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Nuffield Trust says system for treatment is ‘obsolete’ as number of patients in England awaiting assessment hits record highThe NHS is experiencing an “avalanche of need” over autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but the system in place to cope with surging demand for assessments and treatments is “obsolete”, a health thinktank has warned.There must be a “radical rethink” of how people with...

Yearly cost to people, business and public sector found to be twice as big as NHS England’s annual budgetMental illness costs England £300bn a year, equivalent to nearly double its NHS budget, according to research.Researchers for the Centre for Mental Health thinktank analysed the economic, health and care impact of mental ill health, as well as human costs from reduced quality of life and...

Three nurses share how they have been affected as survey finds many in NHS in England turning to credit or savingsSix in 10 nurses have used credit or savings to cope – surveyThe soaring cost of living has led to six out of 10 NHS nurses having to use credit or their savings over the last year to help them cope, research shows.Findings from...

In today’s newsletter: Amid many other crises, the standard of NHS care for patients’ families is declining – this is what it feels like• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. It is no secret that NHS England has many problems: it is crumbling (literally), patient care backlogs are at record highs, there is a recruitment and retention crisis, and quality...

Doctors told to ration liquid form of salbutamol, which plays vital role in treating asthma, emphysema and bronchitisNHS hospitals have been hit by a UK-wide shortage of a life-saving drug used to keep alive patients who are at risk of dying because they cannot breathe without medical intervention.Doctors have been told to ration their use of the liquid form of salbutamol, which plays a...

Exclusive: findings raise concerns over ‘two-tier service’ with poorer people also feeling less heard by medicsPoorer people find it much harder to access NHS care than the well-off and have a worse experience when they do get it, research by the health service’s consumer watchdog has found.Those on the lowest incomes have much more difficulty getting a GP appointment, dental care or help with...

Fears for impact on NHS workforce as leaked letter reveals ministers stall on aim to increase trainee doctors to 15,000 by 2031Ministers have dramatically stalled plans to double the number of doctors being trained in England by 2031 in a move that has caused dismay across the NHS, as well in medical schools and universities, the Observer can reveal.In June last year, ministers backed...

Clinics de-listed people without warning, forcing them to go private or find another NHS practicePatients across England who failed to visit their dentists since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic have been systematically barred by some clinics from getting NHS treatment.Dental practices across the country informed patients they could no longer get NHS treatment, citing non-attendance over a period of two years or more...

Exclusive: As NHS targets are being missed nearly 300,000 people paid for chemotherapy in last five yearsHundreds of thousands of cancer patients in the UK are being forced to pay for private treatment amid record NHS waiting times, according to data obtained by the Guardian.The figures emerged as King Charles began treatment for the disease within days of being diagnosed. Buckingham Palace has not...

Treatment for ailments including sore throats, earaches and shingles to be offered without a GP appointmentPatients in England can get treatment for seven common conditions without needing to see a GP, under a shake-up of pharmacy services.From Wednesday, thousands of pharmacists will be able to assess and treat patients for sinusitis, sore throat, earache, infected insect bites, impetigo, shingles and uncomplicated urinary tract infections...

Union says government’s plans for General Medical Council regulation diminishes role of doctors and could confuse patientsSenior doctors are urging MPs to reject government plans to regulate “physician associates”, whose growing use in the NHS has divided the medical profession.The British Medical Association has said that allowing the General Medical Council (GMC) to regulate physician associates (PAs) would “blur the lines” between doctors and...

At least four experts quit Great Ormond Street team after disputes over text of training module for recruits, sources say A string of resignations from a team preparing for the launch of the new NHS children’s gender clinic has further complicated plans to open the services in April.Disagreements over the text of a training module for medical recruits to the new gender service have...

Experts say being discharged prematurely can be ‘disastrous’, setting back chances of full recoveryThousands of patients are being readmitted to NHS mental health units in England every year soon after being discharged, raising concerns about poor care, bed shortages and increased risk of suicide.Experts say being discharged prematurely can be upsetting, set back the patient’s chances of making a full recovery and be “disastrous”...

Chief executive says further industrial action by junior doctors will hamper progress to reduce health service waiting listsAn NHS boss has warned that his trust is now “stretching to the limit to provide safe care” in the face of continuing junior doctors’ strikes – and warned that further walkouts would halt efforts to cut long waiting times.Cutting waiting lists was one of Rishi Sunak’s...

Exclusive: Cancer leaders and oncologists increasingly alarmed at impact of strikes on treatmentThousands of cancer patients could die early if ministers and junior doctors do not urgently resolve their bitter pay row, health officials have warned.Oncologists and cancer leaders are becoming increasingly alarmed and frustrated at the devastating impact of NHS strikes on care and treatment. Tens of thousands of patients have had cancer...

Health bosses raise alarm as junior doctors begin the longest strike in NHS history. But how will the action actually affect patients?Junior doctors’ strike – latest updatesThis article is extracted from our First Edition newsletter. Sign up hereAlmost a year after the first strike over pay and conditions, junior doctors in England are going out on strike again for six days. (A pay deal...

In today’s newsletter: Health bosses raise alarm as junior doctors begin the longest strike in NHS history. But how will the action actually impact patients? • Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. It is never a good time to be seriously ill, but this week is worse than most. The NHS is in the grip of its customary winter crisis,...

Figures showing 133% increase since 2013 derided as ‘smoke and mirrors’ amid failure to meet treatment targetsNHS figures that show more people than ever are being checked for cancer have been criticised as “misleading” by experts.Official data published on Monday reported that almost 3 million people in England were tested for cancer in 2022, a 133% increase in the decade since 2013. Continue reading...

Junior doctors call on government to make credible offer as Wednesday’s six-day walkout threatens to stretch service to limitsOne of Rishi Sunak’s key targets for the NHS – to eliminate waits of longer than 65 weeks for operations and other procedures by March – is likely to be missed because of strike action, health bosses warned this weekend.The health service faces the longest national...

Pat Cullen urges RCN members in new year message to ‘push ministers further’Politicians did only enough to save their own skins during strikes by nurses, a union leader has claimed, meaning there was just modest progress in NHS pay and staffing in 2023.Pat Cullen, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said Westminster stopped well short of the “revolution needed”. Continue...