Fresh Covid fears as Asia case surge shows no sign of slowing
Several Asian countries, including India, Thailand, and Indonesia, are experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, raising concerns about more infectious variants.
Health authorities are monitoring Omicron subvariants LF.7 and NB.1.8.1 as potential drivers of the surge, though they are not yet designated as variants of concern.
The NB.1.8.1 subvariant, found in multiple countries, exhibits a strong ability to bind to human cell receptors, potentially increasing its infectiousness.
Common symptoms of the new strains include fatigue, sore throat, nasal congestion, and gut discomfort, with current vaccines expected to protect against severe symptoms.
While most infections result in mild symptoms, vulnerable groups are advised to seek medical attention for severe symptoms like shortness of breath or low blood oxygen levels.
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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
NHS sends patients abroad after waiting lists hit record high
The NHS is paying to send rising numbers of British patients abroad for treatment after waiting lists in England hit record highs. The health service is funding treatments across Europe in countries including Poland, Lithuania and the Czech Republic. Treatments being carried out abroad range from routine operations, including hip replacements and cataract operations, to more complex cancer surgery. The number of people having such procedures overseas has jumped by 42 per cent in just two years, The Telegraph can reveal. The Health Secretary described the situation as 'unacceptable', saying a 'broken NHS' had left patients waiting 'far too long for treatment, forcing many to go private or even seek healthcare abroad'. The revelations come as Wes Streeting prepares to publish a 10-year health plan that aims to clear backlogs and reform the way services are delivered. On Friday night, he pledged his plan would 'catapult the NHS into the 21st century and get people seen on time in a modern health service on British shores'. Experts said the rising cases were a 'terrible indictment' of the state of the NHS, with Poland, Germany, Italy and Belgium among the main beneficiaries. Under a little-known post-Brexit healthcare agreement, the NHS will pay another European country to treat UK patients where there is 'undue delay' to them accessing equivalent treatment on the NHS within a 'medically acceptable timeframe'. Patients desperate to have gynaecology surgery and hip replacements were the most likely to get NHS approval to travel overseas for their treatment. Those waiting for cancer treatment, and surgery to repair hernias, remove gallbladders and treat cataracts also fled Britain to get help more quickly, the investigation reveals. The treatment or surgery must be provided by a state healthcare system, not a private clinic, and patients must fund their own travel and accommodation costs. There has been a rapid rise in the number of UK patients using the scheme, as the NHS battles to reduce waiting lists, which peaked in 2023. In the last three years, the NHS has spent £4.32 million sending 352 patients overseas for treatment, according to data from the NHS Business Services Authority, which handles the payments. The number of overseas treatments paid for by the NHS jumped from 99 in 2022-23 to 112 in 2023-24 and rose again to 141 in 2024-25, according to figures obtained by The Telegraph under Freedom of Information laws. Mr Streeting said: 'This Government inherited a broken NHS, with patients left waiting far too long for treatment, forcing many to go private or even seeking healthcare abroad. This is unacceptable and, since day one in office, we have been delivering the investment and reform needed to turn the NHS around. 'We are focused on delivering for patients, so they get the treatment they need, when they need it, closer to home. In less than a year, we've delivered 3.6 million more appointments, cut the waiting list by almost a quarter of a million, and diagnosed an extra 100,000 suspected cancer patients on time. 'There's a long way to go, but we are finally putting the NHS on the road to recovery. 'Our forthcoming 10-year plan will lay out how we catapult the NHS into the 21st century and get people seen on time in a modern health service on British shores.' Dennis Reed, from Silver Voices, said: 'This is a terrible indictment of the state of the NHS. People have to be desperate to think about having hospital treatment in another country, hundreds of miles away. 'It is really worrying and it's also worrying about the inequalities – most of us wouldn't know about this scheme, and many could not afford the travel and hotels, so the vast majority of the population just have to put up with really long waits.' 