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Patient Safety Learning

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  1. News Article
    An interim chair has been appointed to the Care Quality Commission, which has bemoaned a “regrettable” delay in recruiting a permanent successor. Non-executive director Kay Boycott will take on the role from 1 June until 31 July unless a substantive chair is appointed earlier. At Care Quality Commission’s board meeting on Wednesday, Ms Boycott said the new health secretary, James Murray, had not yet put forward his preferred candidate for the position. That person will also need to go before MPs at the Commons’ health and social care committee before appointment. She said the continued delay was “regrettable”. Sir Mike Richards announced he would be retiring in February, but at the time said he would stay until a replacement chair was in place. However, Ms Boycott said Sir Mike had decided to step down for “personal reasons” at the end of last month, after the process took longer than expected. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 3 June 2026
  2. News Article
    A maternity service has been given a “good” rating by the Care Quality Commission, despite inspectors finding midwives being asked to work back-to-back shifts with no sleep breaks. The report published today rates both of Oxford University Hospitals’ units – at the John Radcliffe Hospital and the Horton General Hospital – as “good” overall. This is despite its finding several safety concerns at the main site, John Radcliffe. OUH is also one of 12 trusts under examination by a government-commissioned maternity review, amid concerns raised by campaigners about standards and traumatic births. On a visit in October, Care Quality Comission inspectors found seven breaches of four of its “fundamental standards” at the John Radcliffe, and rated it “requires improvement” for safety. Inspectors found inadequate staffing levels and unsafe working hours. They reported: “Community staff raised concerns about the on-call system because there were times when they were called to work a 12-hour night shift after working a day shift. “Managers redeployed community staff to backfill hospital shifts overnight during busy periods. Which resulted in extended periods without rest. Staff told us this meant they were awake for more than 24 hours, which they felt impacted their wellbeing and patient safety.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 4 June 2026
  3. News Article
    Would you trust an AI chatbot to be your therapist, medical professional or confidante? New research shows that one in five American adolescents between the ages of 12-21 (around 8.2 million) are turning to Big AI’s chatbots for help with their mental health. That marks a more than 40% increase in the past year, rising from just one in eight the previous year, a 1,009-person survey from the non-profit research institute RAND found. The findings may not come as that much of a shock following the rise of chatbot use in schools and data showing that nearly half of U.S. teens used the platform multiple times each month. Still, they raise many questions about the impact of asking AI for mental health guidance. Mental health among U.S. teenagers has been at crisis levels in recent years, and suicide is the second leading cause of death for that age group, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. AI chatbots have also been involved in investigations of the deaths of several U.S. teenagers who died by suicide, according to reports. Read full story Source: The Independent, 2 June 2026
  4. News Article
    British surgeons have issued a stark warning regarding individuals travelling overseas for leg-lengthening procedures, highlighting the significant burden placed on the NHS. Hospitals across the UK are increasingly encountering patients who require extensive follow-up care, including complex corrective surgery, intensive physiotherapy, and long-term rehabilitation, following operations performed abroad. Experts have detailed the "challenging" complications observed, such as implant failure, inadequate bone healing, and severe limb deformities. This alert comes as MPs are set to debate medical tourism, alongside other cosmetic procedures like liquid Brazilian butt lifts, in a committee hearing this week. The Royal College of Surgeons of England noted that these findings underscore a growing trend of patients seeking surgical and cosmetic treatments outside the UK. A study led by specialist limb reconstruction surgeons at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust calculated that addressing complications from just seven such cases has already cost the NHS over £36,000, with warnings that the true financial impact is likely far greater. Writing in the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the team said they had seen a “recent increase in patients presenting for rehabilitation and treatment of complications following limb lengthening”, such as implant failure, poor bone healing and severe joint stiffness. Read full story Source: The Independent, 3 June 2026
  5. Content Article
