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Health and care sector latest developments

Latest developments affecting the health and care sector.

8 November 2024

The leaders chosen to guide the government’s ten-year plan

The Health Service Journal has revealed the health and care leaders who have been selected by the government to lead the 11 advisory groups that will feed ideas into its ten-year plan for health.

Ministers are setting up seven groups to study policy ‘enabler’ areas; and four ‘vision’ groups. They will all inform the plan, which is due to be published in May 2025. 

Each group has a co-chair from the Department of Health and Social Care or NHS England and one who is from outside.

The ‘enabler’ groups have been asked to report by February, while the ‘vision’ groups must submit reports before Christmas to health and social care secretary Wes Streeting.

Doctors to refuse overtime in major dispute with hospital trust

Doctors at University Hospitals Birmingham are to refuse overtime and extra shifts from next week, amid escalating tensions with executives over a decision to stop paying premium rates for locum shifts.

According to the Health Service Journal, resident doctors and consultants will cease taking up overtime, extra sessions and waiting-list work at University Hospitals Birmingham unless they are paid at rates agreed by the British Medical Association (BMA).

The BMA confirmed this morning that doctors were in official dispute from today, with the union officially recommending members not work outside their contracted hours for less than rates the BMA advises, laid out in local dispute cards.

Chief executive steps down after ‘rollercoaster’ five years

Helen Ray, chief executive of North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) foundation trust, has announced her retirement in the second high-profile departure from the organisation in as many weeks.

She will step down in March 2025. She announced her departure a week after NEAS declared that Professor Stuart Corbridge would replace Peter Strachan as the trust’s chair.

The Health Service Journal has reported that Ms Ray joined NEAS in 2019 from Northumbria Healthcare, where she had been the chief operating officer. It is a relatively high performing ambulance trust, and September saw it deliver the best response times for category one, three and four calls. It was the third best performer when it came to category two calls – which are seen as the toughest target to achieve.

Thousands of lung cancer cases detected in lorry clinics

BBC News Online has covered a story on how a lung-cancer screening programme that sees mobile clinics visit local communities in England has detected the disease earlier in more than 5,000 people.

Specially adapted lorries have been visiting supermarkets, football grounds and town centres in areas with the highest rates of the disease, as part of the biggest initiative of its kind in NHS history.

Since the programme's launch in 2019, 5,037 lung cancers have been detected, with 76 per cent of those at the earliest stages of the disease.

New Lupus treatment offered in ‘groundbreaking’ NHS trial

Three lupus patients in the UK have received ‘groundbreaking’ new treatment which could end the need for lifelong drugs.

The Metro says a new NHS trial is assessing the effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapy – previously only used on cancer patients – as a one-off treatment against the most serious form of lupus.

The auto-immune disease can cause potentially fatal damage to the heart, lungs, brain and kidneys. CAR T-cell therapy works by genetically modifying cells to restore the body’s ability to attack problem cells.

Tax unhealthy foods to tackle obesity, say campaigners

The Guardian has covered a story on how dozens of health and children’s groups have urged ministers to tackle obesity by imposing taxes on foods containing too much salt or sugar.

They claim that new levies based on the sugar tax on soft drinks would make it easier for consumers to eat more healthily by forcing food manufacturers to reformulate their products.

Their plea comes in a letter from 35 groups to the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and the health secretary, Wes Streeting. The signatories include groups representing the UK’s doctors, dentists and public health directors, health charities including Diabetes UK and the World Cancer Research Fund, and a senior figure in the chef Jamie Oliver’s organisation.

NHS chief warns of ‘abhorrent’ domestic abuse faced by staff as she backs Brick by Brick campaign

Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of the NHS has highlighted the shocking prevalence of domestic abuse faced by health staff in the UK as she blasted the “abhorrent behaviour across society”.

She said the #MeToo movement had helped shine a light on abuse within the care system but there was more to be done.

Amanda is lending her support to The Independent’s Brick by Brick campaign, which is raising money to build safe houses for survivors and victims of domestic abuse.

In an exclusive op-ed for The Independent she wrote: ‘Not only does this incredibly thoughtful campaign provide a way out for people affected by domestic violence but it has also started an important national conversation about domestic violence.’

Remove barriers on NHS data access to save patient lives – review

Barriers on NHS data access should be removed so it can be used to improve patient care and allow crucial research into diseases like dementia, cancer and heart disease, a review has urged.

Patients and their families are being let down because policymakers and healthcare leaders are not maximising the benefits of the rich abundance of health data in the UK, Professor Cathie Sudlow OBE, who led the independent review, said.

The UK is unique because its population of 68 million people are largely seen by the NHS, with health data going back decades, the report commissioned by top government health officials said.