Health News Blog

Two thirds of ICSs in the red
The impact of inflation, Covid costs that were not funded in this year’s funding, operational challenges that are driving higher spend on agency staff are the reasons why two in three ICSs report deficits against their yearly financial plans. This comes just months after systems submitted breakeven plans. The financial situation facing the NHS is a “f**king nightmare”, says chief executive Amanda Pritchard.

Good Law Project wins again
The government has confirmed in a letter to the court and the parties involved, Friends of the Earth and ClientEarth, that it will not pursue an appeal against the High Court ruling that its Net Zero strategy is unlawful. Perhaps now it will abandon plans for fracking, new gas and oil developments and more roads.

A two tier health system
A Centre for Health and Public Interest briefing concludes that the growth in healthcare funded by private pay and the increase in healthcare in the private sector suggests a potential shift towards a two-tier healthcare system.

Hospitals cancelling 22,000 appointments every day
Despite the Government’s pledge to clear the NHS backlog the average number of daily cancellations this year, so far, was up 20 per cent on pre-pandemic figures. Hunt, who as health secretary for 6 austerity years surely bears considerable blame for the current state of the NHS, said the numbers were "staggering".

NHS repair backlog now £10 billion
The estimated bill for NHS repairs has doubled in the last decade. The cost of eradicating the huge backlog of repairs to hospitals and equipment has hit £10 billion for the first time.

Coffey claims NHS created by a Tory
Our health secretary said in her speech to the Tory conference that the NHS was created by Henry Willink. In fact Willink opposed the nationalisation of the existing private and voluntary infrastructure that was later to become the backbone of the NHS.

Bonfire of employment rights
NHS workers are likely to be affected by the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill that passed through the Commons on 22nd September. It requires civil servants to review EU laws before they are retained. It's inconceivable that civil servants will be able to review that volume of legislation in time for ministers to decide they want to keep by the deadline of 31 December 2023.

Nurses not eating to feed their children
A survey has found that some staff are missing lunch, are stopping contributing to their NHS pension in order to free up cash, cannot fill up their cars because of petrol price rises and have mental health issues due to the stress of paying their bills.

The NHS is in crisis
Letters describing the senselessness of offering NHS patients private healthcare to why GP trainees will opt for part-time work.

US hospitals bought up by private equity
How in the US private equity is buying up hospitals and nursing homes, loading them with debt and pocketing the proceeds. Should we expect the NHS end up like this?

Dangerous roofs not fixed until 2023
Hospital roofs found to be in a dangerous condition won't be repaired until 2023. One is in Liz Truss's constitruency.

How ICSs will exploit staff
Sinister aspects of how Integrated Care is planning to manipulate staff are revealed in this NHS England document. Quite how it will pan out I suspect that nobody in government can foretell, but it has a disturbing ring to it.

NHSE abandons patients safety targets
The governments instructs trusts to abandon patients safety target amid record staff vacancies and ineptitude in staff planning.

Doctor burnout risks patient safety
Research reveals the how patient safety is at risk with overworked doctors suffering from burnout. Burned-out medics are also much more likely to consider quitting, regret choosing medicine as their career, be dissatisfied with their job. In a comment piece a GP says her job now is 'impossible to do well'.

Government contracts and tax havens
One in every six public procurement contracts, including those for the NHS, issued by the government over a five-year period were won by businesses with connections to a tax haven.

NHSE: 'stop negative narrative'
The chief strategy officer has called for the negative news to stop. Well, funding the health service adequately allowing the 50,000 nurse vacancies to be filled would soon do that...and repairing hospitals that are a danger to patients would enable a positive story to be told.

Record 6.8 million waiting for hospital treatment
Long waits for care, diagnostic tests and hospital beds showed that Britain’s new prime minister “inherits an NHS in critical condition”.

Low-paid workforce could leave in droves
Nurses have said "‘We’re not important to the government. We were seen as important during the pandemic, but we’re not important now. We don’t think the government will do anything for us".

Test and Trace contract scandal, list revealed
The government said 'there was no high priority lane for testing suppliers'. We now know this was a lie, there was a fast-track ‘VIP lane’ route to securing lucrative Test and Trace contracts, with politically-connected companies, all who have links to Conservative Ministers and Peers.