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Found 454 results
  1. News Article
    Women are a third less likely to receive lifesaving treatment for heart attacks due to sexism in medicine, research shows. Research led by the University of Leeds and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) pooled NHS data from previous studies looking at common heart conditions over the past two decades. It investigated how care varied according to age and sex, finding that women were significantly less likely to receive treatment for heart attacks and heart failure. Following the most severe type of heart attack — a Stemi — women were one third less likely to receive a potentially lifesaving diagnostic procedure called a coronary angiogram. Women were significantly more likely to die after being admitted to hospital with a severe heart attack. They were also less likely to be prescribed preventative drugs that can help to protect against future heart attacks, such as statins or beta-blockers. Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the BHF and a consultant cardiologist said: “This review adds to existing evidence showing that the odds are stacked against women when it comes to their heart care. Deep-rooted inequalities mean women are underdiagnosed, undertreated, and underserved by today’s healthcare system." “The underrepresentation of women in research could jeopardise the effectiveness of new tests and treatment, posing a threat to women’s health in the long-term,” she added. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 5 October 2023
  2. Content Article
    Dementia remains the biggest killer in the UK and is on track to be the nation’s most expensive health condition by 2030. This report by the charity Alzheimer's Research UK sets out a series of calls for party leaders ahead of the next general election, all of which are underpinned by an urgent recommendation for greater investment in dementia research.
  3. News Article
    The government has rejected an urgent call by MPs to bring in a new licensing regime for non-surgical procedures such as Botox injections, chemical peels, microdermabrasion and non-surgical laser interventions. Ministers also rejected recommendations by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee to make dermal fillers available as prescription only substances—as Botox is—and to bring in specific standards for premises that provide non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The government also rejected several recommendations aimed at tackling obesity—including a dedicated eating disorder strategy, annual health and wellbeing checks for every child and young person, and restrictions on buy-one-get-one free deals for foods and drinks high in fat, salt, or sugar. Read full story Source: BMJ, 2 February 2023
  4. News Article
    A high-profile government climbdown which legalised a type of cannabis medicine on the NHS five years ago misled patients, campaigners say. It was thought the law change would mean the unlicensed drug, which treats a range of conditions, could be freely prescribed by specialist doctors. But fewer than five NHS patients have been given the medicine, leaving others to either pay privately or miss out. The government says safety needs to be proven before a wider rollout. Legalisation of whole-cannabis medicine was hailed as a breakthrough for patients - giving either NHS or private specialist doctors the option to prescribe it if they believed their patients would benefit. But patients are being turned away, say campaigners, because doctors often do not know about the medicine, which is not on NHS trusts' approved lists. Some specialists who do know about it say there is insufficient evidence of the drug's safety and benefits to support prescribing. Senior paediatric consultant Dr David McCormick, from King's College Hospital in London, says it was "disingenuous" of the government to suggest in 2018 that NHS prescribing was ready to take place. "Parents were clamouring at our door, or phoning all the time, as they believed we were able to prescribe and that was not the case. "The message went out, 'doctors can now prescribe cannabis products' and that put us in a difficult position, because in truth we need to apply for that to be approved by NHS England." Read full story Source: BBC News, 13 September 2023
  5. Content Article
    Demand for surgical and non-surgical cosmetic treatments has spiralled in the past ten years among men and women, especially young women in the 18-34 age group, thanks to social media, reality TV and celebrity endorsements. A corresponding increase in ‘botched’ procedures is putting pressure on the NHS to solve problems created by unregistered, unqualified practitioners.  Official advice is to check your practitioner is qualified and has appropriate insurance. This makes sense but it’s not always easy to know where to look. That’s why the Professional Standards Authority have done the hard work for you. The Check a Practitioner service exists for situations like these. You can check if a practitioner is regulated by law or belongs to a reputable Accredited Register.
  6. News Article
    Most women going through menopause are not receiving effective treatment for their symptoms, in part because of widespread misinformation, according to new research. A comprehensive literature review led by Prof Susan Davis from Monash University in Australia calls for more personalised treatment plans that address the greatly varying physical and mental symptoms of menopause. After adverse affects were reported from the landmark 2002 Women’s Health Initiative study into menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), Davis said there was a blanket fear that “hormones are dangerous” and as a result, “menopause [treatment] just went off the radar”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 6 September 2023
  7. Content Article
    This review from Davis et al. summarises the biology and consequences of menopause, the role of supportive care, and the menopause-specific therapeutic options available to women.
