Patient Safety Learning

Health secretary Wes Streeting has described the outbreak of meningitis in Kent as “unprecedented” and warned it is a “rapidly developing situation”. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has announced a targeted vaccination programme for students living at Canterbury halls of residence at the University of Kent, while 700 doses of antibiotics have been given out. The agency confirmed on Tuesday morning that 15 cases of meningitis have been recorded, an increase of two from Monday, and all those affected were hospitalised. Experts have described the outbreak as “unusual”, with the disease killing an 18-year-old pupil called Juliette and an unnamed 21-year-old university student. Warnings were issued that some pharmacies in the region are running out of the MenB vaccine due to a surge in demand, with some reporting no stock left. Meningitis B has been confirmed as the strain in some cases, with concerns growing in the region after a third school confirmed a case, as well as the university. Read full story Source: The Independent, 17 March 2026

A decade after the Freedom to Speak Up guardian role was first mandated following the Mid Staffordshire inquiry, the movement faces a defining moment With the imminent closure of the National Guardian’s Office, NHS England is considering how Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) guardians will be supported. To support this work, Gowpen carried out a survey exploring the wellbeing of FTSU guardians to highlight the lived experience of those doing the vital work of supporting staff voice and patient safety. The findings paint a picture of guardians left isolated, emotionally exhausted, and without adequate support. Of the guardians who responded to the survey, one in three rated the impact of their role on their wellbeing as either “negative” or “very negative”. These figures align with the National Guardian’s Office’s own most recent survey, which found that 22% of guardians often or always felt emotionally exhausted, and 13% often or always felt burnt out. FTSU guardians deal with cases often at the very darkest side of human behaviour: bullying, racial discrimination, sexual misconduct, patient harm and, increasingly, the fallout from societal and global conflicts playing out in NHS workplaces. Many describe feeling isolated. Yet nearly half of the guardians surveyed have no access to confidential psychological supervision. One said: “I have felt very unsupported and do not feel anyone has my back. It has led to stomach issues and loss of sleep.” Another said: “The mental/emotional weight of the issues that are brought forward can be quite intense. There’s only me and one other guardian in the trust, and we don’t have any psychological supervision.” Where support does exist, it does not meet the needs of this nuanced role. Employee Assistance Programmes lack the specialist knowledge. Internal management check-ins, which some organisations offer as a substitute for psychological supervision, create a conflict of interest. The independence of Freedom to Speak Up guardians is central to gaining workers’ trust, and this compromises both the guardian’s psychological safety and the integrity of the role. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 17 March 2026 Further reading on the hub: Speaking up for patient safety: A new interview series about raising concerns and whistleblowing Speaking up for patient safety: Jayne Chidgey-Clark in conversation with Peter Duffy and Helen Hughes

Women feel put under pressure to have medical procedures such as caesareans during their maternity care, according to a report. The charity Birthrights collated the experiences of 300 people in England who said they had felt or witnessed coercion within a maternity setting. It said caregivers used authoritative language that undermined the idea of women being able to make informed decisions regarding their maternity care. Experiences shared in the report include healthcare professionals telling women they must accept a vaginal examination or they will not be able to be admitted to the birth centre, and women feel put under pressure to accept an induction without it being explained why it was necessary. Experiences shared in the report include healthcare professionals telling women they must accept a vaginal examination or they will not be able to be admitted to the birth centre, and women feel put under pressure to accept an induction without it being explained why it was necessary. One woman recounted feeling forced into have a caesarean without having the reasons why it was necessary explained. “I remember a doctor saying to me: You can choose to have a C-section now or you can wait a few hours and I’ll press that buzzer behind your head and you’ll have one anyway,’” the woman said. Hazel Williams, the chief executive of Birthrights, said: “This crucial report documents the rise in coercive practices as a systemic problem across the maternity system, with Black and Brown women and birthing people facing the worst attacks on their human rights, choice and bodily autonomy. “Women and birthing people are repeatedly being told you are ‘not allowed’ or threatened with children’s services referrals, not given full facts and denied genuine informed choice. Coercion has no place in safe maternity care and must stop now.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 17 March 2026

