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

Streeting cancels trust-commissioned maternity review

A review commissioned by Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust to investigate its perinatal mortality rate has been cancelled following an intervention by the health secretary, HSJ understands.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust decided last spring to commission the “independent” external review to look into its “higher than expected” baby death and stillbirth rates in recent years.
HSJ understands that, despite health and social care secretary Wes Streeting ordering a wider inquiry in October, the trust had, until recently, planned to press on with the initial external review.
However, several sources said that Mr Streeting has now made clear it must be scrapped, after some families raised concerns about the process last month.

Leeds families argued the trust was using the review to try to undermine the wider inquiry. They claimed LTHT was attempting to “exhaust” and “emotionally drain” bereaved families in the hope they would not participate in the wider probe.
Bereaved mothers Fiona Winser-Ramm, Amarjit Kaur Matharoo, and Lauren Caulfield, who have been campaigning for years for an independent inquiry, welcomed the decision to scrap the LTHT-commissioned review.
They said: “The government-led, full independent inquiry must run its course without interference or manipulation.
“LTHT needs to apologise to bereaved families… there should never have been engagement with patients about past cases once the independent inquiry was announced.”
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 10 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

ICB cuts an ‘absolute shitshow’, say leaders

National policymakers are “working it out as they go along”, and integrated care board staff are “on their knees” amid a confused restructure, local leaders have reported.
A Health Foundation report based on interviews with integrated care board leaders throughout last year, shared exclusively with HSJ, found they were “scathing” about the “handling and subsequent management” of the announcement of 50% cuts to staffing budgets.
ICB leaders who spoke to researchers labelled the cuts as “disgraceful”, “unprofessional”, and “an absolute shitshow”. They described surprise at “manager bashing” from government and concern that this would deter “the next generation of managers” from joining the NHS.
Leaders also described ICB colleagues as being “on their knees” and having “terrible, terrible morale”, and raised questions about the future of partnership working and ICBs as organisations. 
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 11 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Maternity inquiry chair named in government U-turn

The health secretary has made a U-turn over who will lead an independent inquiry into "repeated maternity failures" at an NHS trust.
Wes Streeting has appointed Donna Ockenden, following a campaign by bereaved and harmed families, to lead the review into maternity and neonatal services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals (LTH) NHS Trust.
Ockenden, a senior midwife, is currently leading the maternity review at Nottingham, which is the largest of its kind, examining about 2,500 cases of harm to mothers and babies.
In January 2025 a BBC investigation revealed the deaths of at least 56 babies and two mothers at the Leeds trust over the past five years may have been prevented.
Streeting first announced the inquiry into the West Yorkshire trust in October 2025, saying it was required to understand what had "gone so catastrophically wrong" at the maternity units at Leeds General Infirmary and St James's University Hospital.
Days later in a BBC radio interview, Streeting announced that Ockenden would not be the chair of the Leeds review.
In February, families and MPs urged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to "intervene and appoint" the senior midwife immediately to head the Leeds inquiry.
Amarjit Matharoo, whose daughter Asees was stillborn in January 2024, said it "has been a long, drawn-out, and emotionally draining process to get the assurances that this investigation will be handled with the appropriate methodology and care that it needs".
Matharoo said they were "grateful that Wes Streeting has listened carefully" and felt "very lucky" to have Ockenden appointed.
Streeting thanked families for "their openness in recent discussions" and said he was "delighted to appoint someone so trusted" by bereaved and harmed families.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 10 March 2026
 
Patient Safety Learning

CEO blames group model for trusts’ collapse

Bringing two trusts together in a group led to problems with governance, accountability and the visibility of leaders, the organisations’ interim chief executive has admitted.
Hull University Teaching Hospitals and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Foundation Trust, which work together as the Humber Health Partnership, have been placed in the highest tier of national intervention due to concerns over leadership, performance and patient safety.
The two trusts formed a group in 2023 but subsequently lost their chief executive and chair after their relationship broke down.
In a report for the meeting, Lyn Simpson, who was brought in as interim chief last year, said the group model’s aim was “the right one”.
But she added: “From its inception, the group operating model evolved in practice closer to a de-facto merger than a traditional NHS group arrangement, without the accompanying clarity, simplification or maturity of governance typically required to make such models effective.
“While the original intent of the group model was to enable shared solutions, the operating model was not always systematically refined as pressures increased. Over time this has contributed to increased organisational complexity, diluted lines of accountability and reduced visible senior leadership capacity at site level.”
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 10 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