  8. News Article
    Health officials are calling for urgent intervention from the government to meet the steep surge in demand for occupational therapy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to healthcare professionals from both the NHS and the private care system, demand for occupational-therapy-led rehabilitation services in Britain has increased by a staggering 82 per cent over the past six months alone. Swelling pressure on already “overloaded” rehabilitation services has stirred up stark warnings from members of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT), who say the level of demand for the service they provide “isn’t sustainable” as there isn’t a large enough workforce to meet the need. A revealing survey carried out by the college has raised grave questions about the prospect of providing timely rehabilitation for people recovering from short and long-term illnesses who need urgent support to enable them to carry out their daily activities. The survey of of 550 occupational therapists working in the UK found that 84 per cent are now supporting people whose needs have become more complex because of delays in treatment brought about by the pandemic. As a result of this, coupled with a wider increase in the number of people requiring help, 71 per cent of the RCOT’s respondents felt there were not enough occupational therapists to meet the demand. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Independent, 22 May 2022
  9. News Article
    More than one in five patients at some hospitals are leaving accident and emergency departments before completing treatment, and in some cases before being seen for assessment at all, with the rate across England trebling since before the pandemic. Experts told the Observer that the increase was probably driven by a combination of long A&E waiting times and by difficulties accessing NHS facilities such as GPs, community health services and NHS 111. The figures apply to patients who left A&E before an initial assessment; after an assessment but before treatment started; or before treatment was completed. They include patients who left to find treatment elsewhere. David Maguire, a senior analyst with the King’s Fund health thinktank, linked the rise to patients having difficulty accessing other parts of the NHS and going to A&E instead. “We’re probably talking about things that won’t require an admission, but it’s important that you get seen by someone,” he said. “So for example, somebody’s got a chest pain, somebody’s got some sort of adverse indication that you would want to seek attention for. It’s a perfectly rational thing to do. But it’s a struggle to access at other points [in the NHS], so you default towards A&E.” He added that staff shortages and social care capacity were also contributing factors. “I think it’s a lot of the NHS not functioning properly. Pre-pandemic, there was a certain amount of flex in the system – even with the problems that we were seeing around performance – that meant you could come to A&E with some of these issues. That flex in the system has gone – the capacity has been absorbed by other issues.” Read full story Source: The Observer, 21 May 2022
  10. News Article
    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has issued an unprecedented implementation statement1 setting out the practical steps needed for its updated guideline on the diagnosis and management of myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy)/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)2 to be implemented by the NHS. Such statements are only issued when a guideline is expected to have a “substantial” impact on NHS resources, and this is thought to be the first. It outlines the additional infrastructure and training that will be needed in both secondary and primary care to ensure that the updated ME/CFS guideline, published in October 2021, can be implemented. The statement is necessary because the 2021 guideline completely reversed the original 2007 guideline recommendations that people with mild or moderate ME/CFS be treated with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and graded exercise therapy (GET). Instead the guideline recommends that any physical activity or exercise programmes should only be considered for people with ME/CFS in specific circumstances and should begin by establishing the person’s physical activity capability at a level that does not worsen their symptoms. It also says a physical activity or exercise programme should only be offered on the basis that it is delivered or overseen by a physiotherapist in an ME/CFS specialist team and is regularly reviewed. Although cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has sometimes been assumed to be a cure for ME/CFS, the guideline recommends it should only be offered to support people who live with ME/CFS to manage their symptoms, improve their functioning and reduce the distress associated with having a chronic illness. Read full story Source: BMJ, 16 May 2022
  11. News Article
