Statistics on last week’s junior doctors strike are available on the NHS England website. In summary, over four days last week there were 195,000 cancellations. At the peak of the action, there were 27,361 staff not at work due to industrial action. There were, however, a high number of nil returns on the workforce data collection, […]

There are more than 725,000 chances to grab a jab this week as the NHS Covid-19 Vaccination Programme opens up its spring offer to all those eligible. More than 320,000 people have already booked an appointment and the first of these will begin receiving their vaccinations from today. Around five million people in total are […]

The number of people waiting longest for elective treatment has dropped for the third month in a row as services dealt with the busiest winter on record, new figures show. The NHS has continued to progress against its elective recovery plan, with the number of people waiting more than 18 months for elective care dropping […]

Commenting on the junior doctors industrial action, NHS England national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: “Staff are working incredibly hard during this unprecedented period of industrial action, and we expect the situation to become more challenging each day this strike progresses. As the week goes on, we expect to see staff cover stretched […]

Strike action across England this week will see unprecedented disruption to NHS services, England’s top doctor has warned today. Professor Sir Stephen Powis said that it had been a challenged bank holiday weekend for hospitals in England and that the industrial action by junior doctors, starting at 7am tomorrow, would bring ‘immense pressure’ on services. […]

Commenting ahead of next week’s industrial action, NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: “This next round of strikes will see unparalleled levels of disruption, and we are very concerned about the potential severity of impact on patients and services across the country. “This time the action immediately follows a four-day bank holiday […]

England’s top doctor is urging the public to continue to come forward for care if they need it during the bank holiday weekend. Ahead of the Easter break and next week’s industrial action, NHS National Medical Director Professor Sir Stephen Powis has warned that services are likely to be under pressure. As ever, the public […]

A life-saving NHS testing programme is helping to diagnose thousands of people with a genetic condition that increases the chance of developing cancer. The health service has begun rolling out a genetic test for Lynch syndrome, an inherited condition that increases the risk of certain cancers, including bowel, ovarian and pancreatic. It is estimated that […]

Commenting on this morning’s updated weekly sitrep figures, NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: “NHS staff continue to face extraordinary pressure, with over 13,000 beds being taken up by patients who no longer need to be in hospital every day last week and more than 19 out of 20 adult beds occupied. […]

Hundreds of patients with breast cancer and advanced prostate cancer could benefit from a breakthrough targeted therapy, after the NHS agreed a landmark commercial deal to roll-out the drug to treat forms of the two most common cancers in England. The drug, olaparib (Lynparza®), targets cancers with mutations in the BRCA genes, and works by […]