    Rare conditions affect over 3.5 million people in the UK. People affected by rare conditions face profound systemic inequity, often experiencing a complicated diagnostic odyssey followed by fragmented care and limited access to treatments. The Genetic Alliance UK 'Equity for Rare' consultation highlights the inequities the rare conditions community experiences, and found that equity broadly means ensuring that people with rare conditions can navigate the healthcare system with the same dignity and efficacy as those with common conditions. While common conditions are not without their own challenges, they often benefit from established clinical infrastructure, visibility and prioritisation. By contrast, those with rare conditions must navigate a system fundamentally not designed for their specific needs. This report acknowledges that rarity is seldom a standalone challenge and it intersects with broader drivers of inequity such as ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic status. This report adopts a narrower focus, highlighting that a defining, and immutable, characteristic of all rare conditions in their small patient population. It centres this analysis on how this scarcity is a fundamental driver of inequity for all rare conditions, resulting in three systemic challenges: low priority, limited evidence, and low clinical familiarity. Overcoming these three challenges is essential to delivering a fair healthcare system for those affected by rare conditions. Genetic Alliance UK is calling on the governments of the UK to: Deliver a UK-wide map of rare conditions: The four UK nations must urgently fund comprehensive rare condition registries and work in partnership to map all 7,000 rare conditions. Robust national data infrastructure is not optional, it is the foundation of equitable service planning, resource allocation, and healthcare delivery. Close the evidence gap through fair research investment: Government and research funders must correct the imbalance in research investment by directing funding towards rare conditions. Decision-makers must also reform evidence standards to recognise that uncertainty is an inherent feature of rare conditions and should not be used as a barrier to access or innovation. Mandate system-wide accountability for rare conditions: Healthcare systems must stress-test policies, commissioning decisions, and service delivery frameworks against the realities of low-prevalence conditions. This must include systematic auditing to identify gaps, eliminate inequities, and enforce consistent standards of clinical accountability across all services. Embed rare conditions into mainstream healthcare delivery: Current reforms across the UK healthcare system present an opportunity to fully integrate rare condition care into routine service provision. Failure to act now will entrench existing health inequalities for the 1 in 17 people in the UK that will be affected by a rare condition at some point in their life. Commit to a bold successor to the UK Rare Diseases Framework: UK governments must commit to a long-term successor to the UK Rare Diseases Framework that delivers measurable improvements for people with rare conditions. This successor must set clear targets, and the nations must respond with adequate funding, directly addressing the structural drivers of inequity identified in this report. Further reading on the hub: Top picks: Rare diseases
  6. Content Article
    Nearly one million people in the UK have dementia. By 2040, that number will rise to 1.4 million. Yet the systems designed to diagnose and support people are struggling to keep pace, with delays, inequalities and missed opportunities far too common. Too many people have a poor experience, wait too long for a diagnosis and receive less treatment and support than clinical guidance says they should. Everyone with dementia has the right to an early and accurate diagnosis and the best available treatments. Individuals and our health and care systems are paying for the price of inaction. Alzheimer's Society’s two new 'Unlocking the door' reports lay out a stark reality – and a clear programme of reform for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.   Key recommendations Together, the two reports set out a coherent programme of reform across diagnosis and treatment. These reforms are designed to: ensure diagnosis is early and accurate support consistent access to effective dementia drugs and non-drug interventions reduce inequalities and unwanted regional variation strengthen systems’ readiness for future innovation in diagnosis and treatments deliver better outcomes for people living with dementia and their families. To do this, we need: clear targets to set a national ambition and local accountability strengthen clinical guidance and standardise pathways invest in and support the dementia workforce strengthen dementia data and monitoring build systems ready for innovation. Further reading on the hub: Top picks: Key patient safety resources for people with dementia
  7. News Article
    Thousands more black men will be invited to take part in a prostate cancer screening trial as the health secretary insisted he was “following the science” in not backing population-wide testing. James Murray accepted a recommendation from the UK national screening committee (UKNSC) that will result in only a few thousand high-risk men with a gene mutation being screened for the disease. However, he announced funding to expand the Transform trial, which is exploring the best ways to test for the disease, to ensure it includes more black men. Prostate cancer is the most common form of the disease in the UK, with more than 64,000 men diagnosed every year. Last week, the UKNSC recommended against screening all men using the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test, saying it was “likely to cause more harm than good”. Instead, men with BRCA2 genetic mutations – which puts them at far higher risk – will be tested every two years between the ages of 45 and 61 if they have a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic or prostate cancers. Dr Ian Walker, director of policy at Cancer Research UK, said the decision would be “disappointing for some” but was in line with evidence as there was some debate over the reliability of the PSA test. The UKNSC also recommended against screening for other at-risk groups, including black men, saying there is “ongoing uncertainty on whether screening would cause more good than harm”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 June 2026
