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Mark Hughes

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  1. Mark Hughes
    As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes deeply embedded in triage and clinical workflows, experts are raising concerns about a growing “blind trust” where clinicians and patients alike defer to algorithmic confidence over independent medical judgment.
    Speaking at the HLTH Europe 2026 conference, panellists stressed that a person’s information ecosystem —who they follow on social media, the podcasts they listen to, and how they interact with AI — is becoming a dominant determinant of health outcomes. 
    Speaking at the event, Patient Safety Learning’s Chief Digital Officer Clive Flashman defined blind trust in this new era as the moment a “clinician stops being able to think independently, independently judging what they see, feel, or hear, because the algorithm has told them something that they should believe or do.”
    Read full article.
    Source: Medscape, 21 June 2026
  2. Mark Hughes
    Serious concerns have been raised that the delayed NHS “quality strategy” does not “prioritise patient safety”, HSJ has discovered.
    The government’s 2025 10-Year Health Plan  stated “we will revitalise the National Quality Board (NQB) and task it with developing a new quality strategy”. The plan said the strategy would be published by March 2026, but this goal was missed, as was a second scheduled publication date soon after the May local elections. 
    Minutes from the meeting obtained by HSJ reveal that NQB members “raised concerns” about the strategy’s lack of focus on patient safety and mental health. They also expressed a desire for the strategy to set “clearer expectations for providers”.
    Read full article (paywalled).
    Source: Health Service Journal, 23 June 2026
    Related reading
    In this blog, Patient Safety Learning and the Advancing Quality Alliance (Aqua) set out the need for safety to serve as a golden thread woven throughout the Strategy.
  3. Mark Hughes
    The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo has now surpassed 1,000 confirmed cases, with officials reporting 254 deaths as of Sunday evening.
    Congo’s Ministry of Health confirmed 1,003 cases and 100 recoveries since the epidemic was declared on 15 May in Ituri province.
    Caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, for which no vaccines or treatments exist, this outbreak was the worst ever in its initial month. Officials admit more cases are likely unknown, and the peak is still ahead.
    Contact tracing remains a key issue, with local authorities achieving only 55 per cent coverage.
    The outbreak’s patient zero is yet to be identified, and over 35,000 contacts still require tracing, authorities confirmed.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Independent, 22 June 2026
  4. Mark Hughes
    The health minister has once again apologised for what he described as the "evil" perpetrated at Muckamore Abbey Hospital in County Antrim.
    Speaking in the assembly, Mike Nesbitt said what happened was a " true scandal".
    On Thursday, a long-awaited report into abuse at the hospital said a number of patients suffered physical abuse, including black eyes, broken bones, bruising and excessive restraint.
    Nesbitt said the weight of evidence had provided a "watershed" moment for the treatment and care of the most vulnerable in society.
    The Police Service of Northern Ireland has said its Muckamore investigation is the biggest criminal adult safeguarding case of its kind in the UK.
    In the assembly on Monday, Nesbitt said the report "helps us understand the failings of the past, and provides a road map for the work needed to address those issues".
    But, he said, it was "vital that we now move forward as a health and social care system, and importantly as a society, into a safer, more inclusive and accepting future for those most vulnerable in our society".
    Read full article.
    Source: BBC News, 22 July 2026
  5. Mark Hughes
    NHS England is being warned that the planned rollout of a new “portal” for all NHS primary dental work could lead to widespread disruption.
    The NHS Dental Services Portal is proposed as a new digital system for managing all NHS dental contract administration, including how dental activity is recorded, validated and paid. It is being rolled out to modernise an old, fragmented process, with the aim of improving efficiency, transparency, and consistency.
    In an open letter sent to NHS Business Services Authority and NHSE, and shared with HSJ, the Dental Software Suppliers Association raised concerns about the speed of implementation being imposed.
    Read full article (paywalled).
    Source: Health Service Journal, 22 June 2026
  6. Mark Hughes
    NHS England has taken enforcement action against a major health trust over multiple safety concerns, warning that it cannot be sure more patients won’t be harmed.
    The sanction means Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, in Greater Manchester, could be fined or lose its license to provide care if it does not improve.
    It comes after a string of serious concerns were raised about patient safety, including in its gynaecological services, after an audit of hundreds of cases at Salford Royal Hospital in 2024 found dozens of women, including cancer patients, were “harmed” after their diagnosis and treatment were delayed due to admin failures.
