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Patient Safety Learning

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  1. Patient Safety Learning
    Hundreds of lung cancer patients are coming to harm while waiting longer than the 62-day benchmark for starting treatment, according to unpublished data collated by HSJ which ministers have called “shocking”.
    The figures, obtained from Freedom of Information requests, also suggest the true figure could be even higher, because around 30% of the 104 relevant trusts did not provide data. A leading expert also warned the findings were likely “a conservative estimate” of the level of harm.
    The figures are understood to represent the first time the number of harm reviews relating to lung cancer patient long waits across all English trusts has been quantified.
    The findings come as scrutiny around the NHS’s record on cancer is set to intensify in the coming months, with the government set to publish a new National Cancer Plan.
    Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the UK, which has some of the worst survival rates in Europe for the condition, with only about 10 per cent of patients living longer than 10 years. There are around 49,300 cases of lung cancer diagnosed in the UK each year, accounting for 13 per cent of all new cancers.
    The 71 responding trusts contacted by HSJ revealed they had carried out 4,574 harm reviews following lung cancer patients breaching the constitutional 62-day target for starting treatment in the two years between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2024.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 4 November 2025
  2. Patient Safety Learning
    Doctors, physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs) must speak up if they spot patient safety concerns, and healthcare leaders must act when issues are raised with them, the General Medical Council (GMC) says as it launches a review of key guidance.
    The GMC is seeking views on two pieces of its guidance, Raising and acting on concerns about patient safety and Leadership and management. Both pieces of guidance play crucial roles in setting positive workplace culture standards that prioritise patient safety. They make clear the regulator’s expectations on when and how concerns should be raised, as well as how those in management positions should respond.
    The regulator is ensuring the guidance reflects developments across the UK’s healthcare systems, and wider social changes, while remaining clear, relevant and helpful. It will be the first significant updates since they were published in 2012.
    Earlier this year results from the GMC’s annual national training survey revealed that more than one in five trainee doctors were hesitant about escalating concerns about patient care, and GMC Chief Executive Charlie Massey warned, in a speech in September, that maternity services were at risk from harmful cultures that put ‘cover-up over candour’ and ‘obfuscation over honesty’.
    Professor Pushpinder Mangat, Medical Director and Director of Education and Standards at the GMC, said:
    "Our guidance is there to provide support and confidence, as well as practical help, for people to speak up when necessary. But speaking up is no good in isolation. Leaders and managers have a duty to act when concerns are raised with them.
    ‘Whenever we update guidance, it is important we hear views from a range of respondents. Their voices and real-life experiences will be instrumental in ensuring our guidance is clear, relevant, and helpful, and reflects the needs of everyone it affects."
    Read full story
    Source: GMC, 3 November 2025
  3. Patient Safety Learning
    A drug endorsed by the Donald Trump administration which allegedly treats against a rare disorder that causes autism-like symptoms has triggered a surge in demand from parents, despite a lack of data supporting its use.
    More parents in the U.S. are asking for leucovorin, believing it could unlock speech and social connection in their autistic children.
    Paediatricians and specialists caution the science on leucovorin in autistic people as the data is limited and does not support widespread use.
    In the month since Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary promoted the decades-old drug from GSK, saying it could help hundreds of thousands of autistic children, doctors and researchers say they have been inundated by parents seeking information.
    “My Facebook feed is flooded with parents swearing that leucovorin works,” said Dr. David Mandell, a professor of psychiatry and autism researcher at the University of Pennsylvania.
    Mandell and other scientists and doctors say Trump’s endorsement, without requiring large, randomized clinical trials, leaves practitioners facing emotional pleas from families while lacking data, guidance or confidence to prescribe the drug responsibly.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 1 November 2025
  4. Patient Safety Learning
    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is urging the public to help keep medicines, medical devices, vaccines and blood products safe by reporting any side effects, device incidents and suspected fake medical products, as part of #MedSafetyWeek (3–9 November).  
    The global campaign is marking its tenth year, bringing together more than 130 regulators and health organisations across 117 countries with one shared message: everyone has a role to play in medicine safety. 
    Reporting matters more than ever 
    With more people using medicines and medical devices than ever before – from weight loss treatments to wearable monitors – safety reporting is a key part of protecting public health.  
    An estimated 2.5 million people in the UK are now using weight loss medicines, many bought online and delivered by post. Thousands use glucose sensors or blood-pressure monitors in the comfort of their own homes. As medicines and medical devices play a bigger role in daily life, including to prevent illness rather than treat it, public reporting of safety concerns is more important than ever. 
