Lack of care and support leaves patients stranded on units when they are clinically ready to be discharged
The number of patients stuck in NHS mental health units in England despite being clinically ready to leave has reached its highest level in at least eight years.
“Delayed discharges” of patients from hospitals in NHS mental health trusts reached 49,677 days in March, according to an analysis – a higher figure than in any month since at least January 2016, when NHS Digital started publishing the data.
Growing number are opting for private maternity services as inquiry finds poor childbirth care is common
People are paying thousands of pounds to hire private midwives amid frustration at the poor service many patients face in the NHS, with women left feeling fobbed off and ignored.
Growing numbers are paying up to £8,000 for maternity services, adding to a surge in people going private as the NHS struggles to provide swift and safe care.
Last month MPs found that women in labour had been mocked, ignored and left with permanent damage by NHS midwives and doctors. The UK’s first inquiry into birth trauma found poor childbirth care was so common, and its consequences so damaging, that ministers and NHS bosses needed to push through significant changes.
After a troubling report on NHS care, the number of pregnant women seeking more control over their birth plans is growing
A growing number of patients are paying up to £8,000 to hire private midwives amid frustration at the poor service many face in the NHS. The UK’s only private maternity hospital, the Portland, has reported treating more women. It comes after a report from MPs this month found women in labour have been mocked, ignored and left with permanent damage by midwives and doctors.
Growing awareness about ADHD and autism is reshaping thinking in science, society and medicine. Scientists explain what’s behind the rise – and the best ways to improve neurodivergent lives
It was in the mid 90s that neurodiversity as a formal concept and a rights movement began to emerge. Aided by the internet, autistic people and those with other conditions were able to connect and began sharing their experiences: what they had in common, how their lives differed. A recurring theme was how many felt marginalised, pushed out of a society that embraced only typical ways of being in the world. The phrase “neurological diversity” cropped up in their discussions, which along with “neurodiversity” appeared in magazine articles later that decade.
Neurodiversity has clear parallels with biodiversity. It champions difference and the validity of individuals. It holds that a vaguely defined majority can be described as neurotypical, with brains that operate in a broadly similar way. Others, meanwhile, are neurodivergent, with brains that are built and work somewhat differently.
Cancer vaccines are a form of immunotherapy. Unlike vaccines that protect from an infection, such as the Covid-19 jab, cancer vaccines treat people who already have the disease. They are designed to help the patient’s immune system recognise and then kill cancer cells – and prevent them from coming back.
Thousands of patients in England are to be fast-tracked into groundbreaking trials of personalised cancer vaccines in a revolutionary world-first NHS “matchmaking” scheme to save lives.
The gamechanging jabs, which aim to provide a permanent cure, are custom-built for each patient in just a few weeks. They are tailored to the individual’s tumours and work by telling their body to hunt and kill any cancer cells and prevent the disease from coming back.
Labour has “no plans” to change rules barring health and care workers from bringing their families to the UK on their visas, despite a plummeting number of NHS staff since the rules were changed earlier this year.
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said the health service had become too reliant on overseas staff and the party would aim to recruit and train workers from the UK.
Rishi Sunak says timing of action days before general election appears to be ‘politically motivated’ to help Labour
Up to 100,000 patients in England face having their NHS care cancelled days before the general election after junior doctors announced a fresh wave of strike action, with Rishi Sunak saying it appeared to be politically motivated.
Health leaders expressed alarm, warning the five-day strike would jeopardise efforts to tackle the record waiting list and “hit patients hard”.
Wes Streeting says another Conservative term could result in waiting list swelling to 10m cases
Labour has promised to clear the NHS waiting list backlog in England within five years, with Wes Streeting warning that the health service risks becoming “a poor service for poor people” while the wealthy shift to using private care.
In an interview with the Guardian, the shadow health secretary said that in another Conservative term the total waiting list in England could grow to 10m cases, with healthcare becoming as degraded as NHS dental services.
