Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he takes the concerns of bereaved families "extremely seriously" after acknowledging trust had been "damaged" around a promised Leeds maternity care inquiry.
He announced the investigation into Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in October, after a BBC investigation revealed that the deaths of at least 56 babies over the past five years may have been prevented.
But nobody has been appointed to chair the inquiry, leading to some families urging Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to intervene.
Streeting is expected to meet some of families affected by the deaths on Monday afternoon.
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Source: BBC News 23 February 2026
Emma Dyer remembers the moment she clicked "buy now" on a set of weight‑loss jabs she found online.
She had no medical consultation, no ID checks, and no questions about her history of anorexia and bulimia.
"It was just so easy - too easy," she says. "They never asked for my medical history or what medication I was taking. It was like buying groceries."
Within days of taking the injections, Emma collapsed on her bathroom floor and thought she was going to die.
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Source: BBC News, 23 February 2026
Newly qualified midwives are having to take up roles in other industries despite "chronic" staff shortages across the sector, according to a new survey.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) claims almost a third of midwifery graduates are unable to find employment and many are turning to roles in hospitality, retail, office work, and cleaning jobs as a result.
The situation has been called "troubling" by midwifery leaders, at a time when they say "maternity services are struggling with staff shortages".
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Source: Sky News 20 February 2026
A woman who had to have her leg amputated after a botched knee operation has won compensation from the hospital trust.
The 69-year-old, who has not been named, underwent an operation in 2021 at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, near Hull, to replace a prosthetic knee she had had for more than 15 years.
However, the surgeon's drill slipped, damaging nerves and blood vessels which led to her needing an above-knee amputation after emergency repair surgery failed, said her lawyers at Hudgell Solicitors.
Read full article.
Source: BBC News, 18 February 2026
The NHS is facing a “second surge” of norovirus as cases of the vomiting bug reach their highest level so far this winter.
NHS figures published today show the average number of patients in hospital with diarrhoea, vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms each day this week rose to 1012 – up 8.9 per cent on the 929 cases the previous week.
The average number of norovirus patients in hospitals per day surged from 361 at the start of January to 950 by the end of the month.
Although cases of the vomiting bug did stabilise at the beginning of February, figures have now been rising again for the second week in a row, prompting fears of a second wave.
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Source: The Independent, 19 February 2026
UK patients could be among the first in the world to benefit from breakthrough medical devices, as clinical investigations reach their highest level on record in 2025.
New figures from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) show a 17 per cent rise in approved clinical investigations compared with last year, as companies increasingly choose Great Britain to test cutting-edge health technologies. At the same time, the MHRA is rolling out new measures to back innovation and remove barriers for smaller companies, including a fee waiver pilot, early market access to promising devices, and enhanced support for high-impact technologies.
AI-powered medical devices are also surging, including tools that scan medical images to spot disease earlier, guide treatment decisions and personalise care. New studies include digital tools that adjust treatment in real time, such as an app to help people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease manage their condition, while giving clinicians better information to personalise treatment. Studies in advanced eye technologies have also risen, as companies test new ways to protect vision and restore sight.
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Source: Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, 19 February 2026
Supplies of prescription-strength co-codamol will be limited in Scotland until the summer.
Some health boards are now telling patients to immediately reduce their dosage of the painkiller as there will not be enough to meet demand.
There is a UK-wide shortage of the 30mg/500mg dosage of the painkiller due to the Indian government delaying the authorisation to import the necessary ingredients.
The Scottish Government has now confirmed the drug will be limited until June and alternative treatment options will be offered to those affected. However, health boards warn that none of the alternative medicines can sustain the demand that is expected from the co-codamol shortage.
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Source: The Scotsman, 18 February 2026
A Supreme Court ruling is likely to lead to significantly higher damages being awarded to children injured by medical negligence.
Until now, children have only been entitled to compensation for lost earnings – pay missed out on by not being able to work – for the years they are expected to live.
But the court, ruling on the case of a child who sustained a brain injury at birth, found that compensation should take into account the full working life she would have had if she had not been harmed at birth.
The decision could have large cost implications for the NHS. Its clinical negligence liabilities currently stand at £60bn, with two-thirds relating to maternity injuries.
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Source: BBC News, 19 February 2026
In a letter to health secretary Wes Streeting, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has claimed that two-thirds of pharmacies are at risk of imminent closure.
The results of a survey conducted by the NPA found that at least 65% of pharmacies operated at a loss in 2025, with nearly half (45%) of pharmacy owners relying on personal savings or re-mortgaged homes to subside their pharmacy.
These closure threads are “blowing an enormous hole in the NHS ten-year plan before it has even begun”, the letter noted.
Read full article.
Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal, 18 February 2026
A shortage in medical cement is likely to lead to delays in some patients getting joint surgery, NHS bosses say.
