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More than 60,000 cancer patients in England ‘not getting necessary radiotherapy’

More than 60,000 cancer patients a year in England are not getting the radiotherapy they need at all, while some face waits of up to six months to begin the treatment, research has found.
The situation is so dire that nearly 100 heads of radiotherapy and oncology – three-quarters of England’s radiotherapy leaders – have warned in an open letter that the government is failing patients.
International experts agree that more than half (53%) of all cancer patients will typically need radiotherapy, but exclusive analysis of the latest NHS data in England shows only 35% actually receive it. The study by the charity Radiotherapy UK found 181,023 cancer patients should have received radiotherapy but only 120,569 did, leaving 60,455 patients a year without any radiotherapy at all.
Regional inequalities are rife. In south-west England, 36% of patients receive radiotherapy, meaning around 7,200 patients miss out, while in the south-east, 33.7% receive treatment, with more than 10,100 missing out.
The leading oncologist and chair of Radiotherapy UK, Prof Pat Price, said: “Thousands of cancer patients risk dying prematurely either because they are not getting radiotherapy at all or because of huge delays in starting radiation treatment.”
She added: “Radiotherapy is one of the most cost-effective and curative cancer treatments we have. It is not a ‘nice to have’, this is a life-saving treatment.”
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 3 September 2025
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Maternity units disrupted for nine months by IT fault

An IT fault has prevented several major maternity units in South London from properly storing foetal heart monitoring records for more than nine months, HSJ has learned.
St George’s, Epsom and St Helier Hospital Group (GESH) and Kingston and Richmond Foundation Trust have confirmed they are affected by a problem which prevents cardiotocography (CTG) traces from being automatically downloaded and stored.
A manual workaround has been put in place, which the trusts said ensured CTG traces were captured and safely stored, but the fault is not yet fixed.
CTGs can track a baby’s heart rate and a mother’s contractions during labour and are often critical evidence in clinical negligence investigations.
Board papers from GESH, published in September, said CTG traces from Neoventa STAN machines were not being downloaded or stored as expected.
It warned that the absence of CTG traces “presents a clinical and legal risk”, given their frequent role in determining breach of duty in clinical negligence claims.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 3 October 2025
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Call to allow ‘safe and effective’ at-home abortions up to 12 weeks in UK

At-home abortions should be allowed for up to 12 weeks of pregnancy across the UK, according to academics, after a study found they were just as safe and effective as hospital care.
A medical abortion involves taking two medications, mifepristone and misoprostol, to end a pregnancy. In 2022, at-home medical abortions were made permanent in England and Wales, after temporary legislation allowed them to take place at home during the pandemic. In Northern Ireland, at-home abortion care is not permitted at any gestation.
Despite the World Health Organization (WHO) recommending that early medical abortions can occur safely at home in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, legislation across England and Wales limits this to 10 weeks.
The study, published in BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health, looked at the outcomes of abortions carried out between 10 and 12 weeks of pregnancy in hospital and at home across NHS Lothian in Scotland, between 2020 and 2025. At-home medical abortions are legal in Scotland up to 12 weeks.
During this period, 14,458 referrals were made to the abortion service, and of these 485 women (3.5%) were assessed as being between 10 and 12 weeks of pregnancy either by the date of their last period or by an ultrasound scan.
The researchers found that 97% of abortions were successful for both groups of women.
They also found cases of serious complications, such as heavy bleeding or infection, one month after the procedure among those who had opted for a medical abortion at home. But despite this, the researchers concluded it was a rare complication among women who are less than 20 weeks pregnant.
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 
Sam

The doctors banned from practising abroad cleared to treat in NHS

he health secretary has ordered an urgent review of vetting procedures for foreign qualified doctors after a Times investigation exposed how medics banned from practising overseas have been cleared to treat NHS patients.
Wes Streeting described the findings as “horrific” and “a serious failure in our medical regulatory systems that I will not tolerate”.
One doctor was fired when The Times approached their employer with its revelations, and another is under suspension.
Sujan Thyagaraj, a psychiatrist employed by a Bradford NHS trust, lost his US medical licence for having sex with a patient. Sattar Kadhem, a radiologist, lost his Swedish and Norwegian medical licences for misreading scans.
Despite this, both were granted the right to practise in the UK.
They were among 22 doctors identified by The Times who have been subject to discipline or restrictions overseas but with no record of it showing on their General Medical Council (GMC) licences.
In each case the GMC had either failed to spot the overseas findings — despite in some cases this information being public record — or it did not think the information should be available to patients.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: The Times, 2 October 2025
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UK woman who refused cancer drugs was influenced by mother, inquest finds