'I'm in constant pain after vaginal mesh surgery'

"I walked into the hospital able-bodied and came out on crutches."
Susan McLarnon is one of thousands of women across the UK who have experienced serious complications after being given a vaginal mesh implant to treat a prolapse and urinary incontinence
She says she now lives in "constant pain" and is calling for the government to commit to a deadline for a redress scheme.
McLarnon is one of several women travelling to Downing Street later to hand a letter to the prime minister asking for "urgent action" to be taken on compensation for those harmed by pelvic mesh implants.
Some women were left in permanent pain, unable to walk, work or have sex, after the surgery to treat incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.
Two years ago, a major report, external called for urgent action but campaigners are still waiting.
Kath Sansom, founder of Sling The Mesh, who will be handing in the letter at Downing Street with the other women, said pelvic mesh had "stolen women's health, irreversibly ruined their quality of life, their independence, and their future".
They are calling for a timescale for a funded, government-backed compensation scheme for all women who have been harmed.
The UK Department of Health and Social Care said it is "carefully considering" the recommendations in the report and aims to provide an update in due course.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 10 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

NHS England pauses new referrals for masculinising or feminising hormone treatment in under-18s

The NHS is pausing new referrals for masculinising or feminising hormone treatment for 16 and 17-year-olds after an in-depth review found there was insufficient evidence to support its continued use.
Prescriptions for hormones had been available in England for under-18s with a diagnosis of gender incongruence or dysphoria who met certain criteria.
But after the Cass review, NHS England commissioned its own review of all the available clinical evidence. That review has now concluded and found the evidence did not back the continued use of the treatment for 16 and 17-year-olds.
In her review of children’s gender care, Hilary Cass had recommended “extreme caution” in providing such treatment and a “clear clinical rationale for providing hormones at this stage rather than waiting until an individual reaches 18”.
NHS England said patients under 18 currently receiving cross-sex hormones may continue to receive treatment. However, that treatment must now be reviewed individually with clinicians.
On Monday, NHS England launched a 90-day consultation on plans to remove the treatment as a routine procedure. New referrals for the treatment will be paused during the consultation period.
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 9 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

NHSE expects to declare victory on number one target

NHS England bosses are predicting they will get close enough to hitting 65% against the 18-week standard by March to declare victory against their main performance objective for this year, HSJ  has learned.
This would mark a significant improvement, around 2.5 percentage points, from the 61.5% for December, the most recent official data. Performance has flatlined at around this mark for the past six months.
Senior figures cautioned they still had a difficult task balancing activity and finances in the final weeks of 2025-26, but they are increasingly optimistic about success against the government’s priority NHS target.
Official figures for January, to be published on Thursday, will give a first indication of the impact of a £120m “elective sprint” funded by NHS England at late notice, for the final months of the year.
One senior national figure told HSJ it was “a tricky time with final sprints to the line on elective, urgent and emergency care, and the money. But the fact that we are still in the running for all three feels very positive and motivational”.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 10 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

NHS orders hundreds of patients to be removed from crisis-hit hospital following string of police investigations

Hundreds of NHS patients are set to be removed from a privately-run mental health hospital following a string of allegations of patient abuse and neglect.
Health chiefs have ordered 287 inpatients to be removed from one of the sites run by St Andrew’s Healthcare after The Independent revealed it has faced several police investigations into allegations of abuse, rape and patient deaths.
The mental health hospital provider, which is a registered charity, can house more than 400 NHS patients at its Northampton site, some of whom are sent to the facility for specialist mental health care.
On Monday, NHS England issued a letter to local health chiefs ordering them to plan to move patients from the site. Patients will be transferred to other hospitals or discharged.
The letter comes after NHS England officials issued a warning to St Andrew’s Health in December 2025 over allegations of poor care.
In January, The Independent revealed St Andrew’s Healthcare had more than a dozen staff members arrested in relation to multiple police probes.
Read full story
Source: The Independent, 9 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Trusts waiting twice the legal limit for key regulatory approval

