Jump to content
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,180

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Mark Hughes

Members

 Content Type 

News posted by Mark Hughes

  1. Mark Hughes
    The NHS has secured two alternative suppliers of medical cement, a move set to prevent delays for patients awaiting surgery. This crucial intervention follows global supply issues that impacted the health service's main provider of bone cement.
    Bone cement is vital for anchoring artificial joints and filling the space between new implants and a patient's bone. Earlier this month, experts warned that a shortage could lead to significant postponements for hip and knee replacements and other pre-planned operations.
    Officials had estimated a potential six to eight-week supply gap after Heraeus Medical, the NHS's primary German-based supplier, reported a packaging fault. The new agreements aim to avert this critical disruption.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Independent, 25 February 2026
  2. Mark Hughes
    A woman who had to have her leg amputated after a botched knee operation has won compensation from the hospital trust.
    The 69-year-old, who has not been named, underwent an operation in 2021 at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, near Hull, to replace a prosthetic knee she had had for more than 15 years.
    However, the surgeon's drill slipped, damaging nerves and blood vessels which led to her needing an above-knee amputation after emergency repair surgery failed, said her lawyers at Hudgell Solicitors.
    Read full article.
    Source: BBC News, 18 February 2026
     
  3. Mark Hughes
    The NHS is facing a “second surge” of norovirus as cases of the vomiting bug reach their highest level so far this winter.
    NHS figures published today show the average number of patients in hospital with diarrhoea, vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms each day this week rose to 1012 – up 8.9 per cent on the 929 cases the previous week.
    The average number of norovirus patients in hospitals per day surged from 361 at the start of January to 950 by the end of the month.
    Although cases of the vomiting bug did stabilise at the beginning of February, figures have now been rising again for the second week in a row, prompting fears of a second wave.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Independent, 19 February 2026
  4. Mark Hughes
    UK patients could be among the first in the world to benefit from breakthrough medical devices, as clinical investigations reach their highest level on record in 2025.
    New figures from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) show a 17 per cent rise in approved clinical investigations compared with last year, as companies increasingly choose Great Britain to test cutting-edge health technologies. At the same time, the MHRA is rolling out new measures to back innovation and remove barriers for smaller companies, including a fee waiver pilot, early market access to promising devices, and enhanced support for high-impact technologies.
    AI-powered medical devices are also surging, including tools that scan medical images to spot disease earlier, guide treatment decisions and personalise care. New studies include digital tools that adjust treatment in real time, such as an app to help people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease manage their condition, while giving clinicians better information to personalise treatment. Studies in advanced eye technologies have also risen, as companies test new ways to protect vision and restore sight.
    Read full article.
    Source: Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, 19 February 2026
  5. Mark Hughes
    A shortage in medical cement is likely to lead to delays in some patients getting joint surgery, NHS bosses say.
    It comes after Heraeus Medical, the main supplier of bone cement to the health service, has had to temporarily halt production at its main site for two months.
    The German firm supplies about three-quarters of the bone cement needed in the NHS. The product is used in about 1,000 operations a week, mostly in knee replacements, but also in some hip and shoulder replacements.
    Hospitals are being told to prioritise emergency patients ahead of those on the waiting list. These are likely to be older patients who have suffered falls and those with broken hips.
    Read full story.
    Source: BBC News, 18 February 2026
    Related reading
    A formal update on this from NHS England, with actions for NHS organisations, can be found here.
  6. Mark Hughes
    Supplies of prescription-strength co-codamol will be limited in Scotland until the summer.
    Some health boards are now telling patients to immediately reduce their dosage of the painkiller as there will not be enough to meet demand.
    There is a UK-wide shortage of the 30mg/500mg dosage of the painkiller due to the Indian government delaying the authorisation to import the necessary ingredients.