A woman who died after refusing chemotherapy doctors believed would have given her a strong chance of recovery was “adversely influenced” by her conspiracy theorist mother, a coroner has said.
Paloma Shemirani died aged 23 in July 2024 after refusing conventional treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. On Thursday, the coroner in her inquest said the influence of her parents, Kay and Faramarz Shemirani, “more than minimally” contributed to her death.
“It seems that if Paloma had been supported and encouraged to accept her diagnosis and considered chemotherapy with an open mind she probably would have followed that course,” Catherine Wood told a hearing at Kent and Medway coroner’s court in Maidstone.
She said Kay Shemirani “took a leading role in advising Paloma in respect of and facilitating access to alternative treatments”. She added: “If approached with an open mind, Paloma would have chosen the chance to survive, and if she had undergone chemotherapy she probably would have survived.”
An NHS doctor told the inquest into Paloma Shemirani’s death she was concerned her mother, Kay, better known as the online influencer Kate Shemirani, influenced her daughter’s refusal of cancer treatment.
Arunodaya Mohan, a consultant haematologist at Maidstone hospital, said she had recommended steroids and a PET (positron emission tomography) scan, and that Paloma had “nodded in agreement”.
At the time of her diagnosis, doctors at Maidstone hospital told Paloma she had an 80% chance of recovery through chemotherapy.
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 2 October 2025
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Millions of seniors could lose access to telehealth without deal in Congress

Millions of American seniors could lose access to telehealth appointments with their doctors if Congress fails to fund them amid a looming government shutdown, while thousands more who have been receiving high-level, acute care at home face being sent back to the hospital or discharged.
While most Medicare reimbursements to doctors and hospitals will continue in the event the government shuts down Wednesday, payments for video health care visits — which gained in popularity during the pandemic and must be separately authorised for an extension by Congress — face elimination.
Without getting paid or receiving some assurance they would be compensated retroactively, doctors and hospitals say they will be unable to provide services. Particularly for elderly people with limited mobility or transportation hurdles, telehealth has become a vital service improving their access to care, advocates say.
Losing these benefits will “exacerbate all types of problems in our health care system,” said Kyle Zebley, executive director of ATA Action, the advocacy arm of the American Telemedicine Association. “It’s going to diminish capacity at a point in time when we don’t have enough.”
More than 6.7 million seniors received care through a telehealth service visit last year, according to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which is a quarter of eligible Medicare beneficiaries. During the pandemic, the number was even higher, with 14.8 million eligible Medicare beneficiaries receiving telehealth services in 2020.
The funding cliff for the telehealth and home-hospital care programs is separate from shutdown negotiations, but both programmes are caught up waiting for congressional action. Some providers have been warning patients for months that their appointments may no longer be reimbursed, while others are remaining hopeful that Congress will come through with a last-minute funding plan. The biggest impact would be in urban and suburban areas, according to medical groups, while patients in rural areas that were eligible before the pandemic would continue to receive coverage.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: Washington Post, 30 September 2025
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'Years of unnecessary chemotherapy stole my youth'

A brain cancer patient who says he was prescribed chemotherapy tablets for 16 years, even though NHS guidelines say they should only be taken for six months, has said he feels his youth was stolen from him.
Jonathan Jones was diagnosed with anaplastic astrocytoma in 2007 when he was 17 and took temozolomide tablets until November 2023, when he was 33.
Since he has raised his case with lawyers, more than 30 other brain cancer patients at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) have raised similar concerns.
The NHS trust said it was committed to providing the safest possible care and had commissioned an independent inquiry.
Prof Ian Brown, the oncologist who oversaw Mr Jones's care, is being investigated by the General Medical Council (GMC). The BBC has attempted to contact the retired professor several times.
Mr Jones, now aged 36, said: "I lost my freedom, I couldn't do anything at the time. I had 16, 17 years taken away from me."
Mr Jones was told he would need to stay on his tablets to stay alive, and when he questioned the treatment, he said the reply was: "Do you want to die? If you don't carry on taking the chemo, you'll die."
Guidelines say temozolomide should be taken post radiotherapy for a maximum of six cycles, external. This is usually over six months.
There are a wide range of side effects associated with temozolomide including muscle weakness, memory issues and, in rare cases, secondary cancers and liver damage.
Another patient, Samantha Smith from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, says she took temozolomide for six-and-a-half years while under the direction of Prof Brown at UHCW.
She said she had suffered from teeth and gum decay, mobility issues and chronic fatigue.
Ms Smith said: "You never expect anybody to turn around and say to you 'by the way, you've had too much'."
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 2 October 2025
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‘No rush’ to transfer NHSE staff as abolition faces delay