NHS trusts are being forced to wait an average of six months for a regulatory decision on capital projects, despite the relevant legislation stating they should be completed in 8-12 weeks, HSJ  can reveal.
This is resulting in lengthy delays to urgent building repairs and the purchase of new medical equipment, as well as the potential loss of funding if work is not started by the end of the financial year for which capital budgets apply.
The NHS faces a maintenance backlog estimated at £15bn, meaning a huge number of remedial projects are now being put forward by trusts.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 9 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Almost 900 excess deaths from long A&E waits in Scotland as ‘heartbreaking’ state of hospital system laid bare

Responding to analysis from the Scottish Liberal Democrats, which suggested that there were 871 deaths in Emergency Departments (EDs) associated with a 12 or more hour wait for admission, Dr Fiona Hunter, Royal College of Emergency Medicine Vice President for Scotland, said: “These harrowing figures show that something must change in the approach to fixing the crisis in our EDs.  
“Heartbreaking doesn’t cover it. Each of these 871 people may have had families and friends who would have had to face the devastating reality that their loved one died not because they were too sick to treat, but because our hospitals don’t have the capacity to look after them properly.  
“Patients enduring these long waits are often the sickest or most injured, in need of further care on a ward. But a lack of beds, driven in large part by delayed discharges, meant they had to wait in A&E – and this can go on for hours and hours.  
“Almost 900 people may have paid the ultimate price for this complete breakdown in hospital flow.  
“Last year, RCEM published figures for 2024, which suggested there were 818 excess deaths associated with 12 hour waits in EDs. Today’s figures suggest that the problem is getting worse, not better.  
“Whoever forms the next government cannot ignore this problem. The numbers speak for themselves: more people will die, who otherwise would go home to their families, if overcrowding and long waits in ED aren’t fixed. 
“Addressing the ‘back door’ blockage of hospitals must be a priority for all political parties. Only then will the needless and agonising waits, and the avoidable deaths they cause, stop.  
“These are fixable issues and we encourage all political parties to make this a priority. Lives are at stake.”  
Read full story
Source: Royal College of Emergency Medicine, 7 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Almost a third of people in England use private dentists amid NHS dental crisis

Almost a third of people in England now use private dentistry, with a sharp rise in the number of poorer households forced to pay for fillings and extractions.
The scarcity of NHS care means the proportion of people turning to private dental services jumped from 22% in 2023 to 32% late last year, the health service’s patient watchdog found.
The reliance on paid-for treatment is so significant that dental care is becoming a costly “one tier” – private-only – service for more and more people, Healthwatch England is warning.
It is concerned that the percentage of people who describe themselves as struggling financially that have used private dentistry has almost doubled in recent years from 14% to 27%.
“Our findings are a warning that for some people there’s only one-tier dental care – private,” said Rebecca Curtayne, Healthwatch England’s acting head of policy, public affairs and research. “It’s the most vulnerable people in our society who bear the brunt of the ongoing shortage of NHS dental appointments.
“Too many people on low income are being forced into private care they struggle to afford, or are going without treatment altogether. The system is failing those who need it most.”
The big shift to private dental care showed NHS dentistry “exists in name only for many people”, the Patients Association said.
“This report is yet further damning evidence on the state of NHS dentistry and this double penalty for people on low incomes demonstrates a systemic failure with real human consequences,” said Rachel Power, the association’s chief executive.
“This isn’t just about the cost of dentistry. The lack of affordable dental care harms physical health, leaves people in ongoing, sometimes agonising, pain, and can take a heavy toll on mental and emotional wellbeing.”
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 9 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Women ‘dehumanised and diminished’ by inadequate miscarriage care

Women experiencing miscarriage are facing additional trauma and distress due to a significant lack of adequate follow-up care, a new report has revealed.
One patient described her experience as "dehumanising", while others reported feeling dismissed and traumatised by the current system.
Research by the Miscarriage Association, which underpins the report, found that nearly two-thirds of women felt their follow-up care was insufficient. Furthermore, more than four in 10 of those who sought mental health support after losing their baby did not receive it.
The new report urges immediate action to make comprehensive follow-up care a routine part of miscarriage management.
Some 65% of women in the study said they did not have adequate follow-up care, while 42% said they did not receive treatment for mental health symptoms following their miscarriage.
Many women felt they were sent home with little or no guidance, or with conflicting advice, according to the Miscarriage Association.
Some reported insensitive wording from healthcare professionals, with one woman claiming she was told her baby “had been put in the incinerator with the rest of the medical waste” whilst recovering from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy.
Read full story
Source: The Independent, 9 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Cancer death rates hit historic new low across the UK, study shows

