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Sam

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  1. Sam
    Patient advocates Sling The Mesh will tomorrow (17 December) meet with Baroness Gillian Merron, the Minister for Patient Safety, to discuss financial redress options for women injured by pelvic mesh implants.
    The meeting marks a significant step forward in recognising the profound harm suffered by thousands of women across the UK and the urgent need for redress to address the physical, mental, and financial toll of their injuries.
    Pelvic mesh implants, including rectopexy mesh, were widely used to treat conditions such as pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence, but have left many women with debilitating pain, organ damage, autoimmune disease and other life-altering complications.
    Despite years of campaigning for justice, affected women have faced mounting medical costs, lost income, lost pensions, and faced a diminished quality of life - with little financial support.
    Kath Sansom, founder of Sling The Mesh, said: “The government must act with speed to provide financial redress. Many women have their PIP applications turned down even though they are severely injured, hundreds have lost relationships, their jobs, their pensions. Some have had to sell their homes to live with family as they can’t afford mortgage payments anymore.”
    She added: “We were all innocent players in this appalling story which has taken a heavy toll on women, including financially. We trusted in a medical system that should have protected us. Instead, women have lost so much. Women harmed by mesh implants deserve financial redress to help rebuild their lives and gain some measure of justice for the suffering they’ve endured.”
    The meeting will focus on potential pathways for redress and hear of the urgency in addressing the issue, with many struggling to afford ongoing medical treatment and getting trapped in cycles of financial worry due to their injuries.
    One of the leading voices in Parliament supporting the cause, MP Sharon Hodgson, whose mam had had her life changed forever due to mesh, underscored the importance of the financial redress initiative.
    Sharon said: “It is crucial that women who have been harmed by pelvic mesh implants receive the compensation they so desperately need and deserve. These women’s lives have been shattered, through no fault of their own. It is our duty to ensure that they are not left to shoulder the burden alone. I fully support the bringing this issue to light and pushing for meaningful redress.”
    Rt Hon. Sir Julian Lewis, MP for New Forest East, who supports women in his local area who have been harmed by mesh, said: “The female mesh implant scandal is an ongoing NHS disaster. Constituents have been seriously injured, left permanently in pain, and forced to spend thousands of pounds on remedial surgery, with at best only partial success. They deserve substantial compensation and a serious research effort by the NHS to find new ways of safely removing these dreadfully damaging implants."
    Rt Hon. Sir Alec Shelbrooke MP, who has also supported women in Parliament for many years, added: “Medical misogyny plays a key part in this horrific scandal. Women were butchered, through no fault of their own. Most were not given fully informed consent. It is vital they are compensated financially and as soon as possible. They must not wait as the victims of the Thalidomide, infected blood and Post Office scandals have been forced to.”
    MP Sarah Green, who has supported her local constituents for years,  said: "It is past time that mesh victims receive the redress they need and deserve. In February the Hughes Report by the Patient Safety Commissioner outlined how such a scheme could work. The Government now just need to deliver it"
    It is hoped the meeting will conclude with a commitment to further discussions and collaboration between the government and campaign groups to explore viable financial redress models and ensure no woman is left behind.
    In a recent Westminster debate about pelvic mesh held on 5 December, 2024, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, MP Andrew Gwynne, closed by making a commitment to move financial redress forward at pace.
    He said: "The previous Government were too slow on that (redress). It is a priority for this Government. We are working at pace, and we remain focused on making meaningful progress." 
  2. Sam
    The General Medical Council (GMC) will begin regulating physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs) from this Friday, 13 December.
    Registration for PAs and AAs will open from Monday, 16 December. A small number will receive an invitation to apply for registration before the end of the month, and all PAs and AAs on existing voluntary registers will have received their invitations by the end of January 2025.
    There are thought to be around 5,000 PAs and 200 AAs in the UK. From December 2026 it will be an offence to practise as a PA or AA in the UK without registration.
    To join the register of PAs and AAs, individuals will need to complete an application and provide evidence, including their qualifications and, where relevant, work history and references, to show they meet the GMC’s standards.
    GMC Chief Executive Charlie Massey said:
    "We are looking forward to becoming the regulator of these professions and I am sure it will also be an exciting time for them. I have met many physician associates and anaesthesia associates in recent months and have seen how they work with doctors and others in teams providing excellent care for patients.
