NHS providers urge Rishi Sunak to invest extra £4bn due to Covid challenges November 13, 2020 NHS providers sent a letter to Rishi Sunak today demanding he increases investment in the NHS by £4bn, in light of the upcoming public spending review on 25 November. The letter is co-signed by Chris Hopson and Saffron Cordery, respectively the Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive of NHS Providers, the membership organisation for the [...]
Rapid Covid tests to be rolled out across majority of London boroughs November 10, 2020 Rapid coronavirus tests are set to be rolled out across the bulk of London boroughs, as part of government plans to step up asymptomatic testing across the country. Lateral flow tests, which have a turnaround time of as little as 15 minutes, will be sent to 21 out of London’s 32 boroughs this week. The [...]
Dido Harding slammed for ‘three per cent’ Test and Trace success rate November 10, 2020 Baroness Dido Harding has been slammed by MPs for the “three per cent” success rate of England’s contact tracing programme, as the Test and Trace chair faced her first formal grilling in the Commons. Health and social care committee chair Jeremy Hunt pressured Harding to explain why only “three per cent of the total theoretical [...]
Coronavirus: NHS boss confirms health service is preparing for vaccine by Christmas November 4, 2020 The NHS is preparing to distribute potential Covid-19 vaccines in time for Christmas, the head of the health service announced today. Simon Stevens, chief executive of the NHS, said medical chiefs were drawing up plans for wide-scale rollout of a potential vaccine over the next two months, in case one of them is ready in [...]
Doctor, Doctor: How can we cure our chronic NHS shortage? October 27, 2020 Shortages of PPE and ventilators have been at the top of the agenda during this pandemic, but such attention has masked a far more intractable problem: the global shortage of doctors. According to one forecast, in 10 years there will be a global deficit of 400,000 doctors, with that undersupply spread between 32 OECD countries. [...]
BA and Virgin bag £70m of taxpayer money to fly PPE back from China October 16, 2020 British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have been paid more than £70m of taxpayer money to ferry personal protective equipment (PPE) to the UK from China, as the government scrambles to stock up supplies in time for winter. BA, which is the second-largest airline in the UK, was handed £46m between May and July through a [...]
No deal Brexit ‘catastrophic’ for NHS staff and supplies: medical chief October 5, 2020 A hard Brexit will have a “potentially catastrophic impact” on the NHS and its patients and staff, according to the deputy chair of the British Medical Association (BMA). Dr David Wrigley, who is also the BMA’s trade negotiations lead, fears that a no deal Brexit, which seems increasingly likely, would hit patients and staff across [...]
Covid-19 has exposed the faults within the broken NHS system October 1, 2020 The NHS Confederation this week raised concerns about the health service’s ability to cope with a second wave and a vast backlog of treatments over the course of the winter, strengthening an already-watertight case for system-level reform of the UK’s healthcare system. Over the course of this crisis, the NHS’s status has reached a new [...]
Health minister admits NHS coronavirus app might not be ready before winter June 17, 2020 A government minister has admitted that the NHS’ contact-tracing coronavirus app might not be ready before the winter. Speaking to the parliamentary science and technology committee this afternoon, department of health minister Lord Bethell said the app was “no longer a priority”. In answer to questions about the app, Bethell said: “We are seeking to [...]
UK to open two more Nightingale hospitals to deal with coronavirus cases April 3, 2020 The UK will open two more Nightingale hospitals to handle the rising number of coronavirus cases, as the first opened at London’s Excel Centre today. The new Nightingale hospitals in Bristol and Harrogate will provide 1,500 extra beds for patients afflicted by coronavirus. So far the outbreak has killed 2,921 people in the UK. The [...]