Virtual ward occupancy hit a record high in January but expansion has stalled over the past 12 months, according to analysis of official figures. In January 2026, 11,474 patients occupied virtual ward “beds”, representing 90% occupancy of the 12,725 capacity. This is a 13% increase in patients compared to the same period in 2025, when there were 10,162 patients at 80% occupancy. February 2026 figures, published last week, show occupancy then fell from the peak in January 2026 to 84%. Despite this rise in use, capacity has stalled nationally. Between January 2025 and January 2026, virtual ward capacity grew by just 98 “beds” (0.8%) compared with an increase of 992 (8%) the previous year. The plateau reflects a shift in national priorities and the end of ring-fenced funding in March 2024. NHS England had provided £450m of dedicated funding over two years to support virtual ward expansion. One leader close to the programme told HSJ that the focus from the centre on A&E performance targets had shifted priority among commissioners. They added that the slower-than-expected rollout of the neighbourhood health service had also created uncertainty about where virtual wards – which involve the use of technology to care for patients in their own home when they would otherwise be in hospital – fit in future planning. Meanwhile, virtual ward technology suppliers told HSJ that some systems have had budgets reduced or paused, and others have been told to demonstrate clearer cash-releasing impact of virtual wards before further expansion. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 16 March 2026

Women, babies and families will receive safer and higher-quality NHS care through a new Maternity and Neonatal taskforce chaired by the Health and Social Care Secretary. The government has finalised the membership of the taskforce, which will tackle deep-rooted inequalities and deliver urgent action on the recommendations of the independent national investigation into maternity and neonatal services in England, led by Baroness Amos. The expert panel includes families, senior NHS leaders, royal colleges, campaigners, academics, and third sector representatives who collectively have the clinical expertise, lived experience and sector know-how to deliver the changes so desperately needed for families. As part of the selection process, the government has been working closely with harmed and bereaved families to ensure their personal experiences were reflected. Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said: "I ordered an independent national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services to make sure families harmed by maternity care get the truth and accountability they deserve. "Baroness Amos will deliver on this vital work this June but to deliver truly meaningful change — so that other families do not face the ordeals too many are already enduring — we must be ready to act swiftly. "This 17-strong taskforce will start work straight away, so we will be ready to drive improvement from the moment the investigation’s recommendations are published. At the same time, we’re continuing to invest millions in schemes that are working to deliver safer and more equitable maternity care to benefit families today." The taskforce members include: Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Chair) Baroness Merron, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women’s Health and Mental Health (Deputy Chair and Chair of the Regulators and Investigatory Bodies Expert Reference Group) Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England (Senior Responsible Officer for Maternity) Helen Gittos, Family Representative (Chair of Family Expert Reference Group) Gary Andrews, Family Representative (Chair of Family Expert Reference Group) Cathy Brewster, Family Representative (Chair of Family Expert Reference Group) Lauren Caulfield, Family Representative (Health Equity Expert Reference Group lived experience representative) Habib Naqvi, Chief Executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory (Chair of the Health Equity Expert Reference Group) Nina Johns, Consultant obstetrician and Clinical Director at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (Co-chair of Workforce, Clinical and Academic Expert Reference Group) Helen Cheyne, Professor of Maternal and Child Health Research at the University of Stirling and Professor of Midwifery at the Royal College of Midwives (Scotland) (Co-chair of Workforce, Clinical and Academic Expert Reference Group) Avey Bhatia, Chief Nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, co-lead on Patient Safety and Clinical Governance (Senior Health System representative) Louise Stead, CEO of Ashford and St Peter’s and Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trusts (Senior Health System representative) Gill Walton, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives Alison Wright, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Representative of The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health/British Association of Perinatal Medicine - to be confirmed Clea Harmer, Chief Executive of Sands (Chair of Charity and Third Sector Expert Reference Group) Helene Normann, Senior advisor and Chief Midwifery Officer at the Norwegian Directorate of Health (International Expert) Read full press release Source: Department of Health and Social Care, 17 March 2026