  8. News Article
    GPs in England are so “overloaded” that they cannot help older people who are at risk of falling in what NHS bosses accept is an unacceptable failure of care, the House of Commons’ public accounts committee has said. Pressure on GPs’ time has intensified as a result of the government’s decision to give patients online access to their services, according to a report by the influential cross-party group of MPs. The committee found that GPs are doing too little to tackle falls even though they are the most common cause of death from injury among over-65s, cause tens of thousands of hip fractures, add to hospitals’ workloads and cost the UK an estimated £4.4bn a year. Family doctors in England are obliged under the terms of their contract to identify, assess and support people over 65 with moderate or severe frailty. However, “many GPs are not currently able to deliver on these requirements”. During 2024/25 just 17% of those patients were assessed. Only 18% of the 226,000 people who were diagnosed with severe frailty that year were assessed for their risk of falling and only 16% underwent a review of the medication they were taking. Prof Victoria Tzortziou Brown, the president of the Royal College of GPs, said the report vindicated its warnings that “prioritising online access to our services without equal focus on continuity and proactive care may have unintended consequences for other areas of care, and risks disadvantaging some of our most vulnerable patients. “While most GP practices will always try to offer their older patients the time they need, this is increasingly challenging against a backdrop of intense workloads and workforce pressures while also responding to increasing demand and policy requirements to improve access.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 June 2026
  9. Content Article
    This guide highlights key considerations for audit and risk assurance committees when overseeing the planning, deployment and scaling of artificial intelligence (AI) within public sector organisations. It draws on National Audit Office (NAO) findings, the UK Government’s AI Playbook, and lessons from digital transformation programmes across government. This guidance includes: where AI is used in government areas that organisations need to consider areas of focus and suggested questions to ask.
  10. News Article
    A decision to provide substandard dialysis treatment due to “exceptional” capacity pressure was not responsible for high mortality discovered among the service’s patients, a trust has claimed. HSJ has discovered internal reports from East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust that acknowledge it saw “increased mortality” after it began putting “significant numbers” of patients on two-weekly treatments rather than the standard three. The increased death rate was particularly seen among sicker patients. Twice-weekly dialysis is often used in low and middle-income countries where resources are limited. In the UK it has become more common but is usually used in a limited way as patients step up to three sessions, and with close monitoring. But the East Kent documents, released to HSJ under the Freedom of Information Act, show it discovered that a “significant number of patients” had been put on twice-weekly dialysis “long term”, in one case for more than a year, “due to capacity issues”. A renal deep dive report, considered by a trust committee, questioned whether the service did enough to assess “dialysis adequacy” and to review the risks and benefits of the changes. The trust had not been measuring patients’ residual kidney function, and there was variability in how often they were reviewed by consultants. It has also emerged that NHS England launched a review of the service in 2024 over concerns about its “quality, safety and sustainability”. It was found to be an outlier for deaths within a year of patients starting dialysis or transplantation, in data UK Renal Registry data covering 2018-22. At the time, it was struggling to dialyse all the patients who needed it, with some having to go outside the county. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 2 June 2026
  11. News Article
    A hospital provider has admitted that confidential patient information relating to almost 33,000 of its patients was stolen and shared on the dark web, two years after the cyberattack took place. Bedfordshire Hospitals Foundation Trust sent a notice to patients on Monday after being informed by pathology systems provider Synnovis that data relating to approximately 32,927 individuals was affected. The high-profile ransomware attack happened in June 2024, causing widespread disruption and shutting down IT systems. It primarily affected providers in south east London, which used the software for its pathology services. However, Bedfordshire FT has only now revealed to patients it was also affected, because the trust said a lengthy review had been required to establish precisely which data had been compromised. Historic tests carried out before November 2020 may have been affected, including names, dates of birth, patient numbers, NHS numbers, postcode, and test results going back nine years. The trust said files taken were not organised as a single database and were “highly unstructured, incomplete and fragmented”, and it had taken over a year of detailed analysis by specialist teams to reconstruct and understand what information was present, and which organisations it related to. As a result, personal data within the files is fragmented, incomplete, and dispersed across multiple documents, the trust said. Bedfordshire FT said Synnovis “provided essential services to us” and that during the attack, criminals “unlawfully accessed internal systems and extracted a set of files, which were later published on online forums known for sharing stolen data”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 2 June 2026
