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Sam

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  1. Sam
    Hundreds of thousands who survived the virus still have side-effects that range from loss of smell to chronic fatigue.
    "It started with a mild sore throat. I was in Devon at the beginning of the lockdown, and because I hadn’t been on a cruise ship, gone skiing in Italy or partying with the crowds at Cheltenham races, I didn’t think it could be COVID-19. Then I developed sinusitis. My GP was practical: “This is not a symptom of the virus,” he emailed me. But my sense of smell had disappeared. At first this wasn’t a sign but six months later, I still can’t tell the difference between the smell of an overripe banana or lavender. I can distinguish petrol but not gas, dog mess but not roses, bacon but not freshly cut grass. Everything else smells of burnt condensed milk."
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: The Times, 23 September 2020
  2. Sam
    The family of a man who died after being given infected blood have called on the UK government to pay their compensation immediately.
    Randolph Peter Gordon-Smith, who had haemophilia, learned in 1994 that he had been infected with hepatitis C.
    His daughter said the family were "abandoned" to care for him without support before his death in 2018.
    The chairman of the UK infected blood inquiry has said parents and children of victims should receive compensation.
    Sir Brian Langstaff wants to see a final compensation framework set up by the end of the year.
    Ms Gordon-Smith, who lives in Edinburgh, says compensation would provide an acknowledgement of "what they did to our family" as his daughters cared for him when he was dying.
    "I think the government needs to get their chequebook out, do the right thing and pay [the compensation]," she added. "Not when the inquiry rules, but now."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 22 June 2023
  3. Sam
    Detainees held in an immigration centre in the US have been subjected to potentially unnecessary hysterectomies performed without informed consent, a nurse whistleblower has alleged.
    Dawn Wooten, who filed a whistleblower complaint with the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, says she was demoted and her hours slashed after she complained about substandard medical care, questionable surgeries on women, and failure to protect detainees and staff from COVID-19.
    A report of the charges1 was filed by four non-profit rights and welfare groups on behalf of the detained immigrants at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, which is operated by the private prison company, LaSalle Corrections.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: BMJ, 16 September 2020
  4. Sam
    A new state of the art institute for antimicrobial research is to open at Oxford University thanks to a £100 million donation from Ineos.
    Ineos, one of the world’s largest manufacturing companies, and the University of Oxford are launching a new world-leading institute to combat the growing global issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which currently causes an estimated 1.5 million excess deaths each year- and could cause over 10m deaths per year by 2050. Predicted to also create a global economic toll of $100 trillion by mid-century, it is arguably the greatest economic and healthcare challenge facing the world post-Covid.
    It is bacterial resistance, caused by overuse and misuse of antibiotics, which arguably poses the broadest threat to global populations. The world is fast running out of effective antibiotics as bacteria evolve to develop resistance to our taken-for-granted treatments. Without urgent collaborative action to prevent common microbes becoming multi-drug resistant (commonly known as ‘superbugs’), we could return to a world where taken-for-granted treatments such as chemotherapy and hip replacements could become too risky, childbirth becomes extremely dangerous, and even a basic scratch could kill.
    The rapid progression of antibacterial resistance is a natural process, exacerbated by significant overuse and misuse of antibiotics not only in human populations but especially in agriculture. Meanwhile, the field of new drug discovery has attracted insufficient scientific interest and funding in recent decades meaning no new antibiotics have been successfully developed since the 1980s.
    Alongside its drug discovery work, the IOI intends to partner with other global leaders in the field of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) to raise awareness and promote responsible use of antimicrobial drugs. The academic team will contribute to research on the type and extent of drug resistant microbes across the world, and critically, will seek to attract and train the brightest minds in science to tackle this ‘silent pandemic’.
    Read full story
    Source: University of Oxford, 19 January 2021
  5. Sam
    More than 1 in 10 Covid patients died within five months of being discharged from hospital, while almost a third of those who survived the virus had to be readmitted, new research has warned.
    Papers released by the governments Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) also revealed half of patients in hospital with the virus suffered complications, with one in four struggling when they got back home.
    Younger patients under the age of 50 were more likely to suffer complications.
