Health Policy

Surgeons call for stronger oversight and protection for patients at private hospitals

10.04.19: The leader of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has called for private hospitals to do more to keep patients safe and improve transparency in order to prevent another rogue surgeon like Ian Paterson. Derek Alderson, the president of the R...

Dr Bawa-Garba cleared to return to work under supervision after tribunal finds her a ‘low risk to patients’

10.04.19: The doctor convicted over the death of a six-year boy can return to work after a medical tribunal restored her to the medical register. Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba was found guilty of negligence manslaughter over the death of Jack Adcock in 2015...

DHSC reveals early focus for NHSX digital unit and names CEO

04.04.19: NHSX has named its new chief executive as the government announces that its digital specialists will be joining up with cancer and mental health national policy teams to help improve patient experiences through technology. The Department of...

Wide array of NHS figures named as the new NHS Assembly announced

28.03.19: A diverse group of leading NHS figures, disability advocates and charity bosses have been named in the new NHS Assembly including trust chief executives, ex-government advisors, patient representatives and a Guardian columnist. The NHS has...

£60m worth of out-of-date breakthrough cystic fibrosis drug destroyed in NHS price row

28.03.19: Nearly 8,000 packs of Orkambi, a breakthrough medicine for cystic fibrosis, have been destroyed after exceeding their expiry date during a stand-off between the NHS and supplier over high prices. US company Vertex revealed in a letter to th...

NHS ‘retention crisis’ has seen more than 200,000 nurses quit since 2010

27.03.19: More than 200,000 nurses have left the NHS since 2010 and the number quitting over long hours has tripled amid a “retention crisis” in the health service, new figures show. Data analysed by Labour and verified by the House of Co...

Department of Health announces day surgery shake-up in Northern Ireland

22.03.19: The Department of Health (DoH) has announced “radical plans” to shake up day surgery across Northern Ireland. Thousands of routine operations will be transferred to dedicated sites known as day case surgery hubs, with the hubs o...

NHS staffing crisis to double without radical change in ‘vicious cycle of growing shortages and declining quality’

21.03.19: The NHS could have a shortfall of 70,000 nurses and 7,000 GPs within the next five years and the crisis is so now so severe it “cannot be filled,” according a new report from health think tanks. The report found that the NHS has...

Focusing on hand injury prevention would ensure vital benefits for the public and the NHS

18.03.19: Ian McNab, consultant orthopaedic hand surgeon and council member of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand, outlines how a focus on prevention to hand injury could wider benefits for the NHS and general public. The NHS Long-Term Plan...

MPs express ‘extreme concern’ at NHSE’s decision to hand cancer scan services to private firm

13.03.19: An MP has written to NHS England CEO Simon Stevens stating she is “extremely concerned” about the decision to take cancer screening services away from an Oxford hospital trust and hand it to a private firm. Government and opposi...

Capital investment in NHS being slashed to cover rising day-to-day costs, new report reveals

08.03.19: A short-term approach to NHS funding has led to “years of declining and inadequate” capital spending for the health service, according to a new report from the Health Foundation. The charity has warned that an ageing infrastruct...

‘Unacceptable’ private ambulance services ‘putting patients at risk’ says CQC

07.03.19: Private ambulance services are putting patients at risk, the CQC has said, as the NHS’s rising use of independent providers raises concerns about staff training, unregistered ambulances, and safety. In a damning report on independent...

NHS England, DHSC rejects reports that patients’ 30-year right to choose where they are treated is under threat

22.02.19: NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have rejected reports that the rights of patients to be able to choose where they are treated could be under threat as part of major new plans to reshuffle the NHS care system. ...

NHS staff to receive ‘fast-track’ mental health support as part of wellbeing plans

21.02.19: The government has pledged to provide better mental health and wellbeing support for NHS staff as part of its ‘workforce implementation plan,’ based on the recommendations of Health Education England’s (HEE) Staff and Learners&...

Healthwatch: Long-term plan is just the start

06.02.19: National director of Healthwatch England, Imelda Redmond CBE, looks ahead to the future of the health service as the long-term plan takes effect, and outlines what her organisation has done, and is doing, to engage local health workers and patie...