Initiative will enable urgent second opinion and review of care of patients whose condition is deteriorating
Martha’s rule, the patient safety initiative enabling those whose health is failing to obtain an urgent second opinion about their care, is to be rolled out in 143 hospitals in England, the NHS has said.
The move, described by NHS officials as one of the most important changes to patient care in years, will allow patients, relatives and staff to get a review of their condition and treatment directly from doctors and nurses not involved in the medical team treating them.
Exclusive: £3.6bn has been paid out in 1,307 cases, according to information obtained under freedom of information laws
The NHS has spent £4.1bn over the last 11 years settling lawsuits involving babies who suffered brain damage when being born, amid claims that maternity units are not learning from mistakes.
It paid out just under £3.6bn in damages in 1,307 cases in which parents were left to care for a baby with cerebral palsy or other forms of brain injury, NHS figures reveal.
Wendy Savage on the Albany Midwifery Practice and missed chances to improve care for mothers and babies
Re your letters on how maternity services are failing mothers and babies (17 May), your readers are correct – there is a fundamental problem with our maternity services, which need radical change. As the World Health Organization stated in 1985, “birth is not an illness”; but NHS services treat childbirth as if it is.
In 1992, after years of campaigning, birth activists were delighted when the select committee chaired by Nicholas Winterton made far-reaching recommendations about reorganisation. The government responded by setting up a working party chaired by Julia Cumberlege. They reported in 1993 that women should be at the centre of care, midwives should have a greater and more autonomous role, and that there should be continuity of care.
Group of about 500 people to reinstate 2017 lawsuit against government due to ‘holes and gaps’ in compensation framework
Hundreds of people in the UK infected with contaminated blood and relatives of those infected are going ahead with plans to sue the health secretary for damages, having been left dissatisfied with the government’s announcement on compensation.
A group claim by about 500 people against the government alleging it breached a duty to take reasonable care to prevent personal injury or loss, amounting to misfeasance in public office, began in 2017 but was paused pending the inquiry into the scandal, which published its final report on Monday.
Hearing loss charities say deaf people struggling to access healthcare and facing cancelled appointments
NHS England has been accused of “dragging its feet” on bringing in new accessibility procedures, leading to disabled people routinely struggling to access healthcare and facing cancelled appointments.
The Accessible Information Standard (AIS), originally implemented in 2016, was part of legislation designed to ensure that NHS and adult social care services providers make sure that people with a disability are able to have their accessibility requirements met when accessing health and social care.
Numbers waiting for treatment have increased by 27% in less than two years as the UK’s population ages and grows more obese
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The rising number of people waiting for physiotherapy treatment is causing problems in other parts of the NHS and harming the UK’s economy, leading clinicians have warned.
‘Outrageous’ that payouts to victims in other countries are not being matched in UK, say campaigners
Global pharmaceutical firms that supplied products involved in the contaminated blood scandal face calls this weekend to foot part of the estimated £10bn compensation bill.
MPs and campaigners want the government to pursue action against drug firms that to date have not paid any compensation in the UK. Their products were contaminated with viruses, including HIV and hepatitis C.
Finally, a report has listed the long-term health complications for women worldwide – and the NHS should take note
Birth is usually a time of celebration, when we recognise the miracle of life as a child is brought into the world. In Britain, childbirth used to be a much more fraught experience, with a high risk of death for mother and baby. But scientific progress and modern medicine have reduced infant deaths for every 1,000 live births from 31.7 in 1950 to just four by 2020. Deaths are relatively higher than Finland’s and Japan’s infant mortality rates, of about two for every 1,000, but much lower than Afghanistan at 103.1.
Once a woman and her baby survive childbirth, several weeks of follow-up is routine in many countries to ensure that any urgent health issues are resolved. This six- to eight-week period is called postnatal care, as women recover from their labour and delivery, especially if they’ve had a C-section or episiotomy. But what happens to new mothers after that handful of weeks? They usually disappear from the health system and are left on their own to cope with recovery.
Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh
Victims of the contaminated blood scandal finally got some of the justice they have been seeking this week when Sir Brian Langstaff published the final report of his inquiry. The Guardian’s John Harris speaks to the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, who has campaigned for those affected by the disaster and was the health secretary from 2009-10
Despite promise of appointments within 14 days, almost 61m took place after that in 2023, analysis of NHS data shows
More than 5 million patients a month in England are waiting longer than a fortnight for a GP appointment after ministers promised everyone would be able to get one within 14 days.
In September 2022, the government said patients would be able to see a family doctor within two weeks of booking a consultation. Thérèse Coffey, then the health secretary, promised to prioritise the issue with a “laser-like focus”.
We would like to hear from patients about their experiences of paying for maternity care
Maternity services are in the forefront of the news, after MPs found
women in labour have been mocked, ignored, fobbed off with paracetamol
and left with permanent damage by midwives and doctors. The UK’s first
inquiry into birth trauma found poor childbirth care is so common, and
its consequences so damaging, that ministers and NHS bosses need to
push through significant changes.
One area that is harder to examine is the private birth sector so we
want to hear from patients about their experiences and also whether
concern about NHS care is prompting more women to pay for care. Have
you had a private birth or are you considering one? Please tell us
why. What was your care like?
The struggling NHS, the climate crisis, education and childcare will be among the issues on voters’ minds
Rishi Sunak has sought to frame the Conservatives as the party of the future and one that can be trusted with the economy and national security.
The prime minister, who once billed himself as the “change candidate” and unsuccessfully tried to distance himself from years of Conservative rule, now claims his party’s experience in government makes it more likely than Labour to have a secure plan for the future.
Ministers propose graduates could do ‘several years’ of NHS work or face repaying some training costs
Dental graduates in England could be forced to work in the NHS to help tackle the crisis in access that has left millions struggling to get their teeth repaired.
Under the government’s plan they would have to undertake NHS work for “several years” after leaving university or face paying back some of the £200,000 cost of training them.
Researchers say expanding access to treatment may reduce risk of serious health outcomes and ensure safer childbirths
Having an epidural during labour can reduce the risk of serious childbirth complications by 35%, according to research that suggests expanding access to the treatment may improve maternal health.
An epidural is an injection in the back to stop someone feeling pain in part of their body. Making them more widely available and providing more information to those who would benefit from one was even more important than previously thought, researchers said.
Open letter by Royal College of GPs says system fails to equitably distribute money and contributes to wider health inequalities
Ministers must “radically” reform the way GP funding is allocated across the country because it results in the poorest areas receiving inadequate healthcare, family doctors have warned.
The Royal College of GPs (RCGP) wrote in an open letter that the Carr-Hill formula, which has been used to allocated core GP funding since 2004, is outdated as it does not equitably distribute funds and as a result has contributed to the widening of health inequalities across the country.
Diagnoses up 39% in six years, with condition fuelled by obesity, health inequalities and junk food, study finds
The number of people under 40 being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the UK has risen 39% in six years, fuelled by soaring obesity levels and cheap junk food.
Britain has one of the highest obesity rates in Europe. Two in three adults are overweight or obese and the NHS spends £6bn a year treating obesity-related ill-health. That is forecast to rise to £10bn a year by 2050.
But supplements could reduce likelihood of heart attack for people who already have cardiovascular disease
Fish oil supplements may increase the risk of someone developing a heart condition or stroke, but could reduce the risk for those who already have cardiovascular disease, according to research.
Fish oil is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids. The NHS recommends at least one portion of oily fish a week to help prevent the development of cardiovascular disease.
Minister lays out details of compensation scheme day after damning report found NHS and government culpable for scandal
Victims of the contaminated blood scandal could receive over £2.5m in compensation under a multibillion pound scheme announced a day after a damning report found the NHS and government culpable for the tragedy.
The paymaster general, John Glen, outlined details of the scheme in parliament on Tuesday, following criticism in Sir Brian Langstaff’s final report of the government’s failure to set up a compensation framework for those infected and affected by the scandal, which he had called for last year.