    Relentless. Unbearable. Overwhelming. These are just some of the words used by the thousands of people who have revealed their battle with long-term, persistent pain. An exclusive survey of over 4,000 adults aged 16-75 for BBC News, carried out by research company Ipsos, suggests that a quarter of people in the UK are living with chronic pain - an often hidden and misunderstood condition. And pain specialists warn the health service is not set up to deal with such complex conditions. They say the treatments on offer are decades behind the science, leaving millions of patients without the support they need to manage their pain. Jen Proudler says chronic pain has left her grieving for "the person she was". It started four years ago with sporadic back pain. After several incorrect diagnoses, Jen was eventually told by a neurosurgeon that she had a "pretty massive" far lateral disc herniation in her spine. The pain has now spread around her body - Jen has burning pins and needles sensations down her leg, as well as sharp pain, as if being cut by a razor. Sometimes it's so bad, she can't even bear any fabric to touch it. "Our nervous system becomes more and more protective, it feels danger and sends warning signals - and those warning signals contribute to the pain," explains Dr Chris Barker, clinical director of an NHS community pain service in Ainsdale, Merseyside. He says such pain can be hard to diagnose, and the difficulty of getting the correct treatment can make things worse. "Incorrect diagnoses, delayed diagnoses, poor experiences in and out of the health system, not being believed - all of these can contribute to a more intense experience of pain." Dr Barker says the NHS is not set up to deal with such a complex condition, despite the fact it is so common. "The prevalence of pain is huge. It dwarfs most other conditions." Read full story Source: BBC News, 11 May 2022 Further reading: Is pain a patient safety issue? Blog from Patient Safety Learning
  12. News Article
    Hundreds of severely mentally ill prisoners in urgent need of hospital treatment are being left in prison cells due to bed shortages in secure NHS psychiatric units, an investigation has discovered. Freedom of information (FoI) responses from 22 NHS trusts reveal for the first time that just over half of the 5,403 prisoners in England assessed by prison-based psychiatrists to require hospitalisation were not transferred between 2016 and 2021 – an 81% increase on the number of prisoners denied a transfer in the previous five years. In some areas, the majority of mentally ill prisoners were not admitted, which could be the result of long delays or a trust refusing to take certain patients. Norfolk and Suffolk NHS foundation trust, which was rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission last month, only admitted 16 of 41 prisoners referred in 2021. Essex Partnership University NHS foundation trust only admitted 24 of 57 prisoners referred in 2021. Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS foundation trust only accepted 18 of the 38 prisoners referred in 2021. Peter Dawson, the director of the Prison Reform Trust, said the figures unearthed by the investigation suggested hundreds of very ill people were being denied the treatment they needed. “It is shocking that a growing number of people are not getting the transfer to hospital that clinicians say is essential for their mental health,” he said. “Instead they are languishing in often overcrowded and dilapidated prisons. It is cruel and guarantees people will leave prison in a worse state than when they came in, with every likelihood that the behaviour that originally led to their arrest and conviction will continue.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 10 May 2022
  13. News Article
    Remdesivir has no significant effect on patients with Covid-19 who are already being ventilated but has a small effect against death or progression to ventilation among other patients admitted to hospital, the World Health Organization’s Solidarity trial has found. This appears to be a change from findings reported in February 2021, when preliminary trial data suggested that remdesivir “had little or no effect on patients admitted to hospital with Covid-19.” The updated results, published in the Lancet, reported that overall 14.5% of patients assigned to remdesivir died compared with 15.6% assigned to the control group. The release of these results has prompted questions about why it has taken so long to publish these data, especially considering WHO’s recommendation against the use of remdesivir in patients with Covid-19. Read full story Source: BMJ, 4 May 2022
  14. News Article
    A record 2.7 million people were referred for cancer checks in the last year, NHS England has said. It comes after figures suggested the Covid pandemic saw numbers dramatically decline in 2020. But at least 30,000 people are still waiting to start treatment. Charities have welcomed the increase in referrals but warned of the "devastating" impact the pandemic has had on cancer care. Referrals for suspected cancer remain at about 16% higher than pre-pandemic levels and rose overall from 2.4 million to 2,65m in the past 12 months. Dame Cally Palmer, national cancer director for NHS England, said there were still 30,000 people who had not started treatment due to the pandemic but that the new figures suggested some progress. She said: "We are going further and faster than ever before in our ambitions to diagnose more cancers at an earlier stage so that we can save more lives." It is "vital that we keep these referral rates high", she added. Read full story Source: BBC News, 2 May 2022
  15. News Article
