nhs

Downing Street has insisted it stands by the government’s strict immigration regime, after Theresa May was accused of blocking requests to allow more overseas doctors to come to Britain to fill staff shortages in the NHS. The Evening Standard reported on Tuesday that at least three government...

Immigration rules are hampering the ability of the NHS to recruit doctors, health leaders are warning. The number of skilled non-EU workers granted UK visas is capped - with the Home Office arguing the restriction is in "the national interest". But NHS bosses say increasing numbers of doctors...

The NHS needs £50bn more by 2030 in England, a former health minister and leading surgeon says. The prediction, by Labour's Lord Darzi, comes after Prime Minister Theresa May said the government planned to devise a long-term funding plan for the health service. There is speculation this will...

Just before Easter, Theresa May announced she had finally accepted the case for a longer-term, and bigger financial commitment to the NHS. But how much to pay, and how to find the money is not yet decided. The Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has appealed to his colleagues for ideas, promising...

Record numbers of nurses and midwives from EU27 countries quit Britain last year, fuelling fears that a Brexit brain drain will deepen the NHS’s already chronic staffing crisis. A total of 3,962 such staff from the European Economic Area (EEA) left the Nursing and Midwifery Council register...

NHS England faces a legal challenge to its plans to overhaul how the health service operates, which critics say are unlawful and could lead to patients being denied treatment. Campaigners on Tuesday will try to derail plans to introduce of “ accountable care organisations” (ACOs), which they...

The NHS in Scotland must move away from a “doctor knows best” culture which leaves patients reluctant to ask questions of the people treating them, the nation’s most senior clinician has said. Dr Catherine Calderwood, Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer, said patients should not be afraid to...

Hospitals in England have recruited managers at a higher rate than doctors and nurses, BBC analysis of official figures reveals. Since 2013, an additional 3,600 managers started at NHS trusts compared with 8,300 more doctors and 7,000 more nurses. It means management increased by 16% while the...

Over a billion NHS prescription medicines are issued by pharmacists in England every year – at a cost of over £9 billion. Many of these are prescribed by GPs to manage long-term health conditions, such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease. The current “repeat prescription” system allows...

Public support for a tax increase devoted to the NHS has grown sharply in only two years, according to the Kings’ s Fund. Its analysis of data on attitudes towards the NHS from last year’s British Social Attitudes survey found 61% of respondents supported tax rises to increase NHS funding, up...

Barely a day passes without a new NHS tale of inadequate performance, excessive patient waits, services not delivered, trusts effectively bankrupt, or even preventable deaths attributed to unbearable pressure on services and staff. The reports come from doctors, august professional bodies...

Female NHS staff in England earn nearly a quarter less than their male colleagues, figures show. The data covers more than one million workers in England from doctors and managers to nurses and cleaners. It showed that the average full-time female worker is paid £28,702 a year in basic salary...

The number of times patients have self-harmed while in mental health units has almost doubled in five years, prompting concern that services are struggling to help those in their care. Data obtained by the Guardian from nearly half of NHS mental health trusts across England show that the number...

NHS England has announced a crackdown on the treatment of "minor" ailments such as dandruff and diarrhoea. Thirty-five treatments responsible for £570m of spending have been targeted. All are available over-the-counter in pharmacies. And the restriction will apply only where the ailment is...

The NHS in England does not have enough beds or staff, health bosses say, ahead of the new financial year next week. NHS Providers, which represents chief executives, warned the service was facing an impossible task in 2018-19. The group said it meant hospital waiting lists would grow and long...

Jeremy Hunt is facing a backlash from patient groups over his decision to let hospitals flout key NHS waiting time targets next year. The health and social care secretary has told NHS trusts they do not need to meet standards that require them to treat 95% of A&E patients within four hours and...

Without wanting to sound like a moaner i went to the DESMOND course yesterday and found it incredibly unhelpful and quite demotivating. Am i alone in thinking the NHS is just way too conservative in their advice? The LCHF diet has got me to where i am now, having lost lots of weight and getting...

NHS England is planning to fund the recruitment of 240 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to work in care homes to try to cut down on unnecessary medicines taken by the residents. Care home residents often have one or more long-term health conditions, with some prescribed 10 or more...

“Can I see a doctor qualified in Britain?” inquired the woman. “I qualified from Oxford,” I assured her. “I mean a British doctor,” she persisted. “I was born in Hull, east Yorkshire,” I replied. Her expression showed she was not satisfied, despite my assurances. “You mean a white doctor?”...

The equivalent of ten children’s intensive care units a day are unable to find a single spare bed in the latest warning sign that health services are “on the brink”, according to Labour analysis. Winter data, published weekly by NHS England since 20 November, shows that NHS trusts declared they...