NHS performance summary

NHS performance summary The analysis below includes the latest data on key activity and performance measures up to April and May 2022, as published by NHS England on 16 June 2022. This includes data on the NHS's performance against some key targets, including some of those set out in the latest planning guidance, as well as other indicators of patient safety and care. Nuffield Trust

See also:

• Efforts to clear record NHS backlog undermined by lack of workforce plan The Health Foundation
• The King's Fund responds to the latest NHS hospital performance data The King's Fund
• Government can not hide behind pandemic as sole cause of ‘A&E crisis’ Nuffield Trust

Delivering racial equality in medicine

Delivering racial equality in medicine  This report reveals the possibility of a major exodus of doctors of ethnic minority backgrounds, due to persistent and intolerable levels of racism faced at a personal and institutional level. Nearly one third of doctors surveyed have considered leaving the NHS or have already left within the past two years due to race discrimination, with 42 per cent of Black and 41 per cent Asian doctors in particular having considered leaving or having left. British Medical Association

See also:

• NHS racism making doctors 'anxious and depressed' BBC News
• NHS risks losing black and Asian doctors over ‘intolerable’ racism levels – report The Guardian
• Duty of all NHS staff in England to fight discrimination, review says The Guardian
• NHS risks losing one third of Black and Asian doctors over racism, finds landmark survey The Independent

Shattered hopes: black and minority ethnic leaders’ experiences of breaking the glass ceiling in the NHS

Shattered hopes: black and minority ethnic leaders’ experiences of breaking the glass ceiling in the NHS This report from the BME Leadership Network spotlights the findings from a recent survey and engagement on the experience of senior black and minority ethnic leaders in the NHS. NHS Confederation

Eliminating inappropriate out of area placements in mental health

Eliminating inappropriate out of area placements in mental health The government’s deadline to eliminate inappropriate out of area placements for adult acute patients by the end of March 2021 has now been missed by a full year. Sometimes hundreds of miles away from home, patients are unable to access their usual support networks while at their most vulnerable, often finding their care seriously disrupted with long term implications for their recovery. The NHS spent £102 million on inappropriate out of area placements in the twelve months up to and including March 2022 – the equivalent to the cost of the annual salary of over 900 consultant psychiatrists. This briefing sets out the urgent action the NHS should take to ensure all patients get the care they need from properly staffed, specialist services in their local area. Royal College of Psychiatrists

The Khan review: making smoking obsolete - independent review into smokefree 2030 policies

The Khan review: making smoking obsolete - independent review into smokefree 2030 policies This independent review into the government’s current tobacco control policies, led by Dr Javed Khan OBE, looks into whether government will achieve its ambition to make England smokefree by 2030. It finds that although good long-term progress has been made in reducing smoking rates to their lowest ever level, almost six million people still smoke in England and smoking is still one of the largest causes of health disparities. Office for Health Improvement and Disparities

Biggest shake-up in health and social care leadership in a generation to improve patient care

Biggest shake-up in health and social care leadership in a generation to improve patient care The Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid has welcomed the publication of an independent review of health and adult social care leadership, led by General Sir Gordon Messenger and Dame Linda Pollard – and, in what will be the biggest shake-up in health and social care leadership in a generation, is accepting all 7 transformative recommendations they have put forward. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• The King’s Fund response to review of leadership in health and care The King's Fund

Policy paper: Coronavirus: lessons learned to date report: government response

Policy paper: Coronavirus: lessons learned to date report: government response The government’s response to the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee and Science and Technology Committee joint report 'Coronavirus: lessons learned to date'. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Government accepts or partially accepts majority of MPs’ recommendations on response to coronavirus pandemic Health and Social Care Committee and Science and Technology Committee 
• Vaccine Taskforce to merge with UKHSA and OLS  Department of Health and Social Care
• Official Statistics: National flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports: 2021 to 2022 season UK Health Security Agency

Covid infections up after Platinum Jubilee celebrations

Covid infections up after Platinum Jubilee celebrations Covid infections are up across the UK, according to latest figures that capture the Jubilee weekend of partying.

An estimated 1.4 million people or one in 45 has the virus - up from one in 65 the week before. That's a rise of 43%.