    ‘There have been challenges along the way, but we are about to see a step change in regulation. For the first time, patients, employers and colleagues will be assured that physician associates and anaesthesia associates have the necessary education and training, meet our standards, and can be held to account if serious concerns are raised."
    Source: General Medical Council, 12 December 2024
  3. Sam
    The ban on giving puberty blockers to under-18s questioning their gender identify is to be made permanent, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has announced.
    Streeting told MPs he was making the temporary ban introduced in May indefinite across the UK, following a consultation and advice from the Commission on Human Medicines - calling the way the drugs had been used a "scandal".
    The expert group said prescribing the drugs to children for gender dysphoria was an "unacceptable safety risk".
    Campaigners on both sides have reacted to the news, with those in support of the ban commending Streeting's "integrity" and those against calling it "discrimination".
    A temporary ban was put in place by the last Conservative government, and had been renewed twice by Streeting.
    He said on Monday that the review identified cases where children had been prescribed the treatment after filling out an online form and only having one online consultation with a healthcare provider.
    The health secretary said it was essential for the government to be evidence-led when it came to healthcare.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 11 December 2024
  4. Sam
    Health Secretary Wes Streeting said there are “legitimate concerns” over the role of physician associates (PAs) amid worries they are being used to replace fully-qualified doctors.
    He said he wanted to look into the issues around the roles before a planned expansion in the number of medical associates.
    Mr Streeting acknowledged there were concerns around the tasks PAs were doing and transparency, with patients not necessarily realising they were not being treated by a doctor.
    There has been an ongoing debate within the NHS about the use of such roles, with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges calling for a review into PAs and anaesthesia associates (AAs) to “clarify claims around their safety and usefulness in patient-facing roles”.
    Mr Streeting told BBC Breakfast: “I am taking these concerns seriously and I’ve spent a lot of time listening to clinicians, listening to physician associates as well, by the way.
    “I think they do have a role to play and can add value, not least in freeing up doctors’ time to do the things that only doctors can do.
    “But I think there are legitimate concerns about the extent of doctor substitution and replacing doctors with PAs, there are issues around transparency.
    “As patients, we should know who we’re seeing, who’s in front of us and why, and we’ve got to take those issues seriously.”
    Mr Streeting said he would be saying more about the associate roles “in the coming weeks”, hinting an expansion in the number of the roles could be paused while work is carried out to address concerns.
    Read full story
    Source: Medscape, 13 November 2024
    Read our interview this week with Asif Qasim, Consultant Cardiologist and Founder of MedShr, about the role of physician associates in the NHS and the patient safety issues.
  5. Sam
    Lucy will never again dance with her three-year-old daughter or hold her 12-month-old baby boy. She died by suicide in September this year after suffering from postnatal depression and psychosis.
    Her family say she was failed by mental health services. It was the second time Lucy suffered with the condition, but she had no extra support in her second pregnancy.
    They are calling on the government to end what they say is a postcode lottery of perinatal mental health care.
    Lucy's death is part of a bigger picture.
    The postcode lottery of perinatal services is stark. Yet one in 10 women suffer from postnatal depression according to the NHS.
    Research from the Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) reveals North Yorkshire, where Lucy lived, did not meet the care quality standards for perinatal care set by the Royal College of Psychiatrists 2023.
    Karen Middleton, head of policy at MMHA, says mums are being failed by the lack of consistent maternal mental health care.
    “Maternal mental health isn’t fully understood and has been historically under-invested," she said.
    "We need to raise awareness so commissioners and managers at the local level provide sustainable funding that is based on the levels of need in their area.”
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 14 November 2024
  6. Sam
    Just one year ago, Nicholas Thornton lay in a windowless hospital room, in a bed he could not leave on his own, unable to speak.
    He had spent 10 years like this, in hospital wards – as well as in unsuitable dementia care homes and psychiatric units – all because he had learning disabilities and autism.
    Now, 12 months on, he is finally free at the age of 29 – and in a home of his own.
    His incredible transformation since leaving Rochard Hospital, in Essex, means he is now able to leave his house unassisted and has even regained his speech.
    “It’s like I have my life back, I have my freedom back... for so long I was just stuck in the hospital. I have my freedom,” he said.
    But while Nicholas reaps the benefits of his new life, there are more than 2,000 people just like him, stuck in hospitals across the country because there is no suitable care for them outside.
