RECENT NEWS

Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has resigned saying he has "lost confidence" in Keir Starmer's leadership. In a letter to the prime minister, he said: "Where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift".

Doctors who have come to the UK to escape war and persecution took a step towards rebuilding their medical careers in the UK on Saturday (25 April) at an event hosted by the UK’s medical regulator. The ‘Building Bridges’ event, organised by the Refugee Council and hosted by the General Medical Council (GMC) in London, brought together refugee doctors from across the world determined to restart their professional journeys and contribute their skills to the NHS.

New pre-market regulatory requirements for medical devices and in vitro diagnostic devices entering the GB market have been published by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on the World Trade Organisation notification portal.

Scotland’s new cohort of innovative participants for the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme (CEP) has been selected – and a prestigious pitching event is set to welcome them next month. A total of nine clinicians working across Scotland have been notified of their success and invited to take part in a special ‘Big Pitch’ event, taking place on 8 June at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster, London.

Giving tranexamic acid to women with placenta praevia (when the placenta covers the cervical opening) undergoing caesarean birth leads to a significant yet modest reduction in severe bleeding after delivery with no evidence of an increase in serious adverse events, finds a trial from China.

New research presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026) in Istanbul, Turkey (12-15 May) shows that people who gain the highest amount of weight across adulthood are at greatly increased risk of certain obesity related cancers.

Essity, the global hygiene and health giant behind Tork, has opened a major £30 million-plus recycled fibre processing facility at its Prudhoe mill in Northumberland, supporting the company’s position as Europe’s biggest user of recycled fibre in tissue production.* Essity's biggest investment in the UK for a decade, the opening will significantly strengthen the UK’s sustainable hygiene supply.

The quality and safety of care delivered to patients by independent healthcare providers continues to hit record highs, according to a new report. As part of its latest annual audit of patient safety and quality in the independent sector, the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) found that 94% of its members are now rated good or outstanding by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

In the 2026 King’s Speech, the government outlined plans to introduce legislation to reform how the NHS is led and managed in the form of an NHS Modernisation Bill. The Health Bill is supporting two main overarching aims: "improving patient safety and experience through a new single patient record (SPR)"; and "putting power and resources in the hands of NHS organisations providing direct patient care by abolishing NHS England and stripping back national bureaucracy."

A new blood test that could help detect Alzheimer’s disease earlier has been approved for use in the UK. Roche is working closely with two early-adopter sites in the UK and Ireland to enable rapid patient access.

To support WHO member countries in their efforts to implement new policy recommendations for TB diagnostic testing, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Stop TB Partnership have published the TB near point-of-care and swab-based testing toolkit (NPOC/swab toolkit).

CFS patients in the UK are set to benefit from a world-first genomics study into the condition, also known as ME, which affects hundreds of thousands of people nationwide, the government has announced.

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU) has launched a new video-on-demand interpreting service, giving patients and staff faster access to professional interpreters and helping to ensure everyone can fully understand their care.

Every day, nurses and laboratory staff across UK hospitals are exposed to Formalin and Formaldehyde with potentially significant harmful health effects ranging from asthma to cancer, despite clear regulatory guidelines on protection requirements from closed-system solutions.

Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s Electronic Patient Record teams have been named Digital Transformation Runners‑Up 2026 at the South East Digital Skills Development Network (SEDSDN) Awards.

​HCA Healthcare UK’s London Bridge Hospital has completed a first‑of‑its‑kind combined lung procedure in UK private healthcare, integrating robotic navigational bronchoscopy using the Ion Endoluminal System (Ion) followed by a robotic lung resection using a Da Vinci Xi robot under a single anaesthetic.

The MiS Technology Day Surgery Seminars are dedicated, non‑for‑profit educational events designed to bring together healthcare professionals from public and private hospitals. They offer a unique platform to explore the latest innovations, best practices and emerging technologies in medical device reprocessing.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has launched a public consultation on proposed changes to its education standards. These proposed changes are based on engagement with the NMC’s partners and stakeholders about what they want to see in the updated education and training standards.

Changes in gut microbiota after bariatric surgery are strongly linked to altered metabolic health and sustained improvement in type 2 diabetes, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Gothenburg.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has announced the appointment of Jason Bonander as its new Chief Digital and Technology Officer (CDTO).