nhs

The UK is in the grip of its worst flu season for seven years, figures show. All parts of the UK have seen rises in suspected flu cases since the turn of the year with Wales seeing the sharpest - close to a fourfold increase in GP visits to 64.9 cases per 100,000. The last time there was more...

Plans to develop accountable care organisations (ACOs) in the NHS have proven controversial. GPonline looks at whether they are simply a pragmatic way to facilitate NHS integration, or a one-way ticket to NHS privatisation. What are ACOs? ACOs are organisations contracted to provide an agreed...

The NHS is "haemorrhaging" nurses with one in 10 now leaving the NHS in England each year, figures show. More than 33,000 walked away last year, piling pressure on understaffed hospitals and community services. The figures - provided to the BBC by NHS Digital - represent a rise of 20% since...

NHS medical blunders dating back more than two decades are still costing millions of pounds a year in compensation, it has emerged. The negligence bill for mistakes made before 1995 - mainly maternity failings - has begun to rise for the first time in five years. A patients' charity said the...

A leading virologist has said there has been no major outbreak of Australian flu in the UK and its threat is obscuring the real problem facing the NHS, which is underfunding. Concerns have been raised that an epidemic that hit New Zealand and Australiaduring the southern hemisphere’s winter...

Even by the usual standards of New Year pressures, it has been a traumatic week for much of the NHS. In England, an unprecedented call has gone out from NHS leaders that a month's worth of non-urgent operations and appointments should be postponed. That's been echoed in other parts of the UK...

An 81-year-old woman was found dead in her house after waiting almost four hours for an ambulance. The pensioner, who lived in Clacton, Essex, called 999 on Tuesday complaining of chest pains, according to the GMB union. East of England (EEAST) ambulance service said a crew arrived three hours...

This month hospitals have reported huge pressures, with A&Es over-crowded, a lack of beds and queues of ambulances stacked up outside unable to hand over their patients. It was a similar story last winter. The NHS, it seems, is always facing unrelenting pressure. But why is this when funding is...

As the NHS struggles with budget cuts, soaring demand and staff shortages, almost £1bn is being wasted annually by patients missing appointments, figures reveal. In response, England’s chief nurse has urged patients to cancel their NHS appointments in good time if they are not able to attend...

It is very easy and plausible to argue that since a National Health Service is due to start next year the right course for doctors is to join it and try to make it as good as possible, even though they may disagree with some details in it. But more than details are involved. Since Mr. Bevan...

Richard Branson’s Virgin Care won a record £1bn of NHS contracts last year, as £3.1bn of health services were privatised despite a government pledge to reduce the proportion of care provided by private companies. Overall, private firms scooped 267 – almost 70% – of the 386 clinical contracts...

People should take three steps to try to solve a health problem before seeing their GP, a doctors' leader has urged. Patients should see if they can sort it themselves, see a pharmacist or use a reputable online source of information, the Royal College of GPs says. GPs "really feel the pinch"...

The chief executive of NHS England has accused drunken revellers of being “frankly selfish” when they rely on the health service to help them and has indicated that more “drunk tanks” could be set up to keep intoxicated people out of overstretched accident and emergency wards. Simon Stevens...

Almost 59,000 patients in England have endured long ambulance waits before being admitted to A&E this winter, according to NHS figures. Data from the end of November to 24 December revealed that the number of people who waited 30 minutes or longer reached 58,845. Of those, 12,188 waited more...

This is a special year for the NHS - it marks its 70th birthday. So expect lots of anniversary events and stories celebrating the success of the health service over the past seven decades. The big day is on 5 July and word has it that the Chelsea Flower Show and the Wimbledon tennis...

Most overweight patients in England face being denied surgery, even when this goes against national guidelines on clinical best practice. The Reality Check team asked the 213 local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), responsible for planning and buying healthcare services, in England whether...

Growing numbers of patients taken to hospital by ambulance are having to wait an hour or more before they are handed over to A&E staff for treatment, NHSEngland figures show. In the week to last Sunday, 17 December, one in seven such patients faced a delay of at least 30 minutes in the back of...

Good afternoon I wonder if anyone can help me I’m desperate for help and I can not seem to find any. I’m was diagnosed as type 1 insulin based over 5 years ago but In the last year they have found that I’m not type 1 but type 2. After having a really bad time with doctors and constants NHS and...

The war over the future of the NHS is being fought on multiple fronts. Campaigners, the Labour party, the government, NHS England and even Stephen Hawking are locked in combat over the structure, funding, transparency, accountability and legality of the current wave of reforms, along with the...

The NHS’s leadership was “bloody stupid” to expect an emergency £4bn cash injection in last month’s budget, the official who until last week ran the service’s financial regulator has said. Ministers will additionally have been “p**sed off” with the “negativity” shown by NHS leaders such as Simon...