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  1. Content Article
    Inpatient mental health services in the UK are under intense scrutiny and increasing pressure. Staff shortages, patient safety concerns, and outdated environments are just some of the issues drawing media and political attention. There’s widespread agreement that improvements are needed, but the question is: where do we begin? This HSJ article highlights five shifts that are needed to help inpatient mental health services better support the people they serve.
  2. News Article
    When Tassie Weaver went into labour at full term, she thought she was hours away from holding her first child. But by the time she was giving birth, she knew her son had died. Doctors had previously told Tassie to call her local maternity unit immediately, she says, as she was considered high risk and needed monitoring, due to high blood pressure and concerns about the baby's growth. But a midwife told her to stay at home. Three hours later she called again, worried because now she couldn't feel her baby moving. Again, she was told to stay at home, the same midwife saying that this was normal because women can be too distracted by their contractions to feel anything else. "I was treated as just a kind of hysterical woman in pain who doesn't know what's going on because it's their first pregnancy," the 39-year-old tells us. When she called a third time, a different midwife told her to come to hospital, but when she arrived it was too late. His heart had stopped beating. Tassie and her husband John believe Baxter's stillbirth at the Leeds General Infirmary (LGI), four years ago, could have been prevented - and a review by the trust identified care issues "likely to have made a difference to the outcome". The couple are among 47 new families who have contacted the BBC with concerns about inadequate maternity care at Leeds Teaching Hospitals (LTH) NHS Trust between 2017 and 2024. As well as the new families, three new whistleblowers - two who still work for the trust - have shared concerns about the standard of care at its two maternity units - at the LGI and St James' University Hospital. This is in addition to the two we spoke to in the initial BBC investigation. Read full story Source: BBC News, 17 June 2025
  3. News Article
    Dozens of trusts have been hit with financial penalties after regulators questioned their claims to be compliant with maternity safety standards. The maternity incentive scheme, run by NHS Resolution, gives trusts “refunds” on their payments to its clinical negligence scheme if they meet 10 safety-related criteria, which trust boards must declare against each year. The 10 requirements include appropriate staffing, reviewing deaths using a national tool, and board oversight of maternity services. However, NHS Resolution can investigate if concerns are raised — for example in a Care Quality Commission inspection — and these conflict with the trust’s submission. The payments to trusts can then be withdrawn, or withheld if they have not already been paid. HSJ analysis of data shared by NHS Resolution found 24 trusts had to make one or more repayments in the first four years of the scheme, which started in 2018 and was relaunched after the pandemic. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 17 June 2025
  4. News Article
    The upcoming 10-Year Health Plan is set to propose the introduction of “virtual hospitals” based on patients directly contacting consultants on an Uber-style platform, HSJ has been told. Senior sources have indicated the proposal will involve a major overhaul and expansion of the existing “advice and guidance” model, whereby GPs can seek advice from a consultant before referring a patient to hospital, in the hope of finding an alternative. Described by one well-placed official as “Uber for consultants”, the new proposal would create a system for GPs and individual patients to directly seek advice from any consultants, including those outside their home area, who make themselves available. It is being described as “virtual hospitals” or “virtual clinics”. Speaking at a session hosted by HSJ at NHS ConfedExpo this week, NHS England chair Penny Dash described a similar model which she said was “in the foothills” of development and could reap large benefits. She said there should be a “much easier way” of GPs getting advice “from anywhere in the country” to help divert a patient from secondary care. Dr Dash said: “It could be, for example, a model whereby you put in your question, let’s initially say as a GP or a practice nurse, it goes into a central repository as it were, and you have a team of [consultants] who are available for that time who are looking at it and responding to it. “It doesn’t have to be the [consultant] in your local district general hospital, it could be anyone anywhere in the country.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 13 June 2025
  5. News Article
    NHS England has confirmed plans to introduce a mechanism to allow private finance investment into health service infrastructure within months. Sir Jim Mackey confirmed today he wanted government to “introduce an off–balance sheet capital investment mechanism”. It is part of a “100 day plan” for his first few months as NHSE CEO, published today. HSJ understands discussions between NHSE and the Treasury over how this would be used and what form it would take are ongoing. Government is due to publish a new infrastructure strategy in coming weeks; whole 10 Year Health Plan drafts have included proposals for more social investment. A move to revive off-balance sheet capital would pave the way for private investment to be once again used to build NHS hospitals, after the previous Labour government used private finance initiatives to invest widely in health service buildings in the late 1990s and 2000s. Under the arrangements, the private sector builds and maintains an asset in exchange for annual payments from the public sector over the course of the contract. Because the private sector bore the up-front construction costs, this did not count as government borrowing. However the model was criticised heavily over value for money concerns, and was banned by former chancellor Philip Hammond in 2018. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 11 June 2025
  6. Content Article
    A year after the Infected Blood Inquiry’s final report, serious transfusion risks persist. Trusts must act now to improve safety, reduce waste, and address inequality, warns Cheng Hock Toh in this HSJ article. In May 2024, the UK Infected Blood Inquiry (IBI) published its final report into the devastating failures that led to approximately 30,000 people in the UK being infected with HIV or hepatitis C through transfused blood and blood products. This tragedy has so far claimed more than 3,000 lives. One year on, the UK government has formally accepted all 12 of the report’s recommendations, either in full or in principle. Although rigorous testing has made blood itself safer, serious risks around transfusion practice remain. The government rightly acknowledges that more must be done to prevent future harm. There are already troubling signs, and trusts and commissioners must act urgently to assess and improve the quality, safety, and equity of blood transfusion care across the system.