    Analysis of thousands of tumours has unveiled a treasure trove of clues about the causes of cancer, representing a significant step towards the personalisation of treatment, a study suggests. Researchers say that for the first time it is possible to detect patterns – called mutational signatures – in the DNA of cancers. These provide clues including about whether a patient has had past exposure to environmental causes of cancer such as smoking or UV light, for example. This is important as these signatures allow doctors to look at each patient’s tumour and match it to specific treatments and medications. Dr Andrea Degasperi, research associate at the University of Cambridge and first author, said: “Whole genome sequencing gives us a total picture of all the mutations that have contributed to each person’s cancer. “With thousands of mutations per cancer, we have unprecedented power to look for commonalities and differences across NHS patients, and in doing so we uncovered 58 new mutational signatures and broadened our knowledge of cancer.” The findings are now being incorporated into the NHS as researchers and clinicians now have the use of a digital tool called FitMS that will help them identify the mutational signature and potentially inform cancer management more effectively. Read full story Source: The Independent, 21 April 2022 You may also be interested to read hub blog: Genetic profiling and precision medicine – the future of cancer treatment
  16. News Article
    It has long been clear that Black Americans have experienced high rates of coronavirus infection, hospitalisation and death throughout the pandemic. But those factors are now leading experts to sound the alarm about what will may come next: a prevalence of Long Covid in the Black community and a lack of access to treatment. Long Covid — with chronic symptoms like fatigue, cognitive problems and others that linger for months after an acute coronavirus infection has cleared up — has perplexed researchers, and many are working hard to find a treatment for people experiencing it. But health experts warn that crucial data is missing: Black Americans have not been sufficiently included in Long-Covid trials, treatment programmes and registries, according to the authors of a new report released on Tuesday. “We expect there are going to be greater barriers to access the resources and services available for Long Covid,” said one of the authors, Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, who is the director of Yale University’s health equity office and a former chair of President Biden’s health equity task force. “The pandemic isn’t over, it isn’t over for anyone,” Dr. Nunez-Smith said. “But the reality is, it’s certainly not over in Black America.” In the first three months of the pandemic, the average weekly case rate per 100,000 Black Americans was 36.2, compared with 12.5 for white Americans, the authors write. The Black hospitalisation rate was 12.6 per 100,000 people, compared with 4 per 100,000 for white people, and the death rate was also higher: 3.6 per 100,000 compared with 1.8 per 100,000. “The severity of Covid-19 among Black Americans was the predictable result of structural and societal realities, not differences in genetic predisposition.” "Many Black Americans who contracted the coronavirus experienced serious illness because of pre-existing conditions like obesity, hypertension and chronic kidney disease, which themselves were often the result of “differential access to high-quality care and health promoting resources,” the report says. Read full story (paywalled) Source: New York Times, 29 March 2022
  17. News Article
    A vaccine has been used to free a man who was trapped at home by a Covid infection that lasted for more than seven months. It is the first time that a vaccine has been used to "treat" Covid rather than "prevent" it. Ian Lester, 37, has a weakened immune system due to Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, and was unable to defeat the virus on its own. He says he became a prisoner in his home in Caerphilly, Wales, as he isolated for months on end. He shielded during the first wave of Covid, but coronavirus eventually found him in December 2020. He had one of the classic symptoms - a slight loss of sense of taste and smell - which cleared up within a month. For most of us that would be the end of it, but Ian's Covid journey was only just beginning. His doctors wanted him to keep on testing because his weakened immune system meant there was a risk he could be contagious for longer than normal. But month after month, test after test came back positive. Ian had to give up work. Scientists and doctors were monitoring the battle between the virus and Ian's immune system at Cardiff University and at the Immunodeficiency Centre for Wales in the University Hospital of Wales. The analysis showed Ian had a long-term infection, it was not just "dead virus" being detected, and his symptoms were not long-Covid. Prof Stephen Jolles, clinical lead at the Immunodeficiency Centre, said: "This infection was burbling along, but with his [weakened] immune system it was just not enough to kick off a response sufficient to clear it. "So the vaccine really made a huge difference, in antibodies and T-cells, and utilised and squeezed every last drop out of what his immune system could do." Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 March 2022
  18. News Article
    The only NHS gender identity service for children in England and Wales is under unsustainable pressure as the demand for the service outstrips capacity, a review has found. The interim report of the Cass Review, commissioned by NHS England in 2020, recommends that a network of regional hubs be created to provide care and support to young people with gender incongruence or dysphoria, arguing their care is “everyone’s business”. Led by the paediatrician Hilary Cass, the interim report explains that the significant rise in referrals to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust in London has resulted in overwhelmed staff and waiting lists of up to two years that leave young people “at considerable risk” of distress and deteriorating mental health. Last spring, the Care Quality Commission demanded monthly updates on numbers on waiting lists and actions to reduce them in a highly critical report on GIDS. Differing views and lack of open discussion about the nature of gender incongruence in childhood and adolescence – and whether transition is always the best option – means that patients can experience a “clinician lottery”, says the new review, which carried out extensive interviews with professionals and those with lived experience. It notes that the clinical approach used by GIDS “has not been subjected to some of the usual control measures” typically applied with new treatments. Another significant issue raised with the review team was that of “diagnostic overshadowing”, whereby once a young person is identified as having gender-related distress, other complex needs – such as neurodiversity or a mental health problem that would normally be managed by local services – can be overlooked. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 10 March 2022