    Professor Anthony Harnden, MHRA Chair, said:  
    “Healthcare has changed significantly over the past decade, alongside advances in science and technology. Medicines and medical devices are part of everyday life for millions of people, and many are accessed in new ways, including online.  
    “If you experience a side effect, notice a device isn’t working properly, or suspect a fake medical product, please tell us via the MHRA’s Yellow Card scheme. Your report could protect others – and it only takes minutes.” 
    Read full story
    Source: MHRA, 3 November 2025
  5. Patient Safety Learning
    A new study is set to investigate how AI could significantly improve doctors’ decisions regarding prostate cancer treatment.
    While diagnostic methods for the disease have become safer and more precise, medical professionals still face considerable challenges in accurately assessing its aggressiveness in individual patients.
    This difficulty can lead to some men undergoing invasive procedures such as surgery or radiotherapy, when a less aggressive monitoring approach might have been more appropriate.
    The crucial Vanguard Path study, spearheaded by researchers at the University of Oxford, is being funded with a £1.9m grant from the charity Prostate Cancer UK to address this vital issue.
    Experts will first test the technology – called ArteraAI Prostate Biopsy Assay – on prostate biopsy samples from men who have already been diagnosed and treated for the disease and have at least five years of follow-up data.
    The study will compare how well the predictions made by the AI tool match what happened to patients in the real world.
    It will then be tested in real clinics on biopsies from men as they are diagnosed, with a focus on cases in which doctors find it hard to decide the best course of treatment.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 3 November 2025
  6. Patient Safety Learning
    Thousands of people from some of Scotland's most deprived areas are to be offered free weight-loss jabs as part of government-funded research.
    Up to 5,000 people in Scotland will take the injections as part of the multi-million pound study being led by Glasgow University.
    The findings will provide insight into the lives of people living with obesity and health inequalities across the UK.
    If successful, it could lead to a wider rollout of the injections throughout the country.
    The UK government has provided an initial £650,000 for the Scotland CardioMetabolic Impact Study (SCoMIS).
    As a leading cause of long-term illness such as heart disease and cancer, tackling obesity will help millions live longer healthier lives and reduce the pressure on health services, potentially saving the NHS billions annually.
    UK Health Innovation Minister Dr Zubir Ahmed said: "As a practicing NHS surgeon and Glasgow MP, I know firsthand the impact of the obesity crisis that plagues Scotland – and the litany of health problems it leads to.
    "More than 1 in 3 adults in Scotland's most deprived areas are living with obesity. The UK government is committed to tackling inequality wherever it finds it in our country.
    "It's why this landmark UK government investment is targeting help where it's needed most in Scotland and meeting people where they are and backing helping the NHS services they trust to treat them."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 1 November 2025
  7. Patient Safety Learning
    Too often, young people with serious illnesses are dismissed or told they’re “too young” to be sick – and Independent readers have been sharing their own experiences of being ignored by the NHS.
    Readers shared experiences of being dismissed by healthcare professionals, and speculated whether that was down to age, gender, or assumptions about their symptoms.
    One reader’s story mirrored the challenges faced by patients like 19-year-old Milli Tanner, who went to 13 GP appointments and A&E visits over two years before being diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer. She was initially told her symptoms were caused by piles, IBS, or her age, and faced long waits for urgent testing before finally receiving a diagnosis.
    Readers highlighted the emotional and physical toll of such dismissal, with one sharing being misdiagnosed for three years despite a private MRI showing multiple active MS lesions.
    Another described how a family’s Lynch Syndrome history was overlooked, contributing to preventable deaths from bowel and uterine cancer.
    Overall, Independent readers stressed that listening, taking symptoms seriously, and empowering patients are crucial to prevent young people from being failed by the system.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 2 November 2025
  8. Patient Safety Learning
    High street clinics offering pregnancy scans could be putting unborn babies and their mothers in danger through a lack of properly trained staff, UK experts have warned.
    According to the Society for Radiographers (SoR), high street clinics have seen a huge growth in numbers. However, hospital specialists say they have seen cases of missed health problems, misdiagnosed conditions, and situations in which women were erroneously told their babies were malformed or had died.
    “I had a lady referred for a potential miscarriage from a clinic and when I scanned her they’d measured a bleed in the womb and they completely missed a very early pregnancy sac with a baby inside it,” said Katie Thompson, a hospital sonographer and president of the SoR.