A two-tier health system is emerging with people increasingly paying for tests and treatments on the private sector to beat NHS waits, a patient watchdog is warning. Healthwatch England said feedback from patients combined with polling suggested use of the private sector is on the rise, with long NHS waits said to be a key factor. Private sector providers said alongside rises in people paying for treatment, some were also using the private sector to get scans and tests done before returning to the NHS, with their results, in a bid to get seen quicker. The government said it is making improvements, adding it is determined to reduce the delays that meant some felt the need to pay fore care. The survey of nearly 2,600 people in England found 16% of people had used the private sector in the past year, up from 9% two years previously. Four in 10 of those that had paid for care cited long NHS waits. Healthwatch England, which also analysed 390,000 pieces of feedback from the public over the past three years to draw up its conclusions, said the government had to do more to improve waiting times. It said the NHS should also provide more information to patients while they wait, to reassure them about when they might be seen, as well as helping them manage any symptoms. Currently nearly four in 10 people wait longer than the target time of 18 weeks for hospital treatment. Figures from the Private Healthcare Information Network show nearly 950,000 operations and treatments were carried out in the private sector last year in the UK. Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 March 2026

Nearly half of integrated care boards (ICBs) opted out of the 2025 Staff Survey, and those that took part saw a huge drop in morale amid restructuring. The 2025 data covers just 23 ICBs, because the remaining 19 decided not to take part amid major restructures. The share agreeing they “would recommend my organisation as a place to work”, on average across the ICBs, plummeted from 54% to 36.9%. It was already lower than most provider trusts. Drastic cuts to ICB budgets and a narrowing of their role were announced a year ago, followed by months of uncertainty and redundancy schemes running over the winter. Many ICBs have merged their leadership with neighbours. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 13 March 2026 Related reading on the hub: Patient Safety Learning’s response to the NHS Staff Survey Results 2025

A school pupil has been confirmed as the second person to have died after an outbreak of meningitis in Kent, an MP has said. Over the weekend it was reported that a University of Kent student was one of two people to have died after contracting the disease, while 11 more people were seriously ill in hospital. On Monday, Helen Whately, the MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, said: “The meningitis outbreak in our area is a huge shock. Feeling so deeply sad for the young lives lost – a year 13 pupil at QEGS [Queen Elizabeth’s grammar school] and a uni of Kent student. My heart goes out to their families.” In a post on Facebook, she added: “It’s incredibly worrying too for the families of the young people in hospital, and others at risk. I am asking the NHS urgently for more information and guidance, especially given the rumours going round about where they may have picked it up.” The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it had provided antibiotics to students in the Canterbury area after it detected 13 cases of invasive meningococcal disease; a combination of meningitis and septicaemia. The fast-acting disease is caused by meningococcal bacteria spreading to the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, which causes meningitis, and infecting the bloodstream, which causes sepsis. The UKHSA said anyone with meningitis and septicaemia symptoms should seek medical help urgently, and that it could help save lives. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 16 March 2026

Ministers’ plans to cut the international workforce within NHS England appear overambitious, MPs have said, as a report reveals the health service saved more than £14bn by recruiting doctors, nurses and midwives from overseas. Many of the countries recruited from were struggling with staff shortages, and the UK had a moral duty to offer support, rather than simply extracting what it needed, the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on global health and security found. The group’s inquiry into the benefits and costs of international health worker recruitment heard that the scale of NHS reliance on overseas workers meant the government’s plan to reduce international recruitment to around 10% by 2035 was overambitious. “The NHS has not operated at that level for decades,” said Andrew Mitchell, the former development minister who chaired the inquiry. Thirty-six per cent of UK doctors and 24% of nurses and midwives were trained elsewhere in the world. The number of visas granted to healthcare professionals has fallen sharply in recent years. But overseas staff would be needed “for the foreseeable future”, the APPG said. Mitchell added: “We must grow our own workforce. But in a shrinking world, pretending health workforces are purely national assets, is no longer credible. If we benefit from health workers trained overseas, we also have a duty to help strengthen the systems they come from.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 16 March 2026