    Hundreds have been trapped in hospital for more than five years, unable to be discharged into the community as local authorities struggle to come up with funding to meet their needs – and some have become so deeply institutionalised that their needs are now extremely complex.
    Ministers have introduced a new Mental Health Bill meaning patients with a learning disability and autism would only be sectioned under the Mental Health Act for a maximum of 28 days.
    But the changes to the act are unlikely to have prevented what happened to Nicholas, who ended up in inappropriate settings primarily because of a breakdown in care packages.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 13 November 2024
  7. Sam
    A consultation has been launched by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on proposed changes to the regulatory requirements a medical device must meet before it is placed on the market in Great Britain. The consultation will close on 5 January 2025.
    The consultation will focus on four policy areas that have evolved significantly since the MHRA’s initial consultation to strengthen medical devices legislation was launched in 2021. These four areas, described below, are part of broader regulatory reforms that respond to recommendations set out in the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety (IMMDS) review and that support the development of a regulatory framework that enables transformative technologies to reach patients as quickly and safely as possible.
    The findings from this latest consultation will inform new legislation, the Pre-market Statutory Instrument, which we expect to be laid in Parliament next year. This follows the laying of The Medical Devices (Post-market Surveillance Requirements) (Amendment) (Great Britain) Regulations in Parliament on 21 October 2024.
    Together, these reforms will boost UK patients’ access to safe and innovative medical products, and will help the government’s efforts to eradicate health inequalities, get the NHS back on its feet and kickstart growth across the country.
    The four policy areas that the MHRA is consulting on are:
    UKCA marking International reliance In vitro diagnostic (IVDs) devices Assimilated EU law. This proposal – alongside more specific transitional provisions – would ensure a smooth transition to a future regulatory framework, which aims to protect patient safety, improve access to innovative medical devices, and support innovation.
    You can take part in the consultation here. The MHRA welcomes views from all interested stakeholders.
    Read more
    Source: MHRA, 14 November 2024
  8. Sam
    Wes Streeting wants NHS England to step up intervention in under-performing NHS organisations, and give greater flexibility to strong-performers – including over capital investment, he will say today.
    The health and social care secretary will promise new “league tables” and say he wants ”top talent attracted to [the] most challenging areas” while “persistently failing managers [will] be sacked”.
    A new NHS Oversight and Assessment Framework will be confirmed by April, to “ensure performance is properly scrutinised”, the Department of Health and Social Care said.
    It is expected to put greater focus on the “capability” of trusts and integrated care boards, as well as their performance and outcomes — something NHSE consulted on in the spring.  The promised league tables are expected to cover waiting times, finance and leadership, sources said.
    NHSE will also publish a new “Performance, Improvement and Regulation Framework”, to set out more clearly and when and how it will intervene, but it is at an early stage, HSJ understands.
    Poor performers will be subject to deep dives by the government and NHSE, with turnaround teams sent in to fix any issues, a Department of Health and Social Care announcement said.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 13 November 2024
  9. Sam
    The cyber attack on NHS pathology provider Synnovis caused at least 119 incidents of patient harm, including at least five cases of “moderate” harm, according to figures provided by South East London Integrated Care Board (ICB).
    Healthcare services in London were disrupted by the attack in June 2024, with an NHS London update on 4 October showing that 10,152 acute outpatient appointments and 1,710 elective procedures were postponed at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS FT.
    South East London ICB told Digital Health News that of 498 patient safety incidents linked to the attack, 114 were deemed to have caused “low harm” and five at Guy’s and St Thomas’ caused “moderate” harm.
    There are also 91 related patient safety incidents being reviewed – 67 at King’s College Hospital and 24 at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
    Helen Hughes, chief executive of Patient Safety Learning, told Digital Health News: “In addition to these recorded cases of harm, this incident may have resulted in further patient harm that is more difficult to capture.
    “Disruption caused by cyber attacks often results in significant delays to care and treatment, with longer waits having a particularly serious impact on patients with chronic conditions and worsening health.
    “The impact of these delays will only be seen over time.”
    Read full story
    Source: Digital Health, 12 November 2024 
  10. Sam
    NHS England — not integrated care boards — will be solely responsible for the performance management of trusts, the chief executive of NHSE has announced.
    In her speech at the NHS Providers’ annual conference today, Amanda Pritchard clarified the roles of NHSE, ICBs and providers — something many trust leaders had been asking for since the establishment of ICBs. A call for greater clarity in this area was also a recommendation of the Darzi review of NHS performance.
