nhs

NHS trusts were almost £3 billion deeper in the red at the end of last year than was reported in their official accounts, according to new figures. Nuffield Trust analysis of accounts and financial data published by NHS regulators found an underlying overspend of £3.7 billion at the end of...

The battle of words between the scientist Stephen Hawking and the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, over the health of the NHS has continued with Hunt writing that Hawking “is once again wrong in his characterisation of government policy towards the NHS”. On Saturday, after a week of angry...

The total waiting list for routine surgery in England rising above four million patients for the first time in a decade has focused minds again on whether more money should be invested in the NHS. A raft of NHS England targets missed again, including waiting times for operations and the A&E...

Health watchdogs will soon grade NHS hospital trusts on how efficiently they use their resources alongside reviews of the standard of care they provide. From September, the CQC together with NHS Improvement will assess non-specialist acute trusts’ finances as well as a their workforce, estates...

The NHS Confederation's deputy chief executive Danny Mortimer, has called the current system 'unsustainable' in the wake of figures showing that more than four million patients are now waiting for surgery on the NHS in England. This is the first time the figure has been breached since August...

The number of people waiting for routine surgery in England is at its highest level for a decade, figures from NHS England show. It is estimated more than four million people were waiting for operations in June - a figure last seen in 2007. The rise is partly because of growing demand and the...

An extra 500 medical school places in England have been confirmed for next year by the government. The Department of Health announced in October it planned to add up to 1,500 more places each year - a boost of 25% on current student doctor numbers - and says it will hit that target by 2020. It...

A scheme launched by the Department of Health in 2011 to help patients stick to their drug regimens has been so successful, that in its first five years, it will save NHS England £517.6m in the long-term, a team of health economists has found. Lead researcher Professor Rachel Elliott from The...

A grandmother-of-four waiting on a hip replacement in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh was sent home due to the necessary sterile equipment not being available. Kate Stewart was admitted on 19 July after spending 20 weeks in severe pain waiting on an operation she was told would be done within...

From Tuesday 1 August, most new students of areas such as nursing, midwifery and physiotherapy will no longer be able to apply for grants, and will have access instead to the student loans system. UCAS announced earlier this year that there had been a notable decrease in students from England...

Thousands more mental health workers are to be recruited by the NHS in England, the health secretary has said. The plans involve increasing the number of trained nurses, therapists and other mental health professionals. Jeremy Hunt said it was time to end the "historic imbalance" between...

Doctors’ leaders have accused NHS bosses of shrouding controversial plans for £500m of cuts to services across England in “totally unacceptable secrecy”. Patients deserve to know how hospitals being told to “think the unthinkable” as part of the savings drive will affect their access to...

Labour is demanding an inquiry into the privatisation of a government-owned NHS recruitment firm that saves hospitals £70m a year. NHS Professionals helps the health service in England tackle its staffing crisis by arranging for doctors and nurses on its books to cover potentially harmful gaps...

Services for people who are suicidal or self-harming are facing unprecedented demand in England, a BBC Radio 5 live investigation has found. Out of 39 mental health trusts that provided figures for their crisis teams, 27 had seen their workload increase - 70%. And some had seen referrals rise...

Acomprehensive settlement for funding social care remains elusive. Successive governments have placed it in the “too difficult” pile and, given the role that social care played in the election campaign and its outcome, it is difficult to envisage the government being able to solve it anytime...

NHS England has launched a national review into schemes to divert patients away from A&E departments. According to the Daily Telegraph, the investigation is in response to the death of a 44-year-old man who was turned away from a Bristol A&E department while a pilot scheme to ease pressure was...

Almost 63,000 people in England will die over the next five years from liver problems linked to heavy drinking unless ministers tackle the scourge of cheap alcohol, doctors are warning. Senior members of the medical profession and health charities are urging the government to bring in minimum...

NHS England has announced plans to stop doctors prescribing homeopathy, herbal and other "low value" treatments. It hopes to save almost £200m a year by ending what the head of the service called a "misuse of scarce" NHS funds. Prescriptions for conditions including diarrhoea, thrush, acne and...

THE team behind caring for children with diabetes in Bolton has been named the best in the region and one of the best in the UK. Bolton NHS Foundation Trust paediatric diabetes team scored the highest in Greater Manchester and fifth highest in England and Wales for its care, according to the...

Rachel Clarke, a one-time TV journalist, decided to retrain as a doctor. Now 44, she tells Chloe Hamilton about her anguish about going on strike last year and what she thinks of Jeremy Hunt “Every junior doctor knows another junior doctor who has either taken their own life or has come very...