The NHS is expanding blood pressure checks available in local communities including barbershops, mosques and at a dominoes club, as part of a major drive to prevent strokes and heart attacks. Thanks to the learning from the NHS covid vaccination programme, local teams are reaching out into their neighbourhoods to find potential health problems before […]
The number of people receiving lifesaving checks for cancer in the last year has hit nearly three million (2.92m) – more than any other year on record. In June alone, over a quarter of a million people (261,000) were seen for urgent cancer checks by the NHS, which is well over double the number of […]
Emergency departments experienced their second busiest July ever last month, with new data published today showing 2.1 million attendances. The new data suggests this summer is currently on track to be the busiest ever for hardworking NHS staff with 4.42 million attendances in A&E over June and July – 42,500 more than the previous high […]
Thousands of patients who need NHS treatment could be quickly and easily allocated to hospitals that can take on their care thanks to a new online ‘matching’ platform. As part of efforts to reduce the covid backlog, the easy-to-use tool allows NHS staff to view and add available surgery slots in hospitals across the country, […]
The NHS is facing another period of significant disruption this week, with potentially thousands more appointments and procedures postponed due to the latest round of industrial action by junior doctors. From 7am on Friday 11 August until 7am on Tuesday 15 August, junior doctors across England will be on strike, as the NHS enters the […]
Nearly three in four babies born with a rare muscle-wasting disease are now surviving for two years or more thanks to advances in NHS treatment, new data shows. Around 70 children are born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) each year in the UK, a rare genetic condition that causes muscle weakness, progressive loss of movement […]
Hundreds of thousands of patients could benefit from a quicker diagnosis for a range of respiratory and heart conditions, through ambitious new NHS plans for fast-tracked tests and checks. As part of measures announced by the NHS today to speed up detection of major health problems, GP practices will be able to directly order diagnostic […]
The NHS is bracing itself for one of the toughest strikes in its history beginning on Thursday morning, England’s top doctor has warned. Consultant doctors and hospital-based dentists will be taking strike action from 7am on Thursday until 7am on Saturday. Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said that consultants will only provide […]
Almost a million more people (900,000) will become eligible for a shingles vaccination from September, the NHS announced today. Anyone who is severely immunosuppressed and over 50 will be able to get two doses of the Shingrix vaccine – currently the vaccine is only available to those over 70. From 1 September 2023, those turning […]
The NHS has launched plans to expand pioneering subscription-style drug contracts to develop lifesaving antibiotics of the future. It comes as data shows more people are contracting drug-resistant superbugs than ever before, with antimicrobial resistance (AMR) predicted to cause 10 million global deaths each year by 2050 if no action is taken. NHS England is […]