  7. News Article
    A computer file containing the details of cases linked to the NHS’s largest maternity scandal was “intentionally” and “maliciously” deleted, a police investigation has found. Nottinghamshire Police launched a probe earlier this year after records held by Nottinghamshire University Hospitals Foundation Trust (NUH) and linked to the alleged maternity failings were temporarily lost. The data was later recovered and 300 more cases are expected to be added to the inquiry into the scandal after a discrepancy was noted by a coroner. NUH is currently being investigated for potential corporate manslaughter after The Independent revealed babies had died or suffered serious injuries at its maternity units. The investigation into the deleted hospital data is not related to the corporate manslaughter probe. The trust is also the subject of an inquiry led by top midwife Donna Ockenden, who is investigating the cases of 2,400 families who experienced maternity care at the trust, including deaths and injuries. Read full story Source: The Independent, 10 June 2025
  8. Content Article
    Few areas of health policy have been untouched by the NHS structural turbulence of recent months, not least “place” and “neighbourhood” working. On the plus side, these parts of the system are at least used to performing without a script.  London, for example, is pushing ahead with its own ambitious plan to explore the practicalities of implementing neighbourhood health across the city. Last week a “simulation” event trialling the plan for the capital was held. 100 participants acted out nine months of how the model might work in just a day and a half.  In London, the 30-odd boroughs act as “places” within five integrated care boards. For each place, an “integrator” organisation is to be selected. The borough-level integrators could be trusts, councils, primary care providers, or even a partnership of several. They will host the functions needed to bring separate neighbourhood services and providers together, under the London NH vision. Would-be integrators were represented in London’s simulation, alongside acutes, community services, primary care, the London Ambulance Service, place leaders, voluntary services and residents representing a wide range of patient groups with complex needs.  The simulation session was encouraging overall. But the growing pains of its first few hours also served as a reminder of what could go amiss in the real world. 
  9. Content Article
    When big problems in the NHS are highlighted by comparing it to other organisations, the service often reacts in a hostile and dismissive manner. But these complaints usually completely miss the point of the comparison. Recently Diane Coyle suggested the NHS could learn from the way a Formula 1 racing team operates, but it was met with unwarranted hostile reaction by some commentators. In this HSJ article, Steve Black explores how resistance to outside comparisons hides deep flaws in NHS systems, priorities, and data use.