  12. News Article
    Three new vaccines are being developed to tackle the rare species of Ebola that has already killed nearly 250 people. The International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), which is working on one vaccine, said the outbreak was threatening to be the worst ever. The University of Oxford and the pharma company Moderna are also researching vaccines against the Bundibugyo species. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), which is providing funding to each group, said "every day counts". There are now more than 1,000 suspected cases in the DR Congo with nine confirmed cases in neighbouring Uganda. There is growing concern this outbreak – which was detected only after it had spread in a conflict zone with limited healthcare resources – could reach the size of the largest ever Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-16. Then, nearly 29,000 people were infected and more than 11,000 died. Dr Mark Feinberg, head of IAVI, said: "I think this is clearly threatening to be as severe an outbreak as that, if not even worse, and development of a vaccine, and other countermeasures, is clearly a priority." It echoes concerns from the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) which said the situation was "deeply alarming" and never before had "so many cases" been recorded so soon. Read full story Source: BBC News, 1 June 2026
  13. Content Article
    New powers for ministers to establish a ‘single patient record’ (SPR) in England was one of the headline-grabbing measures in the government’s new Health Bill, published earlier this month. The SPR was announced in the government’s 10-Year Health Plan last year. The aim is to bring together people’s NHS and social care data, like test results and letters, in one place to improve care.  The ambition is good. Virtually every major NHS digital strategy since 2002 has called for patient data to flow more freely across the system – for instance, between GPs and hospitals – to make care faster and safer. The SPR is the latest and most legislatively ambitious attempt to deliver this, acknowledging that voluntary and standards-based approaches have repeatedly fallen short. But making it happen is easier said than done. The Health Bill set out little detail about how the SPR will look and work in practice. And the experience of a long line of failed NHS IT programmes points to a mix of questions government will need to answer to build trust in the proposals. In this blog, the Health Foundation sets out four questions for SPR: How will the SPR actually work? How can patient and clinician trust be earned?  What will implementation look like? What kind of transformation will the SPR enable?
  14. News Article
    Millions of people with breast cancer could safely avoid chemotherapy as scientists have developed a DNA test that can distinguish between patients who are likely to benefit from the treatment and those who are not, according to trial results. The international study found that more than two-thirds of its participants could be spared the side of effects of chemotherapy and treated with hormone therapy alone. Chemotherapy can cause fatigue, nausea, hair loss, a weakened immune system and fertility issues. The study, led by University College London (UCL), involved more than 4,000 newly diagnosed patients over the age of 40 in the UK, Norway, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and Thailand. The primary treatment for breast cancer is usually surgery to remove tumours. Chemotherapy is often recommended afterwards to diminish the risk of return. It is also regularly offered to people with early-stage breast cancer that has spread to the nearby lymph nodes. Clinicians are concerned the treatment provides little benefit to those with the most common type of breast cancer, UCL said. The university said more than 5,000 NHS patients a year could avoid chemotherapy as a result of the trial. Read full story Source: BBC News, 30 May 2026
  15. News Article
    Weight loss jabs are transforming obesity treatment, but without access to affordable healthy food and ongoing support they could widen health inequalities in the UK, experts have warned. The injections, also known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, are taken by an estimated 2.4 million Britons and work by mimicking the natural hormone which regulates blood sugar, appetite and digestion. Although drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro have transformed weight-loss treatment, researchers at Cambridge University and University College London (UCL) have argued that their long-term benefits depend on diet, exercise and healthcare support. “We have highlighted that obesity treatment is not just a medical issue, but a social and structural one. Without integrated dietary support and attention to food affordability, these medications could deepen existing health inequalities,” Dr Adrian Brown at UCL Medicine said. “The key message is clear: these treatments are powerful, but their long-term public health impact will depend on whether the right support systems are in place to ensure equitable and safe access for all patients,” he added. The report, published in the journal Nature Medicine, warned that healthier diets are often more expensive, and on top of the cost of weight-loss jabs, are unaffordable for many. Dr Marie Spreckley from Cambridge University said: “The key question is not simply who can access these medications, but who can benefit from them in the long term. If access to healthy food, nutrition support and ongoing care is uneven, there is a risk that the benefits of these treatments will also be uneven.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 1 June 2026