Experts say two new fast-spreading subvariants of Omicron -called BA.4 and BA.5 - are behind some of the new infections. BBC News

See also:

• BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron: How worried should we be? BBC News
• 'Long Covid' risk lower with Omicron, study finds BBC News
• UK health chiefs aren't considering jabbing babies against Covid yet The Daily Mail
• Experts tear apart flawed survey which anti-vaxxers have hailed as proof that jabs were never needed The Daily Mail
• Covid hospital numbers consistently rise for first time since April The Daily Telegraph
• UK Covid infection rate rising, with more than a million cases in England The Guardian
• Covid infections increased by 43% in week after platinum jubilee, new estimates show The Independent
• Desperate couple with long Covid planned suicide as ‘neglected’ sufferers struggle The Independent
• Former PMs urge government to increase spending on infectious diseases after Covid setbacks The Independent
• We could be heading into a summer surge of COVID Sky News

England appoints ambassador to shake up women's health

England appoints ambassador to shake up women's health England's first women's health ambassador is calling for "one-stop shops" where women can sort out their health needs.

Dame Lesley Regan, also a practising doctor, wants to make it easier for women and girls to access care such as contraception and smear tests in the community.

Her new role aims to close the "gender health gap". BBC News

See also:

• Dame Lesley Regan appointed Women's Health Ambassador Department of Health and Social Care

NHS takes action to tackle overprescribing

NHS takes action to tackle overprescribing England’s top doctor has refuted the concept of a “pill for every ill” as the NHS in England pledged to take action to reduce unnecessary prescriptions.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS in England, raised concerns that the Covid-19 pandemic could have exacerbated the problem. The Independent

NHS will miss target for 50,000 more nurses by 2024, leaked data shows

NHS will miss target for 50,000 more nurses by 2024, leaked data shows The government is set to break Boris Johnson’s key manifesto pledge to add 50,000 NHS nurses to the workforce by 2024, leaked data shows.

New NHS modelling, seen by The Independent, indicates that the government could miss its target by more than 10,000.

It comes despite claims from health secretary Sajid Javid in April that the government was on track to meet its election promise.

NHS England already under as much pressure as in winter, says boss

NHS England already under as much pressure as in winter, says boss Frontline NHS services are already under as much pressure as they usually face in the winter, due to lack of staff and hospitals’ inability to discharge patients, the health service’s boss said on Wednesday.

In a speech to senior health service managers, NHS England’s chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, admitted that cuts to the number of beds had gone too far. But she blamed difficulties in social care for hospitals being left unable to admit the growing number of seriously ill people needing care urgently and patients being left stranded in the back of ambulances outside A&E units. The Guardian

See also:

• Hospital waiting list 6.5 million in England BBC News
• Ambulance waits: 'Can you please tell them to hurry up or I shall be dead' BBC News
• NHS waiting list shoots to ANOTHER record high as crisis leaves 6.5MILLION patients stuck in queue The Daily Mail
• How badly is the NHS crisis affecting your hospital? The Daily Mail
• Almost 100,000 facing excessive wait for serious cardiac care in England  The Guardian
• The Guardian view on ambulance waiting times: signs of a collapsing NHS | Editorial The Guardian

New strike chaos as teachers and NHS staff warn of action over pay

New strike chaos as teachers and NHS staff warn of action over pay A wave of 1970s-style economic unrest is threatening to spread from the railways across the public services, as unions representing teachers and NHS workers warn of potential industrial action over pay. The Guardian

UK monkeypox outbreak not yet under control, say experts

UK monkeypox outbreak not yet under control, say experts The monkeypox outbreak in the UK is not yet under control, experts have warned, with some suggesting that vaccines may need to be offered to all men who have sex with men.

Monkeypox, which is to be given a new name by the World Health Organization (WHO), is typically found in west and central Africa, but an unprecedented outbreak in recent weeks has resulted in cases appearing in a host of countries from France to Canada and Australia. It is understood the WHO will hold a meeting next week to decide whether to label the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern. The Guardian

Horror flu season in Australia prompts warnings virus will cause havoc in Britain this winter

Horror flu season in Australia prompts warnings virus will cause havoc in Britain this winter Concerns are being raised about a major flu outbreak this winter in Britain and the US as the virus wreaks havoc in Australia.

Experts have been warning about the potential of an influenza surge throughout the pandemic, with lockdown thought to have weakened people's immune systems.

So far those fears have not materialised in the northern hemisphere, but Australia is currently in the midst of its worst flu season in years. The Daily Mail

Hope for drug-resistant superbugs as NHS strikes deal with pharmaceutical companies

Hope for drug-resistant superbugs as NHS strikes deal with pharmaceutical companies New drugs to fight superbugs are to be given to hundreds of patients across England as part of a deal which it is hoped will "save lives and strike a blow" in the global battle against antimicrobial resistance.

Some 1,700 patients a year will be given the new "superbug-busting drugs" on the NHS for infections which have become resistant to traditional antibiotics. Sky News