Health and care sector latest developments

Resident doctors vote to continue industrial action

Resident doctors have voted to maintain a mandate for industrial action over the next six months.

As PA Media reports, 93 per cent of medics voted in favour with a 53 per cent turnout.

Chairman of the BMA’s Resident Doctors Committee, Dr Jack Fletcher, said that the vote does not need ‘to mean more strikes’, calling for ‘a new jobs package and an offer raising pay fairly over several years’. 

Mathew Taylor, interim chief executive of the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, said:

“NHS leaders will be bitterly disappointed that resident doctors have voted to continue with industrial action, especially given the huge impact that strikes have had on patients and the health service’s performance and finances. Further strikes will pile yet more unplanned costs on the NHS organisations, forcing health leaders to make difficult choices over reducing staff and patient services to try to balance their books.

“The government and NHS are already working hard to improve the working lives of resident doctors, including introducing the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill. Health leaders would urge resident doctors to reflect on the impact of further industrial action on patients, the difficult financial backdrop we’re operating in, and the generous pay rise that has already been offered to them by the government before staging more walkouts.

“We cannot let these strikes roll through 2026, using up yet more scarce resources and impeding the progress the NHS needs to make in reducing waiting lists. Health leaders need to see the government and BMA resume talks - through mediation if needed – to find a long-term solution to this dispute."

Ministers accused of misleading waiting list rhetoric

The government has been accused of dishonesty over the falls seen in the elective care waiting list.

Despite claims from ministers that the decrease is due to the implementation of government policies, The Times reports that recent reductions to the waiting list were due to ‘validation’.

This is a process in which patients are removed from lists if they no longer require treatment, with trusts being paid nearly £19 million for validation exercises since April 2025.

Shadow Health Secretary Stuart Andrew accused the government of taking credit ‘for progress that simply hasn't happened’.

However, a spokesperson from DHSC dismissed the concern, highlighting that over ‘85 per cent of removals from waiting lists are a result of direct care provided to patients.’

NHS App to expand access to clinical trials

Patients with rare cancers will have greater access to clinical trials via the NHS App.

As a result of the Rare Cancers Bill and the forthcoming National Cancer Plan, patients will be able to search for trials on the clinical research database.

Eventually, the government says that patients will be able to automatically receive details of clinical trials which they could benefit from.

The health secretary claimed that the NHS is being modernised ‘so rare cancer patients not only get breakthrough treatments faster, but so we have more experts in the right places able to boost survival rates for rare cancers across the country.’

RSV vaccine expanded to protect more older people

Public Health Minister Ashley Dalton has announced that from April 2026, the NHS will extend RSV vaccinations to everyone aged 80 and over and all older adult care home residents, widening protection for those most at risk. 

She stressed that RSV can cause ‘severe illness’ and that expanding the programme supports the ‘from sickness to prevention’ shift.

Dalton highlighted strong evidence behind the decision, including a 33 per cent fall in RSV-related hospital admissions among 75-to-79-year-olds and research showing the vaccine is ‘over 80 per cent effective’.

She added that the expansion will build on the success of nearly two million vaccinations already given and will help ‘save more lives’, while easing winter pressure on the NHS.

Single trust now has 10 per cent of national MSK waiting list

A south east trust is responsible for nearly one-in-ten people referred for community musculoskeletal services in England after its waiting quadrupled in a year.

Sussex Community Foundation Trust (SCFT) took on the lead provider role for MSK across the West Sussex and Brighton and Hove area in December 2024. This involved the creation of Sussex MSK Health, which sees SCFT and its partners providing community services such as physiotherapy.  

Around 14,000 MSK patients were transferred to SCFT from other providers in the area, particularly University Hospitals Sussex FT. This took the total MSK waiting list to 23,000.

However, six months later, SCFT discovered a further 7,000 MSK patients were not attached to waiting, appointment, outcome or triage lists. The trust’s board had been told earlier that ‘several thousand’ patients from University Hospitals Sussex FT had not been given booked appointments. 

In November 2025, SCFT’s MSK waiting list stood at 38,358. The total English waiting list for community MSK services is around 390,000,

NHSE digital chief steps down

Ming Tang, NHSE’s chief data and analytics officer will step down in April after 16 years in the NHS.

As HSJ reports, Tang will work with government officials on transition plans, highlighting ongoing priorities such as the NHS App, data transparency, and AI to streamline care and improve patient experience.

House of Lords advances Terminally Ill Adults Bill

The House of Lords held the eighth committee session on the Terminally Ill Adults Bill, passing Clause 1, while several amendments, including those on in-person assessments and banning AI, were withdrawn after debate.

Amendment 70, seeking to include victims of fatal injuries like military or industrial cases, was also withdrawn, and discussion on Amendment 71, challenging six-month prognoses, was adjourned.

The session focused on consent, assessment safeguards, and protecting vulnerable groups, with the bill continuing its committee stage on 6 February.

Polanski calls for health-led drugs reform 

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has argued that UK drugs policy needs a ‘system change’, backing legalisation and a ‘public health approach’ that treats drug use as a medical issue rather than a criminal one. 

As the BBC notes, he said that people with a ‘problematic relationship with drugs’ should be able to access professional support, warning that current laws push use into ‘street corners and a black market’. 

Responding to criticism from Sir Keir Starmer, Polanski dismissed the remarks as ‘disgraceful’ and a ‘cheap joke’, stressing he does not drink or take drugs himself but wants safer outcomes for those who do.