Latest news with #NHSTrusts
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS England's DEADLIEST maternity units to be investigated as Streeting launches urgent review into scandal-hit NHS services
Wes Streeting has today announced a 'rapid national investigation' into England's maternity units following a litany of scandals that have rocked the NHS. The new investigation is intended to provide truth to families suffering harm, as well as driving urgent improvements to care and safety. It comes after Mr Streeting met families who have lost babies and amid the ongoing investigations at some NHS trusts into poor maternity care. Announcing the move at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, he said the 10 most at risk units will be investigated. It will also look at the maternity and neo-natal system as a whole. The review will be based on the similar investigation taken into the overall review of the NHS carried out by Lord Darzi. It follows a series of maternity failures including Shrewsbury and Telford and East Kent NHS Trusts, with a record number of services now failing to meet safety standards. Last year, the maternity regulator also found two-thirds of services either 'require improvement' or are 'inadequate' for safety. In a statement, Mr Streeting said: 'Over the last year, I've been wrestling with how we tackle problems in maternity and neonatal units, and I've come to the realisation that while there is action we can take now, we have to acknowledge that this has become systemic. 'It's not just a few bad units. Up and down the country, maternity units are failing, hospitals are failing, trusts are failing, regulators are failing. 'There's too much obfuscation; too much passing the buck and giving lip service.' He added: 'I have been meeting bereaved families from across the country who have lost babies or suffered serious harm during what should have been the most joyful time in their lives. 'What they have experienced is devastating—deeply painful stories of trauma, loss, and a lack of basic compassion—caused by failures in NHS maternity care that should never have happened. 'Their bravery in speaking out has made it clear. We must act and we must act now. 'I know nobody wants better for women and babies than the thousands of NHS midwives, obstetricians, maternity and neonatal staff, and that the vast majority of births are safe and without incident, but it's clear something is going wrong. 'That's why I've ordered a rapid national investigation to make sure these families get the truth and the accountability they deserve, and ensure no parent or baby is ever let down again. I want staff to come with us on this, to improve things for everyone. 'We're also taking immediate steps to hold failing services to account and give staff the tools they need to deliver the kind, safe, respectful care every family deserves. 'Maternity care should be the litmus test by which this Government is judged on patient safety, and I will do everything in my power to ensure no family has to suffer like this again.' Frontline midwives have previously warned working in the NHS is like playing a 'warped game of Russian roulette ', as there was a risk of harm or death at any time, partly due to 'dangerously' low staffing levels. The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) suggests staff shortages and lack of funding is making it harder for midwives to deliver better quality services. The RCM's latest calculation is that England is short of 2,500 midwives. It also comes as another report into the 'postcode lottery' of NHS maternity care last May also ruled good care is 'the exception rather than the rule'. A hugely-anticipated parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma, which heard evidence from more than 1,300 women, found pregnant women are being treated like a 'slab of meat'. At the time, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins labelled testimonies heard in the report 'harrowing' and vowed to improve maternity care for 'women throughout pregnancy, birth and the critical months that follow'.
The Irish Sun
15-06-2025
- Health
- The Irish Sun
Millions will be able to sign up for ‘life-changing' clinical trials through the NHS app
MILLIONS will be able to sign up for 'life-changing' clinical trials through the NHS app. Health Secretary Advertisement 2 Health Secretary Wes Streeting is making medical research studies available to join via smartphone Credit: Getty The move could slash trial set-up times from 250 days to 150 or fewer by next year. Patients will receive push notifications from the app matching them to relevant studies based on their health data. NHS Trusts will be ranked on trial performance. Funding will be prioritised for the best. Advertisement READ MORE ON NHS The moves are part of He said: 'The app will become the digital front door to the NHS. "It will enable us to play our part in developing the medicines of the future.' Wes Streeting brutally slams Kemi AND Farage and demands Tories say sorry for how they ran the NHS in blistering attack 2 Millions will be able to sign up for 'life-changing' clinical trials through the NHS app Credit: PA Advertisement
The Independent
13-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
‘Cruel' postcode lottery to access life-changing drug
Parents of children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy are struggling to access a free drug, givinostat, on the NHS due to limited availability and a " postcode lottery" system described by a charity as 'cruel'. Givinostat, which slows the progression of Duchenne and prolongs walking ability in children, is offered at no cost by a drug firm while it awaits NHS approval. Some NHS trusts are reportedly delaying or refusing access, citing monitoring costs (approximately £1,900 per patient annually) as a barrier, while others are drawing up priority lists. Duchenne UK, a charity, is assisting families in their fight for givinostat, while the government maintains the decision rests with individual NHS trusts. NHS England says that the first NICE committee meeting to consider the treatment is scheduled for July, and it is ready to explore fast-tracking access if the manufacturer offers a cost-effective price.
