Health and care sector latest developments
NHS medical negligence liabilities hit £60 billion amid surge in maternity payouts
The NHS’s total liabilities for medical negligence have hit £60billion, driven by a jump in childbirth injury cases that cost more than £11 million each on average to settle.
The Guardian has reported that the total sum of money the health service in England may have to pay out to settle lawsuits for mistakes by staff has quadrupled from £14.4 billion in 2006/07, amid more claims and rising legal costs.
The cost of settling clinical negligence legal actions has soared over the same period from £1.1 billion to £3.6 billion, with much of that jump related to babies suffering brain damage while being born.
The figures are contained in a report by the National Audit Office (NAO), which urged NHS chiefs to do more to prevent the harm.
'Game-changing' HIV protection jab approved in England and Wales
An injection to prevent HIV is to be offered to patients on the NHS in England and Wales for the first time, bringing the policy in line with Scotland.
According to the BBC, the long-acting HIV injection, given six times a year or every other month, is an alternative to taking daily pills to protect against the virus.
Experts hope the cabotegravir (CAB-LA) injections will help meet the ambition of ending new HIV cases by 2030 in the UK.
Government to tackle antisemitism and other racism in the NHS
The Prime Minister has ordered an urgent review of antisemitism and all forms of racism in the NHS, as part of wider efforts to tackle discrimination in the health service.
Following recent incidents of antisemitism from doctors which drew stark attention to problems of culture and the regulation in the health system, Lord John Mann will lead the review, looking at how to protect patients and staff from racism and hold perpetrators to account.
At the same time, the government announced the immediate rollout of strengthened mandatory antisemitism and anti-racism training across the health service, and NHS England will review its uniform guidance so patients and staff always feel respected in NHS settings.
Men at risk of prostate cancer ‘need yearly checks from 40’
Men with genes that increase the risk of prostate cancer should have annual checks from the age of 40, research has shown.
The Institute of Cancer Research study showed men carrying particular BRCA gene mutations are at even greater risk than previously thought of developing aggressive prostate disease.
The UK National Screening Committee is currently considering the case for the introduction of screening, with a decision expected as early as this November.
A Telegraph campaign has called for targeted checks, so that those at greatest risk of disease, including black men, those with genes linked to prostate cancer and those with a family history of the disease, are offered tests.
The new study concluded that those with the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are at such great risk that checks should start at the age of 40.
Pregnant women in England at ‘growing risk’ of serious injury in childbirth
In England, pregnant women are at growing risk of suffering a serious injury while giving birth, NHS figures reveal.
The number of mothers sustaining a third- or fourth-degree perineal tear while delivering their baby has risen from 25 in 1,000 in June 2020 to 29 in 1,000 in June this year, a 16 per cent increase.
Such injuries can have a ‘life-changing’ impact on women’s physical and mental health, cause post-traumatic stress disorder and leave them afraid to have another child.
Childbirth experts linked the rise in the most serious forms of tear to poor NHS care, understaffing in NHS maternity units and mothers getting older and larger.
GPs accuse hospital of spin for removing 1,000 patients from waiting list
A hospital trust has removed more than 1,000 patients from its waiting list by retrospectively applying referral criteria, which local GPs have said is disruptive and unsafe.
The Health Service Journal (HSJ) reported that in June, University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust switched its criteria for non-obstetric ultrasound back to a method it had previously used until it was widened in September last year.
The trust, which runs Royal Stoke University Hospital and Stafford County Hospital, recently announced its ultrasound list had dropped from more than 15,500 in June to 10,563 in October, gaining local media coverage for a ‘significant’ performance improvement.
North Staffordshire local medical committee (LMC) told HSJ the trust was ‘misleading’ the public as a significant amount of the cut was due to the retrospective change to criteria, which it also said was disruptive for patients and compromised their safety. GPs say some of the patients had already been waiting six months.
Top chief executive steps down after more than 45 years in NHS
East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust’s chief executive Nick Hulme is stepping down after more than 45 years in the NHS.
The move was announced in an email to staff which said the trust’s deputy chief executive officer and director of finance Adrian Marr would become interim chief executive in the new year. The trust will ‘soon’ appoint a new chair who will lead substantive recruitment, the note added.
In August, the Health Medical Journal revealed a review had recommended East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust and neighbouring West Suffolk Foundation Trust should appoint a joint chair but retain separate chief executives.
The announcement also follows a Care Quality Commission review of Colchester hospital, published last week, which found concerns and rated its medical care as ‘requires improvement’.
