Home-testing kits that can help detect early-stage bowel cancer will be rolled out to 58-year-olds in England for the first time, as part of a major expansion of the lifesaving screening programme. People aged 58 years will be automatically sent a Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) once eligible, which can detect early signs of bowel cancer […]

Record numbers of people have come forward for bowel cancer checks thanks to lifesaving awareness raising by Dame Deborah James, the NHS said today. Between the months of May and July, referrals for suspected lower gastro-intestinal cancers reached record levels, with over 170,500 people referred for checks during that period – up over 30,000 compared […]

The NHS will today set out steps to rapidly boost capacity and resilience, including through increasing bed availability and staff numbers, ahead of the busy winter period. Health chiefs will outline plans to prepare local services for additional pressure, by creating the equivalent of 7,000 more beds through a mixture of new hospital beds, ‘virtual […]

Issued at 9:11 am on Friday 12 August 2022 There is a 90% probability of heat-health alert criteria being met between 9am on Friday 12 August and 9am on Tuesday 16 August in parts of England. Hot weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients. Find out more about how to cope in hot […]

The NHS has made significant progress in reducing waits of more than 18 months since January, while dealing with record numbers of the most serious ambulance call outs in July, new figures show today. NHS staff are already making progress on the next milestone of the elective recovery plan with a drop of almost one […]

Issued at 9:30 am on Tuesday 9 August 2022 There is a 90 % probability of Heat-Health Alert criteria being met between 1200 on Tuesday 09 Aug and 2100359 on Sunday 14 Aug in parts of England. Hot weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients. Find out more about how to cope in […]

NHS staff were today praised for virtually eliminating the longest waits for scans, checks, surgical procedures and other routine treatment, the first milestone in the most ambitious catch-up plan in health service history. The NHS Elective Recovery Plan, published earlier this year, set out how the health service would address the backlogs that have inevitably […]

Issued at 8:14am on Monday 8 August 2022 There is a 90% probability of heat-health alert criteria being met between midday on Tuesday 9 August and 6pm on Saturday 13 August in parts of England. Hot weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients. Find out more about how to cope in hot weather. […]

Issued at 9:02am on Friday 4 August 2022 There is a 60% probability of heat-health alert criteria being met between midday on Tuesday 9 August and 9am on Friday 12 August in parts of England. Hot weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients. Find out more about how to cope in hot weather. […]

Issued at 6am on Thursday 4 August 2022 Temperatures are not expected to reach heatwave threshold values until further notice. Hot weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients. Find out more about how to cope in hot weather. You can find the government Heatwave plan for England here. More details about the weather […]