Skip to content

News

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

Barcode errors ‘potentially fatal’, warns patient safety commissioner

Barcode errors on medicines “pose critical patient safety risks” and could have “potentially fatal consequences,” Henrietta Hughes has warned.
The Patient Safety Commissioner for England’s warning comes as a petition has been launched by pharmacists report growing problems with barcode data errors and missing 2D barcodes on UK medicine packs.
The issue has been highlighted by several ‘Class 4 medicines defect notifications’ during 2025 that were linked to barcode or labelling problems, including fexofenadine hydrochloride tablets in August 2025, and simvastatin tablets in July 2025.
Read full article.
Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal (20 November 2025)
Mark Hughes

Poor families of babies brain-damaged at birth given lower payouts than richer parents

Wes Streeting has promised to overturn the “jaw-dropping” and “indefensible” inequality in the NHS compensation scheme for babies brain-damaged at birth that means wealthy parents get higher payouts than poorer families.
The health secretary said he was “determined” to change the system for dealing with clinical negligence in maternity care, which links the level of damages paid to the parents’ income and background.
The existing longstanding compensation scheme includes a payment for future “loss of earnings”, based on what a child might have been expected to earn over the course of their life had they not been harmed at birth.
Under a bizarre anomaly, highlighted by The Observer this month, this is calculated by looking at the child’s background, including their parents’ earnings and education. Other “relevant factors” such as the achievements of their siblings can also be taken into account.
It means that children of wealthy parents can receive higher damages than those from less privileged backgrounds. The largest packages are typically given to the richest families.
Read full article.
Source: The Observer (20 November 2025)
Mark Hughes

Now AI will be used to help NHS doctors spot pre-cancerous growths

NHS doctors will be able to use AI tools to help them spot growths which can turn into bowel cancer after the technology was given the green light for use in the health service.
Growths in the bowel called polyps are not cancerous, but certain types of polyps can develop into cancer if they are not found and removed early. These can be spotted during a camera test to look inside the bowel, known as a colonoscopy.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has conditionally approved five new AI tools, which it said can act as a “second pair of eyes” during these examinations. Nice made the draft recommendations after reviewing evidence which suggests they can help doctors find more polyps during bowel examinations.
The AI technologies can be used in the NHS while more evidence is collected on them over the next four years, Nice said.
Read full article.
Source: The Independent, 20 November 2025.
Mark Hughes

Up to 50,000 nurses could quit UK over immigration plans, survey suggests

Up to 50,000 nurses could quit the UK over the government’s immigration proposals, plunging the NHS into its biggest ever workforce crisis, research suggests.
Keir Starmer has vowed to curb net migration, with plans to force migrants to wait as long as 10 years to apply to settle in the UK instead of automatically gaining settled status after five years.
The measures, which also include plans to raise foreign workers’ skills requirements to degree level and raise the standards of English language required for all types of visa, including dependents, are seen as an attempt to combat the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party. A public consultation on the plans is expected imminently, sources said.
A survey conducted by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), seen by the Guardian, found the plans have sparked profound distress among foreign NHS and social care staff.
There are more than 200,000 internationally educated nursing staff, about 25% of the UK’s total workforce of 794,000. The government’s proposed changes to indefinite leave to remain (ILR) have triggered alarm, with many now considering leaving the UK for good, the survey suggests.
Read full article.
Source: The Guardian (20 November 2025)
Mark Hughes

Two more deaths raise alarm over mental health in A&E

Two further cases of patients absconding from hospital and taking their own lives have been highlighted at a trust which is being prosecuted for a similar case.
University Hospitals Sussex Foundation Trust last month admitted a charge brought by the Care Quality Commission in relation to 16-year-old Ellame Ford-Dunn, who died in February 2022 after absconding from a ward at Worthing Hospital.
Now two further similar cases have emerged, resulting in coroners issuing warnings.
Read full article (paywalled).
Source: Health Service Journal (20 November 2025)
Mark Hughes