  10. News Article
    A woman whose wait for a diagnosis of a lesser known eating disorder left her feeling like a "problem that cannot be solved" has called for reform of how the condition is treated by Northern Ireland's health service. Sinead Quinn, from Londonderry, said binge eating compulsions had made her "a prisoner in her own home, afraid of food and afraid of herself". Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is not currently treated by eating disorder services in Northern Ireland - patients are instead referred to general mental health services. The Department of Health said regional adult eating disorder services were commissioned to treat anorexia, bulimia and atypical presentations of these conditions. BED is the second most common eating disorder in the UK, after atypical eating disorders, according to UK health assessment body NICE, external. The Department of Health said it did not collate data on how many people in Northern Ireland are living with BED. It also said there was no current review of the way the condition is treated. Experts say specialist care within the health service is urgently needed to help people get a formal diagnosis and recover from BED. Prof Laura McGowan, from the Centre for Public Health at Queen's University, hopes the recently announced roll-out of a regional obesity management service for Northern Ireland would include screening of eating disorders like BED. "BED is simply not widely recognised and the services for it not widely commissioned," she said. "For BED patients, especially those living with obesity, there is such an unmet need." Read full story Source: BBC News, 5 June 2025
  11. News Article
    The ‘inability or unwillingness’ of some NHS and social care providers to work together has contributed to an ‘unimaginable’ deterioration in emergency care performance, according to NHS England The claim is made in the urgent care recovery plan for 2025-26, released by NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care. The plan includes a new target to reduce 12-hour accident and emergency waits and pledges to invest £370m of capital funding in improving urgent care and mental health facilities. The plan said, “Each part of the system has responsibility for improving urgent and emergency care performance. However, blame shunting has become a feature in some poorly performing systems and can no longer be tolerated." National urgent care director Sarah-Jane Marsh told HSJ that “the duty to collaborate and work together and do the best for patients is on all trust boards, and it shouldn’t rely on some overseer to make sure that happens. It’s a fundamental part of being a leader”. Trusts will be told to ensure the proportion of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission, transfer or discharge from A&E remains less than 10%. The 45-minute “maximum” ambulance handover time will become mandatory across all trusts ahead of winter, according to the plan. Chief executive of the College of Paramedics, Tracy Nicholls, said, “The plan sets out progressive structural proposals that have the potential to enhance public safety and strengthen paramedic autonomy. However, it may underestimate key challenges, including workforce readiness, the capacity of the mental health system, and practical implications of the Right Care, Right Person model. Without urgent alignment of funding, training, and alternative care pathways, there is a real risk that paramedics could be left navigating a reform process that shifts responsibility without equipping them with the necessary tools and support. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 5 June 2025 Related reading on the hub: How corridor care in the NHS is affecting safety culture: A blog by Claire Cox My experience of the 'Wait 45' policy - Florence in the Machine A silent safety scandal: A nurse’s first-hand account of a corridor nursing shift
  12. Content Article
    More information about "NHS England: Urgent and emergency care plan 2025/26"
    This report sets out how the NHS will resuscitate urgent and emergency care, with a focus on getting patients out of corridors, keeping more ambulances on the road, and enable those ready to leave hospital to do so as soon as possible. Summary of actions and impact for patients and carers Focus as a whole system on achieving improvements that will have the biggest impact on urgent and emergency care services this winter By the year-end, with improvement over winter, we expect to: Reduce ambulance wait times for Category 2 patients – such as those with a stroke, heart attack, sepsis or major trauma – by over 14% (from 35 to 30 minutes). Eradicate last winter’s lengthy ambulance handover delays by meeting the maximum 45-minute ambulance handover time standard, helping get 550,000 more ambulances back on the road for patients. Ensure a minimum of 78% of patients who attend A&E (up from the current 75%) are admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours, meaning over 800,000 people a year will receive more timely care. Reduce the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission or discharge from an emergency department compared to 2024/25, so this occurs less than 10% of the time. This will improve patient safety for the 1.7 million attendances a year that currently exceed this timeframe. Tackle the delays in patients waiting to be discharged – starting with the nearly 30,000 patients a year staying 21 days over their discharge-ready-date, saving up to half a million bed days annually. Increase the number of children seen within 4 hours, resulting in thousands of children every month receiving more timely care than in 2024/25. Develop and test winter plans, making sure they achieve a significant increase in urgent care services provided outside hospital compared to last winter Improve vaccination rates for frontline staff towards the pre-pandemic uptake level of 2018/19. This means that in 2025/26, we aim to improve uptake by at least 5 percentage points. Increase the number of patients receiving urgent care in primary, community and mental health settings, including the number of people seen by Urgent Community Response teams and cared for in virtual wards. Meet the maximum 45-minute ambulance handover time standard. Improve flow through hospitals, with a particular focus on reducing patients waiting over 12 hours, and making progress on eliminating corridor care. Set local performance targets by pathway to improve patient discharge times, and eliminate internal discharge delays of more than 48 hours in all settings. Reduce length of stay for patients who need an overnight emergency admission. This is currently nearly a day longer than in 2019 (0.9 days) and needs to be reduced by at least 0.4 days . Reduce the number of patients who remain in an emergency department for over 24 hours while awaiting a mental health admission. This will provide faster care for thousands of people in crisis every month. National improvement resource and additional capital investment is simplified and aligned to supporting systems where it can make the biggest difference Allocating over £370 million of capital investment to support: Around 40 new same day emergency care centres and urgent treatment centres. Mental health crisis assessment centres and additional mental health inpatient capacity to reduce the number of mental health patients having to seek treatment in emergency departments. Expansion of the Connected Care Records for ambulance services, giving paramedics access to the patient summary (including recent treatment history) from different NHS services, enabling better patient care and avoiding unnecessary admissions.