    “Potentially, if they were at a private clinic that could offer a miscarriage service, then they could have been given some medication to bring on a miscarriage on a pregnancy that was actually not miscarrying,” she said.
    The SoR says it has also seen cases in which private clinics have wrongly told women they have an ectopic pregnancy – a potentially life-threatening condition – or conversely missed an ectopic pregnancy, while they have also misdiagnosed problems with the cervix and missed abnormalities in babies that should have been picked up.
    Elaine Brooks, a former hospital sonographer and Midlands regional officer for the SoR, said some people attended their 20-week hospital scan after having had a private “sexing” scan a week or two before.
    “And then they come for their NHS scan and there’s quite a large abnormality that should have been picked up – something like spina bifida, polycystic kidneys or fluid-filled ventricles in the head – things that you wouldn’t expect to have developed in a week,” she said.
    The revelations come amid calls from the SoR for sonographers to have a “protected” job title – meaning it can be used only by qualified practitioners registered with a regulatory body. This is already the case for titles such as radiographer, dietician and speech and language therapist.
    “At the moment, absolutely anybody can go and buy an ultrasound machine and set up a practice without any qualifications whatsoever. And that has happened,” said Thompson. “There has been somebody that bought a machine and started scanning in her front room because after having a baby, she thought it’d be a nice thing to do.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 3 November 2025
  9. Patient Safety Learning
    NHS Providers and IBM have set up an AI productivity centre to help trusts save money when adopting new technology.
    The membership group for NHS trusts, which formally agreed to merge with NHS Confederation last week, is working with the global IT firm to accelerate uptake of AI across providers and build understanding among senior leaders.
    The masterclasses for members will also cover shared learning on adoption, data privacy and security, and the responsible use of AI.
    NHS Providers chief executive Daniel Elkeles said: “Trusts need help to cut through all the noise surrounding AI. From questions about what makes the biggest impact on improving productivity and risk management, to safe and effective adoption that tangibly improves quality of care and staff experience, that’s where we can step in and support our members.
    “We need to get much better in the NHS at targeting its use at processes and tasks that enable us to unlock productivity that’s either cash releasing or enables more patients to be treated with the same resource.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 3 November 2025
  10. Patient Safety Learning
    The American Hospital Association (AHA) is urging the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to streamline and align federal regulations for artificial intelligence in healthcare, warning that overlapping policies threaten innovation and increase costs.
    In a letter to OSTP Director Michael Kratsios, submitted in response to a federal request for information on regulatory reform for AI, AHA Senior Vice President of Public Policy Analysis and Development Ashley Thompson said the association’s nearly 5,000 member hospitals and health systems face growing administrative expenses from redundant rules. More than one-quarter of all U.S. healthcare spending — more than $1 trillion annually — goes toward administrative tasks, the group said, with nearly 40% of hospitals operating at negative margins.
    The AHA said tools like ambient documentation assistants, chatbots for scheduling and triage, and imaging algorithms are already reducing burdens for clinicians, but regulatory fragmentation continues to slow progress. The association outlined four recommendations to balance innovation with patient safety:
    Synchronise and leverage existing policy frameworks: AI oversight should align with established regulations — such as HIPAA, FDA software requirements, and HHS cybersecurity goals — rather than creating new, duplicative frameworks. Remove regulatory barriers: The AHA urged Congress to strengthen HIPAA’s federal preemption to eliminate conflicting state privacy laws and to update or repeal portions of 42 CFR Part 2 that limit data sharing for patients with substance use disorders. Ensure safe and effective AI use: The group called for clinicians to remain in the decision loop for algorithms that could affect coverage or care decisions and for third-party AI vendors handling patient data to be held to the same privacy and security standards as covered entities. Address organisational and infrastructural challenges: The letter cited inadequate reimbursement, limited broadband access, and digital literacy gaps as barriers to AI adoption, particularly in rural and underserved areas. Read full story
    Source: Becker's Health IT, 27 October 2025
  11. Patient Safety Learning
    Staffing shortages and a "culture of mistrust" led to delays and patients being harmed at one of the busiest maternity units in the UK, a review has found.
    An inspection of maternity care at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh said some women waiting for labour to be induced had experienced delays of more than 24 hours.
    It also said staff were reluctant to submit safety reports and had raised concerns about being overwhelmed and unsupported.