At least two trusts have declared incidents after a cyber attack on a key supplier, HSJ understands. An Iran-linked group appears to have claimed responsibility for the attack on medical device supplier Stryker, saying it was a response to a bombing that killed dozens of children in the town of Minab. The US firm was attacked on Wednesday evening and local NHS procurement teams spent Thursday determining what the impact would be on trusts that buy orthopaedic implants, defibrillators, ambulance trolleys and other products from the company. Sources at two acute trusts confirmed they had declared incidents due to the supply concerns, but they did not want to be identified. So far trusts have been able to obtain equipment needed urgently from elsewhere after implementing their business continuity plans. National NHS bodies have set up an incident team to manage supply disruption, but have not declared a national critical incident. The company, whose UK and Ireland branches turned over nearly £500m sales last year, said the incident had “caused disruptions to order processing, manufacturing and shipping”. Stryker said the disruption stems from a cybersecurity attack targeting its Microsoft environment but that it has no indication of ransomware or malware and believes the incident has been contained. The American Hospital Association said it has not identified any direct disruptions to U.S. hospital operations. John Riggi, the AHA’s national adviser for cybersecurity and risk, told Becker’s on the 12 March the organisation is actively exchanging information with hospitals and the federal government as the situation develops. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 13 March 2026

The family of a man who died waiting for life-saving brain surgery at one of the country's leading hospitals say they're "furious" the department which treated him is now under rapid investigation. John Brackenbury died in 2016 after doctors at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge prioritised another patient for treatment. Despite several recommendations being made after John's death, whistleblowers at the hospital have told Sky News that changes didn't happen. Mr Brackenbury's daughter, Jenny Dunk, said it's "despicable" that lessons weren't learnt from his death. "Nobody cared, nobody saw dad as a human being, you know, they're all about kind of looking after themselves and their own egos and protecting each other," Jenny said. John was admitted to Addenbrooke's in November 2016 after suffering a brain haemorrhage, which needed treatment within 48 hours. But clinicians unexpectedly chose to operate on a different patient. "We were told that there was an unfortunate sequence of events and they took the wrong person. They took an 85-year-old Mrs B instead of a 70-year-old Mr B," John's widow Jean explained. John's operation was delayed until the following day, but he died overnight. His daughter Jenny said: "He was just left in a bed, nil-by-mouth, and abandoned." His widow describes John's treatment as "completely cruel". "There didn't seem to be any communication whatsoever between the surgical staff and the ward staff," Jean said. Read full story Source: Sky News, 14 March 2026

NHS hospitals are being urged by a group of doctors, human rights groups and campaigners to reconsider using a major data platform built by US tech giant Palantir, whose owners include Peter Thiel, a close ally of US President Donald Trump. The NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) is a system designed to bring together information from across the health service so hospitals can analyse it more easily and improve how care is delivered. Supporters say the technology is already helping the NHS treat more patients and manage pressure on services, but critics argue it raises wider concerns about privacy, ethics and the role of large technology companies in handling sensitive public sector data. The FDP aims to connect operational data from across the NHS, including information about waiting lists, hospital capacity and patient pathways, allowing staff to plan care and allocate resources more effectively. Dr Rhiannon Mihranian Osborne wants the contract to be scrapped, and has told Sky News that staff understand the importance of privacy and ethics in patient care. She said they are "horrified" by Palantir's involvement in the scheme as it "could seriously damage trust in our health system". Read full story Source: Sky News, 15 March 2026

A coroner said there was a "risk future deaths could occur" unless action was taken after a man with sepsis died after a GP's calls to a hospital went unanswered. Terrence Frost died of natural causes on 17 July 2024 at Ipswich Hospital, in Suffolk, after he collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest. The 84-year-old had gone in with a serious infection or inflammation following advice from his GP, who tried to contact the hospital ahead of his arrival to no avail. Nigel Parsley, senior coroner for Suffolk, said the doctor's "inability to promptly communicate" with its medical assessment unit or A&E department was a concern. In a Prevention of Future Deaths report, he said: "[That] could lead to future deaths where suspected sepsis or other life-threatening conditions have been differentially diagnosed, especially if those conditions have progressed further than Terrence's had at the time of his arrival. "I am further concerned that evidence was heard from a clinician based at the Ipswich Hospital itself, that they too found contacting the medical assessment unit extremely difficult, with internal hospital telephone calls frequently going unanswered." Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 March 2026