It comes after Heraeus Medical, the main supplier of bone cement to the health service, has had to temporarily halt production at its main site for two months.
The German firm supplies about three-quarters of the bone cement needed in the NHS. The product is used in about 1,000 operations a week, mostly in knee replacements, but also in some hip and shoulder replacements.
Hospitals are being told to prioritise emergency patients ahead of those on the waiting list. These are likely to be older patients who have suffered falls and those with broken hips.
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Source: BBC News, 18 February 2026
Related reading
A formal update on this from NHS England, with actions for NHS organisations, can be found here.
Three women with a condition that affects 1 in 10 share their stories ahead of Endometriosis Awareness Month.
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Source: Independent, 16 February 2026
After five hospitals failed to spot that she had a rare but potentially fatal complication of childbirth, Amisha Adhia is to launch a campaign urging the NHS to do more to diagnose the condition and save lives.
Pregnant women are at much greater risk of developing placenta accreta spectrum if they have already given birth by caesarean section or had IVF treatment.
If it is not identified before the woman goes into labour, she is at risk of having to undergo an emergency hysterectomy or bleeding to death from a severe haemorrhage.
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Source: The Guardian, 18 February 2026
Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust has made a major shift in how they assess and respond to risk, putting patients’ voices and lived experience at the heart of every safety decision.
In a move designed to improve care, prevent harm, and deliver efficient, more compassionate support, the trust has moved away from relying on static checklists or fixed scoring systems, and is instead working with patients to explore their individual circumstances, triggers, strengths, and needs.
The change is already helping staff respond faster and more effectively when a person’s situation changes, ensuring that they receive the right help at the right time.
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Source: Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust, 17 February 2026
The trusts where Black women and those from the most deprived communities are facing “unacceptable” disparities in outcomes against a range of maternal care metrics have been identified in a new NHS England dashboard.
HSJ’s analysis of the new dataset, the publication of which was mandated by health and social care secretary Wes Streeting in June, comes as Baroness Valerie Amos is due to publish the next stage of her report of maternity services later this month.
The data suggests that those identifying as Black and living in the “most deprived” communities experienced higher rates of pre-term birth nationally last year – with rates almost three times as high as white and less deprived women at some providers.
Pre-term birth rates for Black and “most deprived” women were nearly three times as high as white and “least deprived” women at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals Foundation Trust, which had one of the highest overall rates nationally.
And although Homerton Healthcare and Kingston and Richmond FTs had low overall pre-term birth rates, Black women receiving care there had rates twice as high as white women.
Black women also experienced higher rates of postpartum haemorrhage nationally, according to the data.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 17 February 2026
Nearly a quarter of parents in the United States say at least one of their children is not receiving the mental health care they need, according to Harvard researchers, exposing critical gaps to access around the country.
At least one child needed mental health care in one in five of the 173,000 households included in the new survey.
“Among these parents, 24.8% reported an unmet need, 16.6% reported difficulty in accessing care and 21.8% cited such difficulty as the reason their children did not receive care,” the researchers said in a study analysing the 2023-2024 data.
The burden was disproportionately felt in households with homeschooled children. More than 30 percent of children in those homes had an unmet need for care.
“Our analysis provides timely evidence that, despite the increasing awareness of youth mental health needs, access to necessary mental health care remains a challenge for a large number of U.S. households,” Hao Yu, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, said in a statement.
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Source: The Independent, 16 February 2026
Patients, relatives and whistleblowers have described a culture of abuse at a mental health hospital, while 15 staff members have been arrested following allegations of rape, ill-treatment and neglect.
St Andrew's Healthcare in Northampton, which provides specialist care for about 600 people with complex mental health needs, is the subject of three police investigations following alleged assaults and the deaths of two patients.
The charity that runs the private hospital said it had dismissed several staff members and was delivering an urgent action plan to address the issues.
St Andrew's Healthcare said it was committed to "full transparency" and took a "zero-tolerance approach to any allegation of harm or poor practice".
Anne, whose name has been changed, told the BBC she was horrified by the injuries sustained by her daughter while she was a patient at St Andrew's Healthcare.
"They were restraining her with four adults and on one occasion she was knelt on by a male member of staff," she said.
"She was waking up every night for months and was obviously in a severe amount of pain with her ribs," she added.
Anne said her daughter had "lost half her body weight" and showed "all the symptoms of being malnourished".
"She lost the use of her hand while in long-term segregation" and on two occasions she had suffered severe burns from coffee, she added.
Anne has made a series of safeguarding referrals to West Northamptonshire Council, but said she had not gone to the police due to the lack of witnesses and CCTV.
"It's traumatic. Something's got to change and the only way things can change is by people now speaking out," Anne said.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 17 February 2026
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