    Ms Pritchard also told the conference the financial position next year would be even “tighter” than this year, despite local NHS organisations setting unprecedented and often unrealistic savings targets in 2024-25.
    Explaining how the service would now be run, she said NHSE would carry out “planning, assurance and support”, as well as “intervening quickly, providing expertise, and using our regulatory levers where performance is not acceptable”.
    ICBs would focus “on strategic commissioning” and “creating the environment for more action on prevention and for the neighbourhood health model”.
    Providers would have responsibility for “delivery, quality and safety and on joining up pathways”.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 12 November 2024
  11. Sam
    A woman died during an operation after travelling to Turkey for slimming surgery, an inquest heard.
    Janet Savage, 54, was undergoing a gastric “stomach sleeve” operation but never came around from the procedure.
    Savage, from Penrhosgarnedd near Bangor, had travelled to the private Ozel Rich hospital in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya and hoped to lose three stone, after earlier taking Ozempic.
    A senior coroner at an inquest in Caernarfon found that Savage, a driving examiner, died from acute bleeding loss due to injury to her abdominal aorta, which had an attempted repair, after gastric sleeve surgery.
    Savage had contacted a firm called Regenesis Health Travel, based in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, the inquest heard. It organises flights, hotels, surgical and non-surgical procedures at Ozel Rich hospital.
    In a statement, Alison Ergun, Regenesis’s client service administrator, said Savage had told her in an exchange of Facebook messages in July last year that she was taking Ozempic, a medicine designed to treat people with type 2 diabetes, and wanted to lose three stone.
    The women switched to WhatsApp to take the booking and the operation was booked at the hospital in Antalya for 5 August last year.
    The inquest heard Ergun was later informed by her operations manager that there had been “complications”; Savage had stopped breathing and had been taken to intensive care. She died the following day, at 7.45am on 6 August.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 12 November 2024
  12. Sam
    The death of a nurse from North Lanarkshire has been linked to the use of a weight-loss drug recently approved for use on the NHS.
    Susan McGowan, 58, took two low-dose injections of tirzepatide, known under the brand name Mounjaro, over the course of about two weeks before her death on 4 September.
    Her death certificate, seen by the BBC, lists multiple organ failure, septic shock and pancreatitis as the immediate cause of death – but "the use of prescribed tirzepatide" is also recorded as a contributing factor.
    It is thought to be the first death officially linked to the drug in the UK.
    After researching Mounjaro and seeking medical advice, Susan purchased a prescription via a registered online pharmacy.
    The drug typically costs between £150 and £200 for a four-week supply and can be purchased from any registered pharmacy in the UK.
    Days after her second injection she began experiencing severe stomach pains and sickness, so she went to A&E at Monklands - where her colleagues battled to save her life.
    Dr Alison Cave, MHRA chief safety officer, said that new medicines, such as tirzepatide, are more intensively monitored to ensure any new safety issues are identified promptly.
    She said: "Our sincere sympathies are with the family of individual concerned. Patient safety is our top priority and no medicine would be approved unless it met our expected standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.
    "We have robust, safety monitoring and surveillance systems in place for all healthcare products.
    "On the basis of the current evidence the benefits of GLP-1 RAs outweigh the potential risks when used for the licensed indications."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 8 November 2024
  13. Sam
    UK doctors are having suicidal thoughts because disciplinary proceedings against them by their NHS employer take so long to resolve, research has found.
    Medics who have been accused of misconduct say the current system of investigating allegations is “brutal” and “humiliating” to go through and can feel “like a witch-hunt”.
    Three out of four doctors who had faced proceedings said the length of time it took to conclude them damaged their mental health and led to them suffering anxiety, stress and depression.
    Almost nine out of 10 (88%) said they were left feeling angry and frustrated by the disciplinary process. Four out of five were left feeling as if they were “guilty until proven innocent”, with some complaining that they were treated “like a criminal”.
    Half of the doctors who recounted their experience as part of the MPS’s study said they had been accused of wrongdoing after raising concerns about patient safety where they worked. That prompted concern that misconduct charges are used as part of a “culture of fear” in the NHS.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 6 November 2024
  14. Sam
    NHS maternity staff will take part in a mandatory training programme to improve patient safety after a damning report by the health regulator said that poor care and harm in childbirth was in danger of becoming “normalised”.