    Now, a damning document, seen by The Independent, reveals NHS England found the trust has been “unable to provide assurance” that it has a clear and consistent structure “that will ensure no further patients may suffer harm”.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Independent, 19 June 2026
  7. Mark Hughes
    The report of the inquiry into the biggest maternity scandal in NHS history will outline “horrendous” failings in the care provided to women in Nottingham.
    A catalogue of appalling behaviour over many years by staff at the city’s two hospitals – Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City hospital – included racism towards mothers, it will say.
    The NHS is bracing itself for the publication on Wednesday of a report by Donna Ockenden on 2,500 cases involving babies and mothers dying or being injured, and babies being stillborn, while under the care of Nottingham university hospitals NHS trust between 1 April 2012 and 31 May 2025.
    The document will stretch to more than 350 pages. Ockenden, a senior midwife and expert in maternity care failings, began her inquiry into Nottingham more than four years ago, in May 2022. About 2,505 families – more than in any previous maternity scandal – and approximately 850 staff and ex-staff of the NHS trust have given evidence to it.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Guardian, 22 June 2026
  8. Mark Hughes
    A number of long-term patients at a hospital for vulnerable adults suffered physical abuse, including black eyes, broken bones, bruising and excessive restraint.
    The long-awaited final report into the abuse at Muckamore Abbey Hospital has been published. Chaired by Tom Kark KC, the public inquiry ran for three years from June 2022, hearing oral evidence from 181 witnesses and more than 300 statements.
    The report into what happened inside the hospital found "deviance" was so normalised that working below par became acceptable. It also makes it clear that abuse did not involve every patient nor every member of staff, nor a majority of the staff.
    But many patients had their lives made "miserable" by systematic bullying by certain members of staff whose job it was to look after them.
    Read full article.
    Source: BBC News, 18 June 2026
  9. Mark Hughes
    Thousands of people across the UK could face complex surgery to remove a spinal implant now linked to significant bone loss.
    This alarming development follows the device's global withdrawal from sale and an urgent recall for patients to undergo X-rays.
    The M6-C artificial disc implant was designed to replace damaged neck discs, offering an alternative to spinal fusion surgery, involving metal rods.
    However, the implant has been associated with osteolysis – a progressive condition where bone tissue is destroyed and reabsorbed by the body.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Independent, 19 June 2026
  10. Mark Hughes
    Health innovation and safety minister Preet Kaur Gill has said she is “very sorry” after being questioned by MPs about NHS England’s handling of information provided to the National Data Guardian (NDG) on access to patient data within the Federated Data Platform (FDP).
    Appearing before the Health and Social Care Committee on 16 June 2026, Gill was challenged over concerns that NHS England had incorrectly described who could access identifiable patient information within the FDP.
    The concerns relate to NHS England documentation submitted to the NDG, which incorrectly described who could access identifiable patient data within parts of the FDP.
    Martin Wrigley, MP for Newton Abbot, raised concerns about reports that identifiable patient data was flowing into the national FDP system and that Palantir engineers and others could obtain administrative access when required. Similar concerns were raised earlier this month by the NDG.
    Read full article.
    Source: Digital Health, 18 June 2026
  11. Mark Hughes
    Concerns have been raised about patient safety at a hospital emergency department less than two years after it came out of special scrutiny for similar issues.
    The unit at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Denbighshire has been designated as needing significant improvements over issues including leadership, governance, culture and overcrowding following an inspection last month.
    Carol Shillabeer, chief executive of the hospital's Betsi Cadwaladr health board, said it fully accepted the findings, which reflected "serious concerns".
    One woman who said she witnessed an elderly patient die alone in the overcrowded unit with beds lining its corridors said the findings came as "no surprise" to her.
    The hospital unit has been designated as a service requiring significant improvement (SRSI) following an unannounced inspection by regulatory body Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) in May.
    Alun Jones, HIW chief executive, said it was "very disappointing" that some of the previous problems had reoccurred since it left special scrutiny in 2024.
    He said a full report will be published in September, but that issues included the concerns of staff who felt they "weren't listened to" when speaking up about safety issues.
    Read full article.
    Source: BBC News, 17 June 2026
  12. Mark Hughes
    Findings of a rigorous evaluation of the public health use of the RTS,S malaria vaccine, published in The Lancet, confirm significant reduction in child deaths in the first African countries to offer the vaccine. 