'Says a lot about pressures on NHS' There are currently 1.4 million people waiting for NHS gynaecology or orthopaedic procedures, including hip replacements, in England. Of these, nearly 43,000 have waited more than a year for treatment since being diagnosed, latest figures for April 2025 show. Siva Anandaciva, director of policy at The King's Fund, said it was 'striking' that more Britons were getting treatment overseas. 'It was only a few years ago that the concerns about medical tourism were that too many people were coming to the UK to seek treatment. It says a lot about the pressures the NHS is under that the concern now is that too many people [from the UK] are seeking treatment overseas,' he said. 'The NHS has made substantial progress in tackling the very longest waits for care that built up before and after the Covid-19 pandemic, but the reality is that it will be several years before national waiting list targets are routinely met again.' Patients were most likely to travel to Poland for treatment, with the NHS paying for 72 procedures to be carried out there between 2022-23 and 2024-25. This was followed by Germany (59 procedures), Italy (32), Belgium (31) and Ireland (26). But the NHS spent the most money on treatments performed in Ireland, which cost around £3.15 million over the last three years. It also spent £224,000 on NHS patients having treatment in Germany; £147,000 on treatments in Poland; £138,000 in Switzerland; £138,000 in Italy; and £134,000 in Austria. Payment figures were recorded by the NHS in the local currency and converted to pound sterling by The Telegraph based on currency exchange rates at the time of writing. Separate NHS England figures also revealed that nearly two out of every five applications (37 per cent) made by patients wanting to travel abroad for treatment were approved in 2024, up from just one in five (21 per cent) in 2022, suggesting more applications are meeting the criteria for 'undue delay'. Rachel Power, chief executive of The Patients Association, said when patients felt compelled to seek treatment abroad, it was 'a reflection of the state of the waiting lists and the very severe problems of the NHS'. Mrs Power suggested the system could worsen 'inequalities', as the scheme is only accessible to those able to work out the application process and who have the means to pay for travel and accommodation. 'To do this, you have to have the confidence and ability to navigate the system – we talk to patients all the time who can't navigate and access treatment [on the NHS],' she said. Prof Ranee Thakar, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said the fact patients were travelling long distances for treatment was 'clear evidence that they can't access the care they need, when they need it'. She added the Government must tackle the 'critical issue' of long waits for gynaecology treatment in its upcoming NHS 10-year health plan. 'There are more than three quarters of a million women in the UK waiting for hospital gynaecology care, with serious conditions that have a devastating impact on almost every aspect of their lives,' said Prof Thakar.
Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Telegraph
Immigration is the biggest burden on NHS, say Labour voters
Labour voters now believe immigration is the biggest burden on the NHS. Britons who backed Sir Keir Starmer's party at the general election last year think high levels of immigration are having more of an effect on the health service than the ageing population. A poll of 2,000 Labour supporters by Merlin Strategy also found that one in five Labour voters would now consider casting their ballots for Reform UK. It comes as Nigel Farage's party continues to enjoy a comfortable opinion poll lead after promising to effectively freeze non-essential migration and put an end to illegal Channel crossings. Research carried out on May 24 asked people who voted Labour in 2024 which of five factors they believed was 'the biggest burden' on the NHS. Some 24 per cent said high levels of immigration, with 22 per cent saying the mental health crisis. Thirteen per cent said a lack of social care provisions, while 12 per cent blamed junk food and obesity. A further 10 per cent said the biggest burden was people vaping. The remaining 19 per cent did not pick an option or said they did not know. Sir Keir said in a major speech last month that record levels of net migration to Britain in recent years had placed a heavy strain on the country's public services. Maxwell Marlow, the director of public affairs at the Adam Smith Institute, which commissioned the poll, said: 'It is clear that the British people have felt the impact of mass immigration on healthcare. 