    The reports present the first substantial evidence that Covid could be the cause of significant long term ill-health, with the virus attacking the body’s organs and causing diseases of the liver, heart, lungs and kidneys.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 20 February 2021
  6. Sam
    One hundred people with learning disabilities and autism in England have been held in specialist hospitals for at least 20 years, the BBC has learned.
    The finding was made during an investigation into the case of an autistic man detained since 2001. Tony Hickmott's parents are fighting to get him housed in the community near them.
    Mr Hickmott's case is being heard at the Court of Protection - which makes decisions on financial or welfare matters for people who "lack mental capacity".
    Senior Judge Carolyn Hilder has described "egregious" delays and "glacial" progress in finding him the right care package which would enable him to live in the community. He lives in a secure Assessment and Treatment Unit (ATU) - designed to be a short-term safe space used in a crisis. It is a two-hours' drive from his family.
    This week, Judge Hilder lifted the anonymity order on Mr Hickmott's case - ruling it was in the public interest to let details be reported. She said he had been "detained for so long" partly down to a "lack of resources".
    Like many young autistic people with a learning disability, Mr Hickmott struggled as he grew into an adult. In 2001, he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. He is now 44.
    In addition to the 100 patients, including Mr Hickmott, who have been held for more than 20 years - there are currently nearly 2,000 other people with learning difficulties and/or autism detained in specialist hospitals across England.
    In 2015, the Government promised "homes not hospitals" when it launched its Transforming Care programme in the wake of the abuse and neglect scandal uncovered by the BBC at Winterbourne View specialist hospital near Bristol. But data shows the programme has had minimal impact.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 24 November 2021
  7. Sam
    A young NHS patient suffering a sickle cell crisis called 999 from his hospital bed to request oxygen, an inquest into his death was told.
    Evan Nathan Smith, 21, died on 25 April 2019 at North Middlesex Hospital, in Edmonton, north London, after suffering from sepsis following a procedure to remove a gallbladder stent.
    The inquest heard Smith told his family he called the London Ambulance Service because he thought it was the only way to get the help he needed.
    Nursing staff told Smith he did not need oxygen when he requested it in the early hours of 23 April, despite a doctor telling the inquest he had “impressed” on the nurses he should have it.
    Smith’s sepsis is thought to have triggered the sickle cell crisis – a condition that causes acute pain as blood vessels to certain parts of the body become blocked.
    Barnet Coroner's Court heard Smith, from Walthamstow in east London, might have survived if he had been offered a blood transfusion sooner but the hospital’s haematology team were not told he had been admitted.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 3 April 2021
  8. Sam
    A quarter of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) non-executive directors of NHS trusts have seen or experienced discrimination in the course of their work, a report reveals.
    While almost four out of five (79%) of these BAME non-executives said they challenged such behaviour when they encountered it, only half (50%) said that led to a change of policy or behaviour.
    The other half felt they had been ‘fobbed off’ or subjected to actively hostile behaviour for having spoken up,” says a report commissioned by the Seacole Group, which represents most of the BAME non-executive board members of NHS trusts in England.
    It adds: “This level of discrimination is unacceptable anywhere and even more so in the boardrooms of NHS organisations. Too many Black, Asian and other ethnic NEDs (non-executive directors) are being subjected to it and left to deal with it on their own.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 21 July 2022
  10. Sam
    A grandfather who went into hospital with stomach problems needed both of his legs and his left hand amputating after contracting a life-threatening infection.
    Stephen Hughes, from Edmondstown, had been admitted to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant, in March 2022, with gallstones and aggressive stomach inflammation. This led to pancreatitis corroding a hole in the duodenum which caused a significant bleed into his gut. The 56-year-old's condition deteriorated and he was transferred to the ICU at the University Hospital of Wales as a patient in critical condition.
    Whilst at UHW, his family said that the NHS staff worked tirelessly to stop the internal bleeding he was suffering. His gallbladder was removed on September 8th, 2022, and stents were placed along his arteries. Although these operations were successful, his family claims that Mr Hughes caught sepsis from the feeding tube in his neck on 11 September 2022 whilst recovering.