    The Scottish Government has now confirmed the drug will be limited until June and alternative treatment options will be offered to those affected. However, health boards warn that none of the alternative medicines can sustain the demand that is expected from the co-codamol shortage.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Scotsman, 18 February 2026
  7. Mark Hughes
    A Supreme Court ruling is likely to lead to significantly higher damages being awarded to children injured by medical negligence.
    Until now, children have only been entitled to compensation for lost earnings – pay missed out on by not being able to work – for the years they are expected to live.
    But the court, ruling on the case of a child who sustained a brain injury at birth, found that compensation should take into account the full working life she would have had if she had not been harmed at birth.
    The decision could have large cost implications for the NHS. Its clinical negligence liabilities currently stand at £60bn, with two-thirds relating to maternity injuries.
    Read full article.
    Source: BBC News, 19 February 2026
  8. Mark Hughes
    In a letter to health secretary Wes Streeting, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has claimed that two-thirds of pharmacies are at risk of imminent closure.
    The results of a survey conducted by the NPA found that at least 65% of pharmacies operated at a loss in 2025, with nearly half (45%) of pharmacy owners relying on personal savings or re-mortgaged homes to subside their pharmacy.
    These closure threads are “blowing an enormous hole in the NHS ten-year plan before it has even begun”, the letter noted.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal, 18 February 2026
  9. Mark Hughes
    Long A&E waits last month hit their highest level since public records began, as NHS England warns it’s battling its “busiest winter on record”.
    There were 192,168 accident and emergency department attendees who waited more than 12 hours from time of arrival, around 13 per cent of all attendances. Both the number and proportion of 12-hour waits were the highest recorded since NHSE began routinely publishing this data in February 2023.
    Read full article (paywalled).
    Source: Health Service Journal, 12 February 2026
  10. Mark Hughes
    Men have been warned against buying illegal erectile dysfunction pills online after nearly 20m pills – enough to fill two doubledecker buses – were seized in the last five years.
    The “stigma and embarrassment” of erectile dysfunction is being “exploited by criminals”, according to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
    Between 2021 and 2025, the MHRA’s criminal enforcement unit, working closely with Border Force to intercept shipments, seized about 19.5m doses of erectile dysfunction medicines, equivalent to a single dose for three in every four adult men in the UK. Many of the pills seized contained no active ingredient, the wrong dose, hidden drugs or toxic ingredients, the MHRA said.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Guardian, 13 February 2026
  11. Mark Hughes
    There will be over 150,000 new cases of colorectal cancer in 2026, while more young people are being impacted by the disease each year, experts have warned.
    “Colorectal cancer is rising in younger adults for reasons we don’t yet fully understand, but the main reason it has become the leading cause of cancer death for Americans under 50 is more related to delayed diagnosis,” said Dr. Sheetal Kircher, associate professor of hematology and oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and a Northwestern Medicine oncologist.
    The untimely passing of 48-year-old Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek, who died Wednesday following a diagnosis of stage 3 colorectal cancer in 2023, has spotlighted the devastating illness, particularly in Americans under 50.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Independent, 12 February 2026
  12. Mark Hughes
    Nearly 100 children were harmed by a Great Ormond Street Hospital limb reconstruction surgeon, a review has found.
    The investigation, published by the world-famous London hospital into Yaser Jabbar, found widespread evidence of unacceptable practice in the botched operations he carried out.
    Jabbar worked at the hospital between 2017 and 2022, providing care to 789 children – 94 of them came to harm, GOSH's report concluded.
    Most of those – 91 – were patients he did surgery on. He specialised in limb-lengthening and reconstruction for children with complex problems.
    Read full article.
    Source: BBC News, 29 January 2026
  13. Mark Hughes
    The NHS has reduced the use of physician associates after a government review found that they were being used as a “substitute” for doctors, a survey has suggested.
    The number of physician associates (PAs) averaging more than 11 patient interactions — including consultations, follow-ups, results and referrals — per shift, has dropped since publication of the Leng review in July. More than three-quarters (76 per cent) of PAs said their scope of practice had been restricted in recent months.