'Unless the government moves quickly, urging immigrants to purchase private health care as a requirement for any visa other than tourism, then they will continue to hold the Government accountable for the very rapid deterioration in their access to healthcare.' Sir Keir has been criticised for a lack of vision during his first year in office, with only 51 per cent of Labour voters saying the Government was prioritising issues that mattered to them. More than one in four (28 per cent) now regretted voting Labour and more than one in five (22 per cent) were now considering whether to vote for Reform at the next election. Two in five respondents (40 per cent) said they approved of Mr Farage, while 41 per cent disapproved. Scarlett Maguire, the director of Merlin Strategy, said: 'Labour voters are clear that they want to see action on cost of living, healthcare, and immigration. 'The Government needs to show that it is in tune with these priorities and that it understands what matters to their core voters.' Merlin Strategy also conducted a focus group in Runcorn and Helsby, one of the safest Labour seats at the 2024 election, before the party lost the seat to Reform by six votes at last month's by-election. Respondents said Sir Keir's Government was 'afraid of upsetting people', while another member of the group said: 'I don't think they give a toss about us.' The group were also unconvinced by the timing of Sir Keir's plans to clamp down on tobacco and vapes, which have banned disposable vapes and will raise the smoking age by one year, every year. 'How is that really relatable to the working person?' one member asked, adding that it was 'just something shiny to put in the media'.
The Sun
8 hours ago
- The Sun
Every baby in England will get new health test under £650million NHS plan
EVERY newborn baby in England will receive a fresh health test following a hefty £650million investment. The scheme will see babies' DNA mapped in order to assess their risk of contracting hundreds of diseases. 1 More than half a billion pounds will be pumped into the move, The Telegraph reported. Gene technology will be instrumental in "leapfrogging disease, so we're in front of it rather than reacting to it", Health Secretary Wes Streeting said. The tests will sequence newborn's DNA by extracting blood samples from their umbilical cords shortly after they have been born. The move is part of a 10-year health plan, due to be published early next month, which will put an emphasis on personalised medicine. It is hoped that the change will catalyse the end of blanket screening for issues including high cholesterol and blood pressure after the problem has become entrenched in patients. The Department for Health and Social Care said that genomics - the study of genes - and AI would be used to "revolutionise prevention" and provide faster diagnoses and an "early warning signal for disease". Mr Streeting said: 'The revolution in medical science means that we can transform the NHS over the coming decade, from a service which diagnoses and treats ill health, to one that predicts and prevents it. 'Genomics presents us with the opportunity to leapfrog disease, so we're in front of it rather than reacting to it. 'With the power of this new technology, patients will be able to receive personalised health care to prevent ill health before symptoms begin, reducing the pressure on NHS services and helping people live longer, healthier lives. 'Our 10-year plan will build on the founding promise of the NHS, so that it provides health care free at the point of risk, not just need.' Mum shares heartbreaking photo of baby boy fighting for life as a warning - after she found him coughing and drooling It comes after hospitals began screening of newborn babies for genetic illnesses in a world-first NHS study last year. Thirteen clinics in England now carry out blood tests on more than 500 infants, ahead of plans to roll it out to 40 hospitals nationwide. Heel-prick tests check for nine rare but serious illnesses. The new DNA study aims to identify 200 more. NHS chief exec Amanda Pritchard said: 'If we can diagnose and treat children for rare genetic conditions years earlier, we have the power to help stop debilitating conditions. "This will be life-changing for families.' Plus, a new test could detect prostate cancer in 15 minutes or less, experts have claimed. The 'breakthrough' blood test was able to diagnose men with prostate cancer with 90 per cent accuracy in a new study. Scientists from Aston University, Birmingham, developed a new method that analyses crystal-like structures in dehydrated blood. Professor Igor Meglinski said the non-invasive technique can detect prostate cancer before symptoms appear with up to 90 per cent accuracy. "This breakthrough opens new avenues for cancer diagnosis and monitoring, representing a substantial leap forward in personalised medicine and oncology," he said.