  13. News Article
    The government has allocated £750 million to the NHS in England for tackling long-term maintenance problems. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the money could be used by hospitals, mental health units, and ambulance services to mend leaky pipes, improve ventilation, and solve electrical issues. The investment aims to prevent operations and appointments being cancelled because of crumbling infrastructure. However, healthcare leaders said the cash injection is a “drop in the ocean” and just a fraction of the estimated £14 billion maintenance backlog across the health service estate. More than £100 million will be put aside for maternity units to replace outdated ventilation systems in neonatal intensive care units and create better environmental conditions for vulnerable babies and their families. Hospital services were disrupted more than 4000 times in 2023-2024 due to poor quality buildings, according to England’s Health Secretary Wes Streeting. Streeting highlighted the severity of the problem, noting that burst pipes had flooded emergency departments, faulty electrical systems had shut down operating theatres, and mothers had been forced to give birth in substandard facilities. A recent UNISON survey revealed NHS hospitals were plagued by rats, cockroaches, and sewage leaks. The survey also flagged problems with leaky roofs and out-of-order toilets. Simon Corben, director for NHS estates and facilities at NHS England, said repairs were overdue. “Fixing the backlog of maintenance at NHS hospitals will help prevent cancellations,” he stated. Read full story Source: Medscape UK, 30 May 2025
  14. News Article
    A corporate manslaughter investigation has been opened into failings that led to hundreds of babies dying or being injured at maternity units in Nottingham. Nottinghamshire Police said it was examining whether maternity care provided by the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS trust had been grossly negligent. The trust is at the centre of the largest maternity inquiry in the history of the NHS, with about 2,500 cases of neonatal deaths, stillbirths and harm to mothers and babies being examined by independent midwife Donna Ockenden. The police investigation will centre on two maternity units overseen by the trust, which runs the Queen's Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital. NUH said it was "deeply sorry for the pain and suffering caused", and it was "absolutely right" that accountability was taken. In a statement on the force's website, Det Supt Matthew Croome, from the investigation team, said corporate manslaughter was a "serious criminal offence". He said: "The offence relates to circumstances where an organisation has been grossly negligent in the management of its activities, which has then led to a person's death. "In such an investigation we are looking to see if the overall responsibility lies with the organisation rather than specific individuals and my investigation will look to ascertain if there is evidence that the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has committed this offence." The force said its investigation into deaths and serious injuries related to NUH's maternity care - called Operation Perth - had seen more than 200 family cases referred to it so far. Read full story Source: BBC News, 2 June 2025
  15. News Article
    The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting MP, has urged doctors to vote against industrial action as the British Medical Association (BMA) ballots resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, for strike action that could last for six months. Resident doctors say their pay has declined by 23% in real terms since 2008. If they choose to go on strike, walkouts could begin in July and potentially last until January 2026. The government accepted salary recommendations from pay review bodies earlier this month, resulting in an average 5.4% rise for resident doctors. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 29 May 2025
  16. News Article
    Almost a quarter of elective operations in NHS hospitals in England that were cancelled at the last minute took longer than the required 28 days to rearrange, figures show. They also reveal that the number of cancellations breaching the 28-day standard for a new date has more than doubled within a decade, from 9,000 in 2015-16 to 19,400 in 2024-25. The figures obtained by the House of Commons library on behalf of the Liberal Democrats show that a decade ago only 7% of cancelled elective operations were not rearranged within 28 days. Last year’s total of 19,400 cancellations not rearranged in time represents 23% of the 85,400 operations due to take place. This figure was also up by 1,500 from the previous year – an increase of 8%. Helen Morgan, the Lib Dem health and social care spokesperson, said the figures showed patients were being abandoned. She said: “Patients are being left in the lurch, forced to wait in pain and distress for potentially life-altering operations. Each of these delays represents an extra month that someone’s misery is prolonged.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 26 March 2025
  17. News Article