    Over a period of four years, an estimated 1 in 8 child deaths were averted among those eligible to receive the malaria vaccine in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. According to the authors, positive impact is likely to be as high or higher in other African countries now offering malaria vaccines to young children in areas of high malaria burden. 
    The evaluation assessed data generated through the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP), which examined the outcomes of malaria vaccine introduction in the first three countries from 2019 to 2023. 
    Despite global progress, malaria continues to take a devastating toll on children in Africa. In 2024, an estimated 438,000 African children died from the disease. Tens of thousands of lives could be saved every year through the wide implementation of World Health Organization (WHO) recommended malaria vaccines, RTS,S or R21. WHO recommends an integrated approach because the highest impact on malaria is achieved when countries apply a combination of preventive, diagnostic and treatment strategies.  
    Read full article.
    Source: WHO, 8 May 2026
  13. Mark Hughes
    Digital technology should be used to support whole-system patient flow rather than simply improving bed management, according to a new report from Public Policy Projects (PPP).
    Beyond bed management: enabling whole-system patient flow through digital intelligence argues that persistent flow problems across the NHS are rooted as much in governance and fragmented pathways as in operational pressures within hospitals.
    It says digital tools have potential to improve the movement of patients across acute, community and neighbourhood care settings. However, participants warned that technology alone will not resolve longstanding bottlenecks.
    Instead, it calls for a shift from viewing patient flow as solely a bed management issue.
    The report draws on a roundtable held on 18 March 2026, chaired by Dr Victoria Betton, director for digital, data and AI at Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex.
    Read full article.
    Source: Digital Health, 6 May 2026
  14. Mark Hughes
    Hundreds of children across England are set to benefit from a new drug which has been approved for rollout on the NHS to treat a severe muscle-wasting condition.
    Givinostat is expected to enable eligible patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy to maintain their mobility for longer.
    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence confirmed the drug's availability after its manufacturer reached a commercial agreement with NHS England.
    This decision marks a significant step for families affected by the rare genetic disorder.
    While campaigners welcomed the long-awaited approval, they highlighted the "agonising" two-year process, during which many families were left without access to the drug as their child's condition continued to deteriorate.
    Read more here.
    Source: The Independent, 8 May 2026
  15. Mark Hughes
    NHS England’s plan to take over a key whistleblowing initiative will have a “chilling effect” on staff wishing to speak up, experts have warned.
    NHSE and individual trusts will take on the oversight of Freedom to Speak Up arrangements from the summer, following Penny Dash’s recommendation last year to disband the National Guardian’s Office as part of her government-commissioned patient safety review.
    New guidance says that, from July, NHS England will support existing guardian networks and individual guardians. This includes NHSE staff designated as “experts” providing confidential one-to-one support.
    Read full article (paywalled).
    Source: Health Service Journal, 21 April 2026.
  16. Mark Hughes
    NHS patients in England are facing a “postcode lottery” in access to robotic-assisted surgery, according to an analysis by the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
    The data, published on 20 April, shows that despite national guidance from NHS England there remain major differences in how the technology is funded, distributed and used across NHS trusts in England.
    Freedom of Information data from NHS trusts reveal that there is no consistent funding model for robotic surgery with some trusts, such as Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, relying on charitable funding.
    Read full article.
    Source: Digital Health, 21 April 2026
  17. Mark Hughes
    A midwife who broke down in tears at the inquest of a baby who was delivered “blue and floppy” said an ambulance should have been called almost an hour-and-a-half before the birth.
    Poppy Hope Lomas was seven days old when she died on 26 October 2022 following complications during a “high-risk” home birth that her mother said she was encouraged to have.
    Barnet Coroner’s Court had previously heard Poppy’s mother Gemma Lomas, from Enfield, north London, was not made aware of the risks involved with delivering naturally in her home, having already delivered her first daughter, Willow, by caesarean in 2018.
    Midwife Sasha Field, who was present at Poppy’s birth, said in her written statement, which was read out to the inquest by senior coroner Andrew Walker, that an ambulance should have been called around 90 minutes before Poppy was born when she heard the baby’s heart rate slow down after a contraction, as a report by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch had found.
    In fact, midwives told Jason Lomas, Poppy’s father, to call an ambulance at around 10.37pm, two minutes after she was born, by which time it was clear she was showing no signs of life, Ms Field said in her statement.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Independent (21 April 2026)
  18. Mark Hughes
    NHS England has published new guidance on the use of AI-powered ambient scribing tools in health and care settings, setting out how organisations can safely adopt the technology while meeting data protection and patient rights requirements.
