NHS services tackling winter head on

Ambulances unloaded patients three minutes faster last week, even as A&Es saw more ambulance handovers than any point last winter. Figures released today show there were 94,551 ambulance handovers last week – higher than the busiest week last year (94,493 w/e 29 December 2024), and up almost 1,000 on the week previous and over 3,250

NHS pilot uses AI and robots to detect lung cancer sooner

Patients facing suspected lung cancer could get answers sooner under a new NHS pilot using artificial intelligence and robotic technology to help doctors reach hard-to-detect cancers earlier, with fewer invasive tests.  The new approach uses AI software to rapidly analyse lung scans and flag small lumps that are most likely to be cancerous, and a robotic camera is then used to

NHS to detect and prevent thousands more bowel cancers

Thousands of cases of bowel cancer will be diagnosed earlier or even prevented in England, as part of major NHS plans to increase the sensitivity of bowel cancer screening to save more lives. NHS England today announced it is to lower the threshold for a home-screening kit to trigger urgent cancer testing from next month

NHS launches national inherited cancer genetics register

Thousands of people at higher risk of developing cancer due to inherited faulty genes will be regularly checked and tracked by the NHS thanks to a first-of-its-kind national genetics programme. The world-first genetic register, developed by the NHS, will collect patient information on over 100 genes linked to an increased risk of cancer, with plans

Hospitals under pressure from cold snap and norovirus rise

News The NHS is facing continuing winter pressures as the country approaches another cold snap, and as rising pressures are pushing hospitals to their busiest levels for this time of year since before COVID-19. Figures released today show more general and acute hospital beds were occupied in the week ending 18 Jan (94.5%) than at

NHS to train teachers, school nurses and GPs to spot eating disorders

Teachers, school nurses, and GPs will be offered NHS support to spot the early signs of eating disorders, so no child is left to ‘suffer in silence’. The NHS has overhauled eating disorder services in response to rising demand with the number of children and young people treated rising two fifths since the pandemic (from

NHS to offer prostate cancer drug to thousands of men

Thousands of men with prostate cancer will be offered a life-extending drug on the NHS within weeks. For the first time patients whose prostate cancer has not spread will be able to receive the drug in England, known as abiraterone, as the health service widens access to the treatment. Around 2,000 men diagnosed with prostate

NHS backs AI notetaking to free up more face-to-face care

News New AI notetaking tools being backed by the NHS could help doctors spend up to a quarter more time with their patients. NHS organisations across England are being urged to take advantage of a new national registry of 19 suppliers for the technology, which captures clinician–patient conversations and uses AI to accurately generate real-time

Waiting list falls amid record NHS demand

November saw the second biggest drop in the waiting list for 15 years outside of the early days of the pandemic, as new data today shows staff faced record demand in 2025. The waiting list fell by more than 86,000 in November to 7.31 million – and the milestone comes a year since the publication

Winter viruses bounce back as NHS warns ‘worst is far from over’

News Christmas and New Year gatherings may have caused a bounce back in winter viruses, as the health service also grapples with a vicious cold snap. Figures published today show that the number of patients in hospital beds with flu has risen by 9% on the previous week (2,924), following two weeks where that number had
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