    Obstetricians, midwives and obstetric anaesthetists at nine maternity units across England will all have to do extra training from Monday under government plans to raise care standards for women and babies. The scheme will be rolled out to every maternity unit in the country if the pilots are successful.
    The move comes just weeks after a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report based on inspections of 131 maternity units exposed a slew of problems, adding to the sense of crisis that has engulfed a service responsible for the 600,000 women a year who give birth and their babies.
    The programme will teach maternity staff how to better identify signs a baby is showing distress during labour so they can act more quickly. It will also help staff deal with obstetric emergencies that occur when a baby’s head is lodged deep in the mother’s pelvis during a caesarean section.
    Gillian Merron, the minister for patient safety, women’s health and mental health, said: “This government is working with the NHS to urgently improve maternity care, giving staff the support they need to improve safety and ensure women’s voices are properly heard.
    “This is a critical step toward avoiding preventable brain injuries in babies, as we work to make sure all women and babies receive safe, personalised and compassionate care.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 7 October 2024
  15. Sam
    There are “no plans to publish” a much-anticipated NHS England review of diagnostic services that had been expected this month, a government source has told HSJ.
    The review on diagnostics and community diagnostic centres, a follow-up to Sir Mike Richards’ report in 2020, was due this month ahead of the budget on 30 October, senior figures familiar with the report said.
    The original report prompted ministers to pledge £2.3bn worth of funding which involved the development of over 160 CDCs – a key recommendation from the report. But cash for the programme runs out in March 2025.
    Diagnostic leaders had been hopeful the follow-up report, which was being overseen by NHSE, would provide fresh funding and focus for the CDCs programme.
    However, HSJ understands the review is now unlikely to be published in full and will instead be subsumed into the government’s “10-year health plan”.
    A government source told HSJ this week: “There are no plans to publish a second report into diagnostics by [Sir Mike].”
    “To develop the 10-year health plan we are going to listen to the public and the people who work in the NHS, because patients and staff must feel the difference in their daily lives. We will announce further details later this year.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 4 October 2024
  16. Sam
    Shortages of doctors mean the average GP in England has to care for 17% more patients than nine years ago, a BBC analysis shows.
    It means for every permanent GP there are more than 2,300 patients - a jump of nearly 350 since 2015, helping explain why access to general practice has been worsening and patient satisfaction declining.
    The analysis of NHS data also shows the areas struggling the most have list sizes exceeding 3,000 patients, nearly double those with the most doctors. Experts said the variation was "unwarranted" and put patients' health at risk.
    The government said it was developing plans to train more doctors and relieve some of the pressure by giving pharmacists more responsibilities.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 2 October 2024
  17. Sam
    A top NHS boss has called out a “predatory” surgeon who was sanctioned by regulators for sexually harassing colleagues and trainees.
    Amanda Pritchard, NHS England chief executive, has condemned the “appalling behaviour” of Oxford University Hospital-based surgeon Mr James Gilbert, who was found to have sexually harassed four female colleagues.
    She also announced the NHS is working on a national sexual misconduct policy which will provide workers with a route to report anonymous incidents and gain access to independent investigators.
    Mr Gilbert was sanctioned by a medical practitioners tribunal service (MPTS) panel this year with an eight-month suspension. Since then the General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates doctors in the UK, has launched an appeal against the MPTS decision, calling for a harsher sanction.
    In a tweet on Sunday night, Ms Pritchard quoted a story detailing Mr Gilbert’s wrongdoing and said: “Appalling predatory behaviour should never happen in our NHS – in settings that are supposed to be compassionate, caring and safe.
    “To put it simply, sexual predators should never be allowed to work in the NHS. People who treat our colleagues that way should not be allowed to treat patients.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 1 October 2024
  18. Sam
    A private healthcare provider has agreed to pay damages to a patient with learning disabilities after staff broke his arm, The Independent can reveal.
    Cygnet Health Care, one of the largest providers of mental health inpatient care in the UK, has settled a claim with the former patient of a hospital it now owns.
    Jamie Newcombe, a 29-year-old young autistic man with learning disabilities, took action against the healthcare giant after he allegedly suffered “significant physical and psychological harm” at Bostall House assessment and treatment unit in London.
    He claimed he had been “violently restrained by staff and pushed out into the hospital garden” in 2014, at the age of 19. At the time, the hospital was owned by another private company The Danshell Group.