    Stephen’s body prioritised sending blood to his vital organs which resulted in his outer limbs being deprived of blood and oxygen. Stephen then had to have life-altering operations, which resulted in both of his legs being amputated towards the end of September, and his left hand being amputated at the start of October. He was later discharged on 31 October.
    A spokesperson for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: “As a Health Board we are unable to comment on individual patient cases, however we appreciate how life altering operations are particularly distressing for the individual and also their loved ones.
    Read full story
    Source: Wales Online, 9 September 2023
  11. Sam
    To new parents processing the shock of delivery and swimming in hormones, newborns can feel like a tiny, terrifying mystery; unexploded ordinance in a crib. “We were totally unprepared,” says Odilia. Neither she or her husband had ever changed a nappy and had no idea the baby needed feeding every three hours. “If you’re a new mum or dad, you have no idea,” recalls Anouk, a new mother. “I’m a doctor,” says Zarah, another new mother, incredulously. “So, you would expect that I’d know something, and I knew some things, but you really don’t have any clue.”
    The difference for these new parents, compared to the rest of us, is that they gave birth in the Netherlands. That meant help was instantly at hand in the form of the kraamzorg, or maternity carer. Everyone who gives birth in the Netherlands, regardless of their circumstances, has the legal right – covered by social insurance – to support from a maternity carer for the following week.
    These trained professionals come into your home daily, usually for eight days, providing advice, reassurance and practical help. It’s a different role to midwives, who continue to monitor women and babies after the birth in the Netherlands; the maternity carer updates the midwife on the mother and baby’s health and progress as well as supporting the parents as they come to terms with their new child.
    A maternity carer in the Netherlands, explains Betty de Vries of Kenniscentrum Kraamzorg, the organisation that registers maternity carers, “takes care of the woman the first week, advises her on breastfeeding and bottle feeding, hygiene, gives advice … everything to do with safe motherhood and a safe baby. She is there for the whole day most of the time so she can see how they are doing.” Her colleague, director Esther van der Zwan, adds: “It’s a lot of responsibility.” To prepare, maternity carers train for three years – a combination of academic and on-the-job placements – and have regular refresher training in everything from CPR to breastfeeding support.
  12. Sam
    Accidents on maternity wards cost the NHS nearly £1 billion last year, Jeremy Hunt, the chairman of the Commons health committee, has revealed.
    The former health secretary said the bill for maternity legal action was nearly twice the amount spent on maternity doctors in England. It was part of the NHS’s £2.4 billion total legal fees and compensation bill, up £137 million on the previous year.
    Mr Hunt has also told the Daily Mail there is evidence that hospitals are failing to provide details of avoidable deaths despite being ordered to do so three years ago as he highlighted “appalling high” figures which showed that up to 150 lives are being lost needlessly every week in public hospitals.
    Responding to the figures, Mr Hunt said: "Something has gone badly wrong."
    In 2017, he told trusts to publish data on the number of avoidable deaths among patients in their care. But freedom of information responses from 59 hospital trusts, about half the total, found less than a quarter gave meaningful data on avoidable deaths.
    Mr Hunt cited “major cultural challenges” which he blamed for preventing doctors and nurses from accepting any blame. He blamed lawyers who get involved “almost immediately” once something goes wrong with a patient’s care.
    “Doctors, nurses and midwives worry they could lose their licence if they are found to have made a mistake. Hospital managers worry about the reputation of their organisation,” he added.
    Mr Hunt said: “We have appallingly high levels of avoidable harm and death in our healthcare system. We seem to just accept it as inevitable.”
    An NHS spokesman said: “Delivering the safest possible health service for patients is a priority, and the national policy on learning from deaths is clear that hospitals must publish this information every three months, as well as an annual summary, so that they are clear about any problems that have been identified and how they are being addressed.
    Read full story
    Source: The Telegraph, 18 September 2020
  13. Sam
    Strong leadership, challenging poor workplace culture, and ringfencing maternity funding are key to improving safety. That’s the message from two leading Royal Colleges as they respond to the independent review of maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust led by Donna Ockenden.