Stuart Bolitho on why his life is still a ticking timebomb, more than 30 years after he was given contaminated blood, Marjorie Haynes on her father, who she believes died from Aids in the days before blood was tested, and Christine Hancock on a warning that wasn’t heeded
On Monday, I learned that 33 years after I was given a contaminated blood transfusion, the government has admitted that I and thousands of others were victims of a corrupt, careless system, and that we should receive compensation (UK infected blood scandal made worse by ‘chilling’ cover-up, inquiry finds, 20 May). It is a hollow victory.
I received a transfusion that contained hepatitis C after a stomach operation. I was fortunate to survive, unlike many others. My thoughts go out to their families. Although I have survived so far, hepatitis C can lead to liver cancer at any time. It’s a time bomb and is so frightening.
Brian Langstaff’s report has opened the door. We will keep fighting to bring those responsible to justice
Andy Evans is the chair of the Tainted Blood campaign group
Finally, people know we’re not conspiracy theorists. We’re not raving mad, and we haven’t been barking up the wrong tree. “Go away, live your lives, it was all a mistake,” is a refrain we infected blood campaigners and victims have heard for decades. But it turns out it wasn’t “just a mistake”, that more than 30,000 patients received blood infected with HIV and hepatitis C. And now, finally, the lies, the closing of ranks, and the blatant conspiracy to pervert justice for victims has been laid bare.
Brian Langstaff’s report is everything we have been saying for the last 40 years, packaged up by a high court judge and signed off in a public inquiry. His findings – that victims have been let down by “successive governments” who ignored warnings about contamination and engaged in a “cover-up” – are seismic.
Andy Evans is the chair of the Tainted Blood campaign group. As told to Lucy Pasha-Robinson
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Minister to set out £10bn scheme after pledge from Rishi Sunak to pay ‘whatever it costs’
Thousands of victims of the infected blood scandal and their families are to learn how ministers plan to compensate them for their suffering and loss of earnings after Rishi Sunak pledged to pay “whatever it costs”.
The details of the long-delayed scheme, which is expected to cost more than £10bn, will be set out by the Cabinet Office minister John Glen on Tuesday.
I was brought up to think sick people must do dietary penance. Then I tasted the delicious tikka masalas of a London hospital
I was born into a family with little love for food, and therefore scarcely Italian: I grew up with salads and overcooked pasta and two parents who looked at eating as nothing more than a necessary compromise to survive. Only as an adult did I discover that food was indeed a source of satisfaction, and that in Italy in particular it was associated with hospitality, conviviality and good feelings in general. As one of our most notedwriters, Elsa Morante, put it: “The truest display of affection, the only one indeed, is ‘Have you eaten?’” That’s right: not the decrepit, abstract “I love you”, but a concerned question about your dear one having had a meal or not.
There is only one place where this food-cherishing narrative fails, and it’s the hospital. As every Italian knows, as soon as you’re admitted as a patient, the opulence of tastes is replaced with miserable food worthy of a medieval jail. The meals served to patients not only lack variety (you can count on one hand the available options throughout the year) but are chewy, hard and strictly devoid of any taste or seasoning. So widespread is this practice, with no exceptions (even, as far as I know, in expensive private clinics) that no one has ever wondered where it came from. In fact, I hadn’t, either until last summer.
Viola Di Grado is an Italian novelist and literary translator. Her latest novel is Blue Hunger.
The NHS’s leading wheelchair provider has been told to urgently improve its complaints system by the health service ombudsman amid concerns disabled people are waiting up to two years for chairs.
The parliamentary and health service ombudsman (PHSO) took the unusual step of writing to AJM Healthcare after a sharp rise in complaints from wheelchair users. Most related to people not receiving new wheelchairs or the correct parts. The waits range from a month to two years, the ombudsman said.
When Rosy Bremer, 52, from Portsmouth, applied for a wheelchair from the NHS she did not expect it to take almost a year to arrive. She has spent hundreds since then hiring a private vehicle while she waits, despite having motor neurone disease (MND).
