Health and care sector latest developments

Resident doctors’ five-day strike begins 

Resident doctors began their latest strike at 7am this morning, with Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, calling the action “dangerous and utterly irresponsible”. 

The British Medical Association (BMA) is asking for a "genuinely long-term plan" to increase pay and make up for years of below-inflation rises, as well as new training places created “rather than recycled ones” so that more qualified doctors can specialise and progress their careers. 

NHS leaders say they will struggle to keep some pre-booked services going during the strike, as hospitals deal with a surge in flu and other winter illnesses. 

At Prime Minister's Questions, Keir Starmer said his message to resident doctors was: “Don't abandon patients, work with us to improve to conditions and rebuild the NHS.” 

Meanwhile, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) has offered to help to try to break the deadlock in the dispute. The move comes after NHS bosses and the Patients Association urged the government and the BMA to agree to independent mediation.

NHS urges patients to access care and get vaccinated 

The NHS is urging patients not to put off coming forward for care, with hospital teams across the country working “harder than ever” to ensure that strike-related disruption is minimised for patients. 

As well as the resident doctor strikes, the health service is dealing with an early flu season and more people in hospital with flu at this time of year than ever before.

However, NHS bosses have said that plans are in place to continue life-saving care, while keeping as much routine care and scheduled operations going as possible.

The latest data on vaccinations shows that 451,275 flu vaccines were delivered in the first week of December – up by 28,000 when compared with the equivalent week last year. More than 17.4 million flu vaccines have been delivered so far this year, 170,000 more than this time last year, including over 60,000 frontline healthcare workers. 

However, reports have emerged of a shortage of flu jab appointments due to soaring demand. 

Adults in England with eating disorders waiting almost two years for treatment 

The first report of the National Audit of Eating Disorders (NAED) has found that adults with eating disorders in England are waiting up to 700 days for vital treatment. 

The report, the first one by NEAD, looks at access to eating disorder services across the country. Commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership and funded by NHS England, it found that were more community teams to support children than there were for adults. 

It also found that, on average, adults with eating disorders had to wait twice as long as children for an assessment, and more than ten times as long for treatment.

Patients forced to take public transport to hospital appointments 

Patients with mobility issues have been left stranded with no way of getting to and from their hospital appointments, according to a review by Healthwatch, the patient watchdog.

Every weekday, more than 20,000 people use NHS non-emergency patient transport services to get to appointments, operations and services. 

However, the Healthwatch review found that transport services across the country are sometimes cancelled at the last minute or patients are told they do not meet the requirements for transport. 

Abuse victims to get specialist NHS support 

The government has announced that victims and survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence across England will get better support through the NHS, and child sexual abuse survivors will have access to specialist, trauma-informed care backed by up to £50 million. 

It is set to be one of a number of initiatives to be announced as part of the government’s violence against women and girls strategy – due to be launched later this week – that ministers have said will “transform how the health service responds to violence against women and girls and child sexual abuse”.

One in every eight women was a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking in the last year alone. It is hoped that these changes will help victims and survivors get the support and treatment they need.

Head of NHS London warns against forcing GPs into neighbourhood care 

Head of NHS London, Dame Caroline Clarke, said most GPs support neighbourhood working but warned it must be co-designed with them, not imposed, acknowledging that outdated GP contracts and payment models are part of the challenge.

According to the Health Service Journal, she said that NHS London will stay focused on its core priorities despite ICB mergers and leadership changes, highlighting a new city-wide “million hearts and minds” initiative to reduce cardiovascular disease alongside neighbourhood integration and digital improvement. 

Dame Caroline warned that upcoming strikes will be extremely difficult to manage in London, with pressures on ambulance response times and elective activity expected to be worse than during previous industrial action. 

RCN calls for urgent reform of nursing career progression 

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has found that large numbers of nurses remain stuck at entry-level band 5 for many years, often despite taking on higher responsibilities, which is damaging morale, worsening retention, and undermining patient care. 

Nurses are progressing more slowly than other health professionals, with over 56,000 in England at band 5 for more than seven years, higher exit rates from the NHS, and evidence linking more senior nursing roles to better patient outcomes. 

The RCN is urging all UK governments to reform pay and progression systems, building on successful rebranding work in Scotland, to improve fairness, tackle ethnic disparities, retain experienced staff, and strengthen the long-term nursing workforce. 

Select committee hears evidence from health secretary 

Health secretary, Wes Streeting, has today given evidence to the Health and Social Care Select Committee. Appearing alongside him were Sam Jones, the permanent secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care, and Sir Jim Mackey, the chief executive of NHS England. 

The trio stressed a move away from rigid spending input targets towards outcomes, alongside greater devolution of responsibility to ICBs with stronger scrutiny of performance. 

The committee was also told that major reviews on mental health, ADHD and autism, maternity, dementia, and palliative care will progress at pace to build stronger evidence and drive reform.

New oversight arrangements for poor-performing trusts are being developed, while workforce pressures and ongoing industrial action were acknowledged as a major risk to service delivery and finances, with Mr Streeting noting that industrial action was costing the NHS half a billion pounds.

The health secretary also stressed the longer-term shift towards prevention and community-based care, though with recognition that progress will be gradual and challenging.