nhs

‘These cuts will place yet more strain on an NHS already creaking at the seams’

Spread the love

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/these-cuts-will-place-yet-more-strain-on-an-nhs-already-creaking-at-the-seams

(left to right) Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Dr James Marsh, Group Deputy CEO for Epsom and St Helier Hospitals, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and NHS CEO Amanda Pritchard during a visit to Elective Orthopaedic Centre in Epsom, Surrey, January 6, 2025

Labour warned that workers expect better as anger mounts over welfare cuts and public-sector pay

WORKERS expect better, Labour has been warned by the country’s biggest trade union as anger mounts over cruel welfare cuts and public-sector pay.

Protests met Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s address to Unison health conference in Liverpool yesterday, following a sharp rebuke to the government from its general secretary Christina McAnea on Tuesday.

Ms McAnea had thanked the government for taking steps to improve workers’ conditions through the upcoming Employment Rights Bill.

But she said that some of Labour’s decisions, such as stopping winter fuel payments and inflicting “heartless” cuts to welfare, had left her “baffled and speechless.”

“These cuts will place yet more strain on an NHS already creaking at the seams,” she warned.

“They’re counter-productive, will cost more in the long run and are morally wrong.

“The best way to turn the NHS around is by focusing on the workforce.

“There’s simply no route to fixing the NHS that doesn’t first involve sorting health workers’ pay,” which declined in real terms for over a decade under the Tories.

She called Labour’s 2.8 per cent pay rise for workers “ludicrous,” adding that it “won’t encourage experienced staff to stay in the NHS, nor will it be enough to persuade new recruits to join.”

…

Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/these-cuts-will-place-yet-more-strain-on-an-nhs-already-creaking-at-the-seams

Keir Starmer says that his Labour Party is intensely relaxed about assaulting the very poorest and most vulnerable.
Keir Starmer says that his Labour Party is intensely relaxed about assaulting the very poorest and most vulnerable.
Continue Reading‘These cuts will place yet more strain on an NHS already creaking at the seams’

England’s NHS crews ‘watching patients die in back of ambulances’ due to A&E delays

Spread the love

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/06/englands-nhs-crews-watching-patients-die-in-back-of-ambulances-due-to-ae-delays

The gridlock of patients in some of England’s hospitals has led to queues of up to 20 ambulances outside A&Es. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer

Paramedics across England are watching patients die in the back of ambulances because of delays outside emergency departments, according to a survey by Unison.

The gridlock of patients in some of the country’s hospitals has led to queues of up to 20 ambulances outside casualty departments in certain areas. In a number of cases, crews have been forced to wait more than 12 hours before handing over patients.

The survey of nearly 600 ambulance workers reveals the toll of the waits on patients and the crews looking after them. Unison warns that “car park care” is increasingly becoming the norm, with hospital medical staff tending to patients in the back of ambulances.

More than three-quarters (77%) of paramedics and emergency medical technicians said they have had to look after people in the back of ambulances in the past year while stuck outside emergency departments. Two-thirds (68%) have waited in hospital corridors, or in other locations, with one paramedic often caring for several patients to allow colleagues to respond to other calls.

More than two-thirds also reported patients’ health deteriorating during long waits, and one in 20 (5%) said people have died in their care because of long delays in being admitted.

…

Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/06/englands-nhs-crews-watching-patients-die-in-back-of-ambulances-due-to-ae-delays

Continue ReadingEngland’s NHS crews ‘watching patients die in back of ambulances’ due to A&E delays

More than half of A&E patients not given critical medicines, report warns

Spread the love

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/more-than-half-of-ae-patients-not-given-critical-medicines-report-warns

A pharmacist stocking shelves

PATIENTS in A&E face serious complications from missing doses of prescription medicines while waiting days to be seen, a new report warns.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) study, released today, found that more than half of patients are not identified as being on time-critical medicines (TCM) within 30 minutes of arriving at an A&E.

Nearly seven in 10 doses are not administered within 30 minutes of the expected time.

TCM is prescribed to a patient for existing conditions, such as insulin for diabetes, Parkinson’s drugs, epilepsy medicines and tablets for preventing blood clots.

Last December, it emerged that an elderly man was left unable to swallow after waiting over two days in A&E without being given regular medication, and died four weeks later.

…

Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/more-than-half-of-ae-patients-not-given-critical-medicines-report-warns

Continue ReadingMore than half of A&E patients not given critical medicines, report warns

NHS trust apologises as man’s tumour death investigated for manslaughter

Spread the love

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/01/nhs-trust-apologises-royal-sussex-county-hospital-brighton-tumour-death-richard-harris-police-investigation

Richard Harris had to wait weeks to be seen despite complaining of ‘red-hot poker pain’. Photograph: Jimmy Edmonds

Guardian Exclusive: Richard Harris, 71, died last July after series of errors at troubled Royal Sussex County hospital in Brighton

A troubled NHS trust has apologised to the family of a man who died after a series of potentially fatal delays to treat a tumour, in a case that is being investigated by police as possible corporate manslaughter.

Richard Harris, 71, died last July after a series of errors in the neurosurgery department at the Royal Sussex County hospital in Brighton, which is part of University Hospitals Sussex NHS foundation trust (UHSussex).

…

An internal review of Harris’s care found that doctors failed to arrange a routine MRI scan for him when he was first urgently referred to neurosurgery in 2017. Harris, who was fit and a regular swimmer, only received a scan when he contacted the department again in 2019.

…

Eventually Harris, who had worked as a gardener, delivery driver and massage therapist, was referred to neurosurgery early last year suffering with acute pain. He had to wait weeks to be seen, despite repeatedly pleading with his consultant in emails complaining of “red-hot poker pain” that was “scaring me to death”. There were yet further delays in arranging MRI scans, the review found.

…

Months later, the tumour was assessed to be cancerous and inoperable. Harris was discharged to hospice care and died a few weeks later.

Sussex police have confirmed to Harris’s family that his death is being investigated as possible corporate manslaughter, as part of its expanding Operation Bramber investigation.

Police documents seen by the Guardian show that more than 90 deaths in the general surgery and neurosurgery departments are being reviewed as possible manslaughter. Detectives and a clinical panel are examining alleged medical negligence and cover-ups between 2015 and 2021. The allegations were first made by two internal whistleblowers: Krishna Singh, a consultant surgeon, and Mansoor Foroughi, a consultant neurosurgeon, who lost their jobs after raising concerns.

…

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/01/nhs-trust-apologises-royal-sussex-county-hospital-brighton-tumour-death-richard-harris-police-investigation

Continue ReadingNHS trust apologises as man’s tumour death investigated for manslaughter