  16. News Article
    More than 1,300 patients were referred for urgent bowel cancer investigations they may not have needed after a calibration error at a shared NHS pathology service. South West London Pathology identified a processing error affecting fecal immunochemical test (FIT) results, meaning results were five times higher than they should have been between 27 December 2025 and 4 March 2026. Of the 17,000 FITs processed during that period, 4,223 returned incorrect results. A total of 1,326 patients were subsequently placed on the two-week wait urgent cancer referral pathway and may have undergone a colonoscopy or CT colonoscopy, which they did not need. The error occurred after a unit conversion process – used to translate results into the format used by UK GPs – stopped being applied for a period of time. HSJ understands this was due to human error rather than a technical fault. 16 NHS trusts and one integrated care board spanning London and Surrey had patients referred, with 281 GP practices having registered patients impacted by the incident. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 2 June 2026
  17. Content Article
    There are huge pressures facing prison health services. This new report from the Nuffield Trust is the first to offer an in-depth assessment of A&E use by people in prison and adds to mounting evidence that health care is harder for prisoners to access. It finds a higher-than-expected number of A&E attendances by prisoners due to paracetamol overdose, seizures, and acute coronary syndrome, with opportunities for targeted intervention in these areas to avoid health crises.
  18. Content Article
    Prioritising patient safety is a blog series from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). PHSO's strategy is built around three priorities: driving public service improvement, improving the user experience, and raising awareness and trust. You’ll see all three reflected in this edition which.  shares news of an exciting new partnership with two medical schools in the north-west, and what it means for the future of the clinician-patient relationship  provides an update on Andy’s case, which was first mentioned in the Winter blog, including the positive changes the Trust has made  shares a new case involving an avoidable death and the constructive way the Trust responded to the findings. 
  19. News Article
    Healthcare AI solutions tout their ability to identify more at-risk patients and irregularities imperceptible to physicians, all while keeping a human in the loop. But are there enough humans to handle all this additional demand brought on by AI? That’s a question healthcare leaders in the United States are grappling with as the technology expands across the industry. “You don’t want to be, say, implementing something that’s going to scan every patient for a particular disease, which costs you a lot of money if you can’t do anything about it, because you don’t have the appointments downstream to actually manage that,” said Michael Pfeffer, MD, senior vice president and chief information and digital officer of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Health Care, at Becker’s 16th Annual Meeting in April. “So you have to look at the entire workflow and value chain to see: Is it the right tool to put in?” As for keeping a human in the loop on AI, Dr. Pfeffer said that’s just not feasible — or even necessary — in every instance. Research is showing that physicians increasingly trust AI and are not going to check every summary and citation the technology makes. Where the human element becomes critical is if, say, AI detects a hospital patient is deteriorating from a lack of fluids — a human clinician then has to administer fluids. “We’ve been thinking exactly about the same thing, and we hold ‘human in the loop’ as sort of a bulwark for safety,” said Sri Adusumalli, MD, vice president and chief health information officer of Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine, during the panel discussion. “But we know we humans are terrible at vigilance of algorithms and other technology tools. So banking on humans in the loop as that bulwark is not sustainable. Plus, there are not enough humans.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: Becker's Health IT, 22 May 2026
  20. Content Article
    In this issue of PsychSafety, Tom Geraghty discusses accountability, and how it doesn't mean what we often think it means.
  21. Content Article
    The term ‘neighbourhood’ when used in reference to health and care, often suggests a collective, cross-sector and/or community approach. A recent Digital Care Hub webinar investigated the latest updates connected to the NHS / DHSC’s Neighbourhood Heath Policy, what it might mean for adult social care providers, and what’s needed to unlock the digital systems and processes that will help make it a reality. If you missed it, the webinar can be viewed below.
