NHS jumps in bed with private sector as Omicron wave forces hospitals to find extra capacity January 10, 2022 Hospitals will be able to use spare capacity in the private sector under a new deal struck with the NHS, while hospitals have been told to find extra beds. The three-month agreement will see private healthcare staff and facilities put on standby to support the NHS should hospital admissions or staff absences due to Covid [...]
Prepare to help us: NHS leans on private sector to ride the Omicron storm January 10, 2022 The NHS have announced this morning that it has struck a deal with private health companies to expand capacity should Omicron overwhelm the public service.
Rejected: Promising prostate cancer drug that AstraZeneca claims can extend men’s lives as it is ‘not good use of NHS funds’ January 5, 2022 A promising, much-talked about drug that has the potential to extend the lives of some men with prostate cancer has been rejected for use on the NHS. In draft guidance, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said the evidence around olaparib (also called Lynparza) was uncertain and approving it would not be [...]
NHS to open eight ‘Nightingale’ hospitals as Omicron cases surge December 30, 2021 Eight temporary "Nightingale" units are being built this week as Omicron surges across the UK.
NHS sends out 650,000 text messages and 50,000 letters in fresh drive to get Covid booster jabs into Brits’ arms December 29, 2021 The NHS will be sending around 650,000 text messages and 50,000 letters to people who have not yet received their top-up dose, encouraging them to roll up their sleeve and have a “jabby new year”. The efforts are part of a fresh drive to get Covid booster jabs into arms to protect against the fast-spreading [...]
London Omicron wave could push NHS absences to 40 per cent of workforce December 28, 2021 The latest Covid-19 wave in the capital could see as much as 40 per cent of its NHS workforce off sick, a London University professor has warned. It would be a “worst case scenario”, chair of healthcare and workforce modelling at London Southbank University, Professor Alison Leary told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme [...]
Government may have left it ‘too late’ to protect the NHS against Omicron wave, says nursing chief December 24, 2021 The head of the Royal College of Nursing warned this morning that the government may have left it “too late” to protect the NHS against the Omicron wave unless it heeds the advice of scientific experts on tighter restrictions. Pat Cullen told BBC Breakfast that ministers would find it easier to make decisions on how [...]
Ex-TSB chief Richard Meddings frontrunner: City banker emerges as preferred candidate for NHS England chairman role December 24, 2021 In a bid to make NHS England more “accountable” for its funding, a City banker is set to become the body’s new chairman. The Department of Health and Social Care confirmed former TSB chairman Richard Meddings is the Government’s preferred candidate for the role on Thursday. The Telegraph reported that ministers wanted Mr Meddings to [...]
Barts NHS Trust warns ‘some or much’ of its January operations will be cancelled as Omicron surges December 21, 2021 Barts Health NHS Trust has written to doctors this morning warning that it may have to cancel "some or much" of its planned operations in January because of rising Omicron rates.
NHS staff absentee rate doubles in a week December 19, 2021 The number of NHS staff off sick in London has more than doubled in the past week, as the new variant sweeps the capital.