Nearly one in five local hospital services are consistently failing to hit any of their key waiting-time targets, BBC analysis shows. Twenty-nine hospital trusts and boards out of 157 have not hit a single target for a whole year. Northern Ireland is struggling the most – all five trusts have failed their key targets for […]
A healthcare professional at a hospital has been arrested over the alleged administration of poison or a noxious substance to patients. Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust raised concerns over care to some patients on 8 November, Lancashire Police said. The allegations related to the alleged mistreatment and neglect of some patients on the stroke […]
Peanut allergy can be beaten with a treatment that slowly builds up tolerance, a large study shows. None of nearly 500 four- to 17-year-olds from the US and Europe could tolerate even a 10th of a peanut dose. But after taking tiny daily doses for a year, two-thirds could tolerate at least two whole peanuts. […]
Some of Britain’s biggest employers are pressing the government to honour a promise to give mental health the same status as physical health at work. Royal Mail and WH Smith are among the companies asking the PM to follow through on her manifesto pledge to update health and safety legislation. That would mean employers would […]
Media playback is unsupported on your device Romeo Hadley was three years old when he lost both his legs. Now seven, after 18 months of hard work, he can walk on prosthetic limbs. Romeo had complained of leg pains before he was diagnosed with purpura fulminans, a thrombotic condition that causes necrosis and blood coagulation. […]
There’s some good news for people with insomnia – your lack of sleep is probably not going to kill you. A new report published by the journal Science Direct says there is no link between insomnia and early death. This may or may not come as some comfort to anyone who’s lying awake at 4am […]
A major UK home care provider, offering support to 13,000 older and disabled people, is seeking to transfer or sell all its contracts to other providers. Allied Healthcare was warned this month by the care regulator about its financial sustainability. Since then, some local authorities have already taken steps to find new providers. The company […]
GPs and patients frustrated by a shortage of the new flu vaccine for over-65s are being told the final delivery batch will arrive by Saturday. NHS England said there would be enough vaccines for everyone to be protected ahead of winter. But doctors’ leaders said more guidance should have been given to GPs and patients […]
When it was part of Nokia, Withings focused its efforts on the Steel hybrid watch – but having re-established itself as an independent company, it’s back in the fitness band game with the new Pulse HR. This band doesn’t spring any major surprise with its feature set, but it does boast an eye-catching 20-day battery […]
Cancer screening programmes are to be reviewed following high-profile mistakes that have put thousands of patients in England at risk. NHS England has asked former government cancer tsar Sir Mike Richards to look at what changes are needed. Three national schemes cover breast, cervical and bowel cancers. On Wednesday, it emerged letters about the cervical […]
More than 40,000 women in England have not received information regarding cervical cancer screening after a failure to send out letters by the NHS. The errors were made between January and June. Around 4,000 of them were results of tests, the remainder were letters inviting them for screening or reminding them they were due. Between […]
Wearable glucose monitors will be made available to tens of thousands more people with type 1 diabetes from April 2019, NHS England has announced. Its decision comes after an investigation found patients in some areas of the country were being denied access to the device. It reduces the need for finger-prick blood tests and helps […]
Media playback is unsupported on your device The campaign group Action on Sugar is demanding a ban on freakshakes and all milkshakes with more than 300 calories. It surveyed milkshakes sold in restaurants and fast food shops in the UK and found they contained “grotesque levels of sugar and calories”. Freakshakes are milkshakes that also […]
A new discovery could explain why obese people are more likely to develop cancer, scientists say. A type of cell the body uses to destroy cancerous tissue gets clogged by fat and stops working, the team, from Trinity College Dublin, found. Obesity is the biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK after smoking, Cancer […]
A Briton has died after contracting rabies while on holiday in Morocco, health officials have said. Public Health England said the victim became infected after being bitten by a cat. PHE issued a reminder to travellers to avoid coming into contact with animals when in rabies-affected countries. Rabies is not found in wild or domestic […]