    Ambient scribes are AI tools that passively listen to clinical conversations and automatically generate outputs such as consultation notes, summaries or letters. The technology helps reduce administrative burden and allows clinicians to spend more time with patients.
    The guidance, developed with input from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the National Data Guardian (NDG), includes sections for patients, healthcare workers, and IG professionals.
    Read full article.
    Source: Digital Health, 2 April 2026
  19. Mark Hughes
    At least eight cancer patients were harmed – and in some cases potentially died – because of operational and admin failures in an “overwhelmed” hospital department, HSJ  has learned.
    A thematic review of 15 cases from the urology department at East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust said several of the patients had died, in some cases having developed metastatic cancer, following missed or late diagnoses. Others had suffered psychological harm as a result of delays.
    Read full article (paywalled).
    Source: Health Service Journal, 2 April 2026
  20. Mark Hughes
    Former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson has said she is “proud” of having reached a “major milestone” as a rollout of screenings for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is to begin earlier than expected.
    The singer, 34, campaigned for all newborn babies to be screened for SMA after her twins, Ocean Jade and Story Monroe Nelson, were diagnosed with the rare condition, which causes progressive muscle wastage.
    In a letter addressed to Nelson and Giles Lomax, the chief executive of the charity SMA UK, health secretary Wes Streeting confirmed that screenings will be rolled out earlier than planned and begin as part of in-screening evaluations (ISE) from October 2026 instead of January 2027.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Independent, 2 April 2026
  21. Mark Hughes
    NHS waiting lists in Wales have fallen to the lowest level in almost six years. The latest waiting time figures, published on March 19, show the average waiting time for treatment is now around 18 weeks – down from 23 weeks in August 2024 and the lowest since the pandemic started.
    Around 557,900 individual patients are currently on treatment waiting lists in Wales, the NHS Activity and Performance Summary: January and February 2026 shows.
    At the same time targets are being missed on ambulance times, waits in accident and emergency departments and for cancer treatment, the document also shows.
    Read full article.
    Source: Wales Online, 19 March 2026
  22. Mark Hughes
    NHS England believes there is only two weeks’ stock of crucial surgical equipment and other products following an Iran-linked cyber-attack on a major medical technology supplier.
    The centre is urgently working to understand the actual extent of supplies currently held by trusts and the potential risks to patient safety of the supply disruption.
    Read full article   (paywalled).
    Source: Health Service Journal, 19 March 2026
  23. Mark Hughes
    Nearly all NHS trusts across England are failing to meet a crucial cancer treatment target, with some of the poorest performing trusts only managing to treat around half of their patients within the stipulated timeframe.
    New data reveals significant disparities between trusts, with some individuals enduring waits exceeding 104 days.
    The long-established NHS benchmark mandates that 85 per cent of cancer patients should commence treatment within 62 days of their referral. However, this national target has not been achieved since 2014. In response to the ongoing challenges, the government has set an interim goal for this figure to reach 75 per cent by March 2026.
    The new analysis of NHS England figures shows just three of 119 acute trusts with comparable data hit or surpassed the 85% target last year, while only around a quarter made it above 75%.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Independent, 25 February 2026
  24. Mark Hughes
    GPs in England will have to guarantee same-day appointments for any patient with urgent health needs, under a new clause being added to their contract.
    The government said the changes would ensure everyone who needs to be seen quickly would be.
    Spending on GP services will increase by nearly £500 million - a 3.6% boost in cash terms - to help pay for the commitment, which the government said will be used to help recruit more doctors.
    But the British Medical Association said the government was at risk of creating unrealistic expectations given how stretched GP services already were.
    Read full article.
    Source: BBC News, 24 February 2026.
  25. Mark Hughes
    The Republic of Ireland has launched a digital strategy to increase access to mental health services through technology and improve digital health literacy.
    The ‘Sharing the Vision Digital Mental Health Strategy 2026-2030’, published by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Department of Health in Ireland on 20 February, aims to enhance mental health through digital technologies that improve infrastructure and provide “safe, effective, and accessible mental health information, tools, and services”.
    As part of te 2026 Budget, €1 million (£873,455) funding was secured to implement the strategy, bringing investment in digital services such as online cognitive-behavioural therapy and text-based supports to more than €7m (£6.1m).
    Read full article.
    Source: Digital Health, 24 February 2026

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