nhs

The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has floated the idea of stopping walk-in patients from attending hospital emergency departments in an attempt to head off a winter crisis in the health service. NHS England has denied it plans to pilot an idea that would require patients to consult their GP or...

The NHS is not fit for the 21st Century, the new chief inspector of hospitals in England has said. Professor Ted Baker, who started the role last month, said the system had not adapted to deal with the growth in the population. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, he said: "The model of...

Patients are dying alone on hospital wards because staff do not have enough time to care for them, nurses say. The mounting pressure across the UK is also leading to medicines being given late and patients being left in pain. The issues have been brought to light after the Royal College of...

John McDonnell’s pledge to review private finance initiative (PFI) contracts is a sensible idea that could save the NHS billions of pounds and is worthy of a proper review. The pledge is a step in the right direction to reform a deeply flawed, unpopular programme. PFI was introduced as a...

There has been a huge jump in the number of patients having to wait on trolleys for long periods while waiting for hospital beds. Data from NHS England shows that the number of patients waiting for more than 12 hours in England’s A&E departments increased by 10,546% in five years, across the...

The number of NHS mental health staff who have had to take sick leave because of their own mental health issues has risen by 22% in the past five years. Those taking long-term leave of a month or more rose from 7,580 in 2012-13 to 9,285 in 2016-17, BBC freedom of information requests found...

Around 10,000 EU nationals have quit the NHS since the Brexit referendum, it has emerged. NHS Digital, the agency that collects data on the health service, found that in the 12 months to June, 9,832 EU doctors, nurses and support staff had left, with more believed to have followed in the past...

A life-extending lung cancer drug will be made immediately available to NHS patients in England, say advisers. Campaigners, including the late Sunday Times restaurant critic AA Gill, have repeatedly called for access to the pioneering immunotherapy, which can add months to life. Scotland...

The NHS is spending almost £80m a year hiring private ambulances to answer 999 calls and take patients to hospital for appointments, new figures show. Widespread shortages of paramedics and rising demand forced England’s 10 NHS ambulance trusts to spend £78.4m in 2016-17 on help from non-NHS...

Two in three people are prepared to pay more tax in order to ensure the cash-strapped NHS has the money it needs to provide good care. New polling for the King’s Fund thinktank found that two-thirds (66%) of the public are willing “to pay more taxes in order to maintain the level of spending...

Many of you will have seen the announcement today that Flash GM will be available on the national NHS Drug Tariff in November 2017, meaning in principle, it will be available to people with diabetes in the UK on NHS prescription. We have been campaigning for this outcome for some time and so...

Jeremy Hunt announces “70th birthday present from NHS to patients” along with new digital innovation funding Every NHS user in England will be able to access their medical records and book appointments on their smartphone or laptop by the end of 2018, health secretary Jeremy Hunt (pictured)...

The FreeStyle Libre System will be available on the NHS from November 1 subject to local health economy approval. The “game-changing technology” allows people with diabetes to track their blood sugar levels without having to prick their fingers. Manufacturer Abbott announced today that it has...

The NHS is braced for the worst flu season in its history, amid fears that overcrowded hospitals will be unable to cope. The head of the health service has warned that “pressures are going to be real” as he warned that influenza levels are expected to be high. Simon Stevens said Australia and...

Waiting has long been the National Health Service’s chronic disease. In 1999, heart surgeons in Middlesbrough used to tell their patients that they had a 5% chance of dying while on the waiting list. Under Labour’s strict targets, waiting times fell. But lately they have risen again. For three...

There are not enough NHS psychiatrists in some parts of the UK and more should be recruited to improve care, says the Royal College of Psychiatrists. In Scotland, there are 10 consultant psychiatrists per 100,000 people - but only eight for the same number in England and Northern Ireland, and...

Medical opinions have been ignored in the assessment of NHS payments to patients receiving care, it is claimed. Three health workers said an assessor organisation discounted medical views so some patients were denied NHS care. Norman Lamb MP said England-wide data obtained by the BBC showed a...

Hi everyone, my girlfriend has t1 since childhood and she is considering moving to London from India. What should she know and how should we prepare for this? As a couple with diabetes, what problems do people usually face living by themselves away from family? What kind of support can one...

The Department of Health has abandoned plans to sell off NHS Professionals, the government-owned agency that supplies staff to the health service. In November last year, the government decided to sell a majority share in the company as a potential path to “providing it with the extra expertise...

The NHS in England may suffer its worst winter in recent history if it does not receive an emergency bailout, hospital chiefs are warning. They say the cash is needed to pay for extra staff and beds because attempts to improve finances have failed. The government has given councils an extra...