There is no longer a “rush” to transfer the employment of NHS England staff to the Department of Health and Social Care, Sir Jim Mackey has told them.
Speaking at an internal staff briefing, the chief executive said the process of merging NHSE functions with DHSC – and cutting both their central staffing in half – would be “more of a gradual, managed process” than signalled in the spring.
HSJ has also learned there is now serious doubt about whether legislation can be drafted and passed through Parliament in time to formally abolish NHSE “within the next two years”, the timetable set in July’s 10-Year Health Plan.
In comments seen by HSJ, Sir Jim told NHSE staff last week: “The transformation process won’t be that big, dramatic overnight thing that we thought was going to be the case…
“We’re still heading towards a similar sort of objective, around the scale of the reduction and… joint working with DHSC, but it’s going to be more of a gradual, managed process now over the next couple of years…"
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 2 October 2025
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Sunbeds should be banned in UK, skin cancer experts say

Sunbeds are so dangerous they should be banned in the UK, cancer experts and campaigners say.
They have urged ministers to order the closure of the thousands of tanning salons operating across Britain, using public funds to compensate owners if necessary.
Commercial sunbeds play such a damaging role in causing skin cancer, and a ban on under-18s using them is so widely flouted, that an outright ban is justified, they argue in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
“An immediate outright ban on commercial sunbeds alongside public education offers the most cost-effective solution to reduce skin cancer, save lives and ease the burden on the NHS,” they say.
The call comes from experts at the Christie cancer hospital in Manchester, including Prof Paul Lorigan, campaigners from the British charity Melanoma Focus and a skin cancer specialist in Australia whose work helped persuade its government to ban sunbeds in 2016.
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 1 October 2025
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New guidance on doctors' sexual misconduct cases

New guidance on how to treat cases of sexual misconduct by doctors has been released.
It follows criticism of the body that is meant to determine whether doctors are fit to practise in the UK.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) had been accused of failing to apply appropriate sanctions in cases involving sexual misconduct.
The MPTS says it hopes the fresh guidance will support consistent and well-reasoned decisions.
Last month research found in nearly a quarter of cases involving sexual misconduct, the MPTS imposed sanctions on doctors that were more lenient than those recommended by the regulator, the General Medical Council (GMC).
The criticism was based on the outcomes of 46 cases with offences including harassment, rape, and assaults of patients, colleagues and children.
Some medics were handed suspensions instead of following GMC advice to strike them off the medical register.
At the time, the Royal College of Surgeons accused the MPTS of failing victims and compounding the trauma they had suffered.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 1 October 2025
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Heart surgeon's failures contributed to multiple deaths

Seven people have died following multiple failures by a heart surgeon who continues to work for the NHS, the BBC has learned.
An NHS investigation found problems in Karen Booth's cases included clinical errors, carrying out operations she wasn't skilled or experienced enough to perform and not calling for help when she should have.
Serious concerns about Ms Booth's performance at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle were first raised by her colleagues in 2018 - but the hospital did not launch an investigation until 2021. Ms Booth is currently working as a mentor to other surgeons at the Freeman, which plans to allow her to resume her surgical career shortly.
Karen Booth "should never [again] practise as a surgeon", said the family of one man who died after being operated on by her.
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Freeman, did not respond to most of the questions put to it by the BBC, including why it thought it appropriate to let Ms Booth resume her surgical career.
The trust did however point to a problematic working culture in the cardiac unit at the time of the failures, while internal reports have criticised poor governance procedures and a reluctance from senior staff to take responsibility over safety concerns.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 2 October 2025
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Major failings found after surgeon harmed women

A former NHS gynaecologist's risky practices and shortcuts contributed to women suffering severe physical harm, a long-awaited report into his care has found.
Daniel Hay joined the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton (UHDB) NHS Foundation Trust in 2005, and operated on hundreds of women before retiring in 2020.
A report - which scrutinised Mr Hay's care between 2015 and 2018 - was commissioned after concerns were raised by colleagues, and found failings in his practices, how he was managed and added only "good fortune prevented further harm".
The report was commissioned by the Gynaecology Review Steering Group, which included representations from NHS England, UHDB, and the Derby and Derbyshire clinical commissioning group.
As part of the report, the panel contacted 325 women who had been treated by Mr Hay between 2015 and 2018, asking them to share their experiences.
In addition to the 325 patients, 58 women had already been reviewed in an earlier assessment carried out in 2019.
In Wednesday's report, the steering group panel identified two women as suffering "severe physical harm", with three sustaining "moderate physical harm" under Mr Hay's care.
Among the issues identified were women who had a hysterectomy - a surgical procedure that removes the womb - with some patients made to feel like it was their "only option" when less invasive options may have been available.
This "adversely affected" the mental health of women who dreamed of starting families but were unable to do so, affecting their relationships and jobs.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 1 October 2025
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Food allergy law saving lives, say teen's parents