PAC warns against digital 'cure-all' for NHS waiting times

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has warned there is a significant risk that digital solutions are being treated as a “cure-all” in the government’s plans to reduce NHS waiting times.
In its latest report, the PAC said despite spending £2.2bn of capital funding on diagnostic transformation and a further £1.0bn on surgical transformation, NHS England (NHSE) has missed its recovery targets by significant margins and too many people are still waiting too long for tests and treatment.
The PAC warned that this need for change comes at a time of major structural reform in the NHS, including NHSE being abolished and a 50% headcount cut across integrated care boards (ICBs). It says that these unfunded reforms, which will result in the loss of c. 18,000 administrative posts, could have a significant negative impact on patients and the NHS workforce and will lead to wasted effort.
It says the integration and sharing of digital records across the NHS remains a key weakness in the system. It also raises concerns about access to and interoperability between digital resources, as well as issues of hardware availability and connectivity.
The PAC calls on NHSE and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to set out:
how the elective care transformation programmes are practically affected by the ‘analogue to digital’ shift in the 10 Year Plan; how it will solve the problem of legacy IT equipment and ensure that the IT systems used in different parts of the NHS are properly connected; and whether the 10 Year Plan itself has sufficient funding to deliver the digital transformation required by the plan. During an oral evidence session in September 2025, Sir Jim Mackey (CEO of NHSE) admitted that record sharing across the system remained a key issue. He said digital foundations have been laid through the electronic patient records (EPR) programme but warned that the landscape is evolving rapidly.
Mackey said they needed to work out what role the centre (DHSC) should play in managing the proliferation of health technology being made available to and interacting with the NHS, such as consumer-led health devices. This includes developing a healthy market and moving away from big capital, central bidding processes and into more agile and rapid processes.
The PAC also states that it is “sceptical that digital change can satisfactorily reach all patients as there is likely to always be a part of the population who find digital technology and tools too difficult to use”. As TechMarketView commented when the 10 Year Plan was published, with digital platforms like the NHS App becoming increasingly important routes to NHS services and information. Much stronger attention needs to be paid to accessibility and user capability, with a focus on digital inclusion and equity.
Although the NHS backlog numbers are showing signs of improvement in some areas, they are still far too high. The structural reforms currently underway risk derailing this progress and disrupting digital transformation efforts. Too often digital solutions, particularly AI, are being seen as a panacea for an effective NHS – these technologies will be transformative, but their true potential will not be achieved without a balanced approach to securing the digital foundations. 
Clive Flashman

Government unveils England's first ever Men's Health Strategy

Launched on International Men’s Day, the first Men’s Health Strategy for England is being published today. The plan sets out comprehensive action to tackle the physical and mental health challenges men and boys face every day.
Suicide is one of the biggest killers of men under 50 and three quarters of all suicides are men. As part of this plan, the Government will invest £3.6 million over the next three years in suicide prevention projects for middle-aged men in local communities across areas of England where men are at most risk of taking their own lives, including some of the most deprived areas in the country. This comes on top of expanding mental health teams in schools to ensure an additional 900,000 pupils have access to support by April 2026.
The focus on suicide prevention includes a partnership on the Premier League’s Together Against Suicide initiative with the Samaritans, which looks to help tackle the stigma around men’s mental health and embed health messaging into the matchday experience. 
Men with prostate cancer will also benefit from improved care through the strategy, including the development of home prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing for those being monitored for the disease. From 2027, subject to clinical approval, men diagnosed with prostate cancer which is being actively monitored or treated – will be able to order and complete PSA blood tests at home, or book an in-person blood test, locally, via the NHS App.  
Other key commitments in the Men’s Health Strategy include: 
Investing £3 million into community-based men’s health programmes, designed to reach those most at risk and least likely to engage with traditional services Men’s health training for healthcare professionals through new e-learning modules and resources Workplace health pilots with EDF Energy through the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Programme to support male workers in male-dominated industries Enhanced lung disease support for former miners, with increased investment in the Respiratory Pathways Transformation Fund in areas with significant former mining communities Funding research to help prevent, diagnose, treat and manage the major male killers and causes of unhealthy life years in men A £200,000 trial of new brief interventions to target the rise in cocaine and alcohol-related CVD deaths, particularly among older men  Read full article.
Source: Department of Health and Social Care (19 November 2025)
Mark Hughes

Coroners’ advice on maternal deaths in England and Wales routinely ignored, study finds

The advice given by coroners in England and Wales to help prevent maternal deaths is not being acted upon, research suggests.
A study by academics at King’s College London looked at prevention of future deaths (PFD) reports issued by coroners in cases of pregnant women and new mothers who died between 2013 and 2023. They found these reports were not being “systematically used nationally”.
NHS organisations, like other professional bodies, are legally required to reply to the coroner within 56 days, but the study found only 38% of PFDs had published responses from the organisations they were sent to.
Two-thirds of deaths occurred in hospitals, with more than half of the women dying after giving birth. The most common causes of death were haemorrhage, complications during early pregnancy and suicide.
Concerns raised by coroners most frequently included failing to provide appropriate treatment or to escalate cases, and lack of training.
Read full article.
Source: The Guardian (19 November 2025)
Mark Hughes

Major UK project launched to tackle drug-resistant superbugs with AI

The UK is to use artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle the rising numbers of infections that have become resistant to treatment.
The project - a collaboration between the Fleming Initiative and the pharmaceutical company GSK - is a battle between superbugs and supercomputers. The collaboration will spend £45m on six fields of research.
It aims to speed up the discovery of fresh antibiotics and deliver new ways of killing other threats, including deadly fungal infections. Overusing antibiotics drives bacteria to evolve resistance to infections, which means new drugs are a priority.
Read full article.
Source: BBC News, 18 November 2025
 