    The RCOG and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) have today welcomed the Ockenden Review and its recognition of the need to challenge poor working relationships, improve funding and access to multidisciplinary training and crucially to listen to women and their families to improve learning and to ensure tragedies such as those that have happened at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust never occur again. 
    The Colleges have said that the local actions for learning and the immediate and essential actions laid out in this report must be read and acted upon immediately in all Trusts and Health Boards delivering maternity services across the UK.
    Commenting, Dr Edward Morris, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: 
    “This report makes difficult reading for all of us working in maternity services and should be a watershed moment for the system. Reducing risk needs a holistic approach that targets the specific challenges of fetal monitoring interpretation and strengthens organisational functioning, culture and behaviour."
    Read press release
    Source: RCOG, 10 December 2020
  14. Sam
    The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by the NHS should be faster, and more frameworks should be in place to get emerging technologies to as many patients as possible, experts have told MPs.
    A number of senior figures from medicine and biotechnology gave evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee as part of its inquiry into cancer technology.
    Stephen Duffy, a professor of cancer screening at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health at Queen Mary University of London, told MPs there is “strong potential” for AI, particularly in areas such as reading mammograms for the breast screening programme.
    However, he warned that there will be “staff issues in terms of the number of staff needed to double-read mammograms”.
    He added: “Those issues aren’t going away. It seems to me that AI systems have already been shown to be very good in terms of detection of cancer on from mammograms, so they’re safe in that respect.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 19 July 2023
  15. Sam
    The Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP), has launched the AfPP Perioperative Audit Tool; 2019 Edition, a robust audit tool that will assist both private sector and NHS theatre practitioners in creating a safer perioperative environment.
    The tool comprises peer-reviewed standards and recommendations for safe perioperative practice and forms a ‘gold standard’ framework for operating theatre departments to examine service performance and identify potential improvements in patient care.
    As the UK’s leading membership organization for operating theatre practitioners who put patient safety at the heart of all they do, AfPP created the tool for the theatre practitioners to review their current policies and processes to invest in the safety of their patients.
    Read full story
    Source: News Medical Life Sciences, 19 July 2019
  16. Sam
    Researchers in the US have found a genetic link between people with African ancestry and the aggressive type of breast cancer. They hope their findings will encourage more black people to get involved in clinical trials in a bid to improve survival rates for people with the disease.
    Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is more common in women under 40 and disproportionately affects black women.
    A study published in the journal JAMA Oncology found that black women diagnosed with TNBC are 28% more likely to die from it than white women with the same diagnosis.
    Now a new study has confirmed a definitive genetic link between African ancestry and TNBC. Lisa Newman, of Weill Cornell Medicine, has been part of an international project studying breast cancer in women in different regions of Africa for 20 years.
    She says representation of women with diverse backgrounds on clinical trials is absolutely critical.
    "Unfortunately, African-American women are disproportionately under-represented in cancer clinical trials and we see this in the breast cancer clinical trials as well," says Dr Newman.
    "If you don't have diverse representation, you don't understand how to apply these advances in treatment.
    "Part of it is because there is some historic mistrust of the healthcare system.
    "We do continue to see systemic racism in the healthcare delivery system where it has been documented, tragically, that many cancer care providers are less likely to offer clinical trials to their black patients compared with their white patients."
  17. Sam
    A breakthrough AI model can determine a person's risk of developing pancreatic cancer with staggering accuracy, research suggests.
    Using medical records and information from previous scans, the AI was able to flag patients at a high risk of developing pancreatic cancer within the next three years with great accuracy.
    There are currently no full-proof scans for pancreatic cancer, with doctors using a combination of CT scans, MRIs and other invasive procedures to diagnose it. This keeps many doctors away from recommending these screenings.
    Over time, they also hope these AI models will help them develop a reliable way to screen for pancreatic cancer — which already exists for other types of the diseases.
    "One of the most important decisions clinicians face day to day is who is at high risk for a disease, and who would benefit from further testing, which can also mean more invasive and more expensive procedures that carry their own risks," Dr Chris Sander, a biologist at Harvard who contributed to the study, said. 