The parents of a teenager who died from an allergic reaction after eating a pre-packed baguette have said their daughter would be "very proud" of how a change in the law is saving lives.
Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, from Fulham, west London, suffered a severe allergic reaction to sesame baked into the Pret A Manger sandwich in July 2016.
Sesame was not listed as an ingredient on the packaging, and the seeds were not visible to the naked eye.
Four years ago to the day, Natasha's Law was introduced requiring food outlets to provide a full ingredients list and allergy labelling for foods made and packaged on the premises for direct sale, following a campaign by Tanya and Nadim Ednan-Laperouse.
The couple, founders of the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, said the law was making a difference.
The charity has called 1 October Natasha's Day - a time to celebrate the teenager's "legacy of change".
Her parents said in a statement: "Natasha's Law gives greater protection to the millions of people in the UK living with food allergies, allowing them to buy food and eat out with greater confidence."
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 1 October 2025
Related reading on the hub:
Why allergies are the Cinderella service of the NHS – a blog by Tim McLachlan
Patient Safety Learning

Every GP practice now has to offer online booking

From today, every GP practice in England will have to offer online appointment bookings throughout the day.
The move, ordered by the government, is aimed at reducing the so-called '8am scramble' to get through to practices on the phone.
Surgeries will have to provide the service from 08:00 to 18:30 Monday to Friday.
Alongside requesting non-urgent appointments, patients will also be able to ask questions and describe symptoms and request a call back.
It comes after the British Medical Association (BMA) called for a halt to the introduction, warning that potentially serious health problems could be missed by some GPs and lead to patients being harmed.
The doctors union said there would be a "potential online triage tsunami" and urged more to be done to provide safeguards, such as allowing practices to temporarily switch off the online booking mechanism if staff are struggling to handle patient numbers.
It said on Monday it would consider industrial action in the form of a work-to-rule if need be.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 1 October 2025
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Streeting orders probe of mental illness overdiagnosis

The health and social care secretary is to launch a review of the prevalence of mental illness and neurodivergence, with a particular focus on whether some conditions are being overdiagnosed, HSJ has revealed.
HSJ understands the review has been commissioned by Wes Streeting, and will be chaired by leading psychoanalyst and clinical psychologist Peter Fonagy. Former Royal College of Psychiatry president and NHS England board adviser Sir Simon Wessely will be vice chair.
The review is expected to be announced in coming weeks, sources say.
It will be launched in the content of rising concern about the number of people receiving benefits because they are deemed unfit for work due to mental health problems. There is also alarm over the very long waits and backlogs for diagnosis and treatment for some conditions, particularly ADHD and autism, and for mental healthcare. There has been a big increase in recognition and diagnosis of ADHD in particular in recent years, in both children and adults.
Prime minister Sir Kier Starmer told the BBC this morning that some money allocated to health benefits for those suffering from mental health problems might better be spent on their treatment.
Asked if ”being anxious, even being depressed… a good enough reason for stopping looking for work?, the PM replied: ”We need to look again at this issue of mental health, and ask ourselves a fundamental question, which is ‘would we not be better putting our money into the resources and support that is needed for mental health’, than simply to say it is to be provided in benefits.”
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 1 October 2025
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Secret filming exposes dangerous trade in illegal Botox

Nurses and pharmacists have been putting patients at risk by supplying Botox without proper checks, a BBC undercover investigation has found.
Researchers posing as beauticians secretly filmed a nurse trading prescriptions over WhatsApp, a pharmacist coaching clients to falsify records and a bogus doctor handing over Korean toxin vials for cash.
Medical rules require an in-person consultation and prescription to check Botox is suitable. Skipping these safeguards raises the risk of complications such as drooping eyelids, headaches or, in rare cases, respiratory failure or death.
The pharmacists' regulator said it was "very concerned" while the nurses' regulator said it would review the evidence.
Botox is a prescription-only medicine, and while many people now receive injections from high-street beauticians, the law requires a doctor, dentist, nurse prescriber or pharmacist prescriber to first examine the patient in person and issue a prescription confirming it is safe to proceed.
Over several months, BBC researchers gathered evidence of trusted medical professionals sidestepping the rules. Secret recording captured transactions from high-street clinics to online sellers, revealing how unsafe and illegal practices have spread across England's booming aesthetics market.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 30 September 2025
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