    As a result of this restraint, he says he sustained a fracture in his right arm and staff allegedly left his injuries untreated for 24 hours.
    He said he suffered further physical assaults in December 2014 and January 2015, that he was subjected to “degrading treatment” such as personal care being ignored, and was denied access to hot running water for three weeks.
    Following his experience, his mother Julie Newcombe launched an autism and learning disability rights campaign group, called Rightful Lives, which now has hundreds of members.
    She told The Independent: “What happened to Jamie was horrific and is still happening to so many others 10 years later. I co-founded Rightful Lives 6 years ago to shine a light on the human rights of autistic people and people with learning disabilities. Yet the fact remains that if Jamie were to go into one of these units again, the same things could happen. That is our fear.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 2 October 2024
  19. Sam
    A study published in The Lancet Regional Health Europe has identified four key factors that together account for more than one-third of the inequalities in infant deaths between the most and least deprived areas of England.
    Researchers say targeted interventions to address these factors – teenage pregnancy, maternal depression, preterm birth and smoking during pregnancy – could go a significant way to reduce inequalities, although higher-level structural changes to address socioeconomic inequality will also be necessary.
    The UK currently ranks 10th out of 38 OECD countries for infant mortality (deaths in children under the age of one), with four deaths recorded per 1,000 live births.
    Children born to mothers who are poor, black or young are known to be at increased risk, but where children are born also matters: according to ONS data for 2022, the mortality rate for infants in the most deprived 10% of England was almost three times higher than for infants living in the least deprived 10%.
    “The inequality in infant mortality is at an alarming level,” said Dr Frederick Ho at the University of Glasgow’s School of Health, who led the study. “We also know that infant mortality is an indicator of more general effectiveness in the healthcare system. We wanted to understand the reasons for this inequality, as this could have policy implications for whether we could use the healthcare system to reduce or to eliminate it.”
    The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health Europe, found that infants in the most deprived areas had double the mortality rate of those in the least deprived areas during the study period, and identified four factors – preterm birth, smoking during pregnancy, teenage pregnancy, and maternal depression – which collectively accounted for 38% of this inequality.
  20. Sam
    Wes Streeting says he will not back down in his criticism of the NHS, after the BBC revealed there was growing unease in the service about the "broken" NHS messaging from government.
    England's health secretary told the Labour Party conference that not acknowledging the problems in the NHS would result in "killing it with kindness".
    His comments came after senior sources in the health service said they believe some of the claims have gone too far - and may result in patients being put off seeking help and causing lasting damage to staff morale.
    In recent weeks, the government has claimed cancer is a "death sentence" because of NHS failings, while maternity services "shame" the nation.
    Streeting told delegates in Liverpool: "I know the doctor's diagnosis can sometimes be hard to hear.
    "But if you don't have an accurate diagnosis, you won't provide the correct prescription.
    "And when you put protecting the reputation of the NHS above protecting patients, you're not helping the NHS, you're killing it with kindness.
    "I won't back down. The NHS is broken, but it's not beaten, and together we will turn it around," Mr Streeting said.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 25 September 2024
  21. Sam
    High street pharmacies are closing at such an alarming rate that it threatens the drive to use them instead of GPs to care for millions of people, the NHS’s patient champion warns today.
    A total of 436 community pharmacies in England shut permanently last year and there were also 13,863 temporary closures, which stopped patients from obtaining health advice and medication.
    What appears to be a growing trend of permanent closures is hitting rural areas, those with larger numbers of older people and deprived communities hardest, according to Healthwatch England.
    Its findings, which were based on figures supplied by NHS bodies, prompted fears that closures are leaving some parts of England as “pharmacy deserts” where patients struggle to access care.
    “Staff shortages, the key driver of permanent and temporary closures, call into doubt the potential of Pharmacy First, meaning people can’t get the advice, care and medications they need and when they need them”, said Louise Ansari, Healthwatch’s chief executive.
    Pharmacy First is the government’s drive to reduce the strain on overworked GPs through pharmacists treating what it hopes will be millions of patients a year for seven minor ailments such as a sore throat, earache, infected insect bite or sinusitis.
    “It’s clear that rising levels of closures are risking leaving some areas of the country as pharmacy deserts, with people having to travel much further to get access to vital services”, said Paul Rees, the chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association.
