NHS patients with sickle cell disease will be able to benefit from a groundbreaking gene-editing treatment that offers the prospect of a cure for the condition. The one-off gene therapy, known as exagamglogene autotemcel (or ‘exa-cel’), has been approved for use on the NHS in England from today (Friday 31 January) by the National Institute […]

The NHS will focus on delivering faster treatment for hundreds of thousands of patients – including for planned surgeries and emergency care – as the number of national targets is almost halved under new guidance to reform services. Published today, NHS England’s planning guidance for the next financial year sees a significant streamlining of priorities […]

The number of beds taken up by norovirus patients has hit its highest level so far this winter, with an average of 898 people a day in hospital with the virus last week. There was a 15% jump in patients with the diarrhoea and vomiting bug on the week before (784 week ending 19 Jan), […]

An NHS spokesperson said: “The report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) contains basic factual inaccuracies and a flawed understanding of how the NHS and the government’s financial processes work. “While NHS productivity is now improving at double pre-pandemic levels – far from being complacent, NHS England has repeatedly been open about the problem and […]

Hundreds of potential kidney donors of Black African and Black Caribbean heritage can now get a simple blood test to help reduce the risk of kidney failure. The test is part of national genetic testing available on the NHS and will help identify if potential donors carry genes that mean they have a high risk […]

The NHS website saw more than 18,000 hits in an hour on its spina bifida pages following Sunday night’s episode of Call the Midwife. Spina bifida is a rare condition that occurs when a baby’s spine and spinal cord does not develop properly in the womb, causing a gap in the spine. In the BBC One episode, […]

Norovirus levels in hospitals in England are 80% higher than the same period last year, new figures show today as pressure on NHS services remains high.  New data published today shows that 784 patients a day were in hospital with norovirus last week (week ending 19 January 2025), up from 650 the previous week. Levels […]

Almost 70,000 people with mental health issues were given employment support last year as part of the NHS Talking Therapies Programme – up nearly two-thirds on the year before, latest NHS figures show. New data also shows almost 2 million referrals (1.8 million) to Talking Therapies were made last year, with more than 1.2 million […]

Last week was the busiest yet for the NHS this winter, amid sky-high virus rates which have left hospitals ‘jampacked’ with patients. New data published today shows that more hospital beds were occupied last week (w/e 12 Jan) than at any point so far this winter (97,636), with 96% of adult general and acute hospital […]

Hundreds of people with Jewish ancestry in England have been identified as being at increased risk of cancer and offered risk-reducing options, as part of a new NHS genetic testing programme. New data shows that over 25,000 free saliva test kits have now been requested and delivered as part of the NHS Jewish BRCA Testing […]