Health and care sector latest developments

Labour MPs urge Reeves to drop private finance plans for NHS buildings 

40 Labour MPs have written to Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, asking her  to drop plans to fund NHS buildings with private finance initiatives (PFI). 

The group of MPs, which includes Cat Eccles, Clive Lewis and Rebecca Long-Bailey, have pressed the chancellor to commit to investment in the NHS without the use of private capital and warned that a return to private funding for public projects would be damaging for trust in the government. 

Tony Blair’s Labour government made significant use of PFI, a form of public-private partnerships used to build schools, hospitals and other public infrastructure, without adding to the national debt. 

However, the Labour MPs behind the letter say that using private partnerships was more expensive than publicly funded projects and had contributed to crippling debts in the NHS since 1997, with 80 trusts still paying back a combined £44bn while services are suffering. 

Overseas-trained doctors leaving the UK in record numbers 

Record numbers of overseas-trained doctors are quitting the UK, leaving the NHS at risk of huge gaps in its workforce. 

Figures from the General Medical Council (GMC) have revealed that 4,880 doctors who qualified in another country left the UK during 2024 – a rise of 26% on the 3,869 who did so the year before. 

NHS leaders, senior doctors and the GMC warned that the increased denigration of and abuse directed at migrants in the UK was a significant reason for the rise in foreign medics leaving. 

Responding to the figures, Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers (part of the NHS Confederation), said that the NHS is ‘seeking to fairly balance the aspirations of UK graduates and the needs of colleagues who trained outside the UK, while at the same time advancing its long-term vision which ensures that more clinical care is delivered in neighbourhood and community settings’. 

Chancellor extends freeze on NHS prescription charges 

The Chancellor has announced that NHS prescription charges will remain frozen next year, a move which the government says will help millions of people with the cost of living and ensure patients have access to the care they need.    

The cost of a single prescription will be frozen at £9.90 – saving patients around £12 million next year.  

The announcement comes ahead of next week’s Budget. 

ICB restructure ‘paralysing neighbourhood health’ – primary care leaders 

The restructuring of integrated care boards is leading to faltering progress on neighbourhood health, according to leaders in primary care. 

They said that the cuts to ICB roles and resources, as well as the distraction for staff as they embark on restructures and mergers, is harming the development of joined-up community services. 

Damian Brady, a primary care network manager and consultant in south-west London, told an NHS Confederation event last week: “We’d love to go ahead and do all that population health analysis, but [the ICB] centralised all of the resourcing…and we can’t access it…We can’t work on that basis.” 

A senior manager at Gloucestershire ICB told the same NHS Confederation event, which was for local leaders developing neighbourhood health, that ‘system convening forms the foundation for this approach and who knows what that will look like in the next 12 months?’ 

Ruth Rankine, primary care director and neighbourhood lead at the NHS Confederation, said there are signs that the ICB changes could compromise ‘the capacity to navigate the complex work needed to forge and cement local relationships and act as brokers’, including with non-NHS organisations and communities. 

She added: “This process is critical to assessing the needs of individuals and communities and coordinating the services required… The scale of the challenge – including who is convening partners to drive this change – will differ across the country.” 

Boris Johnson could face legal action over Covid-19 Inquiry Report 

The fallout from the publication of the Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 2 Report into government decision making has continued with reports suggesting that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson could face legal. 

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group has said it is ‘not asking for an apology’, but ‘are asking for consequences’. 

These comments come after the report suggested that 23,000 lives could have been saved if a lockdown was implemented sooner. 

The group argues that the former Prime Minister ‘should have no role in public life and no further entitlement to public funds’, adding that they will ‘now be pursuing all legal options’. 

DHSC policy chief revealed 

The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England have appointed McKinsey’s UK health lead, Paul Dinkin, as their director general for policy and strategy. 

Mr Dinkin will join the 20-strong new combined ‘joint executive team’ across the DHSC and NHS England in January. He has worked art McKinsey for about a decade and previously held senior roles in NHS England and in the provider regulators NHS Improvement and Monitor.  

NHS Confederation launches new Community Pharmacy Leaders Forum 

The NHS Confederation is stepping up its support for primary care, with the launch of a new Community Pharmacy Leaders Forum.

The forum will be chaired by Amit Patel, chief executive of Community Pharmacy South West London and will seek to: 

• Influence national policy and advocacy, ensuring community pharmacy leaders have a strong voice in implementation of Neighbourhood Health.
• Provide leadership development and peer support to strengthen influence at neighbourhood and system levels.
• Align community pharmacy with system transformation efforts, ensuring its role is embedded within evolving models of care. 

Membership is open to community pharmacy leaders (clinical and non-clinical), both NHS Confederation members and non-members. 

Ambulance system pressure in Wales remains without social care and capital investment boost 

Responding to the latest Welsh NHS performance and activity statistics, Darren Hughes, director of the Welsh NHS Confederation has said that ‘bolstering social care capacity through improved pay, terms and conditions for social care staff’ is key to addressing system pressure. 

He has also called for a ‘rethink (on) the capital funding strategy to modernise NHS buildings and for digital infrastructure to be upgraded so that they can provide faster, more efficient care.’ 

He has however pointed to the ‘ongoing progress in ambulance handover delays, something health boards and the ambulance service have been working exceptionally hard to improve for patients so that ambulance staff can get back onto the road to see those who need them most.’  

Biggest prostate cancer screening trial in decades begins in UK 

A major prostate cancer screening trial, aimed at finding the best way to detect the disease has been launched in the UK. 

It won't be possible to volunteer for the trial, but the first letters have been sent out from GPs inviting men to join the study, the biggest of its kind in decades. 

The £42 million Transform trial is funded by Prostate Cancer UK and the National Institute for Health and Care Research. 

Hashim Ahmed, trial chief investigator, said: ‘Transform is truly game-changing…the start of recruitment today marks a pivotal step towards getting the results men urgently need to make prostate cancer diagnosis safe and more effective so that we can unlock the potential of prostate cancer screening in the UK.’ 

The trial will recruit men aged 50-74, with a lower age limit of 45 for black men, who have twice the risk of developing and dying from prostate cancer compared with white men. 

At-home heart treatment approved for NHS use 

A new at-home injection has been approved for use on the NHS offering a significant breakthrough for approximately 1,500 individuals in England and Wales living with a rare heart condition called transthyretin amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) – a debilitating illness where the liver-produced protein transthyretin misfolds, leading to deposits that stiffen the heart. 

The treatment – vutrisiran – administered every three months, has been approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). 

Winners of HSJ Awards 2025 revealed 

The Health Service Journal Awards 2025 were announced last night, marking the 45th year of celebrating exceptional achievements across the NHS. 

This year’s programme featured 27 categories recognising innovation, leadership and outstanding contributions from teams and individuals throughout the service. 

A total of 1,250 entries were received in the first stage, with more than 200 judges selecting 246 finalists. 

You can find out more about the awards on the HSJ website.