  22. News Article
    The midwife's notes were short and to the point. The three letters - "FOH" - that she had written on a whiteboard next to names of heavily pregnant women were not there to alert colleagues to women having a specific medical condition or requiring a certain type of care. Instead, they were an acronym for a three-word offensive statement signalling they wanted the women to leave the maternity unit run by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH). The "F", a swear word. The "O", standing for "OFF". The "H", short for "HOME". The acronym was described in a 2018 resignation letter from another member of staff, now seen by BBC Panorama, raising concerns about attitudes within the unit. In the same letter, another midwife was reported to have advised colleagues to get pregnant women, who had arrived worried they were going into labour, to go home with the advice: "Don't be too kind, she'll keep coming back." The Nottingham trust is currently at the centre of the largest maternity inquiry in the history of the NHS - looking at care provided to about 2,500 families between 2012 and 2025. Led by senior midwife, Donna Ockenden, the inquiry is due to publish its findings on 24 June. "Nottingham thought that there was a Nottingham way, that they were some kind of superior NHS trust compared to others," Ockenden tells Panorama. Read full story Source: BBC News, 1 June 2026
  23. News Article
    Abolishing the organisation which champions patient views on health and social care would leave the NHS "marking their own homework", a group representing local councils in England and Wales has warned. Healthwatch is an independent body which represents the views of patients on their local health and social care providers to help improve the services they offer. Speaking exclusively to BBC News, the Local Government Association (LGA) says that disbanding Healthwatch could create a "fragmented system" which would undermine accountability. The Department for Health and Social Care says these changes will give patients a "stronger, clearer voice at the heart of health and social care". The LGA says it's concerned by the lack of a plan for an alternative to Healthwatch, which currently challenges the NHS and providers of care services in the community, when patients or the public highlight problems. They warn that disbanding Healthwatch would be a "significant step back" in accountability. "Without an independent, locally rooted voice to challenge and represent communities, there is a risk of duplication and gaps in accountability," the LGA said. It is calling on the government to "work with local government" and develop a "clear and workable model" which fulfills Healthwatch's role while maintaining independence. Read full story Source: BBC News, 30 May 2026
  24. News Article
    Sharing access to patients’ health data across NHS providers in England could result in 20,000 fewer A&E visits a year and save £20m annually, the government has claimed, before the second reading of the NHS modernisation bill on Monday. The bill, which would also abolish NHS England, sets out measures including single patient records (SPR) for every person receiving health and social care in England, requiring GPs and hospitals to securely share data as part of the government’s 10-year health plan. Combining SPRs with virtual care would reduce A&E attendances for frail patients by about 10,000 a year, with another 10,000 fewer visits as a result of fewer misdiagnoses. This would save doctors about 500,000 hours a year, according to the Department of Health and Social Care. The DHSC also predicts 6,000 fewer hospital admissions a year based on the avoided A&E attendances, better heart failure management and improved mental health care. The £20m savings would come through reducing medication errors, adverse drug reactions and duplicate prescribing. All NHS providers, including hospitals and GPs, would share data so medical professionals could see a patient’s medical history without the need for patients to keep repeating their issues unnecessarily. The change would join up community services and help people manage their conditions. Patients would have more control over their care, with clear safeguards, audit trails and choice over how their data was used. Social care records and those from private healthcare providers working on behalf of the NHS would also be included. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 1 June 2026
  25. News Article
    Scrapping the legal guarantee that a nurse sits on every foundation trust board is a “brazen attack on patient safety”, the Royal College of Nursing has warned. The Health Bill, published this month, would remove the requirement in primary legislation for foundation trust boards to include a registered nurse or midwife and a registered medical practitioner or dentist among their executive directors. Under a new schedule to the NHS Act 2006, the only board roles guaranteed in law would be the chief executive, finance director and chair. The reason for the change is not given in the bill’s explanatory notes, which describe the new board composition without acknowledging that the clinical requirement has gone. It is also absent from the government’s fact sheet on the legal changes affecting providers, and from its impact assessment on foundation trust reform. The Department of Health and Social Care, which did not respond to requests for clarification before publication, has since contacted HSJ to say that it plans to recreate the requirement for clinical members in secondary legislation (see below). Royal College of Nursing general secretary and chief executive Nicola Ranger told HSJ that removing the legal requirement – which has been in place since the creation of FTs in the early 2000s – would “allow for hospitals to make decisions about services for entire populations with no clinical oversight whatsoever”. She said she was “genuinely worried that we could return to those dark days where leaders look to cut nursing staff to make savings, putting financial targets above safety”. Nursing was “the safety-critical, 24/7 presence for patients”, Professor Ranger said, and removing its guaranteed board voice “would be a recipe for disaster”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 29 May 2026

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