    The findings come from a survey of 457 associates by United Medical Associate Professionals (UMAPs), the physician associates union.
    Read full article (paywalled).
    Source: The Times, 29 January 2026
  14. Mark Hughes
    As an increasing number of people turn to mental health apps and technologies for support, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has published guidance on how to use the tools safely.
    Not all digital mental health technologies are regulated as medical devices – some are instead classed as wellbeing or lifestyle products, which means they may not have been through the same checks.
    MHRA and NHS England have developed free online resources for the public, parents, carers and professionals which use short animations and real-world examples to show what safe, well-evidenced digital mental health technologies look like, and explain how to report concerns through the MHRA Yellow Card scheme.
    Read full article.
    Source: Digital Health, 28 January 2026
  15. Mark Hughes
    Surgeons can safely perform two common operations from distances of up to 1,700 miles, a new study has found.
    New research delved into telesurgery, a cutting-edge technique that allows medical professionals to operate on patients remotely using a surgical robot connected via a secure video-link.
    Academics in China initiated the study, highlighting that robust evidence on this method has previously been "scarce". Their primary aim was to ascertain whether telesurgery could achieve results comparable to, or "non-inferior" to, those from robotic-assisted surgery performed locally.
    Some 72 patients were randomly assigned to be given telesurgery or local surgery, with the main measure of success the outcome of the surgery.
    The researchers found telesurgery “was not inferior to local surgery in terms of the probability of surgical success”.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Independent, 29 January 2026
  16. Mark Hughes
    Surgical face masks provide inadequate protection against flu-like illnesses including Covid, and should be replaced by respirator-level masks – worn every time doctors and nurses are face to face with a patient, according to a group of experts urging changes to World Health Organization guidelines.
    There is “no rational justification remaining for prioritising or using” the surgical masks that are ubiquitous in hospitals and clinics globally, given their “inadequate protection against airborne pathogens”, they said in a letter to WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
    “There is even less justification for allowing healthcare workers to wear no face covering at all,” they said.
    At the height of the Covid pandemic an estimated 129bn disposable face masks were being used around the world every month, by the public and healthcare workers, with surgical masks the most widely available and recommended by most health authorities.
    Respirators designed to filter tiny particles – such as masks meeting FFP2/3 standards in the UK or N95 in the US – should instead be standard practice for medical interactions, they said.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Guardian, 9 January 2026
    Related reading
    Open Letter to WHO: A Call for the Universal use of Respirators in Healthcare (7 January 2025)
  17. Mark Hughes
    A renewed campaign to end the practice of treating patients in hospital corridors has been launched across Wales, as pressure mounts on political parties ahead of the May Senedd elections.
    The BEDS – End Corridor Care in A&E campaign has warned that corridor care remains widespread in Welsh NHS hospitals, putting patient safety, dignity and staff wellbeing at risk.
    Campaigners say the issue has become a major concern for voters, with growing frustration that repeated warnings from frontline clinicians have not yet led to meaningful change.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Bangor Aye, 8 January 2025
    Related reading
    Corridor care: Patient Safety Learning’s response to the latest HSSIB report
  18. Mark Hughes
    The NHS and government have been accused of undercounting the number of mental health homicides, with campaigners calling for “honesty and transparency” over how many patients commit violence.
    Over four years there were 115 fewer homicides by mental health patients recorded in official statistics compared to information released under the Freedom of Information Act, it has emerged.
    The FOI request, collected by Hundred Families, a charity that supports bereaved families, asked NHS England for the number of patient homicides that had been reported to them, by region, for each of the years between 2018 and 2023.
    Read full article (paywalled).
    Source: The Times, 9 January 2026
  19. Mark Hughes
    Waiting lists for gynaecological care in Scotland have risen by more than 250% in seven years, leaving tens of thousands of women waiting years for treatment for painful and life-altering conditions, The Herald reveals.