A team of professionals charged with engaging with the COVID-19 Inquiry on behalf of tens of thousands of healthcare workers is asking whether taxpayers’ money has been misdirected in order to cover up for mistakes and bad decisions which were made in the early days of the pandemic and led to hundreds of avoidable deaths and untold suffering through Long Covid. Mistakes which have not been corrected to this day. The COVID-19 Airborne Transmission Alliance is a group set up to create a collective voice for scientists, professionals and academics highlighting that the NHS refused (and continues to refuse) to accept that COVID-19 is transmitted through an airborne route. The refusal of Government to acknowledge this fact has been the basis of the denial of protection for healthcare workers, including adequate ventilation of healthcare premises and sustainable and effective respiratory protective equipment (PPE). Unlike the Inquiry which has cost millions of pounds on legal advice and collating evidence, CATA, which has no funding or resources, has managed through the use of freedom of information requests to identify that the Government and other bodies failed to disclose critical evidence which gave rise to incomplete and misleading accounts of critical decisions to the Inquiry. “Either public bodies need to learn basic skills on how to search emails and electronic filing systems, or there has been a systematic attempt to rewrite life and death decisions by editing electronic exchanges and forgetting to share critical meeting notes with the Inquiry,” says Professor Kevin Bampton, Chair of the Council for Work and Health. “We can’t believe it is coincidental that the accounts given to the Inquiry and the evidence supporting them are missing critical messages and exchanges.” CATA has undertaken a painstaking analysis of two decisive matters relating to the way in which COVID-19 is spread. The first was the decision to declassify COVID-19 as a High Consequence Infectious Disease in March 2020, associated with an inappropriate downgrading of respiratory protection for most healthcare workers at the COVID front line. The second relates to the conduct of the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Cell, which dictated the implementation of safety for healthcare workers. David Osborn, a health and safety professional who has worked for five years on a voluntary basis for CATA, explains what the Freedom of Information Requests reveal. “From the Module 3 hearings, we could see that there were inexplicable gaps in the evidence. In some cases, the Inquiry lawyers seemed to see them too. These were about crucial decisions. For example, the IPC Cell wasn’t set up to make scientific decisions, but to take advice from specialist bodies. However, experts from Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive gave clear advice which contradicted the views of the IPC Cell. We have evidence from correspondence that advice was ignored and removed from the record and not disclosed to the inquiry. “ “These are not academic issues, or something from history. We now understand that COVID-19 is a much more insidious disease than ‘flu and should not have been treated then or since in the same way. It causes long-term neurological damage, disability and is not stopped by vaccines. It is also costing the NHS millions,” says Dr Barry Jones, Chair of CATA. The Inquiry has cost £200m, half of which has been on public body evidence responses. CATA has a mixed view on whether it was worth it. “The Inquiry has made excellent provision for allowing people to tell their stories of those dark days. Many have been harrowing and moving, shining a light on the personal suffering and sacrifice of many. However, state players who have given evidence have not convinced us that they have given the whole 'story' or indeed the whole truth. While the Inquiry has been important to raise issues in the public consciousness, it seems to have done little to prick the public conscience. "We despair when we read that the current NHS pandemic strategy says, '“it will not be possible to halt the spread of a new pandemic virus, and it would be a waste of public health resources and capacity to attempt to do so.' Clearly, nothing has been learned by the NHS, but hopelessness.” CATA will be publishing its assessment of the Inquiry’s Module 3 report once the Inquiry has published on 19 March. Full press release attached. 2026-03-13 CATA Press Release (1).pdf Further reading on the hub: Questions around Government governance - a series of blogs from David Osborn