    The damning findings echo those of NHS Lothian's own review into the troubled maternity unit last year - but the health board insisted it was making progress in improving and investing in its women's services.
    The review of Edinburgh's maternity unit follows a BBC Disclosure investigation which heard calls for urgent action to improve maternity safety across Scotland.
    The investigation heard from a number of families who had experienced poor and sometimes deadly care.
    It concluded that mothers and newborn babies had come to harm because of staffing shortages and a "toxic" workplace culture.
    Health Secretary Neil Gray said the Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) report was "deeply, deeply concerning".
    Gray, who said he had experienced loss in his own family, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland he had directed NHS Lothian to deliver its recommendations "immediately".
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 29 October 2025
  12. Patient Safety Learning
    The Stroke Association says stroke care is in a “dire state” in England with too few patients receiving timely treatment and only a third getting the recommended after care.
    The charity says, as a result, thousands of stroke survivors are not getting the help they need to physically and mentally recover.
    It warned that patients are also facing a “postcode lottery” when it comes to getting a clot-busting treatment, which can significantly reduce the likelihood of long-term disability.
    Juliet Bouverie, chief executive of the Stroke Association, said: “Stroke changes a person’s life in an instant with far-reaching repercussions for many. It requires treatments including physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, and mental health support.
    “The fact that 65% of stroke survivors don’t get this is truly shocking and demonstrates the dire state stroke treatment and ongoing care is in.
    “Stroke must be prioritised by governments and the NHS from prevention to diagnosis, treatment and long-term recovery, only then will stroke patients get the treatment they need, whenever they need it, so the increasing number of UK stroke survivors can live mentally and physically well.”
    While stroke patients should be given a review six months after their stroke to discuss their physical and mental health and their ongoing needs, data from the 24/25 Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme revealed that only 35% of patients had this review – the lowest level since 2019/20.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 29 October 2025
  13. Patient Safety Learning
    Nurses at a hospital's emergency department have won a national award for their work to reduce the risk of sudden infant death.
    The team at Leighton Hospital won the Critical and Emergency Care Nursing award at the 2025 Nursing Times Awards following the success of a project that delivers safer sleep education to families while their children are in A&E.
    Bosses at the hospital in Crewe, Cheshire, said staff were praised for their compassionate, non-judgemental and collaborative approach.
    The initiative was launched in 2024 and has delivered advice to more than 800 parents and carers.
    "With strong potential for replication in other organisations across the UK, this project empowers families and healthcare teams alike, reducing harm and the risk of sudden infant death," the award citation said.
    The project was led by emergency department paediatric nurses Ashleigh Hall and Kirstie Orr.
    "Safer sleep advice is hugely important and being able to offer that guidance face-to-face, while families are already with us in the emergency department means we can make a real difference," Ms Hall said.
    Ms Orr added: "As a team, we want to deliver those messages in the most beneficial ways possible because ultimately this can help to prevent avoidable tragedies."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 29 October 2025
  14. Patient Safety Learning
    OpenAI has released new estimates of the number of ChatGPT users who exhibit possible signs of mental health emergencies, including mania, psychosis or suicidal thoughts.
    The company said that around 0.07% of ChatGPT users active in a given week exhibited such signs, adding that its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot recognizes and responds to these sensitive conversations.
    While OpenAI maintains these cases are "extremely rare," critics said even a small percentage may amount to hundreds of thousands of people, as ChatGPT recently reached 800 million weekly active users, per boss Sam Altman.
    As scrutiny mounts, the company said it built a network of experts around the world to advise it. Those experts include more than 170 psychiatrists, psychologists, and primary care physicians who have practiced in 60 countries, the company said.
    They have devised a series of responses in ChatGPT to encourage users to seek help in the real world, according to OpenAI.
    But the glimpse at the company's data raised eyebrows among some mental health professionals.
    "Even though 0.07% sounds like a small percentage, at a population level with hundreds of millions of users, that actually can be quite a few people," said Dr. Jason Nagata, a professor who studies technology use among young adults at the University of California, San Francisco.
    "AI can broaden access to mental health support, and in some ways support mental health, but we have to be aware of the limitations," Dr. Nagata added.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 27 October 2025
  15. Patient Safety Learning
    "A series of missed opportunities" have been revealed by an investigation into hundreds of children's surgeries carried out by a specialist working at a world-renowned NHS hospital.