    "An AI tool that can zero in on those at highest risk for pancreatic cancer who stand to benefit most from further tests could go a long way toward improving clinical decision-making."
    Read full story
    Source: Mail Online, 9 May 2023
  18. Sam
    Machine learning algorithms can accurately assess the capabilities of neurosurgeons during virtual surgery before they step into an actual operating room, a new study shows.
    Researchers recruited 50 participants from four stages of neurosurgical training: neurosurgeons, fellows and senior residents, junior residents and medical students. The participants performed 250 complex tumour resections using NeuroVR, a virtual reality surgical simulator. Using the raw data, the machine learning algorithm developed performance measures that could predict the level of expertise of each participant with 90% accuracy. The top performing algorithm could classify participants using just six performance measures.
    As reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the findings show that the fusion of artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality neurosurgical simulators can accurately and efficiently assess the performance of surgeon trainees. This means that scientists can develop AI-assisted mentoring systems that focus on improving patient safety by guiding trainees through complex surgical procedures. These systems can determine areas that need improvement and how the trainee can develop these important skills before they operate on real patients.
    “Our study proves that we can design systems that deliver on-demand surgical assessments at the convenience of the learner and with less input from instructors. It may also lead to better patient safety by reducing the chance for human error both while assessing surgeons and in the operating room,” said leading author, Rolando Del Maestro of McGill University.
    Read full story
    Source: FUTURITY, 5 August 2019
     
  19. Sam
    Technology that accurately predicts when patients will be ready to leave hospital upon their arrival in A&E is being introduced to solve the NHS bed-blocking crisis.
    The artificial intelligence (AI) software analyses data including age, medical conditions and previous hospital stays to estimate how long a patient will need to remain.
    Hospital managers can then alert social care services in advance about the date when patients are expected to be discharged, allowing care home beds or community care packages to be prepared.
    Nurses said the technology had “revolutionised” their ability to discharge patients on time, meaning people who would otherwise have been stuck in hospital had got home for Christmas.
    The new technology, developed by the British AI company Faculty, is being tested at four NHS hospitals in Wales belonging to the Hywel Dda health board. Analysis suggests that the tool will save NHS trusts 3,000 bed days and £1.4 million a year by speeding up discharges, which in turn frees beds for elective procedures such as hip replacements.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: The Times, 26 December 2022
  20. Sam
    Appropriate methods and standards around artificial intelligence (AI) need to be created to protect patient safety, experts have said. Responding to the Government’s pledge of £250 million for a National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab, Matthew Honeyman, researcher at The Kings Fund, said the NHS workforce needs to be equipped with digital skills for the benefits of new technologies to be realised.
    “AI applications are in development for many different use cases – from screening, to treatment, to admin work – there needs to be appropriate methods and standards developed for safe deployment and evaluation of these solutions as they enter the health system,” he told Digital Health.
    Adam Steventon, Director of Data Analytics at the Health Foundation, said the commitment was a “positive step” but that technology needs to be driven by patient need and “not just for technology’s sake”. “Robust evaluation therefore needs to be at the heart of any drive towards greater use of technology in the NHS, so that technologies that are shown to be effective can be spread further, and patients protected from any potential harm,” he said.
    Read full story
    Source: Digital Health, 9 August 2019
     
  21. Sam
    An anaesthetist who had been drinking before an emergency caesarean that led to the death of a British woman should serve the maximum three years in jail if convicted and should be banned from working as a doctor, a French prosecutor has demanded.
    Helga Wauters is on trial in Pau, south-west France, for the manslaughter of Xynthia Hawke in 2014. She is accused of starving Hawke of oxygen for up to an hour after pushing a ventilation tube into the wrong passageway.
    Orlane Yaouang, prosecuting, described the scene in the operating theatre when Hawke turned blue as “carnage” and spoke of the “surreal situation” in which the panicked hospital staff called the emergency services.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 9 October 2020
  22. Sam
    All vulnerable people will have been offered a coronavirus vaccination by “late spring” the head of NHS England has said as he warned the health service was “back in the eye of the storm.”  
