords, places the onus on hospital managers to decide “as they consider appropriate” how much information about mentally ill perpetrators is passed to victims and families.
In the past, victims have been distressed to discover that homicide perpetrators were released back into the community, and sometimes in close proximity, without their knowledge. The Nottingham public inquiry has shown how clinicians were reluctant to pass information to police and other authorities about a man diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia who killed three people in June 2023.
Julian Hendy, of the charity Hundred Families, which campaigns for transparency and awareness of mental health-related violence, said victims and their families were not often given important information such as being notified when perpetrators applied for day release.
He said that the rights and protections of victims in cases where perpetrators received hospital orders needed to be brought into line with cases where offenders were imprisoned and more information was readily available.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: The Times, 10 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

‘NHS doctors ignored my pleas for help after giving birth. Now I’m living with a colostomy bag’

When Rachel Cooper arrived at hospital to give birth to her son in April 2018, she had no idea she would be leaving days later with a life-changing injury.
But Ms Cooper, now 43, is one of the dozens of mothers and families who say they were harmed by poor maternity care at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, one of the largest trusts in the country.
The now 43-year-old was discharged from the hospital after her vaginal labour with an untreated third-degree tear that was missed by medics.
It eventually became infected and, despite doctors claiming her symptoms were “normal”, Ms Cooper was forced to undergo surgery when her baby was just eight days old. Eight years on, she is still living with the repercussions.
She told The Independent: “The dangerous medical practices and poor treatment by staff characterised every stage of my birth journey and has had a permanent effect on my mental health. I’m not the mother to my baby that I could have been.”
Ms Cooper told her story as the government announced on Tuesday that Donna Ockenden, who chaired the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital maternity inquiry and is currently chairing the Nottingham University Hospitals maternity inquiry, will now also chair the probe into the Leeds trust.
Read full story
Source: The Independent, 11 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Mother given wrong antibiotics died from sepsis

A young mother died from sepsis contributed to by NHS neglect after she was given the wrong antibiotics, a coroner has ruled.
Aleisha Rochester, 33, a bank cashier from Croydon, south London, died two weeks after undergoing a routine procedure to remove an abscess from her left armpit.
She had sought medical help several times for her worsening condition and been prescribed antibiotics - but not ones that could tackle the bacteria causing her infection.
Staff at St Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals also did not follow the NHS trust's own guidelines on administering antibiotics, assistant coroner Sian Reeves said. 
During an inquest in December, Reeves ruled that Rochester's death had been contributed to by neglect and she would most likely have lived if given the right antibiotics in time.
Rochester had undergone a routine day procedure at St Thomas' Hospital on 5 August 2023 to remove abscesses from her left armpit and groin but she became unwell and the wound to her left armpit became infected after 10 August, the coroner said.
After multiple GP and hospital visits, on 15 August antibiotics were prescribed "but not in line with St Helier Hospital's antimicrobial guidelines," the coroner wrote.
She added that the drugs did not provide effective coverage against a Gram-positive organism, which was the most likely pathogen causing the infection.
"Prior to selecting this combination of antibiotics, the surgical team did not consult with the hospital's microbiology team for advice."
The coroner ruled that, on 15 August, Rochester "should have been, but was not prescribed" the right antibiotics and if she had, she most likely would have survived. "Her death was contributed to by neglect," she said.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 11 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning
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