    Kuldeep Stohr was suspended by Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge earlier this year, amid concerns over surgeries that were "below the expected standard".
    A "pivotal missed opportunity" came when the hospital trust failed to act upon recommendations made by an external reviewer into her work in 2016, the report said.
    If appropriate actions had been taken, they "would have likely reduced harm to paediatric orthopaedic patients", the independent investigators concluded.
    Radd Seiger, a retired lawyer who represents 25 of the affected families said: "This was not a rogue surgeon — this was a rogue system."
    The investigation was commissioned by CUH and carried out by Verita, which describes itself as an "objective investigations company providing expert advice to regulated organisations in the UK".
    Ms Stohr was suspended by the hospital and has not been at work since March 2024, initially for personal reasons.
    In her absence, her patients were seen by other doctors who discovered, a letter to the parents from the hospital said, a "higher than expected level of complications".
    That led to an initial review, which found operations involving nine children fell "below expected standards".
    One of those was Darcey, whose parents previously told the BBC they feared problems with her hip operation, which left her leg rotated inwards "to almost 90 degrees" and in need of further surgery, were "brushed under the rug".
    It emerged that concerns about Ms Stohr dated back as early as 2015 and wider reviews were started into about 800 patient procedures.
    The latest report concluded there was "a series of missed opportunities, both major and minor, in how CUH and its leadership addressed concerns" about Ms Stohr's medical practice and "appropriate actions could have been taken".
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 29 October 2025
  16. Patient Safety Learning
    The NHS has made the morning-after pill available for free across pharmacies in England in an effort to reduce a “postcode lottery” of access to emergency contraception.
    Almost 10,000 pharmacies are now able to offer the pill without charge, saving those in need of free emergency contraception from having to visit their GP or to get an appointment at a sexual health clinic.
    Some pharmacies were previously charging as much as £30 for emergency oral contraception.
    The NHS’s national clinical director for women’s health, Dr Sue Mann, said the expansion was “one of the biggest changes to sexual health services since the 1960s” and “a gamechanger in making reproductive healthcare more easily accessible for women”.
    “Instead of trying to search for women’s services or explain their needs, from today women can just pop into their local pharmacy and get the oral emergency contraceptive pill free of charge without needing to make an appointment,” she said.
    “With four in five people living within a 20-minute walk from a pharmacy, this service is another example of how the NHS is already delivering on our 10-year health plan commitment to shift care into the heart of communities”.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 29 October 2025
  17. Patient Safety Learning
    Just four years after the peak of the pandemic, four in five NHS acute trusts are concerned their ventilation systems may be inadequate, according to an investigation by HSJ. 
    Maintaining a flow of fresh air into a room is considered an important measure to reduce the spread of airborne infections, such as coronavirus and flu. However, an analysis of trust risk registers reveals that many are operating with ageing ventilation systems which pose a risk to patient safety. 
    HSJ asked all 118 acute trusts whether a lack of adequate ventilation was on their risk register. Just under 80% of the 91 who replied said yes. 
    This does not mean the risk has necessarily materialised, but is significant enough – either in likelihood, potential impact, or both – to require regular review by managers.
    HSJ also asked for trusts to estimate the cost of reaching full compliance with the latest ventilation standards. Twenty-six trusts responded with data which suggested the average cost per trust was around £13m.
    One trust estates director contacted by HSJ said: “Based on this research, it is clear the NHS is not ready for another respiratory outbreak.” They added that ventilation was “one of the biggest risks” in managing healthcare estates and a “huge chunk” of their trust’s repair backlog. “One of the reasons these risks exist is because it is so expensive to replace.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 29 October 2025
  18. Patient Safety Learning
    Illegal teeth-whitening treatments that can burn gums and destroy teeth are being handed over in car parks and on doorsteps, a BBC investigation has found.
    Some gels, containing more than 500 times the legal limit of bleaching agent for over-the-counter products, are sold blatantly on social media.
    As part of the investigation, a BBC North West reporter was able to obtain a fraudulent teeth-whitening qualification, as well as being given "extreme" bleach and advised to "practise on friends and family".
    The British Dental Association (BDA) said it was "appalled" by the BBC's findings.
    In one case, a seller boasted that there are "insane" profits to be made from providing the treatments.
    In the UK, treatments using teeth-whitening products containing more than 0.1% hydrogen peroxide can only be carried out by dentists and other professionals registered with the General Dental Council (GDC).
    And products used in treatments offered by dentists cannot contain more than 6% hydrogen peroxide.