    New figures show that as of September 2025, 66,261 women were waiting for gynaecological care across Scotland, compared with 18,649 in March 2018. This represents an increase of 255.3% in that period.
    The latest data also reveals that 61% of women (40,526) have been waiting longer than the 12-week target for treatment, amid growing warnings that the system is under severe strain.
    Read full article (paywalled).
    Source: The Herald, 9 January 2026
  20. Mark Hughes
    Christmas gatherings may have caused a resurgence in flu and other winter viruses, NHS leaders say.
    Figures show that the average number of patients in hospital beds in England with flu last week hit 2,924 - a rise of 9% on the previous week. This comes after two weeks of falls which prompted hope cases may have peaked.
    NHS England said a combination of the vicious cold snap and winter viruses was making services "extremely busy" with hospitals reporting icy conditions have led to a rise in slips and falls and people struggling with respiratory conditions.
    Concerns are also being raised about corridor care - where A&E patients are treated in make-shift areas because of a lack of beds.
    Read full article.
    Source: BBC News, 8 January 2026
  21. Mark Hughes
    One out of every nine hospital beds in Scotland is occupied by someone well enough to go home, a damning new report has revealed.
    The joint paper by Audit Scotland and the Accounts Commission said systemic failures across health and social care meant that the country’s hospitals were losing more than 720,000 bed days a year to delayed discharges, at an estimated cost of over £440 million.
    Read full article (paywalled).
    Source: The Herald, 8 January 2026
  22. Mark Hughes
    NICE has published draft guidance recommending eight digital platforms to help people with asthma better manage their condition.
    The eight recommended digital technologies are: Asthmahub, Asthmahub for parents, AsthmaTuner, Digital Health Passport, Luscii, myAsthma, RDMP (Respiratory Disease Management Platform) and Smart Asthma.
    They have been recommended for use in the NHS while further evidence is collected over the next three years, the draft guidance states.
    Read full article.
    Source: Digital Health, 7 January 2026.
  23. Mark Hughes
    Some NHS hospitals are adapting corridors and other non-clinical spaces for patient care, installing plug sockets and emergency call bells to minimise safety risks, a new investigation has found.
    Senior staff informed the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) that they made these investments because they "could not avoid using these spaces".
    A report by the health safety watchdog stated hospitals "may have no choice" but to utilise these areas, urging health leaders and trusts to collaborate and "systematically address" the risks.
    The HSSIB called for a "nationally agreed definition" of these temporary care environments, which include corridors, offices, and storerooms, alongside a clearer understanding of their usage across the NHS.
    Read full article.
    Source: The Independent,  8 January 2026
    Related reading
    Corridor care: Patient Safety Learning’s response to the latest HSSIB report
  24. Mark Hughes
    The government has rejected calls for legislation requiring industry to disclose its payments to the healthcare sector, five years after a major review said statutory rules should be introduced.
    It will produce guidance for both the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries instead, it has announced in a new consultation outcome document. This will set out which payments should be reported, as well as the format and frequency of the reporting.
    This was one of the recommendations from the 2020 Cumberlege Review, which investigated three women’s health scandals. It found transparency of payments in the healthcare sector was needed to guard against both real and perceived conflicts of interest. There was concern that such conflicts could be encouraging the use of unsafe devices and practices.
    Read full article (paywalled).
    Source: Health Service Journal, 19 December 2025
  25. Mark Hughes
    A small hospital’s general surgery service is being taken over by a neighbour, after a review found “unacceptable” care standards and reported concerns about a “toxic culture”.
    The Royal College of Surgeons review, published today, said staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn (QEHKL) Foundation Trust service also reported a “real disconnect between [the trust’s] senior management and the ground”.
    In response, the trust has said the QEHKL service will now be overseen by Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals FT’s general surgery team, under “mandated support arrangements in preparation for establishing a shared service”.
    Read full article (paywalled).
    Source: Health Service Journal, 18 December 2025

© 2026 Patient Safety Learning. All rights reserved.

Patient Safety Learning is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission Registration number 1180689.

×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.