  19. News Article
    Patients whose operations have been delayed will be able to shop online for hospitals with the shortest waiting times in the public and private sector, under plans being announced by the health secretary this week reports The Times. Sajid Javid will unveil a three-point plan to transform the NHS as part of efforts to tackle a record backlog of more than six million people. Under the proposals, patients referred for hospital care will be able to go online to look up the waiting time at their local hospital, and compare it with times at any hospital in the country, including those in the private sector. The website will allow patients to book their treatment at any unit in the country and there are plans to make the service available on the NHS app. The proposals will be set out in a speech on Tuesday. Javid said: “The NHS constitution says already that you as a patient have the right to ask for an alternative provider for your treatment." However, is this just a distraction? writes Roy Lilley in his latest newsletter. Shopping on-line for treatment depends on getting a website organised that can collect real-time data from all Trusts, for every specialty, that can take into account staffing, rota-gaps and clinical priorities. Software might be able to cope but has the potential to throw the NHS into chaos. People arriving from ‘out of area’ will need video-out-patient consultations, some way of doing blood, imaging and other tests. And post-op? The same again for out-patients and physio, OT, aids, adaptations, pharmacy and social care support... ... to say nothing of the stress on patients and their families. None of this is impossible but the NHS is nowhere near geared up for it. Sources: The Times, 6 March 2022 (paywalled) Roy Lilley's newsletter, 7 March 2022
  20. News Article
    Two leading medical organisations have told the BBC that GPs are not getting the right support to treat eating disorders. The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the British Medical Association (BMA) say doctors need more time with patients and more specialist units. Beat Eating Disorders asked nearly 1,700 people about their experience of trying to get a diagnosis from their GP. Over 92% asked thought their GP needed more training with eating disorders. Out of those questioned, 69% also said they felt their GP didn't know how to help them. The survey has been released to coincide with Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Jess Griffiths had an eating disorder between the ages of 11 and 21 and, now in full recovery, she works as a consultant to NHS England and with her local eating disorder service in Dorset. She tells the BBC that when she first went to her GP to try to get help, she wasn't entirely transparent about what she was struggling with. "I was presenting at a low weight and not having periods, so the GP put me on the pill, but I went there hoping he would ask me the questions [about a potential eating disorder]" she says. "But it's really hard for people with eating disorders to - in a really pressurised situation with a doctor - say how they really feel." Dr Richard Van Mellaerts is part of the BMA's GP committee and has told the BBC the results of the survey are "deeply saddening". "People with eating disorders should never feel that GPs are a barrier to accessing care, so it is vital that medical education and training supports doctors to identify eating disorders and support their treatment," he says. But he adds that there is "poor provision of specialist care", which has left GPs "frustrated up and down the country". Read full story Source: BBC News, 3 March 2022 Read hub blog from Dr Joanna Silver on the challenges the pandemic has brought to patients with eating disorders
  21. News Article
    Sickle cell patients have begun receiving the first new treatment for the blood disorder in over 20 years. The inherited condition can cause severe pain and organ failure, often requiring hospital admissions. Crizanlizumab is given as a monthly infusion and is thought to cut visits to A&E by 40%. Loury Mooruth, 62, received the treatment at Birmingham City Hospital, having suffered repeated periods of intense pain for decades. During a crisis, patients often need powerful opioid painkillers but Loury, like many others, has faced suspicion when at A&E. "You know the protocol when you go in, which needles and so on. They think straight away you are a drug addict - they don't believe you," she says. She has refused to go to hospital during a crisis for the past two years because of her negative experiences. A report from MPs last year found "serious failings" in sickle cell care with some evidence of discrimination against patients. Dr Shivan Pancham, a consultant haematologist at Birmingham City Hospital, told the BBC: "Our patients often find the experience in emergency departments challenging with a lack of understanding of the severity of pain. "It is hoped with these new therapies if we reduce the likelihood of attending emergency departments, ultimately this will be much better for the patients." Read full story Source: BBC News, 24 February 2022