    In a New Year message, Sir Simon Stevens described 2020 as the “toughest year” and he paid tribute to nurses, doctors, therapists and other NHS staff including hospital cleaners, carers and volunteers as well as care home staff.
    Sir Simon visited a new vaccination centre on Monday saying: “We think that by late spring with vaccine supplies continuing to come on stream we will have been able to offer all vulnerable people across this country Covid vaccination. That perhaps provides the biggest chink of hope for the year ahead.”
    His comments came as the NHS in London was said to be “teetering on the edge” as latest data showed the numbers of hospital admissions in the capital jumped more than 200 per cent since the end of lockdown on 2 December.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 29 December 2020
  23. Sam
    Nearly a third of people who were discharged from hospitals in England after being treated for COVID-19 were readmitted within five months – and almost one in eight died, a study suggests.
    The research, which is still to be peer-reviewed, also found a higher risk of problems developing in a range of organs after hospital discharge in those younger than 70 and ethnic minority individuals.
    “There’s been so much talk about all these people dying from Covid … but death is not the only outcome that matters,” said Dr Charlotte Summers, a lecturer in intensive care medicine at the University of Cambridge who was not involved in this study.
    “The idea that we have that level of increased risk in people – particularly young people – it means we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
    There is no consensus on the scale and impact of “long Covid”, but scientists have described emerging evidence as concerning. According to recent figures provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), a fifth of people in England still have coronavirus symptoms five weeks after being infected, half of whom continue to experience problems for at least 12 weeks.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 18 January 2021
  24. Sam
    A survey of members of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has found that almost two thirds (60%) of doctors worry that patients in their care have suffered harm or complications following diagnosis or treatment delays during the pandemic, while almost all doctors (94%) are concerned about the general indirect impact of COVID-19 on their patients.
    This is also compounded by the difficulty doctors are finding in accessing diagnostic testing for their patients. Only 29% of doctors report experiencing no delays in accessing endoscopy testing (one of the main diagnostic tests used by doctors) for inpatients, decreasing to just 8% for outpatients.
    Only 5% of doctors feel that their organisations are fully prepared for a potential second wave of COVID-19 infection, and almost two thirds (64%) say they haven’t been involved in any discussions about preparations for a second wave of the virus.
    While the government’s promise to roll out flu vaccines to millions more people is welcome, the RCP recently set several more priorities to help prepare the health service for future waves of COVID-19, including the need to ensure the NHS estate is fully able to cope.
    Only 5% say they wanted an antibody test for COVID-19 but were unable to access one. Of those tested, a quarter (25%) were positive, with little or no difference when it came to gender, between white and BAME doctors, trainees and consultants or between London and the rest of England.
    Professor Andrew Goddard, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: “Delays to treatment are so often a major issue for the NHS but as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s fair to say we’ve reached crisis point. Doctors are, understandably, gravely concerned that their patients’ health will have deteriorated to the point where they will need much more extensive treatment than previously, at a time when NHS resources are already incredibly depleted."
    “We also cannot underestimate the need to prepare for a second wave of COVID-19 infection, which threatens to compound the situation. Without careful and rigorous preparation, a second wave coupled with the winter flu season, could overwhelm the NHS.”
    Source: Royal College of Physicians, 5 August 2020
  25. Sam
    Last month saw the highest number of ambulance callouts for life-threatening conditions since records began, NHS England officials say.
    There were more than 85,000 category one calls, for situations like cardiac arrests and people stopping breathing.
    The heatwave could have been one reason for increased demand, but experts say hospitals already face immense pressures.
    Nearly 30,000 patients waited more than 12 hours to be admitted to hospital.
    The number is up 33% on the previous month and the highest since records began in 2010.
    Richard Murray, chief executive of The King's Fund said the pressure on hospitals was also being felt right across the health and social care system.
    He added: "At the end of July, 13,014 people were still in hospital beds despite being medically fit to be discharged, often due to a lack of available social care support. The challenges affecting the NHS cannot be solved without addressing the issues in social care."
    Read full story
    Source BBC News, 12 August 2022
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