Bremer is one of many who have had issues with the private wheelchair firm AJM Healthcare. The health service ombudsman told AJM to improve its complaints system amid concerns about delays. Some disabled people have reported waiting up to two years for a chair.
Rishi Sunak’s words were echoed across almost all the major newspaper front pages on Tuesday, as the prime minister apologised for the failures of successive governments over the infected blood scandal, declaring it a “day of shame for the British state”.
A report released at the end of a five-year public inquiry found that the scandal that claimed the lives of 3,000 people treated with contaminated blood was made worse by a “chilling” NHS and government cover-up.
The final report on the infected blood scandal details the litany of government and healthcare failures which led to thousands of people being infected with HIV and Hepatitis C. It contains harsh words for doctors, ministers and civil servants, but it also aims to shine a light on the heartbreaking stories of pain and loss from victims and their families. Here are some of their reactions to the report in Westminster on Monday.
The grave failures of politicians, civil servants and the NHS over decades must lead to change
Nothing can bring back the 3,000 or so people who died as a result of contaminated blood products given to them by the NHS from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Thousands of others continue to struggle with viruses acquired in the same way, while others live with the knowledge that loved ones, including children, died or were infected needlessly. The report of the infected blood inquiry, published on Monday, has been far too long in coming. Victims of this disgraceful episode were fobbed off for decades, before the then prime minister Theresa May agreed to a public inquiry in 2017.
That decision was taken under strong pressure from campaigners. Andy Evans, who was infected with hepatitis C and HIV as a child, has described the official response as “kicking and screaming” all the way. The statement by the inquiry’s chair, Sir Brian Langstaff, on Monday was greeted with a standing ovation. But campaigners’ relief is mingled with anger and sadness. Truth, justice and accountability should not have been delayed for so long.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Key people and groups involved in perpetuating and covering up the public health disaster, and those who brought it to light
The infected blood scandal could largely have been avoided and there was a cover-up to hide the truth, an inquiry has concluded.
Patients were knowingly exposed to unacceptable risks of infection, the inquiry found, and deliberate attempts were made to conceal the disaster, including by Whitehall officials destroying documents.
Ordinary people were wronged, their lives ruined and so many cut short. After today’s devastating report, a reckoning is long overdue
It was one of the worst medical disasters of our time. Some 30,000 people who needed the help of the NHS to stay alive and well were given treatment that wrecked their health, took the lives of nearly 3,000 and will be responsible for more deaths to come. Finally, today, half a century on, the six-year Langstaff inquiry has produced a judgment on the infected blood scandal – and it is devastating.
The list of errors and misjudgments is extraordinary and it is clear that arrogance from the medical profession played a big part, as well as greed from the pharmaceutical companies and back-covering from the politicians. So many heads should roll, but many of the most culpable individuals are dead.
Sarah Boseley is the former health editor of the Guardian
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
PM gives statement following report that found ‘subtle, pervasive and chilling’ cover-up by NHS and government
GB News has described the Ofcom ruling against it today (see 10.51am and 11.01am) as an “alarming development” that should “terrify” anyone who believes in a free media. Here is its response to the judgment in full.
Ofcom’s finding against GB News today is an alarming development in its attempt to silence us by standing in the way of a forum that allows the public to question politicians directly.
The regulator’s threat to punish a news organisation with sanctions for enabling people to challenge their own prime minister strikes at the heart of democracy at a time when it could not be more vital.
In considering whether the programme was duly impartial, we took into account a range of factors, such as: the audience’s questions to the prime minister; the prime minister’s responses; the presenter’s contribution; and whether due impartiality was preserved through clearly linked and timely programmes. Our investigation found, in summary, that:
-while some of the audience’s questions provided some challenge to, and criticism of, the government’s policies and performance, audience members were not able to challenge the prime minister’s responses and the presenter did not do this to any meaningful extent;
Given the very high compliance risks this programme presented, we found GB News’s approach to compliance to be wholly insufficient, and consider it could have, and should have, taken additional steps to mitigate these risks.