    However, products sold to undercover BBC reporters were sent to a laboratory for tests where results showed they contained hydrogen peroxide levels of up to 53%.
    Kellie Howson, 54, who lost four teeth after she paid £65 for a whitening treatment at a beauty salon in Lancaster, urged the public to be aware of the dangers.
    She said: "I just remember not long into the treatment my gums starting to really hurt, and afterwards it just got worse and worse.
    "I was in agony."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 29 October 2025
  19. Patient Safety Learning
    Hospices in England are cutting hundreds of beds and staff because of a funding crisis, despite a sharp rise in demand for palliative care, a damning report warns.
    People needing end of life care faced a postcode lottery because access to services was so patchy, the National Audit Office (NAO) reported.
    A lack of government oversight meant ministers were unaware of how reliant they were on independent hospices, its 52-page report found.
    The NAO said nearly two-thirds of independent hospices in England reported a deficit in 2023-24. Overall expenditure was £78m more than income generated.
    As a result, services have been slashed and hospices forced to cut the number of beds available for dying people and those with life-limiting conditions. At the end of 2024, about 300 inpatient beds were “deregistered or withdrawn from operation”, the report found, though some could have been because of a preference for being cared for at home.
    Hospices have been forced to cut back on staff, the NAO added, despite the fact that demand for palliative care was increasing.
    The NAO highlighted “variation” in where hospices were situated across England, owing to the “unplanned way” they have developed over the past few decades.
    Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said: “Independent hospices play a key role in providing palliative and end of life care and provide choice for people at the end of their lives.
    “With many more people expected to want hospice care in the future, it is crucial that the sector is financially resilient. DHSC and NHSE should assess how they would meet increased demand for palliative and end of life care should services delivered by independent adult hospices be insufficient.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 20 October 2025
  20. Patient Safety Learning
    As the federal government shutdown enters its fourth week, pressure is mounting on the nation’s healthcare infrastructure. Paychecks have been halted for more than 1 million federal employees, critical agencies such as CMS are scrambling to maintain operations, and national disease surveillance efforts are beginning to fracture — just as the U.S. heads into the respiratory virus season.
    Funding delays are now directly affecting large swaths of the healthcare workforce and related support systems. More than 1 million civilian federal employees and military personnel — including those at HHS and the Department of Veterans Affairs — have begun missing their paychecks.
    The White House has suggested it may not provide back pay for furloughed federal workers, but the Internal Revenue Service has said it will be guaranteed, according to Axios. 
    To fund the move, the agency is drawing on user fees collected from researchers accessing CMS data, with plans to reimburse the account once appropriations resume. The decision comes amid mounting pressure to stabilise key healthcare functions as disruptions and delays in telehealth reimbursement and hospital-at-home programs continue to ripple across the system.
    Read full story
    Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 27 October 2025
  21. Patient Safety Learning
    The number of NHS appointments, tests and operations delivered by private hospitals and clinics has increased by almost 500,000 this year, now totalling 6.15 million.
    Health secretary Wes Streeting said the policy tackles a “two-tier” system by cutting waiting times and ensuring prompt treatment for NHS patients in England. Private providers report delivering around 10 per cent of elective NHS activity.
    Between August 2024 and September 2025 they conducted an average of 19,000 surgical procedures and 100,000 outpatient appointments every week, treating more than 1.1 million people.
    Mr Streeting said: “I’ll do everything I can to get NHS patients treated faster, free at the point of use.
    “This is a principled, progressive position, not just a pragmatic one.
    “We’re not prepared to continue two-tier healthcare, when those who can afford it get treated on time, and those who can’t are left behind. Wealth shouldn’t determine health.”
    Using spare capacity in the private sector is key to the government’s target of ensuring that 92 per cent of patients in England should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment.
    Other measures to cut waiting lists include the use of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and carrying out more surgical procedures on evenings and weekends.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 25 October 2025
  22. Patient Safety Learning
    More training is needed for hospital staff after a patient died from "a catastrophic and unsurvivable brain injury" following surgery, a coroner said.
    It comes after patient John Rust, who had undergone a heart operation at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, died after a catheter leaked, Birmingham and Solihull's coroner Adam Hodson heard.
    In the wake of the case, Mr Hodson has written in a report that all staff using cerebrospinal fluid drains, which the catheter was used for, should be "adequately trained" in their use.
    The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which has been asked to respond to the coroner by 15 December, said it had introduced extra safety measures.