Cancer death rates in the UK have hit a historic new low, according to data.
The charity Cancer Research UK, which analysed the figures and shared them with the Press Association, said death rates have fallen by 11% in the last decade.
Around 247 in every 100,000 people in the UK are thought to die from cancer in any given year, which is a 29 per cent drop on the peak in 1989 (around 355 per 100,000).
The data shows that ovarian cancer death rates have fallen by 19% in the last decade (2012-2014 to 2022-2024), while stomach cancer has dropped by 34% and lung cancer by 22%.
Bowel cancer is down 6%, breast cancer by 14%, cervical cancer by 11% and leukaemia by 9%. Oesophageal cancer is also down 12%.
When it comes to cervical cancer, there has been a 75% drop in death rates since the 1970s, with the NHS cervical screening programme having a huge impact.
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which is given to schoolchildren, is also driving down cervical cancers.
At least 6.5 million people have received the vaccine in the UK since it was introduced in 2008.
Read full story
Source: The Independent, 9 March 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Two deaths reported to drug watchdog over potential link to weight-loss jabs

The deaths of two people in Northern Ireland potentially linked to weight-loss injections have been reported to the government agency responsible for ensuring medicines are safe.
The two cases are among more than 500 suspected adverse drug reaction reports submitted from Northern Ireland over the last two years related to GLP-1 medications.
The drugs, prescribed under names such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, are widely used across the UK for weight management and to treat diabetes.
The reports were made to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The MHRA said a report of a suspected reaction "does not necessarily mean it has been caused by the medicine, only that the reporter had a suspicion it may have".
"Underlying or concurrent illnesses may be responsible, or the events could be coincidental," it added.
The data shows that the two deaths were of a man and a woman, one who was in their 40s and the other in their 60s, although it does not specify which age category applied to which person.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 9 March 2026
Sam

Martha’s rule may have saved 400 lives so far in England, figures show

More than 400 lives may have been saved as a result of Martha’s rule, which lets NHS patients request a review of their care, official figures reveal.
Helplines received more than 10,000 calls in the first 16 months of the scheme after its introduction in England in 2024, according to data seen by the Guardian. Thousands of patients were either moved to intensive care, received drugs they needed or benefited from other changes as a direct result of the calls.
The system is named after Martha Mills, 13, who died in 2021 from sepsis after a bicycle accident. A coroner found she would probably have survived if she had been moved to the intensive care unit at King’s College hospital in London when she began deteriorating.
Martha’s rule helplines received 10,119 calls between September 2024 and December 2025 from patients, relatives or staff who were worried about care, the figures show. That led to 446 people receiving improvements to their care that may have saved their life.
One in three calls (3,457) identified a rapid worsening of a patient’s condition, helping raise the alarm more quickly and enable crucial interventions to be made. The NHS England data shows 1,885 patients had their treatment changed as a result.
In addition, about 6,000 calls had addressed clinical, communication or coordination concerns, which led to “meaningful improvements” in care or navigating the healthcare system for patients and their families, health officials said.
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 8 March 2026
Sam

NHS is letting women down through ‘medical misogyny’, says Wes Streeting

“Medical misogyny” in the UK is letting women down, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, has admitted, as a survey showed half of female patients felt they had been dismissed or ignored because of their sex.
A report from Mumsnet, which examined data taken from the site over the past decade, warned of “structural and deeply embedded” sexism in UK healthcare. A survey of women using the site found that more than half believed the NHS was institutionally misogynistic.
The survey also found that:
50% of women believe they have been dismissed, ignored or not believed by an NHS professional because of their sex. 64% say they have been explicitly told their pain or symptoms were “normal” or “in their head”. 68% think the NHS does not take women’s health concerns seriously. Ahead of the publication of a women’s health strategy, which was announced in 2022 and is expected imminently, Streeting said the report showed that the NHS had let women down too often and for “far too long”. The health secretary said he was “driving change” through more funding, menopause support, moving health services into the community and the introduction of Martha’s rule, which gives patients a right to an urgent second opinion.
He added: “Medical misogyny has no place within our NHS. It was founded on the principles of equality, yet time and time again, women are ignored and not believed. I want women across the country to know we’re going to tackle this.”
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 8 March 2026
Related reading on the hub:
Top picks: Women's health inequity  
Sam
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