‘COVID-friendly’ cancer treatments that are safer for patients during the pandemic will be expanded and extended through a £160 million initiative, NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens announced today. The funding will pay for drugs that treat patients without having such a big impact on their immune system or offer other benefits such as fewer […]

Patients are being offered more convenient cancer treatment during the coronavirus pandemic, including chemotherapy buses and the fast track rollout of an innovative and life-saving type of radiotherapy. NHS England has today announced it is accelerating the use of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) which requires fewer doses than standard radiotherapy, cutting the number of hospital […]

At the same time as managing the most serious global health threat in a century, the NHS has struck a deal which will see hundreds of people a year benefit from a ‘game-changing’ new cancer treatment. The new drug, larotrectinib, will initially be used for children, young people and some adults, and targets tumours according […]

NHS England is to fund a life-changing treatment for people with rare conditions causing repeated bouts of fever, joint pains and swelling, in an effort to help a small group of people who ‘suffer in silence’. Periodic fever syndromes (PFS) are a group of rare genetic conditions where the person’s immune system overreacts, resulting in […]

Thousands of people, including children with severe epilepsy will have access to a potentially life changing, seizure preventing cannabis-based treatment on the NHS from the New Year. Doctors will be able to prescribe Epidyolex with clobazam for eligible children with two types of severe epilepsy which can cause multiple seizures a day – Lennox Gastaut […]

More lifesaving vaccines should be provided in convenient locations for parents to drive uptake, a new NHS review says today. The findings are being published amid a reduction in children getting vaccinated, with analysis showing that one in seven children aged five had not had both doses of essential measles jabs. Health leaders will also […]

NHS England has today announced it has secured a definitive agreement with Vertex Pharmaceuticals to make available all three of their UK-licensed cystic fibrosis medicines. This means NHS patients will now have full access to Orkambi, Symkevi and Kalydeco, and around 5000 people may now take up these treatments. There is no cap on patient numbers, and each and every patient in England who […]

World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WAAW) aims to increase awareness of antibiotic resistance as a global problem, and to promote best practices among the general public, health workers and policy-makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. As part of preparations for the 2019 Awareness Week this November, a group of senior leaders […]

A pharmacist who came to the aid of hundreds of people during the Whaley Bridge crisis, in which a dam threatened to burst and wash away the village under tons of flood water, is being recognised for his heroism. Deputy Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, Dr Bruce Warner, visited Raj Modi to praise him for his remarkable […]

Midwives, nurses and doctors in maternity and birthing units are ‘always standing ready’, as the country sees the annual peak in births today. Thanks to a spike in conceptions over the Christmas holidays, around 2,000 babies are born on 26 September in England and Wales – more than any other day of the year – […]