    The inquest heard Mr Rust had been admitted to the hospital on 25 March this year, for an elective thoracic aortic replacement.
    It led to a cerebrospinal fluid catheter being inserted to minimise post-operative risks of paraplegia, Mr Hodson was told.
    On 27 March, Mr Rust underwent surgery and was taken to an intensive care ward, where concerns were raised the drain was leaking, but the coroner said they were not acted upon.
    The inquest concluded this caused him to suffer the major brain injury, and he died on 29 March.
    In his Prevention of Future Deaths report, which was sent to the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, the coroner said: "In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken."
    He recommended that all clinical staff who use the cerebrospinal fluid catheter "must have completed adequate training to ensure that they are familiar with the functionality of the device prior to use".
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 24 October 2025
  23. Patient Safety Learning
    The NHS App should be the main channel for all types of patient communication by the start of 2029, new national guidance has stated. 
    The medium-term planning framework published by NHS England today places the app at centre of its plans for patient triage, appointment booking and all other forms of communication.
    The document said the rules “set the scene” for “a crucial new principle that services should be delivered digitally as the default wherever possible”.
    The guidance insists the service must “move to a unified access model, using AI-assisted triage, that can effectively guide patients to self-care or to the appropriate care setting, through a single user interface delivered via the NHS App but with an integrated telephony and in-person offering”.
    Providers are also told to “fully adopt all existing NHS App capabilities as a priority” over the next three years. This includes ensuring patients can manage their medicines, view waiting times and make appointments via the NHS App.
    Patient-initiated follow-ups (PIFU) pathways in which patients trigger their own appointments should also be integrated with the app no later than 2028-29.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 24 October 2025
  24. Patient Safety Learning
    As hospital beds fill up, seriously sick patients are sent to makeshift wards – cupboards, offices and corridors – to be treated by a doctor. Others are left languishing in waiting rooms, sometimes for days on end. In one particularly hard-hit hospital, a Costa Coffee cafe is turned into an emergency ward as medics struggle to cope with rising demand.
    It’s only October, yet the picture across NHS wards up and down the country is one of concern, with medics telling The Independent they fear a winter crisis on a scale only seen at the height of the pandemic. One A&E consultant warns the health service is facing something akin to “armageddon”.
    Every year, the NHS is under huge pressure at winter – a result of longstanding problems, including under-funding and an ageing population. But hospitals are already battling an “astonishing” number of flu and Covid patients this year, in part due to a “hugely concerning” early flu season, alongside a surge in A&E demand and staffing cuts.
    On Tuesday, health secretary Wes Streeting admitted the NHS faces a “challenging” winter but insisted it was “already running hot” ahead of the season. But top medics have told The Independent that the government has failed to adequately plan for a potentially devastating few months.
    Dr Vicky Price, president of the Society of Acute Medicine, told The Independent: “This winter, I’m more scared than I’ve ever been. We are in a state of dread going into these winter months.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 25 October 2025
  25. Patient Safety Learning
    A “failure of governance” has been identified by two coroners investigating deaths at the same major London teaching trust.   
    Both coroners discovered that Barts Health Trust did not carry out patient safety investigations into cases that raised serious concerns.
    HSJ has uncovered at least five Prevention of Future Deaths reports issued in the past year which highlight patient safety reporting issues at Barts. Some of the patients involved suffered harm caused by medical treatment which contributed to their deaths.
    The service is in the process of rolling out NHS England’s new “patient safety incident response framework” (PSIRF). This is leading to fewer incidents needing a full investigation and, as a result, some trusts are having to carry out additional work to meet the needs of coroners.
    The most recent coroner’s report said “senior governance staff at the trust still do not understand NHS England guidance on what should trigger a patient safety investigation”. It warned “future deaths may follow”.
    That report covered the death of 82-year-old Mohammad Asghar in September 2024. The inquest heard Mr Asghar died from cardiac arrest and excessive bleeding from the bladder after a catheter was wrongly inserted.
    The coroner’s report said no patient safety investigation was carried out despite concerns being raised by a medical examiner and “express direction from this court for the case to be reviewed”.
    It added: “A failure in governance at the trust meant that this case was not identified as an incident worthy of investigation through the Patient Safety Framework. This omission gives rise to a concern that future deaths may follow due to an inability on the part of the trust to identify, reflect upon, and remediate sub-optimal practice.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 27 October 2025

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