    “Community pharmacies act as the front door to the NHS. If people lose access to them it will force more patients into the eight o’clock scramble at their GP surgery, putting pressure on the rest of our NHS system.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 26 September 2024
  22. Sam
    Physician associates (PAs) have a role to play in the NHS, but doctors' concerns about how they are working must be taken seriously, the health and social care secretary Wes Streeting has said.
    Mr Streeting's comments come after the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) voted last week to oppose any role for PAs in general practice in a move that marked a change in position for the college.
    Responding to a question from GPonline about his views on the college's decision at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool on 23 September, Mr Streeting said: 'I think physician associates do have a role to play in a modern NHS and there are physician associates every day in our country providing great care and making a great contribution, not just to patients but to their colleagues.'
    He added: "Where I think we have a challenge is that legitimate concerns that have been expressed by doctors, both about [doctors being substituted for PAs] and patient safety, have been ignored by the previous government and in the process [doctors] have felt gaslit. 
    "That has fuelled quite a toxic debate particularly online that has led to a lot of physician associates feeling quite demoralised and doctors feeling unheard."
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: GP Online, 24 September 2024
  23. Sam
    The government will send in teams of clinical experts to 20 trusts to improve theatre productivity, the health and social care secretary has announced.
    High-intensity theatre (HIT) lists have been used by Guys and St Thomas’  Foundation Trust to significantly increase the number of operations carried out each day.
    An article in the journal Nature last year explained: ”This increase is achieved by meticulous planning and parallel processing of patient care on the day of surgery, aiming to minimise or eliminate turnaround time, minimise non-operative time and maximise operating time.” 
    Mr Streeting said the trusts would receive visits from the HIT teams but said they would be “in areas with the highest numbers of people off work sick.”
    The support will be led by the national Getting It Right First Time team and extend beyond HIT to include other measures such as reducing missed appointments, which are higher in deprived areas, and identifying local capacity in the private sector, NHSE said.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 25 September 2024
  24. Sam
    An NHS England chief has admitted the controversial ‘federated data platform’ will ‘not be that spectacular’ despite national leaders previously talking it up as ‘critical for the future of the NHS.’
    NHSE chief data and analytics officer Ming Tang said the new data platform, which is being rolled out to trusts across the country, will help staff manage logistical tasks but said the system is “not pretty”.
    NHSE wants trusts to adopt the FDP to bring together operational data currently stored in separate systems into “one safe and secure environment.” However, politicians and campaigners have raised concerns about privacy and data protection, particularly over the involvement of US firm Palantir, which is leading the consortium to deliver the FDP.
    Speaking at the Health Excellence Through Technology conference on Tuesday (24 September), Ms Tang said “the most important thing… is that we deliver products that work for people, not the products that we want to push.
    “I’ve always said [FDP is] not pretty, it’s not that spectacular. But what we’re really doing is helping people do their workflow, helping nurses on the ward so they don’t have to have bits of paper in their pockets, [helping] multidisciplinary teams so they’re not running around chasing emails.
    “So, [it’s] taking away some of those logistical activities so they can focus on the frontline and on the patients.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 26 September 2024
  25. Sam
    One in four black men in the UK have been refused a prostate cancer test by their GP despite having twice the risk of developing the disease than the overall adult male population, a report has found.
    A PSA test measures the level of the protein prostate-specific antigen in the blood, and may be able to detect prostate cancer in its early stages.
    But according to a survey conducted by Prostate Cancer Research of 2,000 black men in the UK, almost a quarter (24%) attempting to get tested in the past year reported being obstructed by a GP.
    The survey also found a quarter (25%) believed discrimination prevented them from being tested for prostate cancer, while just under a half (47%) thought they would receive the same level of care from the NHS as their white counterparts.
    Oliver Kemp, the chief executive of Prostate Cancer Research, said: “These black and white figures are shocking, and an important call to action. It shouldn’t be the community alone who has to fix this – just as we have seen members of the community come together around our Real Talk campaign, we are calling on government, the NHS, and other partners to come together and work with us to close this health gap.
    “It is vital we raise awareness not only among the community, but also among healthcare professionals and policymakers. We are calling on GPs to be mindful of black men’s greater risk when considering PSA testing, and on government to introduce screening for men in high risk groups – our data shows that 82% of black men would be willing to take part in such a programme, if it were rolled out. It is staggering to think of how many lives could be saved.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 26 September 2024
    Further reading on the hub:
    Overcoming the barriers to engaging with prostate cancer

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