Mark Hughes

Warning NHS could become ‘overwhelmed’ amid rise in emergency cases

Hospitals are at risk of becoming overwhelmed due to a significant rise in people needing urgent help with lung conditions, a charity has warned.
Asthma and Lung UK said that over the last two years alone, there has been a 23 per cent increase in emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions – such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The charity said patients are not getting “consistent” care throughout the year and warned of a spike in people needing emergency help during the winter. It said there are now “regular” winter crises due to “dismal” delivery of routine care for patients with these conditions.
Read full article.
Source: The Independent, 18 November 2025
Mark Hughes

Woman killed herself after south London hospital neglect, coroner concludes

A woman killed herself after a south London psychiatric unit failed to search her possessions adequately, a coroner has concluded.
Michelle Sparman, a personal trainer and call dispatcher for the Metropolitan police from Battersea, south-west London, died on 28 August 2021 at Kingston hospital, four days after trying to take her own life.
The assistant coroner, Bernard Richmond KC, concluded that Sparman, 48, died of a hypoxic brain injury, determining she had died by “suicide whilst the balance of her mind was disturbed, contributed to by neglect”.
Richmond will subsequently produce a prevention of future deaths report looking at a need for mental health wards to introduce a centralised record of all dangerous items that are on the ward, which he plans to submit to NHS England given its potential national implications.
Read full article.
Source: The Guardian, 17 November 2025
Mark Hughes

National maternity probe ‘not apportioning blame’

The national maternity safety inquiry launched by the Government in June this year will “not investigate failing trusts or apportion blame”, its leader has said – drawing criticism from campaigning families.
In a private briefing, Baroness Valerie Amos told the 12 trusts involved in the review that “she’s not investigating ‘failing’ trusts and she’s not in the business of apportioning blame”, according to one of the trusts involved.
This is despite Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Steeting Streeting alluding to “failures in the system” when launching the review in June. The terms of reference for the review also make repeated promises of “accountability”, including “help[ing] bereaved and harmed families to receive justice and accountability in the future”.
Read full article (paywalled).
Source: Health Service Journal, 17 November 2025
Mark Hughes

FT suffering ‘ridiculous’ cash shortage after national support withheld

The former national NHS finance director has declared it “ridiculous” his trust is operating with only enough cash to cover one day, after NHS England withheld deficit support.
Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust has been hit by the withholding of deficit support funding to the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System this financial year, due to concerns over the latter’s financial position.
This contributed to a significant drop in cash balances in September, according to University Hospital of Liverpool Group board papers. The trust finance report said it ended the month with £5.5m in the bank, which was equivalent to “one operating cash days”.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ 17 November 2025
Patient_Safety_Learning

Translation tech tackles health language barriers

A new device is helping to improve communication between patients who do not speak English and healthcare staff in parts of Northern Ireland.
The pocket-sized digital kit can translate up to 108 languages through audio or text, in real time. The handheld technology is about the size of a mobile phone and is part of a pilot project being rolled out in the Southern Health and Social Care Trust.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 19 October 2025
Patient_Safety_Learning

Hartlepool woman had 'agonising' hysteroscopy without consent

A 51-year-old woman has said she endured an “agonising” hysteroscopy at University Hospital of Hartlepool after not giving informed consent for the procedure.
Dawn Lord attended the hospital in May 2023 expecting only routine blood tests and a discussion about future investigations. As she was leaving, her doctor abruptly suggested carrying out a biopsy. She said she was given no explanation of what this would involve and was “in shock” as she was asked to change for the procedure.
During the biopsy, a cervical polyp was removed without warning. Mrs Lord said she repeatedly told staff she was in severe pain but was not offered any pain relief. When the biopsy failed, she was told a hysteroscopy — involving a small camera inserted through the cervix — would be “a better method”. She said she was not informed of what was happening and recalled hearing the doctor say “can’t get it” during the attempt.
Despite being given a local anaesthetic, Mrs Lord described the pain as “beyond a scale of one to 10”. She continued to suffer heavy bleeding and intense pain over the following days, even fainting during the night. She complained to the hospital and received an apology five months later, along with £400 compensation.
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust admitted it had not met the “high standard of care” it strives for and said her complaint prompted a review leading to service improvements. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman said the trust had already apologised and committed to improving how it informs patients about procedures and obtains consent.
A hysteroscopy is considered the gold-standard method for diagnosing gynaecological conditions, though the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says a third of patients report severe pain and should be offered appropriate anaesthesia.

Full article here.
Clive Flashman

Quality and performance Thousands waiting 24hrs in A&E with mental illness

One in 10 mental health patients who attended A&E in England last month stayed for more than 24 hours – and this figure rose to more than one in three in some departments, new data suggests. 
For the first time, NHS England has published data on long waits for mental health patients in A&Es.
NHSE labelled the data as “experimental”, because no quality checks were performed after it was received. However, they are the first official figures on the size of this long-standing problem. HSJ has previously reported on internal data.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 14 November 2025
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.