    “One size fits all” primary care is outdated and will be replaced with services targeted at the needs of different patient groups, rather than “what is convenient to organisations or individual sectors”, the national GP director has said. Speaking about emerging proposals in the Ten-Year Health Plan and neighbourhood health, Claire Fuller said: “What we’re doing is putting patients’ needs back at the heart of the NHS, trying to make sure care is centred around patients’ needs rather than what is convenient to organisations or individual sectors. “There is a starting principle that basically says, at different times in peoples’ lives, they have different needs… [If] you think about your children’s needs and how they’d want to access care, [that] would be very different to our parents’ needs. And as professionals we will feel much safer dealing with some people remotely or asynchronously via an email exchange than other people. “We’ve moved away from the 1948 [model] and have realised now that not one size fits all… The good news is that at the heart of that is a universal primary care offer [and] an increased primary care offer.” It comes amid rumours the government’s reform plan will propose greater segmentation of primary care, including general practice. This could include creating variable service offers, access and pathways for different groups. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 23 May 2025
  18. News Article
    Two men with paranoid schizophrenia stabbed members of the public in separate attacks weeks before Valdo Calocane's killings in Nottingham – and all were under the care of the same NHS trust, the BBC has found. Josef Easom-Cooper and Junior Dietlin injured six men in the stabbings in Nottinghamshire in 2023. Within weeks, Calocane - who also has paranoid schizophrenia - stabbed to death Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates on 13 June 2023. Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust has been criticised over its care of Calocane, and in response to the BBC's findings, apologised to those "affected for any aspects of our care that were not of the high standard our patients deserve". On 9 April 2023, Easom-Cooper stabbed a worshipper who was leaving an Easter Sunday service at St Stephen's Church in Sneinton. Easom-Cooper's mother, Shelly Easom, said that as a teenager, her son was under the care of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in Nottingham. She said the stabbing could have been prevented if her son's paranoid schizophrenia had been taken more seriously. "It's disgusting that it takes someone to either lose their life or be stabbed before somebody thinks 'oh, hang on a minute, maybe we need to do something here'. "The mental health services in Nottingham have routinely and systematically let him down and also the victim," she added. Read full story Source: BBC News, 23 May 2025
  19. News Article
    NHS England has told integrated care boards they need to slow down elective referrals dramatically – nearly eliminating year-on-year growth – with high-profile waiting list targets under threat. Glen Burley, the NHS transformation executive team’s financial reset and accountability director, said the year-on-year increase in demand in 2025-26 needed to be just 0.2%, compared to a forecasted 1.8%. His letter to Integrated Care Board (ICB) chief executives, sent on Friday and seen by HSJ, set out “expectations” for ICBs on elective care demand management. It came as new data revealed the waiting list had grown for the first time in seven months. Mr Burley said: “The elective care referral to treatment and cancer expectations for 2025-2026 require a significant step up in performance from the last few years, and, given the financial constraints in the system this year, the improvement can’t simply be delivered through additional capacity.” The message reminds leaders that the single elective care target for ICBs proposed under the new national performance and assessment framework is the annual change in waiting list size. Read full story Source: HSJ, 22 May 2025
  20. News Article
    A delay in improving NHS maternity care is costing the lives of hundreds of babies a year, analysis has shown. At least 2,500 fewer babies would have died since 2018 if hospitals had managed to reduce the number of of stillbirths and neonatal and maternal deaths in England, as the government falls behind on its commitment to halve the rate of those three events. That is according to a joint report by the baby charities Tommy’s and Sands, which assesses NHS progress on meeting targets that were set in 2015. Dr Robert Wilson, head of the Sands and Tommy’s joint policy unit, said: “Hundreds of fewer babies a year would have died since 2018 if the government had met its ambition to halve the rates of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in England by 2025.” The 2,500 deaths are “the equivalent of around 100 primary school classrooms”, Wilson said. The stubbornly high rates of stillbirth and neonatal death, despite efforts to tackle them, showed that ministers were doing too little to reduce the incidence of baby loss, Wilson claimed. He said: “The response from government and policymakers to the ongoing crisis in maternity and neonatal care and the scale of pregnancy and baby loss in the UK is simply not good enough. Too many people continue to suffer the heartbreak of losing a baby.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 May 2025
  21. News Article
    Another major inquiry into patient safety within NHS maternity departments is being considered, HSJ has learned, this time by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body. HSJ has previously reported about concerns that trusts have been swamped with “overwhelming reporting requirements” and unclear regulation and standards on maternity as the result of a series of high profile reviews undertaken in recent years. HSSIB carries out thematic reviews of safety issues which do not apportion blame. It has not looked into maternity since it was launched in 2023. Chief executive Rosie Benneyworth told HSJ: “There are national issues in maternity… it was increasingly hard for us to explain why we were not looking at maternity as it appears to meet our criteria.” These criteria include systemic failings in multiple providers. Dr Benneyworth continued: “We are very keen that we don’t duplicate other work. The focus for us is making recommendations into national bodies. But we are very aware with maternity there has been an enormous amount of work.” The HSSIB investigation could examine why recommendations from other bodies and inquiries have not been implemented. It may also examine “risk management” and whether learning has been shared after incidents. It could lead to a series of reports published over a year. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 May 2025
