Health and care sector latest developments

No resident doctors strikes in August, says Streeting

The health and social care secretary, Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP, has told radio station LBC that the BMA has agreed to pause strike action for the month of August, while they continue discussions. 

When asked whether he expected strikes to spread to other professional groups, Mr Streeting said he felt ‘much more optimistic about the wider NHS workforce, about where we are on the risk of industrial action, not least because we’re working constructively together’.

Resident doctors took five days of industrial action last month, from 7am on 25 July until 7am on 30 July, after 90 per cent of eligible BMA members voted yes on a 55 per cent turnout. 

His comments come the same day The Daily Telegraph has published data that shows Britain has lost more than 280,000 working days to strikes in the first half of 2025. 

The number of lost working days is down significantly from the first six months of 2023, when more than 1.7 million days were lost, and the first half of 2024, when there were 464,000 lost days.

These figures do not account for strikes held at the end of July by resident doctors.

Community-based social care funding welcomed in Wales, but long-term solution needed

The Welsh Government has today announced £30 million of additional funding for local authorities in Wales to improve hospital discharges and strengthen community-based provision. 

Responding on behalf of the Welsh NHS Confederation, director Darren Hughes said: “We welcome the additional funding from the Welsh Government to strengthen community-based social care services and improve hospital discharge processes.

“Social care is about much more than hospital discharge; care workers play a crucial role in supporting people to remain independent for longer and preventing hospital admissions in the first place. 

"Local authorities and health boards must work together to invest the funding to strengthen community-based health and social care and support services to enable the best outcomes for people and communities.

“In our survey of NHS leaders from across Wales, the sustainability of the social care sector was the number one priority. So, although welcome, we need to find a long-term solution, including a move to parity between the NHS and social care. This means ensuring the workforce feel properly valued, paid and respected for their important work.”

Nurse threatened with gun as tensions rise over A&E wait times

A survey from the Royal College of Nursing has found that violence against NHS emergency nursing staff is rising sharply, with 4,054 incidents reported in 2024, up from 2,093 in 2019. 

The RCN warns that long A&E waits, understaffing, and ’corridor care’ are fuelling aggression, even among typically calm patients. Nurses report being punched, spat at, and threatened with weapons. The RCN urges urgent government action to protect staff and prevent further harm. 

Responding on behalf of NHS Employers, Rebecca Smith, director of system and social partnership at NHS Employers, said: “It is deeply worrying to hear nursing staff in A&E departments in England reporting being victims of violent incidents, with violence against emergency department staff almost doubling since 2019.

“No one should have to face violence at work – it is totally unacceptable. These kinds of incidents not only have a huge impact on staff health and wellbeing but also retention of staff as well as NHS services and patient experience. Preventing and reducing violence benefits everyone.”

She went on to say the new set of standards for staff to be introduced by April 2026 as set out in the Ten-Year Health Plan covers violence against staff.

NHSE launches programme to enable ‘patient power payments’

NHS England has started work on a new national feedback system to support the government’s proposed ‘patient power payments’, which would see individual members of the public able to affect how much money providers and commissioners receive for treating them.

Set out in the 10 Year Health Plan, this programme will act as a trial. 

The government procurement notice, published today, states a contract to ‘scope and design a future model and implementation roadmap for the system-wide collection, analysis, presentation and use of feedback from people receiving care across the NHS’ will be awarded by early November 2025. 

Successful bidders for the trial programme are expected to have ‘demonstrable experience’ in healthcare policy, social research and engagement, data expertise, and customer experience.

An NHSE spokesperson said: “Every patient deserves high-quality care, and hearing directly from patients about their experiences is essential to improving NHS services.

“The 10 Year Health Plan puts patient voices at the centre, and we are now engaging widely with patients, staff, and suppliers on the potential design of a modern feedback system – building on the best of the NHS and other sectors – to explore how patient insights can be acted on to improve care.”

NHS announces big change to how expectant mothers access maternity care

Hundreds of thousands of newly pregnant women across England can now self-refer online to get their ‘all-important’ first midwife appointments quicker, ensuring the best and most personalised care for their baby.

By completing a simple online form on NHS.uk, mums-to-be can now refer themselves directly to their local maternity services without seeing a GP first.

The new NHS England service enables families to choose which NHS trust to refer themselves to, helping them to meet their midwife and begin NHS pregnancy care as early as possible.

While most women do not need to see a GP before they start their pregnancy care with their midwife, anyone can still request to see their GP if they’d like to – and those with other health conditions will still be encouraged to meet with their doctor to discuss any changes to their existing care.

The new NHS drive to help speed up access to pregnancy care comes following latest data showing only 62 per cent of first appointments with maternity services happened within the first ten weeks of pregnancy in 2023/24.

Responding on behalf of the NHS Confederation, director of primary care Ruth Rankine said, “This is a very welcome step that will make it simpler for pregnant women to get their first midwife appointments as well as reducing the workload on general practice, which has been managing record levels of demand. 

“While there will always need to be the option for people to see their GP if they have additional needs such as language difficulties or learning disabilities, this announcement gives patients another route to access the care they need as part of the government’s ambition to move towards a digital NHS.”

Thousands to get free weight-loss jabs on NHS in new deal

Ministers have announced a partnership with the American drugs giant Lilly, which is aimed at significantly improving access to anti-obesity medications. This £85 million deal covers Mounjaro. 

As part of this, pilot schemes will be launched to increase access to weight-loss drugs, including allowing high street pharmacies to prescribe them on the NHS. Lilly is contributing £35 million to the pilot programme.

The NHS Confederation is working on an ongoing improvement project with UK arm of the business, Eli Lilly, looking at how tier 3 and 4 weight management service provision and operation can be improved.