We found that an appropriately wide range of significant viewpoints were not presented and given due weight in the People’s Forum: The Prime Minister, nor was due impartiality preserved through clearly linked and timely programmes. As a result, we consider that the prime minister had a mostly uncontested platform to promote the policies and performance of his government in a period preceding a UK general election.
Thousands of deaths could have been avoided, final report on infection of thousands with HIV or hepatitis C concludes
The scandal that claimed the lives of 3,000 people treated with contaminated blood was inflamed by a “chilling” NHS and government cover-up, a scathing report has found on what Rishi Sunak has declared a “day of shame”.
In the long-awaited conclusion to a five-year public inquiry, Brian Langstaff, who chaired the investigation, said on Monday the calamity could “largely, though not entirely, have been avoided” – but successive governments and others in authority “did not put patient safety first”.
A day of reckoning has arrived, more than 50 years since the first victims received infected blood. The UK public inquiry has published its final report, which it is hoped will provide a measure of justice to the thousands of people affected by apportioning blame to the government and health service, and paving the way for a formal apology and compensation scheme. Here are the main points covered.
From 1970 to 1990s, the NHS exposed people to tainted blood through transfusions and gave infected US blood products to haemophiliacs
The final report of the infected blood inquiry will be published on 20 May, almost six years after it started. Here is the background to the scandal the inquiry was set up to investigate.
Chair to share findings of investigation into NHS infection of thousands with HIV or hepatitis C over more than 20 years
The infected blood public inquiry is to publish its final report on the failings that led to the deaths of more than 3,000 people in the UK and ruined many more lives.
The report will detail how more than 30,000 haemophiliacs or transfusion recipients were infected with HIV and/or hepatitis C over more than two decades, and is seen as a seismic moment for the victims and their families.
The Christian Legal Centre is behind a number of end-of-life court cases that could be ‘prolonging suffering’, according to doctors. Josh Halliday reports
Medics treating critically ill babies and children are citing instances of “considerable moral distress” that they say is being caused by the actions of a rightwing Christian group involved in several end-of-life court cases.
The Guardian’s north of England editor, Josh Halliday,tells Hannah Moore that while the Christian Legal Centre is not be a household name it has become highly influential in high-profile end-of-life cases in recent years.
Report from official inquiry due to present findings in what has been described as biggest treatment disaster in history of NHS
A long-awaited final report from the public inquiry into the infected blood scandal is expected to call for those responsible to face prosecution, the Guardian has learned.
The official inquiry, set up under Theresa May in 2017, will present its findings on Monday in a huge moment for victims and bereaved relatives of what has been described as the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.
Waiting lists are at a record high, almost double since 2020, with heart disease being the largest cause of premature death in deprived areas
Fifteen hospital trusts across England each have more than 200 patients waiting longer than a year for heart procedures, NHS figures reveal.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) warns that heart care waiting lists are now at a record high, reaching 414,596 at the end of March 2024 in England, almost double what it was in 2020. The number of people waiting longer than a year for heart tests and treatments has risen to 10,893. Four years ago, the figure was just 53.
Party says pooling resources across regions would deliver 40,000 extra appointments a week for patients
Hospitals would have to share waiting lists and pool resources under Labour’s plans to reduce waiting times by delivering up to 40,000 extra NHS appointments a week.
The party has announced that patients would be offered appointments at nearby hospitals, rather than necessarily at their local one, which would enable people to receive faster treatment. Hospital staff and resources would be pooled across a region and would run evening and weekend surgeries.
As the inquiry publishes its final report, the chancellor is under pressure to find £10bn to put right a longstanding injustice
The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will come under pressure to stay true to his word and sign off on immediate compensation payments totalling up to £10bn to victims of the contaminated blood scandal when the long-awaited final report on the affair is published on Monday.
The scandal is described as the worst treatment disaster in NHS history, with more than 3,000 people having died as a result of receiving contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. It is estimated that, even today, a person infected during the scandal dies every four days.
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