  22. News Article
    The government of Mexico City handed out nearly 200 000 “ivermectin based kits” last year to people who had tested positive for Covid-19, without telling them they were subjects in an experiment on the drug’s effectiveness. The results of that experiment were then written up by public officials in an article placed on popular US preprint server SocArXiv. It became one of site’s most viewed articles, claiming that ivermectin had reduced hospital admissions by 52-76%. But those officials have been under fire at home since SocArXiv withdrew the paper earlier this month, calling it “either very poor quality or else deliberately false and misleading.” Opposition deputies in Mexico City’s Congress demanded hearings and said they would bring legal action against the paper’s lead author, José Merino, head of the city’s Digital Agency for Public Innovation. Explaining the decision to withdraw the article—the first to be taken down by SocArXiv—the site’s steering committee wrote that it had responded “to a community groundswell beseeching us to act” in order “to prevent the paper from causing additional harm.” The committee wrote, “The paper is spreading misinformation, promoting an unproved medical treatment in the midst of a global pandemic. The paper is part of, and justification for, a government programme that unethically dispenses (or did dispense) unproven medication apparently without proper consent or appropriate ethical protections.” Read full story Source: BMJ, 22 February 2022
  23. News Article
    Hundreds of migrants have declined NHS treatment after being presented with upfront charges over the past two years, amid complaints the government’s “hostile environment” on immigration remains firmly in place. Data compiled by the Observer under the Freedom of Information Act shows that, since January 2021, 3,545 patients across 68 hospital trusts in England have been told they must pay upfront charges totalling £7.1m. Of those, 905 patients across 58 trusts did not proceed with treatment. NHS trusts in England have been required to seek advance payment before providing elective care to certain migrants since October 2017. It covers overseas visitors and migrants ruled ineligible for free healthcare, such as failed asylum seekers and those who have overstayed their visa. The policy is not supposed to cover urgent or “immediately necessary” treatment. However, there have been multiple cases of people wrongly denied treatment. Dr Laura-Jane Smith, a consultant respiratory physician and member of the campaign group Medact, said: “I had a patient we diagnosed as an emergency with lung cancer but they were told they would be charged upfront for treatment and then never returned for a follow-up. This was someone who had been in the country for years but who did not have the right official migration status. A cancer diagnosis is devastating. To then be abandoned by the health service is inhumane.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 August 2023
  24. News Article
    Thousands of people referred for urgent cancer checks every month are set to be diagnosed and treated sooner, as the NHS reforms its cancer standards to reflect what matters most to patients and to align with modern clinical practice. Developed by clinical experts and supported by leading cancer charities, there will be three cancer standards, which combine all of the previous standards and cover additional patients: the 28-Day Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) which means patients with suspected cancer who are referred for urgent cancer checks from a GP, screening programme or other route should be diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days. the 62-day referral to treatment standard which means patients who have been referred for suspected cancer from any source and go on to receive a diagnosis should start treatment within 62 days of their referral. the 31-day decision to treat to treatment standard which means patients who have a cancer diagnosis, and who have had a decision made on their first or subsequent treatment, should then start that treatment within 31 days. GPs will still refer people with suspected cancer in the same way, but the focus will rightly be on getting people diagnosed or cancer ruled out within 28 days, rather than simply getting a first appointment. The three agreed standards will come into effect from October. Read full story Source: NHS England, 17 August 2023
  25. News Article
    Despite regular MRI scans at the Royal Preston Hospital showing that the tumour was growing, May Ashford was not offered surgery until five years later. A woman died unnecessarily after doctors failed to operate soon enough on a growing brain tumour, according to the health complaints service. May Ashford, from Blackpool, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2010 after experiencing headaches and seizures. Despite regular MRI scans at the Royal Preston Hospital showing that the tumour was growing, she was not offered surgery until five years later. An investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) said the treatment was too late as medical staff had failed to monitor the scan results properly. Medical experts said Mrs Ashford should have been operated on at least three years earlier, before the tumour had time to grow and affect the surrounding area of the brain. She tragically died aged 71 from a stroke following surgery. Link to full article here
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