  22. Content Article
    The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has appointed Dr Camilla Kingdon to chair an independent review into children’s hearing services (paediatric audiology). The review will consider: NHS England’s response to the service failures in children’s hearing services. How the relevant governance arrangements between NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care could be improved, and identify lessons learned. How NHS England’s handling of any future service failures in similar services could be improved, and identify lessons learned. This call for evidence is seeking the views of: Individuals with experience of children’s hearing services in England. Professionals and organisations who work in or with children’s hearing services in England. The responses will be used inform the findings and recommendations of the independent review. This call for evidence closes at 11:59pm on 2 June 2025
  23. Content Article
    This report describes children’s access to mental health services in England during the 2023-24 financial year, based on new analysis of NHS England data. Demand continues to grow for Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS, commonly known as CAMHS) , with the number of children with active referrals increasing by nearly 10,000 since last year to 958,200. Compared to last year, there have been some areas of progress: fewer children’s referrals are being closed before treatment, and investment in CYPMHS has increased in real terms and when adjusted for inflation. However, figures continue to highlight some concerning trends: Many children were still experiencing long waits to access mental health services, and the number of children with active referrals who were still waiting for treatment to begin at the end of the year has increased by almost 50,000 children from 270,300 in 2022-23 to 320,000 in 2023- 24. Almost half of those referred for being ‘in crisis’ have their referrals closed or were still waiting for their second contact at the end of the year. There has been an uptick in children being referred for suspected and diagnosed neurodevelopmental conditions; these conditions are associated with some of the longest waits. The accessibility of mental health services in England continues to vary widely from one ICB area to another, leading to a postcode lottery in children’s access to suitable support for their mental health conditions.
  24. News Article
    NHS leaders are being forced to consider cutting hospital beds, closing hospitals, and even reducing services for children and cancer patients, a new study has claimed. In a bid to meet savings targets from the government and reduce its £6.6 billion deficit, hospital leaders are now cutting or rationing patient care, according to think tank the King’s Fund. The study reveals NHS leaders said they have been forced to cut services thought of as not essential including hospital beds, community paediatric services, community phlebotomy, mental health support for cancer patients. Hospital leaders also claimed they may have to consolidate hospital beds for services such as stroke or critical care beds. The cuts come in a bid to meet government savings demands, called “eyewatering” by NHS leaders, to reduce the £6.6 billion deficit facing the NHS. The government has been warned it could be repeating the mistakes made under a previous Labour government that led to the Mid Staffordshire scandal, in which between 400 and 1,200 patients, from January 2005 to March 2009, were estimated to have died as a result of poor care, by the Mid Staffordshire Hospitals trust. A public inquiry into the scandal, led by Sir Robert Francis, revealed in 2013 that the failures were in part a consequence of the trust’s focus on achieving financial balance. Read full story Source: The Independent, 18 May 2025
  25. Content Article
    The NHS has faced financial pressure for more than a decade, but the signals of financial distress across the NHS have grown in recent years, and the current financial pressure on the NHS appears to be different. This matters because financial pressure can have a direct impact on patients and their care. In this long read, The King's Fund explores the decisions leaders are making locally to mitigate financial pressures, and the impact these tough decisions will have on patients. It focuses on NHS trusts as they have responsibility for the majority of spending in the NHS. It draws on analysis of secondary data sources, such as NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care accounts, and six anonymous semi-structured interviews with chief executives and chief finance officers from a range of NHS trusts. The interviews took place between March and April 2025. It makes the case for a more open, intentional approach to how the NHS can live within its means, and clarity about how this will impact the public it serves. This will be important for setting foundations for the reforms outlined in the upcoming NHS 10 Year Plan, which will inevitably have ramifications for the direction and prioritisation of NHS finances.

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