The Sun
24-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Mental health A&Es to be set up across England with ‘calm and welcoming environment' to help ease pressure on NHS
THE NHS is trialling mental health A&Es with "calm and welcoming" environments in order to tackle overcrowding. These new units will deal with patients who are suicidal or experiencing psychosis or mania without the "noise and chaos" of a normal hospital. 1 Trialled across 10 NHS trusts, the units will be open 24/7 and welcome walk-ins along with those referred by police or GPs. Staffed by specially-trained doctors and nurses, the units are part of the 10-year NHS plan and could be expanded nationally. The idea behind the mental health A&Es is to tackle the "corridor care" crisis which has led to horrifying treatment across the country. It's been reported that patients are dying in A&E corridors and waiting rooms without painkillers. In January, The Sun reported that a 95-year-old woman with dementia could not have end-of-life drugs as she lay dying in a corridor without proper equipment. Another patient died under a coat in a waiting room, and one was not found until hours later because staff were too busy to notice they had passed away. According to The Times, the units will aim to tackle the root cause of the mental health crisis. One of the trial A&Es come complete with emotional support dogs, miniature pinschers called Maxwell and Mitsi. The pooches cuddle up to patients and there are trays full of tea, coffee and biscuits. Toti Freysson, the mental health nurse who manages the service at Ladbroke Grove, west London, said anyone who walks in is seen within 10 minutes. In 2024, a record 1.7 million patients had to wait at least 12 hours in A&E. The long waits were linked to thousands of avoidable deaths. Mental health patients are twice as likely to experience long waits , and some reported waiting up to 18 days to get a bed. The west London mental health site reported seeing around 300 patients a month. It has three bedrooms and patients can stay for a few nights without having to be detained under the Mental Health Act. Dr Mehtab Rahman, a consultant psychiatrist at the centre, told The Times: 'Often A&E is the most inappropriate place for mental health patients. These are people who might be hearing voices in their head telling them to kill themselves — imagine having to wait four to six hours to be seen.' The Minister for Mental Health, Baroness Merron, told The Sun: 'Too often, people experiencing mental health crisis are not getting the support or care they deserve, and so it is vital that we continue to provide a range of services like this one' 'Backed by an extra £680 million in government funding this year, we are transforming mental health services – investing £26 million in new mental health crisis centres, hiring more staff, delivering more talking therapies, and getting waiting lists down through our Plan for Change. 'On top of this, through our proposed reforms to the Mental Health Act, we will ensure people with the most severe mental health conditions get better more personalised care.' Over 958,200 children in England were referred to Children and Young People's Mental Health Services last year. Anxiety was the most common reason, followed by neurodevelopmental conditions and autism. Frail patients 'left sitting in faeces for 50 hours' and staff 'crying on the phone for help' at busy A&E By Isabel Shaw FRAIL patients at a Kent hospital were "told to soil themselves" because there was no one available to help them to the toilet, staff have revealed. At Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, patients faced waits of more than 50 hours without access to basic wash facilities. Some were left "sitting in their own faeces," Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors were told. One patient shared: "I had been left sitting in my own faeces all day because there was no one available to help." Jayne Black, chief executive of the Medway NHS Foundation Trust which runs the hospital, apologised to patients and said improvements had since been made. During an inspection in February 2024, the CQC uncovered serious issues in the emergency department. Inspectors found the department overcrowded, with 14 patients crammed into a resuscitation area meant for just nine people, while another 15 were treated in the corridor. The department was described as "not suitable for the number of people" it was trying to care for. A CQC report published on March 5 described patients who said they saw staff "crying on the phone for help", but "no one seemed to turn up". One patient said they were left "sitting on a chair in the corridor for 55 hours," and when they asked staff if they could shower, they were told they could only wash by splashing themselves with water from the toilet sink.
The Sun
23-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Record number of NHS bosses earn more than £110,000 per year – with best paid exec on £300k
RECORD numbers of NHS bosses earn more than £110,000 a year, figures show. There are now 2,591 high-ranking managers across England's 215 NHS trusts. 1 The army of executives and directors earn at least £110,000 a year, with the best paid on £300,000. The total has more than doubled from 2014 to June 2024, when it cost more than £285million a year. But while the managerial bill balloons, waiting lists have doubled, A&E delays are soaring and patient satisfaction is in freefall. Dr Sean Phillips, of the Policy Exchange think tank, said: 'The Government should review the volume of very senior managers and look at whether NHS managers across the board have the right skills and competencies needed.' Fewer than 1,000 NHS managers earned six-figure salaries in 2014. The surge is largely down to inflation but also the need to recruit those with the skills to manage increasingly large and complex trusts. He insisted: 'We're going really hard at the layers of bureaucracy in the NHS.' But Shimeon Lee, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'It's staggering that bureaucracy is booming behind the scenes.'
